“Hajimemashite Ensoku,” roughly translatable as “Nice to Meet You Picnic,” was held on Saturday, June 8. Half of the participants were international students and the other half first-year Japanese students. The purpose of the event was to help these students get to know each other better and become friends.

This year’s picnic was the fifth time the event has been held. It took place at Ōchizawa Youth Center, in the more rural western part of Machida. The theme of this year’s picnic was “Tsunagi,” or “Connections.” Organizers of the event expressed their wish to connect as many first-year students and international students as possible and to help them build enduring friendships.

Following the opening ceremony, the roughly 100 participants all took part in an ice-breaking activity called “Applause Relay.” They then split into groups of about ten and went on a “Walk Rally.” After lunch came the day’s main event: the dancing known as “bon-odori.” Team leaders taught their groups two dances, “Tokyo Ondo” and “Doraemon Ondo.” The sight of 100 people dancing in unison was impressive indeed.

The chief organizer of the picnic, Reika Wakita, a third-year student in the College of Business Management, said, “I wanted to give the international students some exposure to Japanese traditions and help the first-year students get off to a fresh start by dancing together with the international students.” She said that she had tried to keep the dancing simple so that everybody could easily follow the moves and that she was very happy to see all the participants enjoying themselves.

When it was over, many of the international students described it as “Tanoshikatta”—fun! One of the participating first-year students commented, “I was happy to be able to meet so many international students.” If this one-day event leads to continued interchange between Japanese and non-Japanese students, it will have been a success.