Japan gives exposure to foreign students and artists

Kazuo Inamori, founder of Japan's global business Kyocera believes that exposure to different cultures is important to the growth of a child from his own personal experience overseas when he was younger.

Since 1978, Kyocera has sponsored cultural exchange tours for children from other countries to visit and exchange cultural activities in Japan.

Kyocera continues to actively expand in Vietnam, which continues to enjoy one of the highest economic growths, among countries with emerging economies.

As part of the company's social contribution, it has invited Vietnamese children on tours of Japan for the second time this year.

In addition to visiting the cultural facilities of Osaka and Kyoto and a Kyocera manufacturing site, the children visited a Junior High school in Kyoto city where they met with Japanese students and deepened their friendship through extracurricular activities.

A Vietnamese student said, "It was a very enjoyable meeting with Japanese and to experience their wonderful culture. Their new Japanese friends were kind and taught us many things."

The students also visited the Kyocera Museum of Fine Ceramics, which exhibits the development process of ceramic technology since its inception.

They also visited Inamori Library, where the students could learn about the life of the founder, Kazuo Inamori, his philosophy of life, management, and various social activities.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha of the Hanoi Union of Friendship Organization, said, "This is an excellent program for Vietnamese children to learn and deepen their understanding of Japanese culture and their people."

The students stayed at Kyocera's employees' homes, and through their daily experience of everyday life in Japan, they could deepen their understanding of other cultures.

Masami Sato of the Kyocera Corporation said, "Since I have children about the same age, I thought it would be an enjoyable exchange between Japan and Vietnam and for the children to meet and have fun together."

Takasi Sato, a Kyocera Corporation official, said, "By providing this thrilling and emotional experience to young children, it will inspire them to have huge dreams and goals in life."

Focusing on Asia, artists from each country around the world participate in the Yokohama Triennale.

A wide range of exhibits with an international flavor, such as art works made from life jackets and lifeboats used by refugees on the island of Greece are on exhibit.

Eriko Osaka, Co-director, Yokohama Triennale 2017, said, "Every three years the world situation changes and these changes to our environment are so fast, that it is hard to imagine."

Akiko Miki, Co-director, Yokohama Triennale 2017, said, "Bring new meaning to the city of Yokohama, which opened its port a hundred and sixty years ago, converting it from isolation to a place of openness and connectivity."

Shooshie Sulaiman, an artist from Malaysia, said, "I think being an artist, I able to make a certain connection to talk, to communicate to people that we have to go back again to understand how the ancient people respect the cosmos, the universe. Yokohama is a very easy city, very beautiful, very fantastic for children. I recommend people with children to come here. It's really really great for children."

Rirkrit Tiravanija, an artist from Thailand, said, "I'm Thai, we really live in a kind of crossroad between influences of north east Asia. In the sense of conglomeration, I always felt very diverse. The scroll structure of the print of course come from the more like Chinese, Japanese influence."

Joko Avianto, an artist from Indonesia, "The title of the art work is "The Border between Good and Evil". The concept of this art work is from Shimenawa(a Japanese Shinto straw festoon). Shimenawa is like a border in the temple. But in Indonesia a Shimenawa is a cloud, so it's like a border of earth and heaven."

The open port city of Yokohama is further enhanced by art.