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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
August 2, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| July 20, 2005 |
In Pictures – Photo Tour IV of Life Onboard |
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Japan is often regarded as having a homogeneous population. However there exists a variety of minority groups within it—including the indigenous Ainu people of Hokkaido; the Okinawa people in the southernmost region of Japan; Zainichi (Japanese-born Koreans); and Burakumin. Mr. Mitsunori Keira, Bureau Chief of the NGO “The Forest of Yai Yu-Kara” in Sapporo, Hokkaido, came aboard Peace Boat for his fifth time to introduce the Ainu culture. Yai-Yu-Kara means “To take action on your own” in the Ainu language, and the NGO tirelessly works to bring awareness about the Ainu and their history of invasion and segregation. In the 19th century, the Japanese government appropriated Ainu land and forced the Ainu to change their lifestyle, manners, customs, and language. Thus they were denied their own culture and identity in much the same way that many of the 200 million indigenous people of the world have suffered. Although the General Diet finally acknowledged and recognized Ainu culture and passed a law for the protection of Ainu culture in 1987, Mr. Keira states “discrimination still remains and there continues to be a large gap between the economic standards of the Ainu and other Japanese”. Mr. Keira used resources such films featuring Ainu and other indigenous peoples, and presented lectures to teach Ainu history and culture to the participants onboard. |
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Kitemin-Sai (“Come and See Festival”), an amateur night concert, showcased the talent of 230 participants who performed onstage in front of a packed audience. The amateur night was a result of participants’ involvement in self-organized events. These events are created by participants and range from sharing and teaching a skill or talent, or organizing gatherings of chats and discussions about topics such as discrimination to movies. Since participants come from different backgrounds with a cross-section of ages and hold various hobbies and abilities, self-organized events become daily workshops for participants to learn something new from each other. Some self-planned events include drama, voice training, yoga, hula, painting, sketching, chorus, Eisa (Okinawan drums and dance), Korean language, basketball, mahjong, traditional Japanese dancing, scrapbooks, debating, quilt making, belly dancing, salsa dancing, ukulele, taiko, ballroom dancing, hip hop dancing, Mandarin language, and soccer. |
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Peace Boat held a Sports Day, an annual tradition in schools across Japan, during a fine patch of weather across the Atlantic. Participants were organized into four teams—spring, summer, fall, and winter—grouped by the season of their birthday. Each team was complete with its own chosen color (red, white, black and blue, respectively), banner and cheer, which they practiced for many days before the event. A blend of different backgrounds, ages and skills, team members came together in their combined energy to cheer each other on. The competition included 11 games such as tug ’o war, charades, group jump rope, obstacle course, centipede race and a traditional game called kibasen, after which the summer team ultimately garnered the most points. Tears of joy and excitement, if not relief, overwhelmed everyone after Sports Day came to a close, and many bonds were formed and cemented. |
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