Monday, July 7, 2025
Everyone's Square "Omusubi"
Event Report
On Saturday, June 28th from 10:00, the event "Everyone's Square Rice Balls" sponsored by the Hokuryu Town Social Welfare Council, a social welfare corporation, was held at the Hokuryu Town Senior Citizens Welfare Center.
More than 10 townspeople, including children and adults, participated and had a great time playing four different games.
What is Everyone's Square "Omusubi"?
Omusubi, a community square, is a new project that began in April this year. Every Monday, from 1pm to 5pm, the gymnasium in the welfare center is open to the public, allowing people of all ages to participate and enjoy a variety of sports.
An event is held once a month, and on the day, four competitions were held: "Barrier Breaking," "Ladder Getter," "Slipper Throwing," and "Racket Relay."
What happened on the day
Affix a sticker to the stamp card
First, participants were given stamp cards.
Children were free to choose their favorite stickers from a wide variety of colorful stickers and stick them on their cards. They chose their favorite stickers without hesitation and stuck them on their cards with big smiles on their faces.
They chose their favorite stickers and stuck them on the cards with smiles on their faces.
Megumi Murai, Community Welfare Section Chief of the Hokuryu Town Social Welfare Council, gave an explanation of the competition
Megumi Murai, head of the local welfare section, gave a detailed explanation of the competition.
Warm up with some radio calisthenics to make your body flexible!
Events held: 4 events
Breaking the barrier
Once the barrier guard is decided, you start and play rock-paper-scissors with the barrier guard. If you win, you return to the starting point and pass the baton to the next person. If you lose, you go around the barrier guard once and play rock-paper-scissors again. If you lose three times, you go around the barrier guard once and pass the baton to the next person!
Breaking the barrier Ladder Getter
This is a game in which two balls connected by a string are thrown towards a ladder, and if the ball gets caught (hangs) on the ladder, points are awarded. The top rung of the ladder is worth 3 points, the middle rung is worth 2 points, and the bottom rung is worth 1 point, and if the ball gets caught in two places, the total points are added up. If it doesn't get caught, the points are 0.
Throwing is harder than you might think! Slipper throwing
This is a sport in which participants kick a slipper with one foot and compete for points over a set distance.
What happened to the slippers? Adults are crazy about it too! Racket relay
This is a game where players place balls on a racket and try not to drop them. If a ball falls, friends help each other by picking it up. With each player change, the number of balls on the racket increases.
Let's all work together!!! Finally, put a basketball on it!
A speech by Megumi Murai, Chief of the Community Welfare Section
"Omusubi, the public square, aims to develop the community as a place where all townspeople, from children to adults, can interact. It is also open to a wide range of people from outside the town.
The meaning of "Omusubi" is that rice balls are an auspicious food and have the meaning of connecting people. We chose the word "Omusubi" because we felt it was a very soft and lovely word to be able to make this place a place where you can make friends, spread to the community, and meet someone and connect with them.
"My dream for the future is to make rice balls with the newly harvested rice from Hokuryu Town and eat them together, including the elderly and children," says Section Chief Murai, sharing his dreams.
Weekly Activities
- Monday:Everyone's Square (Social Welfare Council, afternoon)
The facility is open from 1:00 p.m. and closes at 5:00 p.m. (seniors, elementary school students, and nursery school children and their parents visit after 4:00 p.m.). - Tuesday:Orange Cafe, Morimori Exercise
- Wednesday:Pottery class (Social Welfare Council, morning), Morning Glory Club (Hekisui)
- Thursday:Morning Glory Club (Japanese)
- Friday:Smile Club (Kokowa)
"Omusubi" connects people of all ages.
We put limitless love, gratitude, and prayers into "Minna no Hiroba Omusubi," where all the townspeople can enjoy sports in a fun and enjoyable way...
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◇ Photography, editing, and website management: Noboru Terauchi Writer: Ikuko Terauchi
