Nineteen Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCVs) organized a “JICA Japan Festival” on Saturday, February 1st, 2025, at St. Nicholas Anglican College in Honiara. This event aimed to introduce Japanese culture to the students and parents, thereby fostering a deeper mutual understanding between Japan and Solomon Islands.
The festival consisted of a quiz competition, Japanese dance, calligraphy class, kimono wearing and photography sessions, as well as face painting of cherry blossoms, the Japanese flag, and names written in Japanese. It was extremely memorable event, supported voluntarily by more than ten students from St. Nicholas Anglican College, who served as organizers to manage the large number of participants.
The chief organizer, Mr. Taiki Ando, who has been teaching physical education at St. Nicholas College since October 2023, expressed the importance and expectations as follow.
โThere are more than 470 JOCVs dispatched to Solomon Islands to date and currently 21 JOCV are working here. Thankfully, I feel that many Solomon Islanders have favorable understanding of Japan. Although JOCVs have hosted this kind of events twice at St. Mary Tanagai School and SINU last year, opportunities to experience Japanese culture in face-to-face are still limited. I believe there is room for us to do more for them. At the same time, this event deepens our understanding of Solomon Islands through interaction with many students.โ
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-JICA
