As you can read on the articles before this one, the World Campus – Japan participants went to Asuke, a small village located about 45 minutes away from the City of Toyota.
There we went to pick up weeds from the rice fields for a morning to help the rice farmers. In return, the rice farmers gave us Omusubi Currency as a payment for our work.

Omusubi Currency is a type of currency that was put into the rice market just a few months ago by locals from Asuke. 1 Omosubi = 75 grams of rice. It’s a little complicated, hard to understand and even harder to explain, but the main idea is to have the local people use this currency in the local stores and businesses to keep the income coming for the local rice farmers. The rice the farmers in this area grow is organic, so, no substances added to it. Which makes it better and more worth than the rice you buy at the supermarket anywhere.

Usually you, as an outsider can’t get Omusubi Currency, you have to work in the area, even if is just for a temporary work, to earn Omusubi Currency, then you can use them in the area.

We might agree or not with the idea of having a separate currency in a small area of the country but the locals are doing something to not only help their communities but also to make the organic rice business grow.

When that morning we heard we were going to the community of Asuke to pick up weeds from the rice fields, it sounded like a cool experience but doing it was a complete whole new deal. Not only did we put our feet with just sox in the mud and picked up weeds from the rice fields, we also discovered a complete new world of flying, swimming and jumping bugs we had never seen before. Anywhere from frogs to flies to spiders to worms. They were all there, waiting for us to put our hands in the mud to jump, swim or fly either away or towards us.

The truth is, even though it wasn’t that pretty we had a great time going through the experience together. This was for sure a lifetime experience, not only coming to Japan but putting our feet in the mud, dealing with the bugs and doing it all with a bunch of friends from all over the world. Where else can you do something like that? where else can you get to experience this kind of things.

World Campus – Japan is THE unique access to Japan. Today more than ever, it teaches us to appreciate how comfortable we are at home and how to appreciate other people’s work.

Arigato Event. Many of us start to tremble just to hear the sound of it. Doing a “show” in Japan?! That might not be the greatest idea for those who are stage fright or simply think that they don’t have any special talent. So, why is the Arigato Event something so important for World Campus International?

It’s simple. You don’t have to be talented. You don’t have to feel comfortable on stage. You just need to put your heart into it.

We spent a wonderful week in Tama. We met fantastic people from the local community, college students and many others that were so, so kind to share with us their cultures and their lives. But, on the top of it all: we met and lived with the most marvellous host families that welcomed us into their houses and treated us as if we were their own children. How do we repay such kind of kindness?

Arigato Event is the key of it. The people from Tama, who made our week unforgettable, came to see us. Yes, we were nervous as hell – after all, we wanted to make something beautiful, something that our families and new friends could enjoy. We didn’t want to mess up! But no one was worried about talent. We just wanted to say, from the bottom of our hearts, “Arigato” – or “Thank You”, in English.

It worked. Arigato Event in Tama was very emotional – after all, it was our last day in the city. We had to say goodbye to many people who we considered friends already. Arigato Event made even more tight the bonds we created all week.

And yes, there were a lot of mistakes. Some people forgot their lines. Some other forgot their lyrics. Some even forgot the moves. But, honestly?

We all had the time of our lives. And we are certain that the Tama community had a great time too.

(Ana Margarida – Portugal)

Tama is a city located very close to Tokyo, so, World Campus – Japan could not go to a city close to one of the most populated cities in the world and not visit it. The university students we met on the fist day in Tama, very nicely accepted to take us on a really cool tour of Tokyo. They took us everywhere from shopping at Shibuya Station, one of the biggest train stations in Japan to Tsukiji, the biggest fish market in the world.

Nothing like getting a tour from the locals, they know those places where as a tourist you never get to see. That’s how we do tourism in World Campus – Japan. Pretty unique!