Field Trip (Policy Science Special Lecture)
One of the popular courses in CRPS major is “Policy Science Special Lecture (Field Trip).” This is an intensive field-based course that provides students opportunities to study about situations and issues on rural community and livelihood in a local city in Japan.
During a four-day field trip, students experience the reality of physical, economic, social, and cultural environment of the village community, through which they learn about the methods and manners of rural research and deepen their understandings on historical, current and future issues and policy implications for rural society and urban-rural partnerships.
Project report from the instructor
The students, 26 in number, almost as many as the population of the village, arrived in Saijo. As they witnessed the depopulation and ageing of rural Japan for the first time and tackled the issues seriously, they also enjoyed the wilderness of the mountain village and living a self-catering lifestyle. At the debriefing session, where more than 10 local residents and city hall officials came to listen to the students' presentations, they summarized the issues and recommendations that they had deeply considered despite the very short period of time they were given, and received a lot of appreciation from the villagers.
The visit in 2019 was the third visit there since this program started. With an unprecedented number of participants, I was anxious about group work and meal preparation, but the students were motivated by hearing the local people say just having so many young people come to the village energizes the community.
On the last day of the program, students attended the Setsubun Festival at the village temple (Gokuraku-ji). This festival is a mixture of Shinto and Buddhist traditions, which is even vivid for Japanese people. Ascetic practitioners (Shugenja) of the Ishizuchi faith climb stone steps while blowing conch shells, performing a number of purification rituals, and burning a grand goma (homa) fire. Wild boar udon noodles were served, and after finally the goma fire getting put out, the participants walked barefoot over a bed of hot embers. Some of the students also tried it.
Thanks to this event, the instructor who leads the event every year seems not to catch a single cold during the year!
For the participating students, everything was a new experience and there was much to learn. There are many ideas that the students have come up with for the future of the village, and we hope to realize what the students can actually help and be involved in to the extent possible and "give back" to the community in some way.
