Yamagata Kaleidoscope 2010: “A Glance at the World” Special Edition

On Sunday, July 11^th, a special edition of the Yamagata World Kaleidoscope 2010: “A Glance at the World” series was held. While we usually host cross cultural seminar series “A Glance at the World” on a schedule, as part of the celebration for AIRY’s 20^th anniversary, the special edition was held in an interactive workshop style, and free of charge for participants.

We focused on two issues: “environment” and “poverty”.

The residents of Yamagatafrom various backgrounds formed small groups and exchanged their opinions on these issues.

Participants shared “environmentally friendly” activities that are done in their home countries. In one country, many households use “garage sales”, which is similar to the concept of flea market in Japan, to reduce the amount of garbage.

After the group discussion, one representative from each group presented the key points to everyone. The participants were actively involved in the workshop and enjoyed the discussions. Participants’ backgrounds include: Myanmar, Mongolia, Korea, Chinaand so on.