Past activities

On December 16th, 2018, about 50 Japanese American students came to Mio to learn the relationship between Mio and Canada. The visitors were guided in 8 groups by Kataribe junior students. It was their first time to give a tour of Mio to foreigners whose roots were in Japan. Almost all the participants didn’t speak Japanese. So, the Kataribe juniors translated their scripts and guided them all in English. This challenging experience gave them a  sense of growth and confidence about their ability to lead tours in English.

From 1990 to 2005, there was an international exchange program for junior high school students between Mihama-cho, Wakayama and Vancouver.  However due to the changing interest associated with the generational change and the shortage of manpower, there had been no international exchange programs since then. So, one of the purposes of this trip of Kataribe juniors was to revive the relationship between Mihama-cho and Vancouver again through the interaction of people between the two places.

From August 1^st to 7^th, 2019, 13 Kataribe juniors and 6 teachers visited Vancouver, Canada. They could interact with many Japanese Canadian. On the first day, the juniors visited Japanese Consulate General in Vancouver and Nikkei Place which consists of the museum regarding Japanese Canadians and facilities for the Japanese Canadian elderly. On the second day, they visited such sites such as Kuno Garden and Richmond City Hall. Also, they met with the B.C. Wakayama-Kenjinkai. On the third day, they visited UBC (University of British Columbia) and participated in Powell Festival and made presentations about their hometown and activities, which was the most important moment for the Kataribe juniors. On the forth day, they went sightseeing in North Vancouver. On the fifth day, they had a pizza party in the park with the 70 members of “Vancouver new Asahi”.