e-ShortNews

“Iwate Prefecture in May was very beautiful with various flowers in full bloom,” said Mr. S, a painter and director of our Association, as he was reporting to me that he had the honor of seeing both the president of Iwate Federation of UNESCO Associations and the president of Morioka UNESCO Association. As the young artist wanted these organizations to be the sponsors of the one-man exhibition of his paintings to be held in his birthplace Morioka in July, I had asked those presidents for a favor. I really appreciate their kind cooperation. Mr. S, a good landscape artist, said delightedly that the paint sticking well to the canvas, he had successfully finished painting Chusonji Temple and other sceneries of Iwate.
I felt anew that it was important for UNESCO as-sociations throughout the country to make the most of each other’s regional and unique characteristics. All the associations helping and complementing each other to promote the non-governmental UNESCO movement will benefit our national federation and lead to the revitalization of each association concerned. I hear that associations with a World Heritage site in their regions have already started accepting and supporting other associations at their request. It has become a common practice for Meguro UNESCO to welcome students visiting our office during their school trips, and on those occasions we make a point of giving them information about the UNESCO association located in the region they come from.
May is the month when we hold our annual general assembly. The non-governmental UNESCO movement started in 1947, and it was also in May the next year, 1948, that the National Federation of UNESCO Co-operative Associations in Japan (now National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan) and Tokyo UNESCO Co-operative Association (now Tokyo Liaison Council of UNESCO Associations) were founded.
The general assembly of NPO Meguro UNESCO Association to be held at the end of this month will give us a chance to look back at the continuous efforts of every member involved in various volunteer activities. That, I hope, will lead to the improvement and better functioning of our future activities. I am also looking forward to hearing at the assembly a report by Mr. Mitsutoshi Masuda, who took part in the “Youth Study Tour in India for the World Terakoya Movement”.
I would like to attach my hopes for the future to Koinobori (carp-shaped streamers) flying high in the sky of May

Reiko Kato, President, Meguro UNESCO Association

where everyone’s heart is squeezed in -
Meguro UNESCO Association has completed collecting and sorting miswritten postcards.
On the other hand, there are piles of miswritten postcards in the office of National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ).
NFUAJ is currently looking for volunteers. Location: Asahi Seimei Ebisu Bldg., 12F

I want to join volunteer activities. How can I do that?” That was a sentence I found in the text book which we were using in Meguro UNESCO’s Japanese language class. I thought it was good timing, so I told them about “miswritten postcards” and suggested we do the sorting. 5 friendship members of the class happily accepted this offer. Thus, on Mar.14 (Tue), we visited NFUAJ after our class. It was the first time for some of the members to see Nenga-hagaki (a special postcard used for new-year greetings) and Kansei-hagaki (an official postcard). Everyone eagerly worked and completed sorting 9000 postcards. It was a good opportunity to learn and experience the meaning of this volunteer activity (UNESCO World Terakoya movement) in the atmosphere where we communicated in Japanese, Korean and English. Some of the members even donated the commuting cost which was provided to each volunteer by NFUAJ. I was very much impressed by everyone’s heart. When it was the time to leave the office, the members’ Japanese, sounding so lively, touched my heart more than ever.
- reported by Yoshiko Nakajima,
staff member of Japanese language classes

MASUDA Mitsutoshi, youth member of Meguro UNESCO Association

wenty young men from all over Japan made a study tour of India for two weeks from March 26 to April 8 under the Japanese Funds-in-Trust for the promotion of International Co-operation and Mutual Understanding. Meguro UNESCO Association recommended that I became one of the tour members.

Our first destination was a rural area in Karnataka state called Gokak. The National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan undertakes a community development project under the World Terakoya Movement there. We visited the Terakoya Community Learning Centers (CLCs) in the villages. They provide literacy education and vocational training. They are also used by adult groups for various ‘life improvement’ meetings. They were superior in comparison with other buildings in the neighborhood and clean, giving the impression that they were used carefully. The children's smiles were beautiful, which contrasted with the serious expressions of the adult faces. In another village, we attended a Terakoya CLC opening ceremony and felt that the villagers were looking forward to studying there. We also visited public schools and a college in Gokak.
In the latter half of the tour, we visited five world heritage sites ? the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa, Humayun's Tomb and Qutb Minar in Delhi, the Taj Mahal and the fort in Agra ? to bring us in touch with Indian history and culture. These sites are monuments to people's intelligence and skill! We had an opportunity to visit the Confederation of UNESCO Clubs and Associations of India in order to learn about UNESCO activities in India. We also had a chance to see a wealthy private school and to compare it with Terakoya CLCs and public schools.

The visit deepened my understanding about the education, the condition of the support to Terakoya CLCs, and the history and culture of India. I would like to keep in touch with the other participants and make the most of this experience in our future UNESCO activities.

I would like to thank you all, members of Meguro UNESCO Association, for giving me the opportunity to participate in this study tour

Ms. Han Jung Sun, Instructor of Korean Language Class

There has been no other time like now, that the Korean culture has captured Japanese people’s attention. This is also true of learning Korean as a foreign language, which is in the spotlight more now than ever before.

I started teaching at Meguro UNESCO Association’s language class in January. That was only three months ago, but long enough for me to feel the strength of this Korean class that was never felt in other language classes. A rapid increase in the number of people learning a foreign language is usually followed by a rapid decrease. But in this class, many of the students say that they have been studying for more than four years.

I think one of the most difficult things in learning a language is the ability to continue. Now, I have found that these students have particular motivations: Firstly, they “enjoy” attending classes, exchanging big smiles with each other, and secondly, they have an “enthusiasm” to memorize one more word during each class. In this Korean class those two aspects co-exist in a good and balanced way, which is most satisfying for me. My students never attend a class with a passive attitude as if they were waiting for a teacher to teach, but they are always very active in learning language through enjoying the atmosphere. This pulls out the motive power to continue learning a foreign language and is the strength of this class.

Now I am happy to say, although each student may have a different reason for learning Korean, each of them is playing a leading role in Japan-Korea cultural exchange

Junior Club CHIKYU Activity Report

Masumi Saito, leader of Junior Club

“Who cannot train his disciple to outstrip him is not a real master.”
This is a phrase I found in a magazine. Our time is limited, and we have an obligation to pass down something to young people who are responsible for the next generation.

Young people living in an urban community are well off materially but nearly deprived spiritually. We hope they will think from a broad perspective. That is the spirit embodied by UNESCO Peace Movements and World Terakoya movement. Believing that the spirit will help them live a spiritually rich life, we have started Junior Club CHIKYU.

We have made a second study trip. Blessed with fine weather and full-blown cherry blossoms in Inokashira Park, it was a perfect day for a picnic. We stretched for a while in the park, and then made a tour of Ghibli Museum, Mitaka in small groups of families or friends. They really enjoyed picnic lunch we had prepared.

Ghibli Museum, Mitaka is the home of works by Hayao Miyazaki. Heidi, Girl of the Alps was featured in the special exhibition. Actually, it was adults rather than children who were moved at the picture with tears in their eyes. You would smile when you saw adults taking a long look at characters of comics nostalgically while children just taking a quick glance to move on to the next.

A space designed to experience the wonder of animated cartoons, a circular staircase, and a “cat bus” which you can enter. Everyone enjoyed themselves to the full until they left for home smiling.

(#) After the last editorial meeting, I interviewed Mr. Masuda as I was interested in his report “Youth Study Tour in India”, which he had written for this issue.

(#) “Do you have any comments now that you have learned more about the history and culture of India?” “India’s history and culture are closely related to its religion. Respecting history and culture, I presume, is respecting different concepts and ideas.”

(#) “According to your profile attached to another report you wrote for the March issue, you say that you believe that you cannot enjoy life if you work only for your company. What would you like to say after this study tour?” “I really had a good time talking with young people. Among the twenty people who traveled together, I was the only office worker. What is important is the challenging sprit to do something different from your everyday occupation, whether it is a volunteer activity or not.”

(#) He said that he used a “volunteer leave” offered by his company for this study tour. I was impressed by the words ‘challenging spirit’.

(#) Now let me change the subject to inform you that it has been decided that the whole PR committee staff will be helping with the English newsletter hereafter. We are determined to try harder to publish “Short News that everyone wants to read”. We would appreciate your kind cooperation.

(Moriaki Saito)