2007.02.22

Visit of Students of Center for Japanese Language to Kazamaura Village

A group of students of Center for Japanese Language visited Kazamaura Village in Shimokita County of Aomori Prefecture from February 6 to 9, and interacted with local pupils and students at three primary schools and junior high schools in the village. This exchange first began by a curious coincidence that Joseph Hardy Neesima, the founder of Doshisha University, called in at Shimoburo area of Kazamaura Village on the way from Edo (Tokyo) to Hakodate in 1864. In 1992, a group of international students of Doshisha University visited the village, and since then the exchange has continued to this day including mutual visits by junior high school students of the village and Doshisha.

This year, four students (two Germans, one Canadian and one Australian) visited the village and enjoyed activities such as simple, conversational English lesson, Basketball, mochi (rice cake) pounding, making ozoni soup, bean-throwing ceremony, walking on stilts, calligraphy, and playing spinning top. This warm contact with the children of the village and fun events will surely be lasting memories for international students. We hope this wonderful exchange will continue on to the future.