Hokkaido Hokuryu Town Machi Internship Completion Ceremony 2024 Connecting people, exchanging hearts and minds, and expanding a wonderful harmony (circle) for the future of the town!

Monday, August 26, 2024

On August 24 (Mon.) from 11:00 a.m., a completion ceremony was held at the Sunflower Park Hotel Multipurpose Hall (2nd floor) to mark the end of the two weeks of work in the "Hokkaido Hokuryu Machi Internship 2024.

The internship program in Hokuryu Town started on August 12 (national holiday). Ten university students from all over Japan spent two weeks working in Hokuryu Town, divided into three fields: agriculture, construction, and administration.

Completion Ceremony of Internship in Hokuryu Town, Hokkaido

Greeting from Mayor Yasuhiro Sasaki

Thank you all so much. I didn't have much time to spend with you, but I have been visiting with you all and taking in your work and your stories.

Two weeks have passed and it is with great sadness that we say goodbye today.

I felt that you all worked very hard to come up with various ideas and interacted with the townspeople, and that the ripple effect spread various waves of ideas to the townspeople as they came to know each other better and better. Thank you very much.

We believe that we can stay connected with you all the time. That is also the origin of the name of the Tsunagaru Institute. It is also what we hope for. Thank you very much," said Mayor Sasaki.

Certificate of Completion

Mayor Sasaki gave warm words of encouragement to each student as he presented them with their certificates of completion.
A single sunflower flower is presented along with the certificate of completion.

Students' impressions of the internship

I realized that Hokuryu Town is a town where everyone really shines!

Thank you so much for your help during the two weeks. I especially want to thank the two people at the town hall for always being so cheerful and talking to me. It was really a precious memory of my two weeks.

My town is about the same size as Hokuryu Town and has about 1,000 times the population of Hokuryu Town. It is a town where the population has increased and tax payments are flowing to Hokuryu Town (laughs).

Coming from such a town, I have never experienced anything like this town where "all the townspeople know each other," and I realized that this is a town where everyone really shines.

The macroscopic town I saw at the town hall looks as listless as the sunflowers I see now, but I hope from Tokyo that beautiful sunflowers will bloom beyond the difficulties of the coming winter.

Each of you, one sunflower at a time, have bright eyes and a strong vision, and I strongly felt that I would like to support you from Tokyo and think together with you about how we can develop together as fellow Hokuryu-cho residents.

It is difficult to find such a situation in any rural area, but as long as there are people there, the town will continue to exist, and I promised myself that I would not lose it.
Thank you very much.

I would like to do my best to make use of this experience and knowledge.

Thank you for your help in the agriculture section. It was a great experience for me to listen to many stories and hear everyone's various opinions, not only about agriculture, during the exchange of opinions at the town hall.

In agriculture, through my experience in large-scale farming in Hokkaido, I was able to hear about many problems unique to Hokkaido, and I would like to cherish these experiences.

Thank you very much for the two weeks.

I had the most fun drinking with the construction workers (laughs) I will come back for more drinks! I will definitely come back for a drink!

I am very grateful for the construction industry section of the program. I learned a lot about the construction industry, of course, but I also had the opportunity to get involved with farmers, and Mayor Sasaki took me to a kendo dojo.

When I thought about what I enjoyed the most after my walk this morning, I had the most fun drinking with the construction workers (laughs) I will come back for more drinks! I will definitely come back for a drink! And when I do, I'll be counting on you!"

I was happy to eat a lot of good food (laughs) and I will be back!

I came here to learn more about agriculture. My town is also rural, but the size of the countryside is different from this town, as is the size of the nature.

It was a good experience for me to see what kind of life and what kind of activities people are doing in a town on a larger scale than the countryside I know.

I was happy to eat a lot of good food (lol) I will come back again! Thank you very much!

A truly wonderful town where each farmer shines individually and shines by pushing one thing, sunflowers, to the forefront.

Once again, thank you for organizing this internship, for choosing me to participate, and for taking care of me by various people.

When I joined the internship program, I had a vague idea in my mind that I wanted to do regional development and the need for it.

I realized very keenly during the two weeks that these were only the supercilious ideas of city people who had not given much thought to the town in terms of regional development.

I participated in the agriculture section. The agriculture people are led by younger people than I had expected, and many of them are looking closely at the town from their own perspectives.

I was amazed at how many people were seriously thinking about how they could make a go of it in this town, taking advantage of the town's unique characteristics. To that extent, I felt it was truly wonderful to see individual farmers shining so brightly.

I have personally toured various areas of Hokkaido, and I thought that it is rare to find a town that shines so brightly with one thing in full focus: sunflowers. When I returned to Hokuryu Town, I was struck by the splendor of this town that is all about sunflowers.

When I attended the Sunflower Village talks and meetings, I found the town to be really interesting and always thinking about the things we love to do that are exciting.

We hope to be involved in many more ways in the future. Thank you very much!

I realized the importance of human connections.

When I am at university, I rarely feel that people are involved, but this time I was able to listen to people who are actually involved in the construction industry, agriculture, and other sectors of society, and hear their perspectives on their respective fields, which was a very good experience.

I realized the importance of human connections in everything we do.

I felt that if I came to know the town in depth through various discussions, I would be able to have my own ideas with perspectives from various angles. It was a good experience for me to know the town.

I learned about the difficulties of growing watermelons and the hard work involved in the process from harvesting to selling them.

Thank you for the two weeks. One of the most memorable moments in my farming experience was when I was selling watermelons at the Watermelon Festival and a customer tried to negotiate the price.

We labored for a day and learned how hard it is to grow watermelons and how difficult it is to harvest and sell them.

The selling price is reasonable or even less expensive; I was going to buy a 2,500 yen watermelon for 1,500 yen. We in urban areas only judge the value of vegetables (goods) by price when we shop at supermarkets. In short, there is a strong desire to purchase at a low price.

I really felt the distance between agriculture and consumers.

What I learned this time is how hard farming is. When I thought about what I could do when I brought that back home, the number one crop in Hokuryu-cho is rice.

I heard that Hokuryu-machi rice is sold at a slightly higher price to a ryotei restaurant in Kyoto. I thought that one thing I could do would be to go to Kyoto and eat Hokuryu-cho rice at that ryotei.

It was a difference in consciousness, I had been thinking of eating cheap rice, but now my consciousness has changed to go to a ryotei in Kyoto and eat expensive delicious Hokuryu-cho rice. thank you for the good experience for two weeks.

The "Community Development Roundtable" was a valuable experience. It was a very good experience!

Since I was in Tokyo, I have been thinking about the issues in the rural areas. I came to the rural areas wondering what was actually happening.

When I entered the government office and looked at it from the perspective of government officials, I saw that there were many tasks being performed by a small number of people, and that there were many things they wanted to do but were unable to.

It was a very good experience for me because I would not have known about these things if I had stayed in Tokyo.

The "Town Development Roundtable" that I attended during the second week was a valuable experience. I felt how difficult it was to set up such a forum for the residents and the administration to exchange opinions and move in the same direction.

I knew that there were round-table discussions taking place in various communities, but it was a great experience for me to learn what kind of discussions were actually taking place.

I hope that I will not forget and digest my experience here when I return to Tokyo, and that I will be able to apply it to my future work.

Thank you for the delicious food."

I felt it was very nice that everyone in town cherishes the sunflowers!

Thank you for the short two weeks.

The reason I came to this town was to see sunflowers, so I was happy to see the lovely sunflowers.

In fact, I was very impressed when I came to the Sunflower Village. It is rare to see sunflowers blooming in such a vast area, so I thought it was amazing. The people in this town say that there is nothing here, but I thought it was a waste.

I felt it was very nice that everyone in town cherishes the sunflowers.

The most memorable parts of the construction were the dismantling of the slide and the observation deck at the Sunflower Village. It was pretty tough, but it was fun.

I learned a lot about construction, but I also learned a lot of other things that were both fun and hard, which made me realize how glad I was to have come.

I had already found a job and still wondered if I could come, but when I actually came, he told me that he would be happy if I would think about construction and this town in the future.

I would like to think about how to improve the construction industry in the future at my place of employment. Thank you very much.

I definitely want to meet more people in the construction industry in the future, and I hope to meet these 10 members this time!

We learned a lot of things under the hot sun, working in the mud and covered in sand.

Even in the midst of hard work, I had a lot of fun, like flying drones and being taken out to dinner.

Thank you very much for showing us various kinds of work, both manual and mechanical, and allowing us to learn many things.

I applied this time because I wanted to visit Hokkaido. I had somehow been thinking about regional development and had only been looking at it from the perspective of the countryside from someone living in the city center, but I was very impressed by opinions such as "leaving it as a town is not the only good thing. I was very impressed by the opinion that "leaving it as a town is not the only good thing." I thought there was such a new way of thinking.

I definitely want to meet with the construction industry in the future, and I hope to meet with these 10 members of this group.

I was most happy to have made these connections! Thank you to the people of Beiryu and the 10 members who were involved!

Closing Remarks: Masaaki Okuda, Vice Mayor

We would like to thank Ms. Akiko Ichii, Representative Director of Tsunagaru Chiiki Zukuri Kenkyujo, and Ms. Akiko Kusaka, Representative Director of Hatarakorabo Inc. for planning and producing these events.

I have heard that everyone is having a vigorous and energetic internship.

I believe that such vitality of everyone will lead to the vitality of the town. I hope that the town will continue to be energized by such projects in the future.

I was able to view the video of yesterday's debriefing and found it to be an excellent and convincing proposal, and I hope that the town will take advantage of the valuable input from the audience.

Thank you all for your hard work over the past two weeks. Thank you so much. Keep up the good work!" I am very happy to have been a part of it.

commemorative photograph

Present from Katsuyoshi Takahashi, General Policy Officer and Director of General Affairs Division, Hokuryu Town

Mr. Takahashi, Policy Director, presented each of you with a postcard and a badge!

Snapshots taken in a friendly atmosphere

With boundless love, gratitude and prayers for the wonderful "Hokuryu Town Development Internship," where people connect with each other, hearts and minds interact, and a wonderful harmony (circle) for the future of the town expands.

Youtube Video

More Photos

Hokuryu Town, Hokkaido, Japan Click here for 264 photos of town interns >>

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Notice of recruitment of interns for the town [Hokuryu Town HP].

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General Incorporated Association Tsunagaru Chiiki Zukuri Kenkyujo (Institute for Connecting Communities)

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The main actors in community development are the people who live in each community. That is why we think and think together with them.▶ Click here for the website of "Tsunaken-san" >>

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◇ Reporting and writing by Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editorial assistance by Noboru Terauchi)