August 10, 2013

Shimane Grassroots Summit 2013

Flash Report

The 23rd Japan America Grassroots Summit 2013 in Shimane

Snapshot of Yasugi Session
The 23rd Grassroots Summit was held in Shimane, the hometown of Japanese mythologies, from July 1 to 8, 2013.
The American participants enjoyed the various programs, including the Opening Ceremony at Izumo Grand Shrine which
had just completed the renovation done in every 60 years, and spent a week encountering unique culture and warm
hospitality of Shimane people.
Number of people: 95 from America (including 83 participants who home-stayed）
2,000 in total (including the American participants, events attendees, sponsors, volunteers, etc.)
Event Attendees:
１）Opening Ceremony：230
２）Opening Reception：230３）Local Sessions：500４）Special Exchange at Schools：500５）Volunteers： 80６）Key Persons & Executive Committee ： 40
大会スケジュール（旅行日程）
７）Closing Ceremony：200８）Closing Reception：220
7/1 (Mon.)

Departure from the United States

7/2（Tue.）

Arrival in Shimane

7/3（Wed.）Morning： Optional Local Tours[ A: Deep in the Heart of Matsue、B: Adachi Museum of Art & Yasugi-bushi、C: Yuushien & Gegege-no-Kitaro ]Afternoon： Opening Ceremony at Izumo Grand Shrine & Reception at Shimane Winery＜Overnight at Hotel Ichibata＞

7/4（Thu.）

Departure for the local session areas＜Homstay＞

Local Sessions＜Homestay＞

7/5（Fri.）, 6(Sat.）＜Overnight at Hotel Ichibata＞

7/7（Sun.）Departure from local areas and Closing Ceremony and Reception in Matsue

7/8（Mon.）Return to America / Optional Post Summit Program (Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kochi, Sendai, Tokyo)＜Overnight at Tamatsukuri Hot Spring＞

Japanese Summit Participants Reunion (７/2 )A reunion of Japanese past Summit participants was heldon July 2 at “Lapita” in Izumo City. About 60 people who
visited Shimane from all over Japan attended and listened
to a lecture by Prof. Bon Koizumi, descendant of Lafcadio
Hearn. They also enjoyed deep culture of Shimane, suchas Yasugi-bushi dance (dojo-fish catching dance),
Kasa-odori (umbrella dance), etc. They joined thevc
Summit program of July 3 with the American participants Lesson of dojo-fish catching dance
and left Shimane on July 4.

Dinner over umbrella danceMorning Lecture, Local Tour, and Japanese Tea & Sweets(7/3)
In the early morning of July 3, twoguests gave the lectures to theparticipants. Prof. Bon Koizumi gave
the thoughts about his ancestor,
Lafcadio Hearn and Matsue, and Prof.
Paul Maruyama talked about his father
and the book, “Escape fromManchuria”.

Prof. Maruyama (left)& Prof. Koizumi

Lecture by Prof. Koizumi

Prof. Maruyama and the participants

The 3 different optional
local tours were offeredfrom 10 am. Each ofthem had unique taste
and introduced the deep
local cultures.

Deep in the Heartof Matsue

Yuushien & Kitaro Road

Adachi Museum of Art and Yasugi-bushiShimane is famous for its green tea andJapanese sweets. With the cooperation of local
confectionery, Furyudo, and tea company,
Nakamura Chaho, delicious and beautiful sweets
and green tea were served to the participants.
Demonstration of making artistic Japanese confection

Volunteer wearing Kimono

Opening Ceremony in Izumo Grand Shrine (7/3)
In the evening of July 3, the participants
visited Izumo Grand Shrine and madeprayers followed by the Opening
Ceremony in its worship hall.
Zenbee Mizoguchi,
Governor of Shimane

Hideto Nagaoka,
Mayor of Izumo

Taizo Watanabe, CIE Chairman

The Nakahamas& the Whitfields

Takamasa Senge, Chief Priestof Izumo Grand Shrine

Kurt Tong, DCM of U.S. Embassy

Matthew Perry, Descendant ofCommodore Perry

Globe Exchange between
the two families

Impressive presentation by TOMODACHI
Callisburg Delegation

Welcome Reception at Shimane Winery（7/3）
The
Welcome
Reception washeld at Shimane
Winery, and themenu was BBQ
of Shimane beef,
sea food, andfresh
vegetables.

Masato Fujihara
Performance of Shinto music
and dance

Delicious BBQ

Chairman ofN.Y. Shimane Kenjin-kai

Local Session – Homestay Program（7/4～7/7）
日（日）In the morning of July 4, the participants left Matsue for the local session areas.

The local session is a main part of the Summit, and 11

cities and towns all over Shimane offered 10 different programs.

1.

4.

3.

Izumo (8)Matsue (9)2.

Yasugi (9)Izumo / Hirata (8)5.

Unnan(3)6.

Okuizumo (3)Gotsu & Hamada (6)10.

Masuda (9)

7.

11.

The numbers of American participants are listed in brackets

Ohda (15)8,9.

Oki Islands (13)★ Comments from Participants ★
My Dad took me on this trip for my eighteenth birthday. I've been interested in Japanese culture for a couple of years now
and have wanted to visit Japan. During the trip, I fell in love with the culture I experienced and the wonderful people I met.
This trip was unforgettably life-changing for me, and I will most definitely be going back to Japan soon. (K.M. / Female)
What I am most impressed in Japan is the fact that everyday mundane activities are elevated to something very special
through the emphasis on ceremony and decorum present in almost every aspect of life. From the gingerly manner by whicha shop attendant wraps a purchased good, to intricately prepared dishes, manners and ceremony in the daily meal to theprocess of taking off ones shoes, and the correct way to place them at the door, to the proper order by which one takes
a bath; everything is treated with care and thus is a memorable event in itself.（E.C. / Female）
My host families were great and I felt very welcomed. Alas, the time was short, but I know for sure that I will return to see
my host family and the other friends I made there.（Ｊ.E. / Male）

Closing Ceremony ＆ Farewell Reception (7/7)
In the afternoon of July 7, day of Star Kiichiro Arima,
Chair of Summit Executive Committee
Festival, the all participants gatheredagain at English Garden in Matsue.
The Closing Ceremony and Farewell
Reception started at 4:30 pm withmany host families and volunteers.
In the ceremony, pictures of each local
session were presented, and KeikoSuzuki of Japan Society of San Diegoand Tijuana gave presentation about Presentation about San Diego Summit in 2014by Keiko Suzuki
the next year’s Summit.
The reception was the garden party.
All attendees enjoyed samurai
performances, jazz music, local
characters, etc., with delicious foodand drinks.

Paul Maruyama
Director of CIE-USHiroaki Noumi
Vice Mayor of Matsue
Scene ofCeremony

Tsutomu Karino
Honorary Chair of N.Y.Shimane Kenjin-kai

Departure from Shimane、Post Summit Optional Program（7/8）
In the morning of July 8, the American participants left Shimane with a lot of memories. Most of them continued their travel in Japan forsome more days, joining one of the Post Summit Optional Programs or on their own plan to explore the different culture and make morefriends.
Good-bye to hostfamilies andvolunteersin Shimane.

Kyoto & Tokyo Program- at Kyoto Station

Hiroshima/Kochi & Tokyo Program- at Kochi

Sendai & Tokyo Program- at Sendai

Shimane Grassroots Summit Executive Committee：
Senge Takamasa、Zenbee Mizoguchi, Masataka Matsuura、
Hideto Nagaoka 、 Kiichiro Arima、 Shigeyuki Yubuki 、 Nobuo Nakasa 、Hiromichi Fujihara、Kuniyuki Tsubouchi、Masao Nagira、Noboru Kato、
Yasuko Takahashi、Kazunari Yamazaki、Yosuke Hazeyama、
Yoshiaki Shibutani、Kazuhiro Nobe、Satomi Miyazako、Yuji Moriwaki、Takaaki Naito 、 Takahiro Fujihara 、 Toshihiro Sakusa 、 Mieko Ito 、
YoichiroKurotani、Nobuyoshi Nakazawa

Committee Secretariat：
Culture & International Affairs Division, Shimane Prefectural Government

Shimane Summit Executive Committee Members

Grand Axe 602, 2-12-18 Koujimachi, Chiyoda-ku
Tokyo, 102-0083 JapanTEL 03-3511-7171 FAX 03-3511-7175
URL： http://www.manjiro.or.jp