The Hyogo International Association’s Cultural Exchange Publication

ComeHIAVOL. 104
Oct.
2022

HIA is promoting disaster prevention activities!
In recent years, as the number of foreigners living in Hyogo Prefecture has increased, learning how to livewith them at evacuation centers in the event of a disaster has become a hot topic. HIA is always thinking
about ways to solve this problem, and is preparing for disasters in cooperation with local governments andinternational exchange organizations in the prefecture.

Disaster preparedness and emergency drills were held in Taka Town
On July 3, 2022, a disaster prevention and emergency drill event for foreign residents was held in Taka Town.
It was the first time that Hyogo Prefecture and towns (local governments) in the prefecture collaborated tohold a disaster prevention event. About 30 residents from five countries, Vietnam, China, Philippines,Myanmar and Indonesia, participated in the event.
The first part of the event consisted of a lecture on disasters by Taka Town officials, and the second partconsisted of evacuation training and experience of living in an evacuation center. The participants learned
the importance of preparing for disasters during normal times so that Japanese and foreign residents canhelp each other and overcome tough situations together when a disaster strikes.
Shakeout training assuming amaximum seismic intensity of 6
“Stay low, protect
your head, andstay still until the
shaking stops."

Checking the bodytemperature and physicalcondition before entering
the evacuation center

Lecture on disasters (heavy rain,typhoons, earthquakes) andintroduction of the hazard mapof Taka Town

Project to assist
foreigners in theevent of a disaster

Subsidies are provided to disaster prevention projects organized by local international
associations in Hyogo prefecture and the government. The purpose of these projects is tostrengthen preparedness for disasters by enabling foreign residents who need assistance intimes of disaster and their supporters to be able to respond to disasters. Since the project
started in 2019, a total of 5 projects have been subsidized, including disaster drills, training
seminars for foreign supporters in times of disaster, and creation of multilingual support tools
for evacuation centers.

Participants filled in theevacuation card at the receptionarea, and divided into groups andmoved to the evacuation space

We communicated therules of the shelter byusing the multilingualboard and pictogram

Please take off
your shoes

Should I calla nurse?

Using the translation point cards, we
practiced communicating problems andrequests to the shelter staff.

We asked foreign participants!
How was using thetranslation point cards?

Introduction of useful tools
during a disaster!

Illustrations are depicted on the cards, so it’s
useful when we can’t express by words well.
It’s useful to get information in my ownlanguage at the time of a disaster.

For people having difficulty ofcommunication in Japanese, thepointing board enable both shelter
operators and foreigners affected by
the disaster to communicate easily.

Tell us your impressions of theemergency training
I was able to visualize and think about thesituation when an earthquake occurred suchas “running out of electricity is scary” and “Iwonder if I can contact my family?”

Do you have anything you want toshare with the Japanese people?
At the shelter, I’m glad they asked me in simple
Japanese, which I can answer with “Yes or no”
such as “Do you want to go to the bathroom?” Forforeigners who are not good at Japanese, it takes
courage to ask for help on their own.

From Vietnam
Do Cao Thang

From Myanmar
Phyo Phyo Myat

For details, go to ourassociation website

By getting evacuees to fill in thecard, such as information about
the presence or absence ofchronic disease and dietary
restrictions, they can tell theshelter staff their body conditionor things they can’t eat.

From Vietnam
Duong Vu Toan

The board displays adescription of facilities andequipment within the shelter inmultiple languages. Shelter
staff should be aware of thekind of people who live in that
region and choose theappropriate languages.
For more details of 2&3, please go to Council of Local
Authorities Relations for International website

November 20, 2021

“Exchange meeting to discuss about disaster prevention”
Itami UNESCO Association, whose main activities include holding Japanese language class and charity concerts, held an exchange
meeting for foreigners and Japanese on the theme of disaster prevention in collaboration with Itami City. The 37 participants learned
from the lecturer (Mr. Ryoji Miyazaki, representative of Itami Life Keeper) how disasters occur in Japan, how to find information
when a disaster occurs, and disaster prevention items that should be prepared in advanced. Following that, they divided theparticipants into groups and deepened their understanding through discussions. Some people from China and Vietnam learned theParticipants searched for nearby
concept of an earthquake for the first time, so this event was a valuable opportunity to learn how to prepare for disasters.
shelters on the hazard flood map

We introduce a seminar on international cooperation about Egypt, a food culture exchange
class where students learn about Italian home cooking “Pasta fredda” (cold pasta). Also, weintroduce our new Coordinator of International Relations, Ko Eunbyeol.

We held an online seminar“Let’s Go! To another side of The Grand Egyptian Museum!”
An international cooperation seminar for beginners was held online on January
20th under the theme of Egypt, co-hosted by JICA (an independent administrativecorporation) and 5 other groups, with 324 people taking part in the seminar.
In the first session, through a live broadcast from Egypt, with special permission
we introduced an unseen side of “The Grand Egyptian Museum” that will beopened soon. In addition to the stories told by people living there, the view ofGiza’s 3 Great Pyramids provided a very special experience like being there in realtime.

Live broadcast from the rooftop withviews of the Pyramids

In the second session they explained the technical assistant project to The Grand
Egyptian Museum provided by JICA. In addition, technical and professional staffs
who was involved in that project explained the existing problems of protecting
precious artifacts, that is, the activities of conservation and restoration of thoseartifacts, and also about the destruction of those artifacts due to political andreligious reasons in Egypt.
We learned that cultural technical assistance can lead to building good
relationships between two countries and what’s more, it was a very important
opportunity for Japan to come into contact with precious cultural property. It wasa very beneficial experience for both countries.

Sneak peek of the Grand Egyptian Museum

On July 5th, we held a webinar about the developing startup ecosystem in Hong Kong.
One of the participants questioned, “What is the selling point for the company in termsof expanding its business in Hong Kong?” We answered, “As far as I know, there is nosense of being away from home as a Japanese company.” Recently, thanks to the strong
support of repeat customers visiting to Japan, we can see that companies are showing
their power and accelerating their business deployment.

Tech-oriented startup companies gather at Hong Kong Science Park

Turning our eyes to the ASEAN market, we can find different supporters such as former
international students from Japan. The government-financed program for foreign
students from mainly Southeast Asia started in 1954 and after that the number ofprivately financed students has been increasing. In 1977, former international students
from ASEAN countries established ASCOJA(ASEAN Council of Japan Alumni). In 2018, weparticipated in the Annual meeting of ASCOJA which was held in Cambodia andremembered that we were encouraged by many former international students fromJapan (who took up important positions at the government or companies in ASEANcountries) because “They want to support activities of Japanese companies in order toincrease the presence of their second home “Japan”.
Our office based in Hong Kong which is responsible
for the Asian market will try to promote economic
exchange and tourism by making use of our networkof Japanese supporters here.
(Written by Director Kimio Yamatani)

Tourism promotion at the Japan booth at the Hong Kong Book
Fair (one of the biggest events in Hong Kong with 870,000 visitorsin July 2022)

With our colleagues. We welcomed oursummer intern university students. (center)Welcome our new CIR!
The new CIR has started her job.

The cooking video of “pasta fredda” is now online!

여러분 잘 부탁해요～！
(Hello, everybody.
Nice to meet you.)In Yamada town, the countrysidein the eastern part of Himeji city,
Claudia Ogawa, who came fromFlorence, runs an Italian restaurantwith her husband. She taught us
how to make “pasta fredda (coldpasta)” which really suits a hotsummer day.
“I hope everyone can enjoy authentic flavors”, she said. She
developed fresh pasta made with home-grown rice through a trial
and error process with her husband and father who had arrived
from Italy, which shows she loves pasta more than others. This
time she used seashell-shaped fresh pasta conchiglie, which is oneof “Kakogawa pasta” made with local wheat.
You can enjoy the cooking video of “pasta fredda” and theinterview article on the web site, which is full of interesting
information on Italian food culture and why Ms. Ogawa came to
Japan. Don’t miss it!
Buonappetito!

An-nyeong-ha-se-yo!
My name is Ko Eunbyeol. I haveworked as a Coordinator forInternational Relations in Hyogo sinceApril 2022.
When I was in my third year of university, I lived in
Osaka for a year as a part of an exchange program.
This is the second time that I live in Kansai. Myhometown, South Gyeongsang in South Korea,
formed a friendship city agreement with Hyogo in2012. The city atmosphere and the language
intonation are similar to that in Kansai.
Ko Eunbyeol

As a CIR, I promote both Korea and Japan tourism
and every Wednesday I teach Korean withgovernment staff. I love this job, because we canlearn both Japanese and Korean whilst helping eachother. Korean has thesame word order withJapanese and it’s easy forJapanese people to learn.
If you are interested, why
don’t you try learning
Korean as well?

The interview and thecooking video is here

Claudia Ogawa

A summer treat in South Gyeongsang “kongguksu (soy milk noodle soup)”

Try Italian mamma’s recipe♪

Support for Ukraine Refugees by HIA
Ukraine Refugees
Hyogo is supporting
Ukraine Refugees throughit’s “Hyogo-Ukraine
PrefectureCountry
support project”. Hyogo・Acceptancepolicy and・Coordinate the supportOne-stopsystemsystemconsultation
provides a one-stop・Immigration, employment,
・Provide prefecturelabor and social welfare
deskhousing
consultation service
We accept refugees into Hyogo
through the cooperationand help support their lives
with supporters, cities,
Supporting organizations
Cities and towns
towns and support
・Reception and daily life support
・Residence, education, and welfareorganizations.
HIA
Hyogo International Association

Support web site for
Ukraine Refugees in Hyogo
Prefecture, cities, towns andprivate corporations launched
the dedicated website about
daily life and employment for
the Ukraine Refugees in Hyogo.
Support web site is hereInquiry counter for Ukraine Refugees
There is an inquiry counter at the information center for foreign residents in Hyogo.

Providing grants to support their daily expenses
HIA coordinates the grant payments.

※Hyogo accepts “FurusatoNouzei” (hometown tax) donations.
Please make a contribution to it.

Enquiries:

Hyogo International Association
TEL (078)230-3260 FAX

To contribute, follow the web site provided below.

Japanese language support
HIA offers Japanese classes in person and on-line
Furusato choice

HIA Website:
http://www.hyogo-ip.or.jp/(078)230-3280

Hyogo International Association 2Fl. IHD Center, 5-1, 1-Chome,
Wakinohamakaigan-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 651-0073

Rakutenfurusato nouzei

SPECIAL THANKS
We would like to thank the following HIA Volunteer Translators for theirassistance with this volume’s publication;
we would not have been able to produce it without their help.

Ms. Yuki Tatsumi, Mr. Ryota Kikuchi,
Mr. Ryosuke Tomojiri , Ms. Chie Mouri