Project Planned by UoA Students selected by the "Proposals by Young People for Preventing Damage by Harmful Rumors Program"

In July 2014, a proposal by the NPO Fukushima Internet Television, run primarily by UoA students, was selected by the Fukushima prefectural government for its "Future from Fukushima - Proposals by Young People for Preventing Damage by Harmful Rumors Project." This project aims to eliminate the damage caused to the prefecture's agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industries by harmful rumors after the Great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear Disaster.

The project, which received 61 proposals from around the country, selected nine organizations after two rounds of selection. Using a total of 8,000,000 yen in grants, these organizations will set about activities to eliminate the damage mentioned above, while also promoting consumption and the expansion of sales channels.

The name of the project proposal planned by UoA students that passed selection is "World meets Fukushima." Taking advantage of the UoA's global environment, the project aims to create recipes from around the world that use Fukushima produce, and to promote delicious Made in Fukushima Sekaimeshi ("world eats") around the world.

Comment from Project Leader Yuta Kimoto (3rd Year)
Being a project for proposals by young people, our activities are, as you would expect, mostly run by students. We hope that through the participating students' experiences, and by holding exchanges in and out of the prefecture, we will be able to provide a chance for people to take another look at Fukushima produce. We will need a lot of help from the people of Aizu and the Fukushima region, and are looking forward to your continued support.

The flyer can be downloaded here.


"World meets Fukushima" logo (left), Scene from the screening board meeting (Right)

Commemorative photo with President Oka (center) and the team members

As the first event of "World meets Fukushima," "International Talk: Googling game Event of world's food culture - Searching for Sekaimeshi" was held at the UoA on July 25, 2014 (Fri). International Talks, which are a regular event at the UoA, are a program for intercultural exchange for those interested cross-cultural understanding. This time, the theme of the event was the unique characteristics of the food of each of the world's countries.

During the event, a "World Cuisine Googling Competition" was held between several teams, in which participants used laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc. to perform searches for the name of the dish, and the ingredients and seasonings based on a photograph and the country of origin as hints.

After American, Chinese, French, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and other dishes were shown on the screen, the participants searched for images on their smartphones, or surfed the web to search for the answers with help from their teammates.

Then, participants researched whether the dishes that were found during the Googling Game could be made with Fukushima produce. After the game, the answers were checked and the scores were tallied.

Along with the posting of the answers by the event organizer, international students took to the podium to introduce their country's cuisine. Through the game, players were able to learn not only about the ingredients of cuisine, and the way it is made, but were able to learn things such as when it is eaten, gaining an understanding about the wonderful food culture of each country. At the award ceremony, the top three teams were presented with Fukushima-grown vegetables. Vn Trong Bach (a first-year Master's student from Vietnam), a member of the winning team, was surprised of the weight of the watermelon he received, saying "we're going to have a watermelon party with everyone" with a smile.


Participants making searches based on hints


The winning team shows off their prizes (left), Mr. Kinomoto holds up some Fukushima eggplants (right)


Group photo taken after the event

Prizes provided by: JA Aizu Farmer's Market "Manma-ja"

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