✨ Wasshoi! Summer Festival @ Sangou 2024 ✨

Yesterday, we held a summer festival organized primarily by international students on campus in Nara. With support from facilities and businesses within the same group, we managed to successfully conclude the event despite the intense heat 😊

The festival attracted local residents, students from nearby elementary and middle schools, and employees of the international students’ workplaces. Even the Mayor of Sangou Town and the Principal of Sangou Elementary School visited to see how things were going! We had previously interacted with both the Mayor and the Principal, so the international students enthusiastically guided them around the campus, explaining each booth.

The festival featured eight booths: shooting gallery, knock-the-can, cultural booths, ethnic costumes, stage performances (singing, dancing, musical instruments), jelly fishing, water gun fights, and super ball scooping. Members from Liimo Minamimori-cho helped with operations at booths like the shooting gallery and super ball scooping, allowing us to successfully operate all booths until the end.

Here are some comments from attendees:

• “It wasn’t just an ordinary festival; it was educational and enjoyable!”
• “Playing water gun fights seriously with the older brother international students was so much fun!”
• “Wearing beautiful ethnic costumes created unforgettable memories! It was great chatting with them even while changing clothes!”

Voices from international students:

• “It was so much fun interacting with the children!”
• “I got to speak with Japanese people!”
• “The Mayor listened to explanations about my country.”

It was a valuable event right before summer vacation. Thank you very much to everyone who attended and helped with the event 😊 We look forward to continuing to learn through interactions with the local community in the future 😊