Shiga: Children Experience Lake Biwa Study Voyage; Aiming at Learning about Environment, Ecosystem
The Yomiuri Shimbun
The study ship Uminoko departs from Imazu Port in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, on April 21.
TAKASHIMA, Shiga — This year's 'study voyage' program for elementary school students has started in Shiga Prefecture.
As the first group, 96 students set sail from Imazu Port in Takashima on April 21 for an overnight stay on Lake Biwa.
This study program, which is open to all fifth graders in the prefecture, is unique to Shiga. Aboard the Uminoko, a prefectural environmental study ship, students will travel around Lake Biwa for two days, stopping by the lake's Chikubujima and Okishima Islands.
With the aim of learning about the lake's environment, among other topics, they will observe the lake's surface, view cityscapes and study the water quality and species inhabiting the lake. They will also stop at Otsu Port for a walk and games like tug-of-war to deepen friendships.
This fiscal year, a total of 102 voyages are planned for about 13,000 children. The program has taken place since fiscal 1983, meaning many of these children's parents also once took part.
'I will spend my time thinking about what we can do to protect the environment and living creatures,' said a boy serving as student representative at the ceremony on the vessel. 'I want to talk with new people and for us to become friends.'
After the ceremony, the children went out on deck and waved colorful scarves to their parents and others seeing them off.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yomiuri Shimbun
13 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Ishinoyu Public Bathhouse Is Still Providing Great Firewood-Heated Baths That Charm Local Community
The Yomiuri Shimbun The facade of Ishinoyu and its iconic chimney ICHIKAWA, Chiba — Strolling through the Kokubun residential area of Ichikawa in Chiba Prefecture, east of the Edogawa River, a distinctive square chimney caught my eye. Below a red hot bath mark, the bold black letters 'ishi no yu' were prominent. This chimney is a symbol of the sento public bathhouse that has been beloved by the community for more than half a century. In 1970, the year of the Osaka Expo, former farmer Minoru Ishibashi built the Ishinoyu bathhouse on the former site of his rice paddy. After Minoru died, his wife Mitsuko, 85, their eldest son Kazuhiro, 61, and their third son Susumu, 55, took over the business, preserving the traditional method of heating groundwater with firewood. The Yomiuri Shimbun A man finely cuts wood salvaged from the pillars of a demolished wooden house to use as firewood. The bathhouse uses recycled wood as fuel, primarily from the pillars of demolished wooden houses. The wood is cut into manageable pieces to ensure it burns efficiently and is then transported by handcart to be burned in the furnace. This strenuous work often leaves workers soaked in sweat, and finding scrap wood can be difficult. Despite these challenges, firewood remains essential to Ishinoyu, leaving them no alternative but to continue to use it. As the shutters rise at 3:30 p.m., a stream of waiting customers passes under the noren curtain, each paying Mitsuko ¥500 at the bandai attendant's booth before entering the changing rooms. 'There's nothing like water heated with firewood,' said a man, 67, the president of a construction company in the city. 'A week without a bath at Ishinoyu and I'm completely stressed out.' He has been a regular customer since he was 20. The Yomiuri Shimbun Parts of the walls in the bath area are adorned with stones. I borrowed a towel and headed to the bathroom. Being true to its name, 'Ishinoyu,' which means 'stone bath,' has parts of the walls adorned with stones. The interior, with a design that somewhat evokes an open-air bath, brought to mind Kazuhiro's words: 'My father always said he wanted to create a bath resembling a hot spring.' After thoroughly washing myself in the washing area, I stepped into the bath. The deep comfort was such that a sigh nearly escaped my lips. Over in the medicinal bath, a man showed no sign of getting out. After stepping outside of the bathhouse, I felt refreshed. My body felt lighter, and even my pace of walking seemed to have quickened. I understand why regulars have been coming here for years. Ishinoyu The Yomiuri Shimbun Address: 2-2-21 Kokubun, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture Note: Masashi Sada, a singer and Ichikawa's goodwill ambassador, used to frequent this bathhouse. It was also used as a set location for the film 'Undercurrent' starring Yoko Maki. Hours: 3:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. (last entry at 10 p.m.) Closed on Thursdays and other days.
Yomiuri Shimbun
18-05-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Pioneer Kumamoto Building Multilingual Disaster Support Network for Growing Foreign Population; System Provides Nationwide Model
KUMAMOTO — Local governments and communities of foreign residents in Kumamoto Prefecture are collaborating to build a network through which disaster support information can be disseminated in different languages, as part of an effort to prevent foreign nationals from becoming isolated during disasters. The prefecture intends to expand the network and has also initiated disaster preparedness training for foreigners. The initiative addresses the challenges in supporting foreigners that were faced during the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake and aims to bolster the growing foreign population's resilience against disasters. Experts, meanwhile, have commended the effort as an initiative that should be expanded nationwide. Communicating key information The Yomiuri Shimbun Pann Ei Nyein, third from left, and others listen to an explanation about emergency food and other supplies by a disaster preparedness official in Amakusa, Kumamoto Prefecture, in February. 'Our group has more than 800 Myanmar nationals who reside in Kumamoto Prefecture,' said Pann Ei Nyein, 29, at a disaster preparedness training session for foreigners held by the prefecture in late February in the Ushibuka district of Amakusa. She encouraged the Myanmar attendees to join the Kumamoto Myanmar Group, which she founded. Pann works as an engineer at a machinery manufacturer. The group typically uses social media to share their favorite restaurants and discuss the things that are troubling them. When a disaster occurs, the plan is for Pann, leveraging her strong Japanese skills, to receive information from the prefectural government and the Kumamoto International Foundation and communicate details about the distribution of supplies, the restoration of essential utilities and other information in Burmese to the others in the group. It was the Japanese language school she attends that asked her to collaborate on the initiative. Due to a labor shortage, the Ushibuka district has seen a rise in technical intern trainees from Southeast Asia, with about 250 foreigners residing there. On the day of the February training session, representatives of communities consisting of people from three countries visited the district and interacted with 13 foreign residents, including Indonesians and Filipinos. 'Japan experiences many earthquakes and a lot of heavy rain, so I'm relieved that there's an Indonesian association in Kumamoto,' said a 23-year-old Indonesian resident of the district. Learning from past disasters The foreign resident population in Kumamoto Prefecture stands at about 29,400, having almost tripled in the past 10 years. The surge is attributed to the arrival of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in the prefecture and other developments. Notably, the prefecture's growth rate of the number of foreign residents far exceeds that of the national average, which increased about 1.8 times over the same period. The prefecture has produced a leaflet introducing nine foreign resident community groups, including a Taiwan association. Since fiscal 2023, it has also initiated disaster preparedness training for foreigners in order to enhance cooperation during emergencies. This initiative addresses lessons learned from the Kumamoto Earthquake, when adequate support did not reach foreign residents. The Yomiuri Shimbun Andrew Mitchell holds a booklet introducing foreign resident groups and discusses the challenges of supporting foreigners, in Kumamoto on April 9. Among those affected by the earthquake was Andrew Mitchell, now 40, a specially appointed assistant professor at Kumamoto University and representative of a volunteer group called Keep, which he established. He still remembers the main tremor on April 16, 2016, during which the violent shaking made him think he was going to die. He fled to the university grounds empty-handed. At that time, he had no idea about evacuation centers or the provision of water and food supplies. As an international student from the United Kingdom with limited proficiency in Japanese, he was susceptible to misinformation on social media. A false report of a nearby bridge collapse, in particular, caused him considerable anxiety. He drew on his own experiences of the quake and decided to improve the support available to foreigners. He established Keep with four other international students and, in collaboration with the prefectural government, shares at disaster preparedness events the challenges he encountered during the earthquake, including the insufficient understanding of disaster-related vocabulary among foreigners and the necessity of inclusive disaster drills. 'There were foreigners in the corners of various evacuation centers looking anxious,' Le Thi Tram, 47, chairperson of the Vietnamese association in Kumamoto, recalled about her visits to evacuation centers after the main tremor. She pointed out the importance of a multilingual disaster response: 'Some people misunderstood and thought they could not receive water or supplies.' The association's Facebook page, established three years ago, has about 2,300 followers as of April. 'We want to leverage the community and cooperate with local governments to convey various support-related information during disasters,' Tram said. Collaboration an effective approach In the wake of the Kumamoto Earthquake and other successive disasters, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry since fiscal 2018 has been training foreign disaster information coordinators to assist at evacuation centers. About 190 individuals across the nation have registered for the training, which includes lessons on how to use multilingual translation apps. However, the vast majority of them are Japanese, underscoring a notable disparity. Commenting on Kumamoto Prefecture's efforts, an official of the ministry's international affairs office said: 'Providing multilingual translations during disasters presents a significant challenge. Collaborating with foreign resident communities is an effective approach.' University of Tokyo Prof. Naoya Sekiya, who specializes in the study of dissemination of disaster-related information, praised the initiative, saying, 'Providing information in people's native languages will undoubtedly reassure those who were affected by disasters. Other regions would be wise to consider this as a model.' He further emphasized the importance of building resilient communication networks, adding, 'Anticipating scenarios where the community's primary contact person is also impacted necessitates establishing multiple communication channels.'
Yomiuri Shimbun
10-05-2025
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Shiga: Children Experience Lake Biwa Study Voyage; Aiming at Learning about Environment, Ecosystem
The Yomiuri Shimbun The study ship Uminoko departs from Imazu Port in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, on April 21. TAKASHIMA, Shiga — This year's 'study voyage' program for elementary school students has started in Shiga Prefecture. As the first group, 96 students set sail from Imazu Port in Takashima on April 21 for an overnight stay on Lake Biwa. This study program, which is open to all fifth graders in the prefecture, is unique to Shiga. Aboard the Uminoko, a prefectural environmental study ship, students will travel around Lake Biwa for two days, stopping by the lake's Chikubujima and Okishima Islands. With the aim of learning about the lake's environment, among other topics, they will observe the lake's surface, view cityscapes and study the water quality and species inhabiting the lake. They will also stop at Otsu Port for a walk and games like tug-of-war to deepen friendships. This fiscal year, a total of 102 voyages are planned for about 13,000 children. The program has taken place since fiscal 1983, meaning many of these children's parents also once took part. 'I will spend my time thinking about what we can do to protect the environment and living creatures,' said a boy serving as student representative at the ceremony on the vessel. 'I want to talk with new people and for us to become friends.' After the ceremony, the children went out on deck and waved colorful scarves to their parents and others seeing them off.
