OSAKA, Japan — One of Japan’s largest media outlets joined in a workshop hosted by the Canada Pavilion at Expo to give Japanese teenagers a chance to explore journalism while also learning about Canada. Both workshop objectives were a tight fit with the mission of the Canada pavilion to engage young people while also raising awareness of Canada.
The Canada pavilion workshop held Sept. 27 was in partnership with Yomiuri Shimbun, one of the country’s most famous news outlets and gave local high school and middle school students a chance to learn about Canada and then write an article about what they learned.
The event began with a presentation by the Canada Pavilion staff outlining their theme and goals for the Expo. Students learned about “Regeneration,” and the three Sustainable Development Goals the Pavilion is committed to: quality education, gender equality, and climate action. Following the presentation, students experienced the highlight of the Canada pavilion, its award-winning augmented reality (AR) public presentation that transforms blocks of ice from the spring breakup into dazzling scenes from across Canada.
Professor Norie Yazu from Kwansei Gakuin University gave a lecture on Canada’s diversity and multiculturalism, a topic that students said was especially interesting as it highlighted a significant difference from Japan, which is a mostly homogenous country. Through the lecture, students learned about Canada’s values and saw how different cultures co-exist and thrive.
Mai Isokawa, a Grade 12 student who participated in the workshop said it was interesting to learn about the diversity and multiculturalism in Canada. Although she was born and raised in Japan, she already had some knowledge of Canada prior to the workshop, as she represented Canada in a Model United Nations event earlier this year. For that presentation she discussed refugee issues and Canada’s policy shift to lower immigration numbers. Isokawa said that through the workshop she was able to deepen her understanding of Canada and learn that many Canadians have mixed backgrounds, different from most Japanese people. She plans to write an article about her experience at the Canada pavilion and how the AR presentation enables visitors to see the diversity of Canada from multiple angles, such as culture, nature, and people.
Kokoro Hosomi, a Grade 11 student, said he was most interested in the sustainable development goals the pavilion was promoting. He said he was surprised to learn that the Canada pavilion’s beams used in construction of the pavilion were rented for the Expo, and that after the event, they will be returned to the rental company and reused for a different building. He also said that he was able to learn Canada’s perspectives on coexisting with people from diverse backgrounds, and how rich Canada’s nature is. Hosomi said he wants to conduct further research on Canada’s Indigenous people, the experiences of Canadians living in a multicultural society, and Canada’s policies on environmental issues to write his article.
Another student, Yuna Okumura said she was grateful for the opportunity to come to the Expo and the Canada pavilion, and to learn about Canada’s policies on diversity. Currently, Japan is having many discussions about policy-making regarding immigration, and this topic is receiving considerable attention. Okumura said she wants to write her article about Canada’s stance and policy on immigrants and how Japan can learn from Canada.
