KIZUNA PROJECT REPORT
Initially I would like to acknowledge JOCA for funded the trip to Japan especially in visiting the
disaster site. Thanks for providing us with food and accommodation and it were really awesome and
an enjoyable tour I ever had in my life. Personally it will be a memorable one to me.
Personally after the trip, I learn and experience a lot of things that I never know of before that
affects me positively in one way or the other. Firstly in hearing and watched on the television about
the earthquake and the tsunami that affect the great east of Japan it was really sad that many
people lost their life, some were injured badly and many lost their homes. Day 1 I learned many
things about earthquake by a lecture on the Great East Japan earthquake. It was mention that its
magnitude was 9.0 and that’s the greatest one they experienced it. After the lecture we visited the
Edo-Tokyo museum. It was really a nice big building. Inside there were history records about huge
event that had happened to Japan like the natural disasters such as earthquake, tsunami, etc. I also
learned about the 1923 Great Tokyo earthquake, the revolving stage and model of the Bridge. It was
really a nice place to visit. Furthermore we visited Tsuru University and exchanged program with the
students there by discussing on what one can do in preparing for natural disasters. It was fun and
interesting since we get to know each other.
Additionally we went to Yamanashi disaster prevention centre there I learned that when an
earthquake shake a place we should go under the table. We also experienced earthquake of 6 & 7
magnitudes on the stimulator. We then moved to Suntory Hakusyu Distillery factory. There we
learned that water was distilled naturally by Granite and the surrounding environment is mostly
cover with Granite and the water test really nice. Perhaps we also visited an ancient house where it
was built more than 100 years ago and it was still there pass on from one generation to generation.
The building materials were all traditional and they also lived traditionally. The house was used for
multipurpose. We also experienced farm work where we went to the farm and harvested the soya
beans. There we cooked the beans and everyone ate it and it test really delicious (ocytes). We all
have fun and enjoy it. We also experienced one of the Japanese traditional ways of swimming
named hot spa. There everyone were naked and have bath together in a pool and the water was not
such as cold but it was hot.
Another memorable experienced in life when we moved to Kuji City where everyone experienced
travelling on a train (shinkansen). It was really comfortable inside and very fast and took almost the
whole day to arrive at Kuji city. In the evening we watched a DVD on the tsunami that struck them
on the 11 of March 2011 and it was really sad to see people died and the environment becomes
worst after the tsunami. It is a nice place for holiday due to its colourful attractive environment and
we experienced different varieties of foods. However the temperature of Kuji city is very low that
leads to a cold environment and every one were wearing long pants and jackets. It is a nice
experience. Upon living in Kuji city we experienced digging amber mining. We learned that in Japan
the only place where they can find amber was in Kuji city and it is one of their resources for tourist’s
attraction. I enjoyed it everyone having fun since we were competing that who will found many as
possible. We then visited the amber museum and the products that were made out of the amber
were very beautiful but were also expensive.
Furthermore we took a disaster study train and we observed the coastline which has been destroyed
by the disaster (tsunami). The area destroyed by the tsunami is quite big and many homes, buildings
and roads were destroyed. We witnessed the work in progress. The debris was collected and put in
one area. I noticed that the debris were taken for recycle and used for the reconstruction. So far the
reconstruction of the disaster site was high because everyone unites together by contributing ideas
and funds to rebuild the damaged areas. The train driver also showed us a picture of places of before
and after the disaster and compared to what we saw. From my opinion, I think in three years time
the disaster areas will look similar as the original one.
We went to a village and experienced how to cook Iwate traditional food known as Mamebu
Dumpling. We all divided into groups and the mothers shared the recipes among us and we made
the mamebu dumplings. I enjoyed cooking it as well as eating. The food test sweet and I liked it.
Then we came back to where we lived and participated on a forest board by painting pictures, maps,
logos and wrote messages. Our group paint the Vanuatu map and it was really enjoyable. It will be
taken and nailed onto the forest walkway so that it will make it easier for people who can’t walk or
for wheelchair people enjoy walking in the forest as well and in the evening we enjoy together a
farewell feast with people there. Everyone enjoy the feast due to the performance done by the
Palau group, the Japanese women as well as the Vanuatu group.
Next day we travel back from Kuji city to Tokyo. It took us the whole morning to travel. When we
arrived at Tokyo we visited Ariake water reclamation centre. We learned that water is filtered and
treated before it is discharged in to the sea and recycled for flushing toilets in Tokyo. Further we
went to the national Olympics memorial youth where we had a workshop on after returning back to
our country how will we share information especially on what we see about the disaster site as well
as Japan as a whole. However we can share our experiences through the social media like radio,
internet, newspaper, etc. We went to Imperial Palace and enjoy the view there by taking pictures.
Beautiful place for relaxation clean with fresh air. Later we then went to the ministry of Foreign
Affairs and deliver a report speech to the people there of what we see about the disaster. Back to
the hotel (Yokohama prince hotel) we had farewell party again together with the members of JOCA.
There also we perform some cultural performances.
Last but not the least we went to Rinkai Park, it is also one of the disaster prevention centres. There
we learned some very important survival tips of what should be done when experiencing a disaster.
We then visited the museum of meteorogical science, where they also provide information on when,
how will a natural disaster come. Finally we visited one of their temples known as Senso-ji where
they usually go there for worship.
In general the trip was one of the best I ever experience and learned many things especially about
disaster like earthquake and tsunami. Therefore I would like to send my heartfelt gratitude to
everyone especially the coordinator Mrs Renuka and Mrs Sara for guiding us in how to go about the
trip and then also to the JOCA organization for sponsoring the tour.