Today we talk about “多文化校正, たぶんかこうせい.” Tabunka Kōsei is also known as “multicultural coexistance.” Here in Japan, it refers to the idea of different cultures living together harmoniously and mutually benefiting from each other’s presence. It emphasizes the importance of diversity and encourages us to embrace and respect various cultural backgrounds, fostering an environment where people from different cultures can coexist peacefully and contribute to the richness of the community. But what kind of situations come up?

Some Vietnamese neighbors growing pumpkins next door to a Japanese neighbor who wonders why they’re not eating them. Meanwhile, the Vietnamese neighbors are likely cooking the vines and leaves into delicious soups and other dishes. Perhaps the Vietnamese neighbors may be wondering why all the Japanese neighbors are wasting all those wonderful vines! The Japanese neighbor wants to ask about donating the pumpkin to a local food bank, but is met with language barriers. How do we address and grow in these situations? In any case, communication between neighbors is a good thing!

Listen on for the whole episode:

最近、新聞でちょっとした報道がありました。ご覧になりましたか？

The One World Festa special radio recap includes a full translation as well as keywords at the bottom for those interested in Japanese. Please give it a listen and follow along!

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Kamada: Now it’s time for Catch The Rainbow, our weekly update from the Kitakami International Assembly Hall. We have Ms. Keiko Usugi here in the studio with us today. Thank you for coming.
Keiko: Thank you for having me.
Tada: Thanks for being here.
Kamada: Yesterday, on the entire third floor*, you held a huge event, One World Festa in Kitakami 2023!
Keiko: Yes– thanks to everyone, it was a huge success. It went off without a hitch.
Tada: That’s great.
Kamada: You were also able to connect with Concord over Zoom, weren’t you?
Keiko: That’s right.
Tada: Oh, really?
Keiko: Yes– the former and current mayor of Concord, and the Concord Ambassadors– in total, 13 people– and some people who will be hosting our High School exchange students made an appearance as well.
Tada: Is that so! That’s amazing.
Keiko: Really, for them it ran until quite late, local time. We were broadcasting from around 10am to lunch Japan time, so in California is called “West Coast” time, 2 hours on Saturday evening. When One World Festa ended at 3pm here, it’s already around 10pm in Concord. We thought it’d be difficult for people to watch until the end, so we chose to end at noon our time. Still, a few people watched until the very end! One was Lydia Slyker– a former ALT here in Kitakami. Another was the former Mayor of Concord, Tim McGallian. Those two stayed until the very end, I was so surprised!
Tada: Wow, something to be grateful for, isn’t it?
Keiko: Yes!
[3:00]
Keiko: Of those two, one of them, Tim– well, our high school students are heading to Concord tomorrow, and the host families are arranged by him. Within Japan, we have a “moto” mayor (former/2 mayors back) and a “zen” mayor (previous mayor, 1 mayor back), but they don’t really do that kind of volunteering, right?

日本では、元市長さんとか前市長さん、そういう方はそういうボランティアをするっていう感覚がたぶんないんじゃないですかね。

Tada: Yeah, probably not.
Keiko: I think that’s really impressive. And the leader of Concord Ambassadors, Michael Pastrick, he was also a former mayor. Notably, he was the mayor during a major commemorative anniversaries, our 20th and 25th. 　
Kamada: Mike was in front of the camera saying “hello” and stuff, right?
Keiko: Yes, the high school students seemed so nervous! I hope they really do their best from tomorrow as they head that way.
Tada: So do I!
[4:25]
Kamada: You did a headcount, didn’t you?
Keiko: Yes, in front of the escalator and in front of the elevator, our volunteers used a tally counter. Those two counters totaled 550 people.
Tada: 550!
Keiko: Then, totaling staff and volunteers, We have 267 people. So we had 807 people in total.
Kamada: Wow!
Tada: Amazing! It must have been really packed in the hall and elevator and such!
Keiko: Yes, if they all came at once, it would be pretty tough, but we opened at 10am, and we already had people here preparing from 8am. Especially all the people who came early to bring ingredients and tools, to help cook so food would be ready in time.
Kamada: You could really smell delicious foods from all over the world throughout the building!
Keiko: It was a very complex scent.
Kamada: The scent of spices and cooking meats wafting through the air really made me smile.
Tada: Where there many kids? A kids space or anything?
Keiko: Yes, there were workshops that everyone from kids to adults could enjoy. To give you an idea, there were 10 booths within one room, in the large meeting room, which we opened up to combine the main room with the small back room usually separated by panels. It’s the largest room in the Lifelong Learning Center. It hosted the 10 groups. For example, riginal magnet making, shuttle-strap making, weaving, kaleidoscope making, paper-thread knot art, bookmark making, ink painting, resin keychain making, balloon animals, and egg shaker workshops.
Tada: A real spectrum!
[7:20]
Keiko: It sure was. There were a lot of things you don’t see everyday. I really wanted to have tried to do some leisurely ink-painting, but I never was able to find the time!
Kamada: Your time was pretty limited!
Tada: It was!
Keiko: Yep.
Kamada: Yeah, seemed like it would have been nice to try, ink painting– truly the real thing– it was on fairly large paper, around A3? I tried “Mizuhiki.”
Keiko: They come in such vibrant colors, don’t they? Like “wow, they have this kind and this kind too.” You can make beautiful brooches and things. And at ink painting, some of the Indonesian guests went to try it out and seemed to be really having fun. To paint with charcoal ink and things, I think it was a unique experience.
Kamada: I saw a parent and child pair participating who– they may have been American? And the global attire closet seemed to be a smash hit! Even people trying on the Oni Kembai outfit!
Keiko: I wanted to try on the Onikembai outfit, too!
Kamada: It was the real thing!
Keiko: I wanted to try it, but totally didn’t have the time for it.
Tada: Maybe if someone tried on the Onikembai outfit, they’ll start wanting to participate in the Onikembai performances the next time around.
Keiko: Maybe so! Actually, the opening Onikembai performance was elementary students, and one of the two kids was a Filipino child. One of the food vendors, Cleo’s child.
Tada: Oh, really!
Keiko: Even being a kid with foreign roots, he’s involved in practicing and participating in Kitakami’s Onikembai, and he really did a great job performing for us.
Kamada: Sounds like he’s really involved with Kitakami culture. Also, you had a video camera connection with the people in Concord, right? Shaleah took a camera around and you gave a tour of the venue. Did you have any comments from anyone who watched?
Keiko: Well, no comments yet. But you know, if you set up a fixed camera at an event, you still can’t really get a good picture of what is going on there, right? But like yesterday, if you are able to grab the computer and camera and walk around, you really get to see everything as if you’re here. The people in Concord were able to watch and seemed to be really having fun, too. Maybe they were able to feel like they were participating with us.
Kamada: Now, there were a lot more shops selling goods this year!
Keiko: Yes, loading in all those goods seemed pretty challenging too! The Women’s Club had 10 attendees, selling everything from veggies to handmade goods, clothes to dishes. A lot of different things.
Kamada: Like a bazaar.
Keiko: Yes, that’s right.
Kamada: And the Indonesian table and Thai table, they were selling snacks too, right?
Keiko: Yes, and the Phillipines booth also sold snacks.
Kamada: Oh, and the Korean booth had authentic chijimi, too! The glass-noodles dish– that’s chapchae, right?
Keiko: Yes, and the Vietnam booth sold a bunch of pho, too.
Kamada: Oh yes, the flavor was quite different from Japan!
Keiko: Well, the pho was being made by Vietnamese people, so it must have been a real Vietnamese flavor, right?
Kamada: Yes, I thought it must have been pretty authentic!
Keiko: Really, as a company the Vietnamese booth came to help out.
Kamada: Now the afternoon part– in the band Kurofuto, in other words, “Croft,” the wife of the pair has been in to our radio show before, hasn’t she?
Keiko: Yes, she has.
Kamada: Those two played our theme song, Catch the Rainbow, on Ukulele and Guitar!
Tada: Ohhh! Seriously?
Kamada: Yes! And we got to hear the Indonesian instrument, Tingklik being played, too, while listening to Indonesian fairy-tales told in Japanese.
Keiko: Yep.
Kamada: The teacher reciting them really spoke with a sense of humor.
Tada: Really?
Kamada: Really!
[4:20]
Keiko: And, as expected, the Indonesian singers at the end were really talented. Two individuals, Mr. Tino and Mr. Hussain lead a band as vocal and keyboard. Actually, those two come weekly to study Japanese. When we started talking about One World, it grew into an Indonesian food booth and their friends all showed up in a big way. The hall was like a Indonesian market! You’d think it wasn’t even in Japan. There were so many different people from different places.
Tada: That’s so fun! They must have been looking forward to all meeting at One World Festa.
Keiko: Even if they worked at different places, they were all friends, so they said they reached out so that everyone could come.
Kamada: They weren’t just in from Kitakami, were they? They came in from different cities as well?
Keiko: Yes, some lived in Hanamaki and Maesawa and such.
Kamada: Well, we are right in front of the station! You just have to say “come to the building out front!” They’d practically be carried by the scent of the food to the third floor. Even the little kids had a fun, which leads us to… the piñata!
Tada: Oh yeah, that’s right!
Kamada: I wondered what it’d be like, but they did a great job and it was a success.
Keiko: Yes, Shaleah’s handmade piñata.
Kamada: It was really good timing, and they descended upon the candies so they disappeared in an instant.
Keiko: The kids gathered for it.
Tada: Of course, they must have known about it.
Keiko: Some of them came in the morning and came back for the piñata. Those kinds of people were there, too.
Kamada: This year’s piñata was a blue ice cream– not just a ball. There was a cone and everything.
Tada: It was really a huge success!
Keiko: Thanks to everyone for that.
Kamada: Thanks to you!
Keiko: We had a great emcee!
Kamada: It was really a pleasure, I really got to see a lot of cool outfits and fun stuff, too!
Tada: They’re going to talk about it for a long time.
Kamada: It was a great time.
Keiko: I’m glad everyone could have a good time.
Kamada: You also had a questionnaire passed out that I’m sure you got some great feedback on.
Keiko: Yes, for the next event we’ll take everyone’s comments into account. I haven’t quite had a chance to read through them all.
Kamada: Thank you so much for coming!
Tada: Thank you so much.
Keiko: Thank you for having me!
Kamada: This has been the Kitakami International Assembly Hall information corner, Catch the Rainbow.

Word Bank

盛大 【せいだい】 (adj-na,n) grand; magnificent
行う 【おこなう】 (v5u,vt) to perform; to do; to hold (an event)
成功 【せいこう】 (n,vs,vi) (1) success
合計 【ごうけい】 (n,vs,vt) sum, total
現地 【げんち】 (n) (1) actual place; actual location
西海岸 【にしかいがん】 (n) west coast
記念行事 【きねんぎょうじ】commemorative event
来場者 【らいじょうしゃ】attendees
来場者数 【らいじょうしゃす】headcount
押し合いへし合い　【おしあいへしあい】packed, crowded
多種多様 【たしゅたよう】 (adj-na,adj-no,n) (yoji) a great variety of; diversity
限る 【かぎる】 (v5r,vt) (1) to restrict; to limit
物販 【ぶっぱん】 (n) (abbr) sale of goods
溢れる 【あふれる】 (v1,vi) (uk) to overflow; to brim; to come out (smile etc)
ユーモア (n) humor

皆様、ワンワールドフェスタ in きたかみに来てくださりありがとうございました！おかげさまで大成功でした。おいしい料理、才能あふれるパフォーマンス、たくさんの楽しいワークショップ、そして美しい民族衣装を楽しみました！ 皆様も写真を投稿して、#ワンワールドフェスタinきたかみ　を付けてください！

姉妹都市カリフォニア州コンコード市の50周年にむけて、コンコード市との交流もできました。イベントの翌日に、専修大学北上高等学校の生徒さんがコンコード市に訪問されるということで、ホームステイ先の方々と「ZOOM]を使いお互いの顔を見ながらお話ししました、コンコード市の皆様の笑顔を見えて喜びました。来年もよろしくお願いします！

Thanks to all of you, One World Festa in Kitakami ’23 was a great success! We enjoyed delicious food, talented performances, fun workshops, and beautiful cultural attire! We’re looking forward to next year. Please upload your photos and make sure to hashtag #ワンワールドフェスタinきたかみ!

As we head toward our 50th Anniversary with our Sister City in Concord, California next year, we were able to share our event with them live via Zoom. It was great to see everyone’s smiling faces. Our Sen-Kita High School students were also able to meet some of the people they’ll be seeing in Concord and have their first conversation with them. Please take care of our students!

We look forward to seeing you in person next year!

2023 OneWorldFesta ワン・ワールドフェスタ in きたかみ　Zoom中継

１１月１２日（日）に行われるワン・ワールドフェスタ in きたかみにて、北上市の姉妹都市であるコンコード市と、Zoomによるオンライン中継を行います。
コンコード市とのZoomパネリストとの交信と、一部イベント会場の映像をZoomにて配信を予定しています（視聴のみとなります）
興味のある方は下記のZoom URLよりご視聴ください。

Zoom配信URL
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81647983483

スマートフォンの方は、下記QRコードもご利用ください。