A summer school program, “2013 Kyoto Study Program for Kasetsart University,” was conducted in Kyoto in collaboration with Kasetsart University, Thailand. This program was organized by the Human Security Development Educational Unit of Kyoto University’s “Re-inventing Japan Project.”
Twelve students from Kasetsart University majoring in agriculture, fishery, forestry, and economics took part in the program. The program consisted of lectures, field excursions, and cultural experiences.
Students attended a lecture on the food prosumer movement in Japan and visited various sites, such as horticultural farmers’ fields in Kyoto suburbs, an experimental farm at Takatsuki City, rice fields in Nagahama City, Yanmar Museum, Kitayama forest areas, and Suntory Distillery Factory. These activities aimed at imparting learning on agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and their mechanization in Japan. The participants also examined ecosystems and eco-preservation activities in the Lake Biwa area.
In addition, students also attended a lecture on Japanese literature, visited world cultural heritage sites in Kyoto and Nishiki Ichiba, a traditional market, as well as experienced Yuzen dyeing and kimono wearing.
At the end of the program, they staged presentations on their findings on Japanese culture and a comparison between rice farming in Thailand and that in Japan.
During the course of the program, dozens of Japanese students from Kyoto University, regardless of their fields of studies, also joined several activities and deepened their friendship with the Thai students.
 Orientation |  Yuzen dyeing experience |
 Rice Seedling Transplantation at Green Power Nagahama |  Attending a lecture on ecosystems at Lake Biwa Museum |
 Excursion at Takatsuki experimental farm |  Presentation |