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I attended a lecture of Mr.Tetsuro Ikema held at Phoenix Plaza in Fukui City the other
day. Here is his profile.
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Mr. Ikema was born in Okinawa Prefecture in 1954. He is an active photographer and
a lecturer at Okinawa University. Besides managing a video picture production, he started international cooperation activities in 1987. Currently, he heads a NPO Asia Child Support and supports over ten countries. The activities that he started all by himself but the group has become one of the largest international cooperation groups in Japan and it is highly appreciated. Because he thinks “Loving our country is fundamental for international cooperation”, he continues long-term support against The Great East Japan Earthquake reconstruction and youth development. He hopes that
Japanese people should learn from people trying hard at life of developing countries and
has given lecture at companies, organizations at schools over 3,400 times.
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I was moved by each topic he talked, caught up and tears filled my eyes. I’m afraid I cannot introduce the details of his lecture but I will write down partially.

 

Mr. Ikema met a girl at a dump in Philippine.
He asked her “What is your dream?”
She replied “My dream is living to adulthood.”
Can Japanese children of today understand what she said?

 

He strongly advised that you must not over-parenting and doting to your children.
Also, he said “Happiness is the strength of heart that you feel happy. Love must be accompanied by severity. You don’t need to be liked by your children at all.”

 

And he said today’s Japan is unusual condition.
According to Sankei Newspaper, from a survey of high school students,
*Do you respect your teachers?
Other country average 85%
Japan 21%

 

*Do you respect your parents?
Other country average 90%
Japan 25%

 

Have Japanese children forgotten “respect”?
But Ikema said that it wasn’t childrens’ fault, it was the fault of adults.

 

The topics at the lecture covered a wide variety such as the state of Asian countries,
a lie of the term “the Age of Discovery”, the true state in white colonies, moral education in Japan before the war, the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese soldiers in the operations of Imphal, GHQ, WGIP, justice of the victor countries etc., and I was shocked at the many facts which were not taught in school. I thought that I need to learn more by reading books which review history. (H.S)

 

“Don’t worry. I will raise my younger brother.”
It was about twenty years ago, I cannot forget the girl whom I met in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The girl under the age of ten begged her bread having her younger brother
in her arms. She came from the border village of Thailand. Her parents died. She crawled and begged in the street to survive. She protected her younger brother with her little body. Although I was forty at that time, I felt like a child for myself compared to her.
Also, I felt the meaning of life and the severity of life. I was ashamed of myself being sloppy.
(Photo and text are from Tetsuro Ikema’s facebook) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

 

*Interview with Mr.Ikema(only in Japanese)

As I have introduced in our previous blog, I had the opportunity to join a tour visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins in June 2017. I went with the president of the Hotel Riverge Akebono, Mr. Shimizu, the intern of the hotel, Ms. Julia Coslian, the manager of Fukui City Hospitality and Tourism Promotion Office, Mr. Takama and his staff member, Mr. Juancho Santamaria.

 

 

At the Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins, visitors can experience Kimono Dressing to make them feel as if they have stepped back in time to a Warring States Period.

 

 

It was very hot that day, so wearing Kimono would be hard to do.
Mr. Takama volunteered to participate in the Kimono Dressing experience.

 

 

Julia participated as well.
For this Kimono Dressing experience they don’t apply the 'shironuri' makeup (white powder mixed with water into paste) or put a wig, so it gives the participant a natural look. Julia looked amazing.

 

 

Before getting dressed up

 

 

After getting dressed up

 

 

As Mr. Takama and Julia finished getting dressed, they walked through a replica of the town from the end of 15th and 16th centuries. They looked as if they were actually from the time of Warning States Period. The Kimono dress that Julia wore was the one that women from that time would wear when they went out. The armor Mr. Takama wore was what men would wear for fighting. *the Kimono and the armor are not exact replicas of what people used to wear.

 

Julia and Mr. Takama enjoyed walking around in their Kimono and armor as if they were in the time of Warning States Period.

 

 

They looked amazing and they also looked like the people from the time of Waring States Period.
The Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins is located in an area that is rich in nature. Moreover, the buildings were rebuilt as they used to be as accurately as possible so it made us feel that we were not living in modern times.

 

 

Other visitors were having fun as well.

 

Stay tuned for the next blog!

 

T.F

 

We would like to share a video which is provided by Fukui Prefecture,

"Japan Emotion in Fukui".

Please enjoy!

 

 

Please enjoy our previous blogs as well.

Spreading the Charms of Fukui to the World! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins Part 1-

Spreading the Charms of Fukui to the World! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins Part 2-

Spreading the Charms of Fukui to the World! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins Part 3-

Spreading the Charms of Fukui to the World! -Visiting Ichijodani Asakura Clan Ruins Part 4-

 

You can see some tourist attractions and the directions to these places from the webpage, "Hotel Reiverge Akebono, Tourist attractions around our hotel".

Made by Julia during her internship, this webpage has directions that are easy to follow.

She researched these tourist attractions, before visiting them and experiencing

the charms of Fukui herself. As I mentioned in our blog, it can be difficult for tourists

to get to some great places in Fukui, so this map that Julia made will help you

get around easier.

 

There is also a Japanese version of this webpage(only available in Japanese).

However, some of the places which are introduced on the Japanese webpage

are different to the English version that Julia made.