Third-year students at the Faculty of Letters at Soka University, mostly those in Associate Professor Hanna Nishikawa’s seminar, conduct “study tours” to deepen their learning while interacting with members of the Suwa Department at Nagano Prefecture Senior University as well as residents of the Suwa area.

A conference featuring presentations of results from this year, the fifth year of the project, was held on Saturday, August 20 at Suwa Glass Village, a tourism facility in Toyota, Suwa, and was attended by city officials as well as local residents.

During the presentations, students reported on the results of their practice using the PhotoVoice method, in which participants discuss solutions based on photographs taken of the streets and temples around JR Kami-Suwa Station, Kirigamine Highlands, and other locations to discover the appeal of Suwa and find ways to utilize local resources. Over 1,000 photographs taken by the students will be on display at Suwa Glass Village until September 10th.

Looking back on this project, Associate Professor Nishikawa said, “During the study tour, we interacted with the local people of Suwa online throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Doing the project in person this year gave these third-year university students, who were unable to have an in-person entrance ceremony, a wealth of experience. I am confident that these ‘study tour’ students, who will carry the future of the community and regional revitalization, provided valuable feedback to the host community through discovering the value of events, places, systems, and people in the Suwa area.”