06/15/2017

On June 11, 2017, a Pre-event of the National Tree-planting Ceremony Fukushima 2018 was held in Ryozenkodomo-no-mura in Date City, and a total of 17 students (12 international students, 5 Japanese students) at University of Aizu joined the event. The purpose of this event is to encourage young people to get interested in forest and understand activities and current situation of the forest in Fukushima through Fukushima Forest Self-learning Support Projects. Firstly, the students participated in the opening ceremony and enjoyed Ryozen-daiko (Japanese drum performance) from Date City and Soma Nagareyama Odori (Dance performance) from Minami Soma City. Since most of the international students listened to Japanese drum for the first time, it was a great opportunity for them to experience Japanese traditional music culture. After the opening ceremony, people joined a main event "Commemorative Tree-planting". Although some international students were struggling to understand Japanese explanation on how to plant the trees, thanks to support from Japanese students and local volunteers, the international students succeeded in planting the trees. Afterward, the students enjoyed a local special hot pot and joined an experience section such as woodworking crafts. In the section, they experienced a little forestry works such as cutting a wood with a saw and wearing the working uniform. University of Aizu will proactively join such local exchange events and encourage students to understand features of local people and area in Fukushima.