Activities FY 2020

Japanese Classes

Japanese classes (Beginner level and Intermediate level) were held on 18th, 19th, and 25th February 2021. These classes were held as a second step in collaboration with the PCS “Survival Japanese” class.

The main focus of these classes were to brush up on oral communication requested by exchange students. With the cooperation of TUFS students, who speak Japanese as their mother tongue, we used the Zoom Breakout session function to conduct a small number of exercises and free conversations. It was a valuable opportunity to exchange under the situation of the COVID-19, and it is expected that our relationship will continue in the future.

 

 

Online Tours

We conducted three online tours with the aim of deepening international students’ understandings of Japan and providing opportunities for exchange between international students and TUFS students.

A working group was organized by three volunteer students (Two fourth-year students majoring in Africa and one first-year student of Graduate School of International Studies) and the project coordinator. This working group examined the contents of the tours and what we can discuss after the tours. The three students played a central role in the discussions on the day.

Based on international students’ requests, we have conducted online tours of Okinawa, meditation, and Hiroshima.

Experience Hiroshima Online

Hiroshima online tour took place on Friday, 5^th March 2021 in cooperation with Peace Culture Village (NPO).

Peace Culture Village: https://peaceculturevillage.org/

< Program >
13:00-13:55 Part 1 About Hiroshima / About Peace Culture and War Culture / The Lecture from the Atomic Bomb Survivor
14:05-14:45 Part 2 Group Work: Discuss Questions for the Atomic Bomb Survivor/ Q&A with the Atomic Bomb Survivor
14:55-15:50 Part 3 Group Work: Sharing the Impressions / Q&A

This tour was held in three parts. Group work took place throughout the program and active discussions took place under the leadership of working group students and PCV facilitators. By sharing the impressions and opinions, we were able to deepen what we have realized on this tour. It was a valuable opportunity for students to hear the story directly from the atomic bomb survivor and ask questions. It was also an opportunity to connect with students’ own experiences and the situation in their home countries, and to get clues to think about their own future and the next steps toward peace.
Participants: 14

Meditaion with a Japanese Buddhist Monk

On Tuesday, 9^th March 2021, we held an online meditation tour with the cooperation of a monk from Washu.

< Program >
9:00-10:00 About Meditation / Mantra Chanting / Meditation / Q&A
10:00-11:00 Discussion

First, we had a lecture about breathing, voice, and meditation from the monk. Then we had 20 minutes of chanting a mantra, 10 minutes meditation with being conscious of breathing and Q&A. After the monk had left, we had discussion time and shared the impression and experiences about the meditation.

Some international students studying peacebuilding had learned at alma mater that meditation is effective in the treatment of PTSD, and that was why they wanted to experience meditation through this tour. A participant who practices meditation on a daily basis shared the experience that meditation reduced the blood pressure. It was not only valuable as a cultural experience, but also an opportunity to respond to academic interests and get hints for comfortable daily life.
Participants: 8

Okinawa Peace Tour

With the cooperation of Cerulean Blue, we held an online tour of Okinawa on Friday, 18^th March 2021.

< Program >
14:00-15:00 About the Battle of Okinawa /About the Himeyuri Memorial Tower / Peace Memorial Park
15:00-16:15 History from the Ryukyu Kingdom to Okinawa Prefecture / History from the Battle of Okinawa to Return to the Mainland / Incidents and Accidents Stemming from U.S. Military Bases / Citizens’ Movement / Relocation of Marine Corps Air Station to Henoko / Q&A
16:15-17:00 Discussion

After the lecture about the detailed history of the Battle of Okinawa, the tour guide explained to us about Himeyuri memorial Tower while watching a video. Then she showed us around the Peace Memorial Park on time and talked about the topics requested beforehand by the working group.

It was a valuable opportunity to learn about Okinawa and Japanese history, especially for students who said what they had learned at school about Japan during World War II were only about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. During the Q&A and the discussion, the participants exchanged views on issues such as the description of civilian “mass suicide” in the Battle of Okinawa in the textbooks, the child soldiers in Sierra Leone, the issue of U.S. military bases in Japan, and the issue of comfort women, which provided us an opportunity to reconsider the history and peace of Okinawa, Japan, and the world.
Participants: 13

 

Okinawa Peace Tour

Joint Conference

A kick-off event for this project, the “Past and Future of the Exchange Programs in Africa of TUFS: IAfP Kick-off Joint Conference” was held on Thursday, 25^th March 2021.

Held online using Zoom, the event drew 71 participants from Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, South Africa and Japan.

First of all, Prof.Shinichi Takeuchi, Director of the African Studies Center, gave an opening address. Next, five African partner universities (Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences [PIASS], University of Ghana, University of Zambia, University of Pretoria, and Stellenbosch University) of TUFS introduced their schools and study abroad systems. Three students who have been to partner universities in Africa from TUFS and three African students who came to TUFS from our partner universities in Africa shared their experiences of studying abroad. We have invited a professor from PIASS to join the session of PIASS, since a certain number of exchange studies have been conducted regularly between PIASS and TUFS. After the Q&A session, we had a closing address from Professor Jun Matsukuma, Vice President of our university.

For the time adjustment, we have postponed the discussion to the next opportunity, and instead, we had extra Q&A session after the closing. The event was full of contents, but some of the participated students said that it was a valuable opportunity to learn about the partner universities and studying abroad experiences of the students, so it seems like it ended up as a suitable kick-off event. We would like to express our gratitude to our partner universities, speakers and participants for paying efforts and cooperation for this event.

 

 

 

 

 

We have edited the students’ experiences as a booklet for this event. It is the record of experiences of TUFS students who have studied in Africa and experiences of the African University students who have studied at TUFS. The first half is in Japanese, the last half is in English. Please check it out. Especially if you are interested in studying in TUFS of Japan, it may help you the ideas of your life in TUFS and Japan. If you wish to see the actual product, you can distribute it at our office.

<Program>
16:00-16:10  Opening Remarks (Shinishi Takeuchi, Director of the African Studies Center)
16:10-16:35  Introduction from Partner Universities
　1) Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (Rwanda)
　　Celestin Nsengimana, Dean of Faculty of Development Studies
　2) University of Ghana (Ghana)
　　Eric Osei-Assibey, Dean of International Programmes
　3) University of Zambia (Zambia)
　　Patricia Mwila Sakala, Manager of the International Link and Liaison
　4) University of Pretoria (South Africa)
　　Smart Maqubela, Senior International and Postgraduate Specialist Consultant
　5) Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
　　Robert Kotze, Senior Director of the Stellenbosch University International
　6) Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (Japan)
　　Makiko Sakai, Professor of School of International and Area Studies
16:35-17:25  Students’ experiences
　1) University of Ghana (Charles Acheampong Agyebeng / Yuki Ide）
　2) University of Pretoria (Wendy-Rose Govender / Naoto Mihara）
　3) Protestant Institute of Arts and Social Sciences (Icishatse Elie Rodrigue / Ayumu Uchida / Prof.Kazuyuki Sasaki)
17:25-17:55　General Discussion (Takanori Oishi, Professor of School of International and Area Studies)
17:55-18:00　Closing remarks (Jun Matsukuma, Vice President of TUFS)

(Moderator: Chihiro Kumashiro, Coordinator of IAfP in TUFS)

IAfP Kick-off Joint Conference