Volunteer Newsletter by City Cast Chiba, Vol.2

Vol.2 Table of Contents

【Page 1】The virtual tours begin! 【Page 2】The backstage and highlights of each tour 【Page 3】The Netherlands Team Pre-Camp Interview 【Page 4】"Omotenashi" Goods (hospitality gifts) 【Page 5】Olympic Torch Bearer Interview (Second half), Register for the Volunteer Meter! 【Page 6】City-volunteer experience programs(latter part of the report) 【Page 7】City-volunteer experience programs(latter part of the report), Newsletter quiz, Editor's Note

Vol.2 - published on August 12, 2021

This newsletter was all translated by City Cast Chiba. The summery in Spanish, Chinese and Korean is also coming soon.

Click here for the newsletter in Japanese

As the heated games continued in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, the volunteers sought out activities in their respective fields and steadily moved forward. Let's look at what City Cast Chiba is doing, creatively thinking about what we can do now!

【Page 1】The virtual tours begin!, welcome everybody from Netherlands

【Page 2】The backstage and highlights of each tour

No.1 “Enjoy gourmet cuisines! Cycling to the East and to the West” - Highlights of the tour in Chinese (Group Leader: Mr. Akira Yamada)

Ni Hao! We are cheerful Chinese tour team. We are now struggling to prepare slides for the presentation but also enjoying it like children. Also, we are up for the challenge of introducing the tour in Chinese. The highlights of this tour are photos taken on site by us and various experiences that we tried at first hand, going there by bicycle in hot weather. We believe that we can convey the enjoyable atmosphere of our tour to the guests even remotely. We have also prepared a quiz for guests to enjoy. It will be our pleasure to welcome a lot of guests to our tour.

Click here for the tour in Chinese 

No.2 “Let’s go on train, to east! A trip in photos and watercolors” - Highlights of the tour in Spanish (Group Leader: Mr. Yukio Haraguchi)

We organized a tour to introduce the attractive places in northeastern part of Chiba such as Sawara, Choshi and Inubosaki (Cape Inubo). I’m also going to show my water-color painting works that I’ve drawn for 30 years to introduce those places. We are now plugging away at preparing presentation materials. Spanish is not as common language as English and we often have difficulties in preparing this tour. However, we hope that Spanish-speaking people in the world discover attractions of Chiba through our tour.

Click here for the tour in Spanish

No.3 “A tour for the history & culture, Chiba” - Highlights of the tour in English (Mettaken: Mr. Ken Suzuki）

The Mettaken group consists of seven volunteers who were gathered at the study session "MINNA NO TOSHI Volu UNIV. in Chiba, Everyone's City Volunteer University" held in 2020.
We have continued to study knowledge and methods about local guidance for visitors since the announcement of the postponement of the Olympics, We have often failed in Zoom and remote editing operations. If we didn't have our members, we would have given up.
The streets of Hokuso (northern part of Chiba Prefecture) are certified as Japan Heritage. We are sure that the virtual tour of the Narita area, the temple towns, and the Sakura area, the castle towns, can give you more fun than the normal one. We introduce the charms of Narita and Sakura to the world!

Click here for the tours in English

No.4 “Casual trip from Narita Airport to Japanese food culture, Sake and Soy sauce” - Highlights of the tour in English (Group Leader: Mr. Hidetsugu Fukuyama)

Japanese food is designated as UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage and popular overseas. Fermented food is often used as the ingredient of Japanese food.
We’ll guide you on a trip to visit Kosaki, a fermentation village that inherits the fermentation technology developed from the geographical and historical background of Chiba prefecture. There is also an interactive session where you talk about your familiar Japanese food and fermented food in your country. Let’s enjoy our tour!

Click here for the tours in English

No.5 “Come Visit My House! Let’s take a look at a traditional Japanese house and food culture” - Highlights of the tour in English (Group Leader: Mr. Tsunetaro Iwatate)

The tour starts with a live broadcast from my house. I’m sure that you can enjoy this live broadcast! Although it’s virtual, I’d like to make the tour more practical. I can show you anywhere you want in my house.
I’ll introduce you to the wisdom of ancestors about Joinery, “Genji fusuma”, Japanese traditional partition, and “Yukimi shouji”, Japanese traditional window. I’ll also show you our meals because you might have an interest in what we usually eat. Our members will give you quizzes and explain about the entrance, Buddhist altar, household Shinto altar, and rice. Moreover, we’ll introduce you to the charm of locations on the Boso Peninsula using many pictures.

Click here for the tours in English

【Page 3】The Netherlands Team Pre-Camp Interview

Athletics

The Netherlands Athletics team pre-camped in Chiba, and opened their practice session at Chiba prefectural sports center.

Under the cloudless blue sky, runners in bright orange uniforms were dashing on the track like rockets. They were running as if they were showing off their lean tall bodies and spring-like strength of legs to us.

“Japan is a very special country to us” so said the representative of the Royal Dutch Athletics Federation. They used this athletic field twice in the past for practicing in world championships. As they loved their stay in Chiba so much, they decided to postpone their schedule to move into the Olympic Village for 2days. The excellent environments and wonderful exchange programs with local people are always encouraging athletes.

But this time, unfortunately, we could not get any opportunity of the exchange due to pandemic of the Covid-19. Even under such harsh circumstances, our efforts of making banners and preparing Japanese OMOTENASHI goods made the Dutch athletes very happy. They were so excited to see the performance of WADAIKO playing their national anthem, that they took it on their cellphone movies.  A couple of hours later, they sheared this information on SNS and gave us their best compliments.

Once things return to normal, we hope Netherlands team will come see us AGAIN!!

Artistic Swimming

Chiba International Swimming Center, where the junior high school swimming competition was held on this day. Two young players who practice silently while paying attention to the volume of the music. The figure of Mr. Hayashi, a prefectural employee, who looks at them with a gentle smile and deep emotion. Yes, Mr. Hayashi is a shadow leading player who stands at the forefront of the swimming pre-camp and supports the acceptance of the team. Chiba Prefecture is close to Tokyo and is very convenient to access to the center of Tokyo, so it is said it has been selected by athletes as a training pre-camp.

Two years ago, during the pre-camp of the Netherlands team, a swimming class for children was opened and provided an opportunity to show the actual practice of the top athletes to the public. At that time, the children's eyes were so shining with serious look.
Yes, the questioning corner for the players was so popular that there was a long line, and Dutch people who had a shy impression on the Japanese were very surprised due to the friendly atmosphere.

In addition to the Netherlands swimming team (swimming, artistic swimming), Chiba Prefecture has accepted water polo from the US (the world top team) and the Netherlands as a joint training camp, On this day, two Dutch duet players of the artistic swimming were doing the final performance check before entering the Olympic Village.

Due to the current covid-19 pandemic, it is not possible at all to welcome local people, nor to have direct interaction with them – Mr. Hayashi feels very frustrated indeed. 
Two years ago, all athletes went sightseeing freely on their day off which was fun for them. However at this time, all people related with the pre-camp need to get the PCR testing, and every day he feels relieved with the negative results.

The athletes are separated from the general public and are not able to go out freely, so the staff is taking care of them from various aspects, such as shopping on their behalf, to provide them with a safe and relaxed training pre-camp.

Mr. Hayashi understands very well how the athletes feel because he was a swimmer in the past. Under the present circumstances, he feels very pleased to be concerned with the athletes and works very hard with his warm hospitality so that the athletes would say “We want to come back to Chiba and have our training pre-camp here again.”

During my interview with Mr. Hayashi, it was very impressive that he kindly gives the athletes his support and speaks very positively to all athletes.

Looking at the Brouwer sisters from Netherlands of Artistic Swimming, Mr. Hayashi says “They have grown bigger compared to the training pre-camp 2 years ago and I understand well they made their remarkable progress in these days. I am so happy if they will win the prizes with their best performances at the Olympic Games.” with a warm smile.

There are people who do not make them stand out but give behind-the-scenes support. Getting a close look at those staff people who wholeheartedly behave for the athletes and future children, we, City Cast members do wish to convey such feelings to our successor.

【Page 4】"Omotenashi" Goods (hospitality gifts)

Volunteers from Chiba Prefecture have made tens of thousands of "Omotenashi" goods with love. For this issue, we interviewed a few volunteers who had made "Omotenashi" goods.

Teruo Yamada (see left photo) made shoehorns by using bamboo he received from a golf course. The bamboo was damaged by typhoons in 2019 and was waiting to be discarded when he got it. All the shoehorns are made carefully by hand; each one took thirty minutes to make. There were 1,111 of them! Including spares, there were more than 1,200. Amazingly, Mr. Yamada made them all by himself. He took advantage of the Olympics being postponed for a year and carved the shoehorns, taking time out from his busy work schedule. "No one can live alone. We live by supporting each other. I want to continue my volunteer activities," he said. The mindset that we can recycle waste to make something useful with a dash of creativity is wonderful.

We interviewed Hiroko Maezawa (see bottom left photo) and Kazuhiro Kudo (bottom right photo), vice presidents of "Project Yui," a private organization in Chiba City. Project Yui makes pretty chopstick rests using Japanese paper and other materials. They not only make them but also go to various places and give them away. Their diverse participants range from children to the elderly (4 to 100 years old!), including people with disabilities. Anyone is able to participate by doing what they can (cutting paper, etc.).

 

This activity has been highly praised and is now spreading to other prefectures through word of mouth, such as social media. They have made over 20,000 chopstick rests so far. Many people have been involved in this project at various events. Here is Ms. Maezawa's message to those who are thinking about volunteering: "Volunteer within your means, do not overdo it. It's OK to take a break when you are busy with your work and life. I hope you volunteer with consideration for others and connect with people."

Ms. Maezawa, vice-president of Project Yui

Mr. Kudo, vice-president of Project Yui

 The "Omotenashi" goods were supposed to be handed out at Narita Airport by City Cast Chiba (city volunteers based in Chiba) during the Tokyo 2020 Games. However, it did not happen during the Olympics because all the volunteer activities at the airport were canceled when the government decided to host the Olympic Games without spectators. At present, we still do not know if we can volunteer at the airport during the Paralympics. Even if we cannot, we will not let it end like this. We also plan to hand away "Omotenashi" goods through "Choi-Vola partners"– local businesses, such as hotels, inns, and tourist facilities, registered to distribute the hospitality gifts.

 

【Page 5】Olympic Toach Bearer Interview (Second half), Register for Volunteer Meter

Olympic Toach Bearer Interview (Second half)

City Cast Chiba intervewed one of the Olympic Toach Bearer, Mr.Tsuzuki.

Q.Have you experienced any change in your activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic?

A. In this past year, I’ve been thinking about the meaning of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics during the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of just waiting for the Olympics to begin, I’ve also been considering the question, “What can we achieve by hosting the Olympics?” What can we do under these circumstances where people can’t get together? We discussed such questions many times.

Q.Do you have any experience in sport yourself?

A. I used to play tennis. That time was critical to overcoming my weaknesses. When you confront something with all your heart, your nature becomes apparent. You know, the first time I experienced it was when I was in the tennis club. The way my hand shakes when I serve at the opponent’s match point. The fear of losing the game if I fail the serve. There are many occasions when I recall these feelings. Sports was in fact, what taught me my strengths and weaknesses sensorily.

Q: What is your vision for the future?

A: I’ve handed over the work in the student organisation since I’ve aimed for an organisation where the students can shine. From now on I think I’ll have various experiences. In regards to my work in the NPO, I’ll devote the rest of my life to it. I believe volunteers are necessary for people with difficulties such as LGBT and disabled people to be able to live in their ideal world. I wish to make a program which volunteers would want to realise and be a part of.

Q: Please send a message to the people involved in Tokyo 2020 and volunteers.

A: You might face criticism. But upon confronting such society, I’m sure there is a meaning to be involved. So, I hope you discover the meaning of participating in your activities and share those discoveries to the world.

During his days as a student, he had been consistently devoted to volunteer activities for Tokyo 2020. We look forward to Mr Tsuzuki’s future success!
(Interview: Yukarin and Toshi)

Please register for the Volunteer Meter!

City Cast Chiba is currently delivering the Volunteer Meter in each SNS platform. (The left chart is at the time of 3rd of August)

(Volunteer Kitazawa) What’s this?

(Office staff) This is the meter which counts the activity time spent by the City Cast Chiba volunteers who work remotely. We made it in the hope that by counting individual figures, we’ll be able to bring about a sense of unity for the City Cast Chiba volunteers.

(Kitazawa) The figure is quite small…

(Office staff) Unless people register their activities, the figure won’t get bigger. Mr. Kitazawa, Have you registered for yesterday’s activities?

(Kitazawa) Oh, I’ll do it now!

City Cast Chiba Volunteers! Not only remote work on the spot, but practice and preparation are also remarkable activities. Please, please register those activities to the Volunteer Meter! You can also write a message when you enter the activity times. We look forward to lovely comments, fun comments and more!

Please follow our SNS and like our posts!

@2020chibavlntr

#volunteermeter

【Page 6】For the age of Junior high school and High school students, City-volunteer experience programs are held!

Ten times from August 1st to 14th, experience programs for junior high and high school students will be held. Originally, Project in four places of Chiba city, Ichinomiya town, Narita city and Narita airport were planned to experience “Omotenashi (sincere hospitality)”. They are the legacies, for the future, of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, who were selected through severe competition hoping to introduce Japanese culture and Omotenashi.

But, Local activities were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Then, projects were changed to learn Omotenashi facilities in Narita airport through computer online and make presentation on “at what situation” “what” and “how introduce” through group discussion. The followings reports are interview of junior high and high school students who attended to the first and second programs.

Souvenir pictures of all attendants(Screen captures of first and second programs were integrated)

Question: How do you want to take part to Olympic and Paralympic, if held in Japan again?

Answers:

• Watch TV.
• Act as a volunteer which I couldn’t do this time.
• Help many people as a volunteer.
• When Olympic and Paralympic are held, I want to join as a volunteer by practicing todays experience.
• Want to support athletes in stadium from today’s experience as a volunteer.
• Want to act as a volunteer again.
• Want to help many people as a volunteer!
• Want to support Olympic athletes coming to Olympic by many ways.
• Continue my work to be able to help hard working athletes.
• Act as a volunteer at the stadiums.
• Want to help to transport many people to the stadiums as a railroad employee.
• Want to act as a volunteer. I want to support foreigners and people who need help to enjoy Olympic and Paralympic games.
• Want to act as a volunteer using English and then actually feel the sense of fulfillment by meeting with people instead of online program like this time.
• Want to put medals on athlete’s shoulders.
• Want to act as a volunteer to communicate with foreigners, if possible.
• Want to design Olympic logotype or character because I like drawing pictures!

【Page 7】 City-volunteer experience programs(latter part of the report), Newsletter quiz, Editor's Note

City-volunteer experience programs(latter part of the report)

I visited memorable first program on August 1st. Participated junior high and high school students and support members of city volunteers were in a tense atmosphere at first, but gradually came out of themselves and they showed their personality as the proceeding of group work. There was a Narita airport fan visiting airport two or three times a month. Impressions of the participants on the program were the followings. “I didn’t know that so many universal designs were indicated in Narita airport.”, “It was very nice at listening other participant’s opinions.”, “Program director was very hard but also satisfied with the successful close and results.” In spite of short time, they each participants seemed could have learned something valuable.
Souvenir pictures were taken at the end and all their smiling faces in the photo were wonderful. (Reported by Kitazawa)

Second program was held on August 2 with twelve students and three support members. Participants wore City Cast uniforms. Comments on the uniform were the followings. “We, though junior high and high school students, are very happy by wearing uniform and by making relationship with City volunteers.”, “Cool!”, “I feel regret that I can’t wear this at outside.” And another comments on the foreigner or people who needs help were: “Want to guide with studied English.”, “Want to help by using gestures.”, “I want speak from me and help to people who need help.”
Participated junior high and high school students were very hopeful and the result was fruitful. (Reported by Michiyo)

Newsletter Quiz

In every issue, we present “benefited” and “enjoyable” quizzes regarding Chiba!
Today, 3 questions on Chiba prefecture, which carries some of the venues for Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games, will be given. (The answers to the quizzes in Vol.1 will be found in the next issue.)

1. What is the famous food you can find on the street going down to Naritasan Shinshoji Temple? 1) Pear,  2) Eel,  3) Katsuura noodle
2. Which is the correct way of writing for the mascot character name of Chiba prefecture? 1)ちーばくん, 2) チーバくん, 3) チーバクン
3. Many foreigners come and visit Chiba prefecture every year. In 2019, approximately how many tourists do you think came to Chiba? 1)9 million, 2) 65 million, 3) 180 million

 

Editor’s Note

It was fun to edit the issue this time too. Although I work at home doing “remote activities,” when I receive articles from each person in charge, I really feel excited and get the feeling of “we work together!” Each of us will definitely continue cheering up the athletes and enjoy Tokyo 2020 in each place, in each way.
 

Links

City Cast Chiba Newsletter Vol.2 in Japanese Sports to be held in Chiba, Competition venues at Tokyo 2020 Games