On March 2 and 3, 2024, ECOPLUS organized a field trip to Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture, for overseas researchers who came to Japan for an international conference.
The participants were part of a group attending the International Outdoor Education Research Conference (IOERC 10), which began the following week in Tokyo. Seventeen people from eight countries – Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Greece, and Singapore – participated in this field trip.
This is the first time the IOERC has been held in Asia. Among the five field trips arranged in Hokkaido, Nagano and Niigata, this field trip was filled up quickly. Therefore, with the cooperation of local residents, we were able to secure transportation, and increase the number of participants.
The theme was “Nature and Life in Japan. We were allowed to stay in the mountain village of Shimizu village, where there was still more than a meter of snow remaining,
The group of outdoor specialists quickly got used to wearing “kanjiki,” or traditional Japanese snow shoes, and walked on the snow to visit shrines and forests near the village.
FUKASAWA Kazuki, a local nature expert, explained the animal tracks in the snow. He also explained them the long tradition of respecting the mountain as a deity.
At the guesthouse, local foods such as wild vegetables and meat were served one after another. They were amazed at the technique of preserving the previous year’s wild vegetables in a fresh state.
On the second day, the group moved to the town for a Zen practice at the 500-year-old Ryuzawa-ji Zen Temple. They were also able to observe the brewing of sake at the300-year-old Aoki Sake Brewery.
For most of them, it was their first visit to Japan. The participants seemed to be stimulated by the nature and lifestyle of Japanese rural and mountain villages, which were different from the typical Japanese tourist spots such as Tokyo or Kyoto. The participants seemed to deepen and broaden their concept of outdoor education.
We really appreciate the cooperation of the local people.
Ecoplus conducted “the camp in the deep snow” from Mar 21 to 24, 2023, in Shimizu village, in Niigata, Japan. Unfortunately we could not set the period including weekend, we had only four university students but they acquired a lot of knowledges and skills from the local people and enjoyed self build simple life on the snow for four days.
Although we had less snow than normal years In this winter, we had more than 1 meter of snow in Shimizu area. The weather conditions was dry and warm in early days, but later part we had not snow but rain.
In this camp, we slept in tents on the snow. We cooked on the snow making fire on the snow. We kept melting snow in a big pot on fire for drinking and cooking water. Students learnt how to use shovels for cutting snow to make objects such as tables and sitting place.
In the night of Mar 22, we had very clear sky without any clouds and the moon. So stars were sharp and bright filling all direction. Students laid on the snow for stargazing and they were excited to observe bright meteors.
In these convenient daily life environments, only with one action, we can get hot water, bright lights, and flash toilet instantly. Apart from such “convenient life,” we need to prepare fire wood, make fire, melt snow and play with its own creative ideas. Through such actions one by one, the faces of students changed clearly.
Local people kindly joined the program and vividly talked about the history, the nature, mountains, animals and life of the area. One of students commented that the life would be more free rather than just following a fixed path thought be “successful.“