The Itako team was in charge of the lighting effects of the lanterns on Aug. 13th and 14th at the Buddhist Lantern Festival at Choonji Temple (Itako-shi, Hinode) held from Aug. 13th to 16th. With help from the students at Itako City Hinode Junior High School, where the Itako team had conducted workshops, about 10,000 lanterns were set up. The lanterns represented the stars in the sky and the lighting was designed to portray the Milky Way, which was symbolic of the unlimited possibilities of the children who would be the main players of the region’s future. A message board was also installed on the grounds so that visitors to the shrine could write in any messages they wished. Many people left messages about the good things in Itako and about their memories of the Lantern Festival. Damages from the liquefaction phenomenon due to the earthquake are still quite apparent in the Choonji, Hinode Elementary and Junior High School areas, but we heard that proper restoration works are finally starting to happen. The students will carry out a questionnaire survey of the visitors and assess the changing needs of the area and try to incorporate the findings in their future activities. (Iida)
Category Archives: team
The Okuma Tsukuba Summer Festival 2014
On Aug. 10 (Sunday), “The Okuma Tsukuba Summer Festival” was held at the North Emergency Temporary Housing of Johoku Elementary School in Aizu-Wakamatsu city.
This year’s exhibits included cloth-card story shows by the Okuma-Furusato Seminar, stalls set up by the IORI Club and Shichirin-Pottery (Shichirin is a small, portable charcoal grill). People from the Aizu and Kitakata regions gave us their support and cooperation. The weather was unfortunate due to the typhoon, but it appeared that the people from the temporary housing and the local areas had fun participating. In the evening, children carrying the children’s mikoshi shrine paraded energetically around the temporary housing premises, and in the finale, everyone took part in the Okuma Bon-Odori dancing. This year, we were able to talk to and hear more stories from the people of Okuma-cho than last year. We are now discussing how to come up with a suitable way to deliver these stories. (Akagi)
Yui Team’s “Yui’s Pottery Workshop”
Yui Team’s “Yui’s Pottery Workshop”
The Yui team began this year’s activities by first talking with the people who took part in the workshop last year. We selected, as this year’s theme, “Sakura (Cherry blossoms)”, which we found out during the talks is a common memory of Fukushima. This year’s Yui team has set “Create stronger ties” and “Create new ties” as the team’s objective for the activity. We are currently working on a plan in which the participants would be able to create a sakura motif dish that will keep and stay with them in their hearts. The dates of the workshop are Sept. 14 (Sun), 21 (Sun) and 28 (Sun). When the workshop program is over, there will be a party where the dishes will be used. This year, as a new attempt, the creator of the dish will invite someone special to the party and give the dish to that person as a gift. We hope that many people will take part this year again and many new ties will be born, too. (Miyake, 3rd Year at School of Art and Design)
[Yui’s Pottery Workshop]
Date & Time:
Session 1: “Forming the vessel”, Sept. 14 (Sun), 10:00-16:00 (Please be sure to attend this session.)
Session 2: “Glazing”, Sept. 21 (Sun), 13:00-16:00 (For those who wish to attend.)
Session 3: “Exhibition/Pottery Gift Giving Ceremony”, Sept. 28 (Sun), 13:00-16:00 (For those who wish to attend.)
Party: Scheduled for Oct. 19 (Sun)
Place: Tsukuba University, Art & Design Laboratory II
Age requirement: For 5th graders or older.
Number of participants: 40 (First-come-first-served basis)
Fee: Free of charge
What to bring: Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, a towel, lunch (Only for the 1st session).
How to apply: Please send a fax or email with your name, age, address and telephone number. Title your message, “Yui’s Pottery Project application”.
FAX: 029-853-2813
Email:yui.utsuwa@gmail.com
Applications close on: Aug. 20. (Applicants will be notified by Aug. 27.)
For inquiries: 029-853-2813 (Weekdays 9:00-17:00, except for 8/9-8/17)
Buddhist Lantern Festival “Sora no Katachi (The pattern of the universe)”
The Itako team will be in charge of the lighting effects of the lanterns at the Buddhist Lantern Festival at Choonji Temple in Itako, Ibaraki-ken, from Aug. 13 to 16. The Buddhist Lantern Festival at Choonji Temple is an annual event held to express gratitude to the ancestors by offering them 10,000 lighted-lanterns during the Bon period every year. Since last year, prayers in memory of the victims and for the reconstruction after the Great East Japan Earthquake have been included. The Itako team has set “Sora no Katachi (The pattern of the universe)” as the theme and will direct the lighting by likening the lanterns to the stars in the sky, representing the unlimited possibilities of the children, who will be the main players of the region’s future. The set up of the lanterns will be carried out with help from the students at Itako City Hinode Junior High School, where the Itako team had conducted workshops last year and the year before. Please come and join us. (Iida)
[Date & Time] Aug. 13 (Wed) to Aug. 16 (Sat), 6:30 pm (Lights come on) ~ 10:00 pm. No admission charge.
* Lighting display by CR Itako team only on 13th (Wed) and 14th (Thu).
* The Lantern Festival may be cancelled due to rain or strong winds.
[Place] Choonji Temple (Hinode, Itako-city, Ibaraki-ken)
Photographs: Scenes from the trial at the university.
“The Okuma-Tsukuba Summer Festival”
On Aug. 10 (Sunday), “The Okuma Tsukuba Summer Festival” will be held at the North Emergency Temporary Housing of Johoku Elementary School in Aizu-Wakamatsu city. A huge yagura (Tower) of assembled logs will be at the center with many kinds of stalls, including fried noodles, shaved ice with syrup and yo-yo fishing, surrounding the yagura, and Bon-odori (Bon-festival dancing) will be held in the evening. The summer festival this year has been planned and organized by a joint effort between the people of Okuma-cho and Tsukuba University students. We ask people of neighboring areas as well as people from other prefectures to please come to the “The Okuma Tsukuba Summer Festival”, which has been stepped up in size and quality.
The Okuma Tsukuba Summer Festival
Date & Time: Sunday, Aug. 10, 15:00 ~ 20:00
Venue: North Emergency Temporary Housing of Johoku Elementary School, Aizu-Wakamatsu city.
Okuma-machi Team, Aizu Research
On June 13, we visited the North Emergency Temporary Housing of Johoku Elementary School for the second time this year. The objective was to do a presentation of a plan to hold a “Summer Festival” for the people living in the temporary housing, and to exchange ideas and opinions with them. This time, we wanted the people of the temporary housing to not just come as visitors, but to take part in and enjoy the planning and organizing stages of the summer festival as well. We asked for their cooperation in organizing the stalls, decorations and creating publications. Because of the open and friendly attitude of the people in the temporary housing, the discussion was carried out in a pleasant atmosphere filled with laughter. However, at the same time, many things were pointed out and much advice given to us, and in a positive sense, we felt the gaps between the thinking and sensibilities of the Johoku district people and us. We became aware of the fact that the key to the success of the “Summer Festival” lies in narrowing the gaps. They also offered some interesting ideas that we would never have thought of, making the meeting extremely significant and worthwhile. On a personal note, I was very touched by what the children, who drop by on their way back from school, said; “Looking forward to the festival! I’m coming in my yukata! (Japanese summer kimono)”. My wish to produce the best summer festival where everyone can have fun has become even stronger.
We would like to put the feedback from this meeting into good use and, through the exchanges with the people of the Johoku district, continue with our efforts, while not forgetting that one of the major themes of the summer festival is “To Create and Enjoy the Festival Together”. (Akio Suzuki, College of Social Sciences)
Itako Team Tour
On May 23, the entire Itako Team went on a tour of the Itako-shi area. The Hinode area in Itako-shi is where massive damages were caused by liquefaction due to the Great East Japan Earthquake. Even though 3 years have passed since the earthquake, there are still roads that have not been repaired. Compared to last year, not much change could be detected in the parts that have been properly paved and that are still under works. Seeing firsthand of the situation made us realize the enormity of the damages that were hardly reported. (Top photo)
We also visited a temple called Suiunzan Choonji and met with the monk, Hashimoto-san, and asked him to tell us about the Hinode area. (Bottom photo) The most memorable words he mentioned were that the recovery of the kindergartens would lead to the protection of the town. Since Itako-shi is a new town, many of the parents’ generation come from other parts of the country, whereas for the children born here in Itako-shi, Itako will be their hometown and they might grow up to be in charge of developing the future of the town. Activities of Jibo Kindergarten, which Choonji runs, were introduced to us and we were impressed by its positive and constructive attitude. Once again, I vowed to give support to the region. (Yamazaki, 3rd Year at School of Art & Design)
Kotonoha Team, Minami-Soma Tour
Because of the code sharing with the College of Comparative Culture that started this year, the “Kotonoha Team” has been created. Applying the properties of its specialty, activities focused on “words” are being planned. As a start, we decided to visit the site and went on a tour of Minami-Soma City in Fukushima on May 10 and 11. (14 students, 4 instructors) The first day, we visited the Koike Naganuma Nishi Emergency Temporary Housing, where residents of the Odaka district, who suffered damages from both the tsunami and radiation, live.
Minoru Matsumoto, Chief of the Odaka District Regional Development Division spoke to us about the damages and the reconstruction plans, and Shinichiro Raku, President of the Community Association, about the life at the temporary housing and its problems with reference to actual examples. Since the damages in the Odaka district are not the same across the board, we listened to stories by the evacuees from the eastern region, western region and central region. In the evening, we visited the home of Mikako Takahashi, President of Hokuyosha Cleaning, Japan, and a supporter of “Tsunagaro Minami-Soma”. She showed us some valuable video footage and told us about how she was among the first to reopen her cleaning business after the disastrous earthquake. The second day, we toured the Odaka district with Matsumoto-san, guided by Fumitoshi Kanazawa, Chief Curator of the Fukushima Museum. This is an area preparing for the lifting of the evacuation directive, and although a return in 2 years has been decided, the conditions are still as can be seen in the photograph. It was heart wrenching for us, too, to see the sad looks on Raku-san, Tamagawa-san and Inamura-san, who had come with us from the temporary housing. We also visited Rikuzenhama-kaido, Soma Odaka Shrine, Kashima Fukko Shopping Center and Michinoku Kashima Baseball Stadium. It was a two-day visit in which we felt we had learned things that we could never have known just by reading about them. (Takahashi)
Okuma-machi Team, Aizu Research
On May 10 and 11, we visited the North Emergency Temporary Housing of Johoku Elementary School in Aizu-Wakamatsu-city, where people from Okuma-cho have evacuated and are currently living. This activity is now entering its 3rd year. Together with the residents of the temporary housing, we made shiratama-dango and discussed plans for this year’s Summer Festival. It turned out to be a productive research carried out in a lively atmosphere.
The next day, we visited the Fukushima Museum and spoke to Ms. Shoji and Mr. Kamata, who had evacuated from Okuma-cho and are working in Aizu and Sukagawa. Curators of the museum, Mr. Kawanobe and Ms. Kobayashi, who are also supporters of CR, spoke about the many activities in Fukushima as well. It was a very informative and significant two days, as we were able to hear directly from many people.
(Akagi)
Kamado (Cooking stove) Project Team “The Spring Hojo Market”.
On May 6, 2 years ago, a tornado swept through Hojo in Tsukuba-city. The Spring Hojo Market was held on the 6th and the Kamado Project Team carried out a workshop. Based on a map created by the “Project to strengthen the ties of the local shopping area”, which was organized by the Tsukuba City Society of Commerce & Industry and the Japan Shopping District Support Center and conducted between January and March, the team asked people, who had come to the market and taken part in the workshop, to draw their vision of Hojo 10 Years from now. (Hara)
We would like to thank everyone who came to the workshop, ”The Future of Hojo Shopping Center: Let’s Draw My Town, Our Town!” Thanks to all your efforts, a wonderful map has been created! Although there was a delay due to some problems, we are very glad we were able to make the ohagi (Bean cake) and serve them to the local people, too. A mobile kamado was introduced for the first time. Since it was cold, the kamado also acted as a heater. (LOL) This time, we boiled water for the tea, but next time, we would like everyone to try the rice, which will be cooked on the kamado BIKE!! We are very glad that we were able to connect with many people through the Hojo Market. Thank you very much. (Tanji, 3rd Year at School of Art & Design)
