The Ritsumeikan Uji Junior High School Baseball Team participated in the 16th “Yodogawa 1,000-Person Cleanup”, held on Sunday, February 1. This marks the fourth consecutive year the team has joined the event.

The Uji River, which is familiar to students of Ritsumeikan Uji, originates from Lake Biwa, flows through Uji City, and then merges with the Kizu and Katsura Rivers before continuing into the Yodo River. This time, the team took part in a cleanup activity at Yodogawa Riverside Park (Himejima Area), located downstream from the river they are usually connected to.

On the day of the event, students worked together with high school students and members of the community. In addition to general litter, they were able to collect a wide range of discarded items, including bicycles, signs, shelves, tires, rice cookers, desks, blankets, and suitcases. Although the activity began in bitterly cold conditions, everyone gradually warmed up, and the approximately 90-minute cleanup felt like it passed in no time.

During the meeting after the activity, students shared comments such as:

As the saying goes, “Every piece you pick up makes the area a little more beautiful.” We hope that through this activity, the students were able to contribute—even in a small way—to improving the environment in the Kansai region, and to express their gratitude for the rivers that support our daily lives.