Based in Nakano City, where our campus is located, we are working toward diversity, inclusion and interaction and disseminating intercultural messages across Japan and overseas
EducationSocial Contribution
Details of the Initiative
There are currently about 2.8 million foreign nationals living in Japan. This number will continue to increase in the future. The students of the Yamawaki Seminar is working mainly in Nakano City, where our campus is located, with the overarching theme of intercultural interaction.
Every year in July, we hold a roundtable for the mayor of Nakano City and foreign students, and in December, we invite the mayor and other local residents to attend the Nakano Intercultural Forum, in which we discuss various issues surrounding foreign residents. In 2019, we also held a sports day for residents from diverse backgrounds to interact with each other.
At the Human Rights Festa hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, presentations were held on the themes of diversity and inclusion. We also organized intercultural workshops for children. In 2020, three workshops were held online for elementary school students. In 2021, we organized workshops for junior and senior high school students.
We are also making efforts to promote “plain Japanese,” a form of the Japanese language which is easy for everyone to understand and which promotes the values of openness and compassion. In 2020, we produced videos, using plain Japanese, and in November we held an online event called “Plain Japanese Market” in Nakano City. In 2021, we made a music video in which my students sing a rap song about intercultural communication and the importance of plain Japanese.
Every year, during the summer vacation, we also make a study trip and visit local governments in other countries. To datre, we have visited the Korea, Taiwan, Netherlands and Australia.
The Red Team at the International Field Day “Nakano Borderless” (November 2019, Nakano Junior and Senior High School Attached to Meiji University). This large-scale event was supported by Nakano City and several companies in and outside Nakano City. A total of 157 people from 14 countries participated, including Nakano City Mayor SAKAI Naoto. The Yamawaki Seminar presenting at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Intercultural Presentation Contest (November 2019, Tokyo International Forum). Six of the seminar students participated in the contest and won the grand prize. The five teams that competed were Tokyo Woman’s University, Chuo University, Hosei University, Meiji University, and Waseda University.Group photo at the intercultural workshop for the fifth and sixth grades of elementary school (July 2020, online). A total of 32 children from all over Japan, China and Canada participated. The event was reported in Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Asahi Shogakusei Shimbun. We also held an online workshop for a class at Yokohama City Aizawa Elementary School.A view of the training program for Toshima City officials (December 2020, Toshima City Office). After an introductory lecture on interculturalism by myself, my students served as facilitators in the workshop for practicing plain Japanese. Two workshops with the same content were held on the same day and a total of about 120 officials participated.Photo of my students from the study trip in Sydney (August 2019). Every year during the summer vacation, the Yamawaki Seminar visits governments, municipalities, and NGOs to study interculturalism overseas. We have visited Korea, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Australia. In 2020, we “visited” intercultural cities in Australia online.
