On June 29th, at the Shimane University 2nd Gymnasium, the “Playing around the world at Shima-Dai” event was held. International students from our own university, introduced their own countries in Japanese with a focus on cultural differences. The total number of participants at this event was 92 and, included elementary pupils, their guardians, Shima-Dai students as well as the exchange students.

On this day, 17 exchange students from 8 different countries and territories (Iceland, USA, Korea, Taiwan, China, Germany, The Philippines, and France) participated in this event.

The students seemed a bit nervous at the beginning of the event, introducing their activity, using words and expressions that they had studied, sometimes relying on gestures to properly explain how to do the various activities. With this, both the elementary pupils and exchange students ran around, played rhythm based games and spent an enjoyable time. Several of the participating guardians inquired if this event was going to held again next year. The event ended while everyone was having a good time.

Using the concept of “play”, the participants, both exchange students and elementary pupils were able to deepen their understanding of each other. The participants were also able to deepen their understanding of each other’s cultural differences. More opportunities like these are being planned in the future.