A visit to MUA by Meiji Gakuin University students

Date: July 2, 2021
Venue: MUA Secretariat Office

We had the pleasure of having a visit by two students from the Meiji Gakuin University located in Minato City.  They major in the science of education and child development in the Faculty of Psychology.  Their seminar class mentor is Professor SHBUYA Megumi, who regularly participates as a judge in MUA’s annual Japanese-Language Speech Contest.  The students visited us for a scholastic interview on the following two subjects as an extension of their class assignment at the university.

１．What is the desirable status of life-long learning and citizens’ initiatives which will enable community people, with different backgrounds, to have mutual respect and lead a socially vibrant day-to-day life?

２．What is the actual scene of the community’s life-long learning activities and the way people are involved?

   Initially President Nagano of MUA briefed the students about the start of grass-roots UNESCO movements in post-war Japan and its historical significance.  He followed it up with an emphasis on the importance of thinking about peace and taking proactive action in contemporary Japan.  After this, President Nagano and the students engaged in free discussions on the diversified activities undertaken by MUA.

  In the preamble of the UNESCO Constitution, we see the following statement, immediately after the well-known sentence which starts with “Since wars begin”

 Ignorance of each other’s ways and lives has been a common cause, throughout the history of mankind, of that suspicion and mistrust between the people of the world through which their differences have all too often broken into war.

 The above statement emphasizes the importance of cross-cultural understanding.  President Nagano explained that MUA’s activities have been implemented based on this philosophy.  This made a good platform to promote lively interaction with the guest students.  We were pleased to know that the students would present in a forthcoming class their findings about UNESCO and MUA activities.

(Written by SHIMPUKU Shoji, MUA Secretary General, and translated by TANAHSHI S., the PR & Internet Committee)