JITCO

Case 8: International Exchange through Community Work

The main purpose of industrial training and technical internship is to contribute to internationalization through the transfer of techniques and skills acquired in Japan.  To maximize the effect, it is important to gain an understanding of this kind of program from local communities perspectives.  To do that, it would be beneficial to increase the opportunity to expose trainees and technical interns to the local community.  It will also make the experience more memorable for trainees and technical interns.

In fact, there are organizations that actively promote internationalization efforts and encourage trainees and interns to be known locally by participating in various events such as community festivals and exchanges with the elderly and with children.  The Wing Tottori Cooperative is a accepting organization with a focus on active community participation.

Five subsidiaries dealing in light electrics originally hosted trainees and interns under the supervision of the local chamber of commerce.  However, the municipal merger affected staffing and budgeting, which also led the chamber of commerce as the primary accepting organization to pull out of the project.  Those five subsidiaries came forth and established the Wing Tottori Cooperative.

For the first generation of international exchange participants, 21 trainees from Changchun and Dalian arrived in the country in December 2006.  In the initial group training, local officials, police and fire department personnel were invited to conduct seminars on local culture and business along with living tips.  A banquet was organized on the last day of the group training, providing an opportunity for debriefing.  These seminars eased fears and concerns that new trainees had about living in Japan, and made them realize that they were expected to do well, which seemed to increase their enthusiasm.

[A Crime Prevention Seminar by Tottori Police]

[A Fire Drill Conducted by Yazu Fire Department]

Also in the same month, a beach cleanup was conducted on the coastal dunes of Tottori Sakyu in the rain.  Under the guidance of the park management personnel, all trainees and staff from the cooperative gathered 20 full bags of cans, bottles, and cigarette lighters in just one hour of the activity.  They also learned how to separate trash, and they deepened their understanding about protecting the environment.  In this field trip, they not only enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the Sea of Japan, but also gained knowledge about nature conservation.

[Paying Visit at the Capital of Tottori Prior to the Cleanup]

[Cleaning Tottori Sakyu] 

Following is the excerpt from the diaries written by the trainees on their field trip.

"We saw beautiful sand dunes.  It felt good to step onto the soft sand!  We picked up almost all the trash on the beach.  We even picked up very tiny pieces!  We worked very diligently."

"This activity was interesting.  Keeping the environment clean is a human responsibility."

"The sand dunes were huge.  It was magnificent!  The Sea of Japan next to them were beautiful too.  I loved it!  We cleaned the beach along with the president.  This activity protects the environment."   

Their active participation in community work has also caught the attention of the media: they were covered in 4 newspapers and 2 television programs between last December and January this year.

It was exciting to achieve both goals: contributing internationally through community work, and making the experience memorable, and also to have the interns' activities known throughout Tottori prefecture.

Mr. Sakamoto, the general manager, had told us why the cooperative put so much effort in to these activities. "When a subsidiary was accepting trainees and interns under the local chamber of commerce, Chinese workers who were not part of the training program vandalized vending machines in the area.  Since then, local people's opinion of the Chinese people in general has become very negative.  For example, when trainees and interns talk loudly on the street, people, especially the elderly, suspect that they are conspiring.  There was also some trouble related to separating refuse.  Thinking about the cause of these issues, I realized that the accepting companies back then did not put much emphasis on community work, and thus they failed both to win understanding and establish a grass-root level of international exchange.

Learning from those experiences, we became committed to contributing actively to the community, and to building good memories for our trainees and interns to take home."

The cooperative, with the help of the local community, is planning to expand participation to include local festivals and organize exchange events with kindergartens and elementary schools.  By popular demand, the Tottori Sakyu cleanup is also being considered as an annual event, with the possibility of being expanded to function as part of the local community cleanup held extensively in every spring and autumn.

"It is good for trainees and technical interns to be active in the community as it encourages them to learn Japanese quickly.  In the last cleanup, only the trainees and staff from the cooperative participated, so we hope that employees from the accepting organizations also come and join in next time.

Wing Tottori's effort, led by Mr. Sakamoto and Mr. Naito, the executive vice president, has just commenced