Fieldwork in Suzu (Noto Sato-umi Course)

 On August 18th and 19th, 29 second-year SG course students visited Suzu city to do field research.  

On the first day, the mayor of Suzu city, Mr. Izumitani, explained the situation and problems of Suzu city.  He told them about many projects that Suzu city is working on.  Among them were examples of counterplans to resolve the loss of population, health promotion projects, educational programs, and Oku-Noto Triennale.  On the second day, they went on tour and interviewed people based on their own themes.  They were able to learn many things on the fieldtrip, thanks to the City of Suzu, Kanazawa University, Iida High School, Young Men’s Association, Association of Bereaved Families, Suzu Transportation, and the citizens who helped with the interview.  

They will incorporate their field work done in Japan into their research, and prepare for fieldwork in the U.S. in October.

[the participants’ comments]

My image of Suzu changed completely today.  By listening to the mayor’s story, I learned that there are many projects that the city is working on to make Suzu a better place to live.

＊I was nervous at first when I started talking with the students from Iida high school, but they listened to us while nodding, and it soon became easy to talk. The stories told to us had more weight because it was their local experience.

＊I learned many good things by talking with the people from Suzu Transport.  They had many viewpoints that we didn’t realize.

＊I learned that it is important to deepen our thoughts about what we can learn from data.

＊I was deeply moved by the story people from the Association of Bereaved Families told us.  I felt that there is a big difference between reading things and listening to actual stories.

＊I learned about biomass and sewer systems.  The lecturers were kind enough to make their stories easy to understand for us.