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JENESYS 2017

Group 2: Pacific Islands

THEME: MARINE RESOURCES & MARINE SECURITY

NAME: AMITESH AVISHEK KUMAR

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Theme: Marine Resources and Marine Security

Picture Credit: Amitesh Kumar

Group: 2

Picture Credit: Yoji Matsuoka

Prefecture: Tokyo, Miyagi

Travel dates: Monday 4th December - Tuesday 12th December

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JENESYS Programme

JENESYS program is the Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths funded by

Japanese government for Asian countries to understand the different facets of Japanese society

including economics, culture, technological sector, politics and maritime sector to form the basis

of future vision and construct firm which will promote mutual understanding of the future

generation of East Asia community. The Japan Overseas Cooperative Association in conjunction

with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other national institutions in Japan organized a 9-day

program for students to take part in seminars, lectures, intensive discussions and on site study

to discuss common issues and implement solutions related to marine security and marine

resources and also visit the destructive sites of prefecture Miyagi in Kensennuma city which was

damaged by earthquake and tsunami. I found this Jenesys project very interesting as I attended

the launch of JENESYS 2017 and after that I had very high expectations and eagerly waited to

have a chance to visit Japan in this year’s program. Thus I was lucky to be selected to represent

Fiji and had that precious chance to visit the prefectures and cities in Japan, without any

experience in travelling overseas and the Japanese dialect we managed to complete our tour and

study exchange programs successfully without any prejudice. Hence I would love to visit Japan

again in future and promote good relationships between Easts - Asia.

Learning Experience

After being selected to be part of this JENESYS program 2017, I have managed to learn a lot from

this cultural exchange project and experience it in every possible way I could to promote our

multiracial and diverse culture and also to accept theirs in order to strive for a better relationship

among these East - Asian countries. The lessons learnt from this cultural exchange projects are:

Japanese Language – I have managed to learn their dialect in terms of most common slangs used in Japan. Hence this common slang was also provided in JENESYS 2017 Orientation Kit for reference.

Punctuality – Japanese people are very punctual in their time and from this I have managed to follow time and manage it wisely because every single time is very precious according to Japanese people. E.g. I would give is Bullet train whereby this train departs and arrives on each given station a particular time scheduled.

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Picture Credit: Amitesh Kumar

Weather – Once we got out of aero plane in Korea airport to transit to Tokyo flight we could feel the cold and the temperature was -5 degrees. After reaching Tokyo we experienced cold weather throughout our stay with temperature below 10 degrees with snow in the village of Yasse in Kensennuma, Miyagi prefecture.

Picture Credit: Amitesh Kumar

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Environment – the environment in Japan is very clean without any littering because Japan has fines for polluters and also they have designated bins for different types of garbage so that recyclable debris can be used again. Another one is noise level can be various kinds but while traveling in public bus or trains we should keep our noise level down because Japanese people usually work long hours and they prefer to sleep while travelling.

Technology – Japan has latest technologies being invented and introduced while other countries may not have being in exposure to it and it includes cars, trucks, bathroom, toilets, mobile devices etc.

Marine Resources – after visiting the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Ocean Policy Research Institute, Fish Market in Kensennuma, Fish Industries, Ice Aquarium, Ice Making company and Fujita box company; I have learnt a lot as a marine student because different places thought me different lessons and I took advantage of these which had broaden my knowledge in maritime sector.

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Picture Credit: Amitesh Kumar

Homestay Experience

I would like to share my Homestay experience in Japan with my Host family Matasuki Santo San

as they reside in Yasse Kensennuma in Miyagi Prefecture of North Japan. My host family as in my

family was very nice to me and my fellow brothers because she picked us from the school and

directly took us to her home. Upon arrival at her place we had shower and she prepared us some

hot tea because it was really cold and she gave us sweets and snacks. After having our snacks we

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went out for site seeing in the farms and her plantation and as well as in the storeroom where

we helped her to axe some woods for heater. We helped her in preparing Japanese dishes for

our dinner whereby after our dinner we had dessert as cakes. We all sat near heater and started

sharing our cultural beliefs and learning their culture and their background and also about

Kensennuma. We didn’t know their dialect but we managed to have conversation with her using

Japanese translator in mobile devices. We all woke up in the morning and had breakfast and

played in snow with them before we said goodbye to our host family. I have learnt a lot from this

homestay and gained knowledge form the people of Yasse in Kensennuma and I hope to go back

in future to meet this kind people and share their myths so that we can promote each other’s

culture for better correlation between our countries.

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Picture Credit: Amitesh Kumar

Cultural Experience and Promotion

Public Baths – In Japanese culture public bath is for everybody who wishes to try named ONSEN which is very popular during winter seasons.

Table Manners – In Japanese culture manners is extremely important for everyone to respect each other and eat without being rude or humiliating once culture.

Shoes – In Japanese culture shoes needs to be taken off before entering a house and different types of shoes are designated for different places.

Temple – we visited Asakusa Sensoji Temple and Hiraizumi Chuson Ji Temple and a chance to see the shrine and know the myths associated with these temples.

Paying a Store – I was amazed to see shopkeepers taking money in the small tray provided but not in the hand because it is their beliefs not to take money in the hand.

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Superstitious beliefs – the Japanese superstitious beliefs are quite similar with the Indian culture of India because the bhudda was brought from India and worshipped in Asian countries therefore they worship and have beliefs similar to Indian culture.

Homestay – we exchanged gifts and souvenir’s with our host family where we promoted our culture by presenting them the souvenirs of canoe, Fiji flag, Fiji islands key tags, shell necklace and masi necklace with coconut shells and also with some Fijian sweets so that they can promote our culture

Furthermore we have promoted our culture in Japan through performing our cultural dance and

also chanting of quotes by our ancestors in different languages. We had also exchanged souvenirs

with host family, translator, coordinator of JENESYS, sites we have visited and Japan embassy

with key tags, pens and Fiji island gifts so that they can promote our culture and we can promote

their culture back min our respected countries. On the other hand I have also promoted Japanese

culture in my home country by having Talanoa Sessions with my family and members of the

society. I have also promoted through social media by Facebook, viber and calls with families and

friends in other countries and in Fiji as well whereby they are also interested to visit Japan. Hence

I would look forward to present a lecture on my learning experience of marine sector in my

University so that I can promote their traditional methods of saving marine resource.

Recommendations

The program duration should be increased to 15 days maximum so that we can learn more cultural heritage of Japan and also experience it in order to implement action plans and promote each other nations culture respectably in our home country with reference without humiliating anyone’s culture.

Homestays should be extended to maximum of 2 -3 days so that we can know our host family well and spend time to learn their dialect and culture at the same time we can share our cultural beliefs and understand each other’s culture efficiently and also we as pacific islanders can be helping hands in farms to gain experience and also to enjoy the weather of Japan.