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What's Going On? TOPICS |
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May 2021page 1 |
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What's Going On? TOPICS |
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May 2021page 1 |
May 2021 page 1 TOPICS
Matsuyama Went Out into the World
Hideki Matsuyama won the Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club to become the first Japanese player to claim a men's major championship. The people in Matsuyama, where he is from, also celebrated his splendid feat. Many fans assembled at the "Hideki Golf Garden", a golf range where he practiced when he was a boy in Matsuyama, on the last day of the tournament, and watched his final round together on TV. He was a quiet boy, when he was young and he just concentrated on his training. It is really incredible that he made his way in the world from here in Matsuyama. Mr. Shuji Watanabe, the principal of Yugun Elementary School, which Matsuyama attended, celebrated his win and said that his championship would motivate the students to make their dreams come true, that they could feel close to his great achievement when they imagine how he attended their school, and that he would introduce their great senior, Matsuyama, to the students. (April 13, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Exchange through Calligraphy between Ehime and Mozambique
On March 23, 15 students from Mishima High School's calligraphy club and inter-act club, in eastern Ehime enjoyed calligraphy online through English with six students from a high school in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique. The members of the calligraphy club dressed in hakama, the Japanese traditional clothing showed their skills, writing Chinese characters and hiragana, such as "hana, flower" and "wa, peace" They taught the basics of calligraphy and showed their calligraphy performance. Meanwhile they introduced a Japanese custom of sending New Year's cards and drew a picture of a cow, which is the animal of this year according to the Chinese zodiac. At first, the Mozambican students were a little awkward, but they improved as they practiced. They showed their work and encouraged each other. In the question time, they talked with each other about school life including club activities. One Japanese student said, "Now that we can't have exchange with people abroad very often, I was happy to do this online." Ehime is set to be a host of the Mozambique team during the Tokyo Olympics. This is part of the project by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in which the government promotes Japan. The Japanese ambassador in Mozambique cooperated with Ehime and carried out such events at two high schools in Ehime last year.(April 11, Ehime Shimbun) |
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New Area at Emiful
Emiful MASAKI, which has been under renovation since summer 2020, celebrated the completion of phase 4 of their plans. 19 shops which includes the first one in Shikoku opened. "Smile Marche" is designated for food shops and there are many attractive shops such as "Sakimoto" which sells a high-end shokupan loaf, the first in Shikoku, and "nana's green tea" which sells a dessert made with Matcha. Ten restaurants are found along "Smile Dining", the restaurant street. The renovation consists of five phases and has been implemented since August 2020 to attract more families. Some specialty shops for kids opened in Phase 3 in May 2021. A new experience-based amusement facility, the first in Western Japan, will open at the annex this summer as Phase 5, completing the renovation. It is expected to be a 3-billion-yen project in total. (April 11, Ehime Shimbun) |
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Residence of a Prestigious Daimyo Family Now a Hotel
On April 3, Ozu City and its partners opened a hotel, Nipponia Hotel Ozu Castle Town Miti Wing. It is a renovated residence built by Yasumichi Kato (1879-1971), a descendant of the Ozu feudal lord (daimyo) in the Taisho era (1912-1926). The building is registered as a national tangible cultural property. People can stay in a room once used by the prestigious family. The renovation is part of a community-development project based on tourism that uses historical resources promoted by the city. The former Kato family house is a two-story wooden residence (total floor area, 265 square meters). Although the building was previously closed to the public, the first floor is now open after completion of earthquake-proofing work. The accommodation area is on the 2nd floor. The style of each room is unchanged and the rooms have a luxurious atmosphere with special bedding and tableware of Tobe porcelain. From the hotel, you can see Ozu Castle, a national important cultural property. The first floor is open to the public between 9 am and 5 pm. Atsushi Rikino, President of Value Management Co. ltd, said, "There are still only a few cultural properties nationwide where people can stay. I would like guests to feel like a lord and enjoy the history and culture of Ozu"(April 4, Ehime Shimbun Online) For further details and room rates, please refer to the website:https://www.ozucastle.com/en/ |
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100th Anniversary of Death of First Japanese Missionary
Norimatsu Masayasu, from Matsuyama, was the first Japanese Protestant missionary to go abroad. There are few people who know about his life, even in Korea, where he devoted himself as a missionary. As this year marks the 100th anniversary of his death, his devotion has collected more attention. In late February, Korean believers paid tribute to his contribution to the church in the suburbs of Seoul, where part of his ashes was buried. He began to go to church in his 20s when he worked in Kanagawa prefecture after graduating from Matsuyama Middle School. He entered the divinity course of Meiji Gakuin (present Meiji Gakuin Univ.) and started his pastoral career. He heard that a Korean believer was persecuted and executed after he went back to Korea from Japan. It is said that triggered him to devote himself to Korea. He went there in 1896, a year after the Japanese in Korea commanded the Imperial Japanese Army and other groups to kill Queen Min in the Korean royal palace. Korean people had strong hostility to the Japanese. It is said he spoke Korean, wore the same clothes as local people, and gave food and medicine to local children while he staved off hunger with humble food. He married a Japanese woman when he temporarily returned to Japan. His wife moved to Korea with him. It is said she earned money by selling her hair and offered meals to their friends. They suffered from malnutrition many times and his wife died in her 30s, leaving four children. Norimatsu got tuberculosis and came back to Japan. He died at the age of 57 in Kanagawa in 1921. A monument built near his ashes in the Korean church says, "The couple engaged in conveying the Gospel to Korea with united hearts." The monument was left undamaged while many monuments for the Japanese were destroyed after the liberation from colonial rule. (April 2, Ehime Shimbun) |
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Graduate from Cambodia Continues Support for Interns
A female student from Cambodia graduated from Matsuyama Shinonome College this spring. The title of her graduation thesis was "Acceptance of Foreign Interns in Japan and Challenges for the Future". After graduating from college, she will work at a support organization to help foreign technical intern trainees. Srors Lisren (25), from Battambang Province in western Cambodia, studied at a Japanese language school run locally by the NPO "International Mine Clearance and Community Development Supporters" (IMCCD) (Matsuyama City). She came to Japan in 2013 after graduating from junior high school. Lisren received support from IMCCD after arriving in Japan, attending high school and university in Matsuyama while learning Japanese at the NPO. She studied Japanese for a few hours every day and passed the N1 level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in 2018. She recalls, "It was hard to think in Japanese instead of my native language". What concerned her was the situation of foreign technical intern trainees including many of her compatriots. So she researched how the system works, and interviewed people with experiences as foreign interns and then wrote her thesis. In her thesis, she called for improving working conditions, eliminating discrimination against foreigners, and implementing measures against brokers charging exorbitant fees. She says, "Please teach technical intern trainees Japanese. If they can speak Japanese, it will be the first step in helping to solve problems". In April, she starts working at a support organization that helps foreign technical intern trainees and the companies where they work. She is looking forward to the next stage: "I want to help Cambodian and Japanese people by listening to their problems". (March 27, Asahi Shimbun Digital) |
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Matsuyama International Center |