Field trip for newly arrived International Students

September 16th to 18th, 2009

The Foreign Student Division of the International Affairs Department arranged a field trip for newly arrived international students to tour Hida-Takayama, Shirakawago and the Hokuriku District, on September 16～18th, 2009. The main purpose of this trip was to provide the students with an opportunity get to know each other outside their faculty or research area, while learning about regional cultures in Japan. 45 international students experienced community and trust building in the Japanese sense – by sharing a floor to sleep on (in large ryokan rooms of 5～6 futons each). Luckily, new influenza did not cause during the trip, and the outing concluded on a pleasant note.
On the first day of the trip, the students traveled by bus to Takayama City of Gifu prefecture where they visited the "Arts and Fiesta Forest culture center" (Matsuri no Mori) and took a tour around the city's old-style urban landscape, learning about the city's history and traditional crafts. The first night was spent here in Takayama.
On the Second day, after stopping by at the "Miyagawa morning market" (Asa-ichi), the students went on to visit the historic village of "Shirakawa-go", a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and after strolling among the area's famous gassho-zukuri style thatched cottages (praying hand style – so called because of the distinctive shape of the roofs), enjoyed taking in the view of the area from a nearby mountain. Next was a tour of the vast "Kenroku-en" Japanese-style garden in Kanazawa City, where volunteer tour guides provided information in English. That night was a treat, as it was spent in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, where students donned light yukata kimonos and soaked in a relaxing onsen hot spring spa.
The final day was spent in Fukui prefecture, first with a trip to view the spectacular scenery of Tojimbo, an unusual cliff formation off the Sea of Japan, and then with a trip to Eihei-ji, one of the main temples of the Soto school of Buddhism. The last activity was WASHI-making (Japanese traditional paper) at "Echizen Washi no Sato". Each student made and took home their own beautiful piece of Japanese paper decorated with colourful flowers and foliage as a souvenir.
The students returned to Kyoto in good spirits, having deepened their friendship, and learned a great deal about Japan's traditional culture through their visit to this vivid historical area of Hida and Hokuriku.

at Kenrokuen Garden	First experience "Spa and Kimono"
at Tojinbo Cliff	Making Japanese paper
at Eiheiji temple