Experience the work of fishermen on Rebun Island. On the first day, we flew into Asahikawa, Hokkaido, and the next day we took a regular train for six hours to Wakkanai, reaching Rebun Island by boat. During the morning activities on Rebun Island, the group was divided into three teams to experience the work of fishermen, mainly sea urchin and kelp fishing. The reporter decided to accompany Mr. Okamoto’s team for the day. Okamoto-san is a fisherman in the Funadomari district in the north of Rebun Island. We were told that what he does depends on the weather, but when we arrived at his workshop, he showed us how he sorts the harvested kelp. While watching the kelp, he cuts off or splits the kelp around the edges that are in poor condition, and then the kelp is ready to be packaged. It sounds simple, but it is difficult for an amateur to judge the sorting process. The kelp is cut off with scissors so that as much of the clean part as possible remains, and then it is sorted into grades 1 through 4, or not selected. In many cases, the flaws are not only on the edges, but also in the center. It is necessary to develop an eye for judging where to cut. Mr. Okamoto says, “You need to have a good sense. There are very few kelps that make the first grade. At best, the kelp is grade 2. The trick is not to be too ambitious,” he says. The students were again impressed by the pride of the craftsman who said, “I want to sell with confidence as a product with my name on it. The students seemed to feel a new sense of freshness in the process of creating products to be sold by themselves. Mr. Okamoto also answered in a straightforward manner how profitable the fisherman’s work actually is. Depending on one’s sense of taste, it is a job where getting rich is not a dream.
Experience the Northern Seas on a Fishing Boat Well, I thought it would be boring to stay indoors all the time, so I thought, “Let’s go on a boat and experience fishing,” and we decided to go sea urchin fishing on a rocky boat in the harbor. The sea urchin caught this time of year is the Kitamura-saki sea urchin, or nona as the locals call it. Locals call them nona. Other sea urchins are also caught at certain times of the year. The fishermen scoop sea urchins with nets (tamo) while watching the bottom of the water with underwater glasses called “box glasses” or “glass boxes” in their mouths. To move from place to place, they operate a small outboard motor and paddle oars with their feet. It is not a skill that can be accomplished overnight. We could see the sea urchins with our underwater glasses, but we could not scoop them. In addition, we were told that a boat that had been undergoing repairs had been finished, so we were allowed to experience the boat used for fishing for hokke and salmon. Okamoto-san said lightly, “The waves are calm today,” but as we proceeded out of the harbor, it was the northern sea, and it was quite bumpy. We had to hold on or we would be swept off our feet. The students were able to experience piloting the boat as passengers while the captain, Mr. Okamoto, gave them instructions. The speed was slowed down and a small remote controller was used. Some students said it was “difficult” to drive a boat for the first time, but others felt uncomfortable due to the bumps and shakes caused by the side waves due to their poor driving skills. This was a valuable experience. In the evening, the students who had been doing hands-on work at the other two sites joined us for a BBQ with the fishermen. The students were grateful for this valuable experience. I really enjoyed the rope work,” said one student. I was surprised that Okamoto-san was able to tie the ropes so smoothly without looking at anything. I could feel his passion.” “I could see that he enjoys his work with pride. I want to have a job that I can enjoy and be proud of,” and “Unlike watching YouTube, experiencing it in real life is much more interesting and powerful. The fishermen are busy with fishing and farming every day, but they were very happy to hear that there are young people who feel empathy for their work. Rebun Island is now actively accepting immigrants from outside the island. If you have any doubts about your future, you should come back and enjoy the nature of Rebun Island.
After leaving Shinritsuji Temple, we took a bus to Tsuginoba, a settlement and immigration support center. Here, we were to hear about the islanders. On the way, we approached an acquaintance of Mr. Nishitani’s, a craftsman who was doing interior work, and were able to talk with him for a while. He told us that he was born on Rishiri Island and used to go to Tokyo and other places for half a year to work, but now he no longer needs to go because there are construction-related jobs on the island even in winter. The students may have heard the word “dekasegi,” but it would be valuable for them to hear about real-life experiences. The Rishiri Island Settlement and Emigration Support Center “Tsuginoba,” which occupies the former Kutsugata Junior High School building, will open in 2020 with the aim of becoming an exchange space that connects people inside and outside of Rishiri Island. In addition to providing information and consultation services on vacant houses, jobs, and other immigration support, the center also offers a café lounge, coworking space, meeting rooms, and a multipurpose studio that can be used for socializing. Use by island residents is free of charge. We spoke with Maiko Yagihashi, director of Tsuginova, and Ryo Hirose of Asobijo. Ms. Yagihashi was invited to join the Community Development Cooperation Volunteers because a friend of the owner of the cafe where she used to work was a tourism ambassador for Rishiri Town. When he moved to Rishiri, he casually came from Sapporo without having made a preliminary inspection. The students seemed surprised to hear that he unexpectedly enjoyed being in an environment where he knew nothing and knew no one. They also told us that the people living on the island are very attractive. Mr. Hirose says that he rents Tsuginoba and holds a study hall there. He has a cram school commissioned by the city to teach math and English, and he also holds independent classes for those who want to do so. They offer a wide variety of classes, such as ping-pong, cooking, and making LINE stamps. He also acts as a bridge between the island and the outside world. The students enjoyed the conversation, which included in-depth topics such as how he came to work, what he wants to do in the future, and his career path, as well as his personal life. The LEARN program is also heading in the same direction. The students seemed impressed by her words, “By doing what you want to do, you will naturally improve your skills. It seemed that such an education would be easy to achieve at Tsuginoba on Rishiri Island, which is rich in nature. There is a half-day on the last day, but this was the last night. At the hotel where they were staying, a review meeting was held. We did not use the Internet this time, but just walked around, talked with people, and tried to think about things. In response to Mr. Nakamura’s request to “tell us what you thought,” the students listed what they had learned for the first time, what had struck them, and what had surprised them. One student said that the Asahikawa-Wakkanai regular train trip was the only one that he just couldn’t make sense of. Mr. Nakamura responded, “Last year, the Soya Main Line was opened. Last year was the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Soya Main Line. At that time, the line connected Hakodate to Asahikawa and Wakkanai via Nagamabe, Otaru, and Sapporo. It took 23 hours and 59 minutes by express train. Almost a full day. That six hours is nothing. The Soya Main Line is in danger of being closed. You probably won’t be able to make a trip like that anymore. Think about how long it took you to get to Tokyo. How did you feel going to Tokyo? It was not easy to come back. It was standard practice to come home with a telegram informing you of your parents’ death,” the students were told. The town of Yamaya flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Ashita no Joe was in the 70s. It was a town of riots and uprisings. It had the largest police box in Japan. It was that energetic. They were the ones who made Tokyo what it is today. But the name “Yamaya” has been erased. Now, no one cares that Minami-Senju is the site of a former prison. Condominiums for families are being built in the area. All of them wanted visitors to experience firsthand that there was such a time when Minami Senju was a normal town. Mr. Akamatsu, who led this program, felt that the students “still only have a superficial view of things. One example is Mr. Okochi, whom we met in the first part of the program as a blind traveler. The students saw Mr. Okochi as a visually impaired person, a being different from themselves. That is important, but that is where it ended. As fellow travelers, the conversation did not go any further. It was a pity that we were stuck talking about Mr. Okochi as a visually impaired person, and that we parted without realizing how wonderful he was as a person, leaving only the fact that we had talked with a visually impaired person, even though we had more than enough time on the train. I hope you will think about why you could not have a conversation with him as fellow travelers,” he said with an encouragement to the young people. In closing, he said, “I have never wanted them to learn or to think. I only want them to think on their own. How you make the most of it may make a big difference in your life. I’m just providing a place for you to do that. I want you to think for yourselves and change the world to a place where all people can pursue their dreams.
Thinking with Elementary School Students about Research on Small Wind Power Generators On the last day, Dr. Makoto Iida, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Engineering, International Energy Security Organization attached to the Research Center for Advanced Technology, University of Tokyo, gave a lecture entitled “Let’s Think Together about Natural Energy on Rishiri Island! The lecture was held at the Rishiri Town General Gymnasium, Yume Koryukan. The students in this program observed the lecture. Seventeen elementary school students from Kutsugata Elementary School and Senboshi Elementary School participated. The lecture began with the question, “Can Rishiri Island live on wind, hydro, and solar power without bringing in oil and coal from the mainland? The windmills on the site are rated at 1 kW output, so it would take about 8,000 of them to replace the 7650 kW of diesel generators that make the island’s electricity. But windmills don’t generate power when they are stopped. There are still many obstacles that need to be overcome, and we are in the process of researching them.” Various forms of small wind turbines are being researched, and “The small wind turbine installed here is a special model that I have created with the best of my technology. It is different from other wind turbines,” he said, inviting the students to touch the blades of the wind turbine. The blades are made of carbon fiber, which makes them lightweight, and they have a rough surface to control sound. The AIRDOLPHIN is the world’s lightest compact wind turbine. The students were also surprised when I told them, “Moreover, this wind turbine uses only two screws. As for the first question, Mr. Iida concluded, “Let’s aim for what will be possible in 100 years.
Rishiri Island Elementary School Students and Porsche After the lecture, the students were given the opportunity to ride in a Porsche 911GT3 and a Porsche Taikan GTS in the parking lot. The parking lot is spacious, so the students were able to experience acceleration in a safe place for a short distance. The EV Taikan GTS is particularly quiet, but has strong acceleration at the start of a dash. They experienced a glimpse of a sports car. All of the students participated in the ride-along experience, and their comments were impressive: “The blue one (911GT3) accelerated gradually, but the red one (TYCAN GTS) accelerated so quickly that I could hear their voices. After the ride-along experience was over, we took questions about Porsche in the presence of Mr. Kuroiwa, manager of Porsche Japan’s Public Relations Department. The children were curious about the price. Why are they so expensive? He answered, “To achieve the best performance, the best parts are used, and the best engineers make the car. The result is value. As proof of this, the 911GT3, despite its high price, is so popular that at the moment there is a backorder of cars that cannot be obtained even if you pay a lot of money. When he heard that the name “Porsche” came from the founder, Dr. Ferdinand Porsche, who tried to create the ideal car, he was surprised that he did not know it.
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