Yamagata Study Tour Debriefing Session held at TUFS

October 10, 2018

On Wednesday the 3rd of October (2018), a debriefing session was held for the “Inbound Promotion – A Study Tour for Community Building” class made possible thanks to the cooperation of four regions in the Yamagata Prefecture (Sagae City, Shirataka Town, Takahata Town and Iide Town).

This class was held from Tuesday 17th – Tuesday 24th of July, and was designed with the aim of offering students the chance to consider the structural problems facing Japanese society, and investigate inbound promotion plans contributing to the development of these regions together with the local community. Local debriefing sessions were held on Tuesday the 24th of July in each municipality, and students were able to receive the approval of many local citizens. This time’s debriefing session was held so the participating students, who were split up over 3 regions, could share their achievements with each other. In addition to this, an evaluation meeting was held prior to the debriefing session at which organizers of the class discussed problems that occurred this year, and improvements for next year.

In this class, which was held during the summer quarter, 31 regular and international students stayed in either Sagae City, Takahata Town or Shirataka Town in the Yamagata Prefecture, during which they experienced the culture, history and current industries of the region, and participated in internships at local businesses and tourism associations. Students also participated in problem-based learning activities through which they tackled many problems such as how to improve inbound tourism, and how to export local goods to other countries. In addition to this, students created online multilingual resources to spread the appeal of their regions to people living overseas. These resources were published together on a blog.

Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Yamagata Study Tour Blog: https://tufsyamagata.jp/

This study tour was possible thanks to the cooperation of JTB Global Marketing & Travel Inc. (JTBGMT) the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and the Yamagata Prefecture.

At the debriefing session, dean of the School of International and Area Studies, Professor Yuriko Yoshida, gave an opening address as representative of both undergraduate programs. Students gave presentations on their study tours, through which they shared the results of their problem-based learning (and made proposals to the companies and municipalities) and online resources, and received comments from representatives of their municipalities. It was clear that the students had formed strong relationships with those involved, and one municipality representative said “I feel like my family has grown”. After the presentations, the blog (Tokyo University of Foreign Studies Yamagata Study Tour Blog) was introduced. Lastly, an introduction to the winter study tour program, which will be held in Iide Town, and to Iide Town itself was given by its representatives.

This debriefing session was attended by many people including representatives from the 5 municipalities, Yamagata Prefecture and JETRO Yamagata, the president and chief executive officer of JTBGMT, Mr. Hisanori Zama, and the TUFS alumnus/creator of the Yamagata Study Tour, Mr. Shoushi Arakawa (advisor at Bridgestone Corporation). The event was a success, so much so that every seat in Room 113 was occupied. After the session ended, students crowded around the municipality representatives, and seemed to have endless things to talk about.