Earnestly Desired is Continuous Preservation of the Precious Wada-Mura Facilities

Looking Back upon the Footprint of 13 Year-Old Retreat

　

"It was the great joy for me to be able to have a talk for thee days with young people from various countries who gathered in a deep green Wada-mura village, Nagano Prefecture under white clouds and a shining sun of summer. I was moved to see each one of them demonstrating individuality, furthermore looking for positively what they could do "Spoke Mr. Eiji Hattori, an advisor to the Meguro UNESCO Association, former Senior information officer of UNESCO in Paris.

Photograph of the 11th Retreat in 2000

　Youth from as many as 65 countries have gathered in the beautiful Wada-mura under white clouds and shining sun of summer in the past 13 years. Surrounded with the green of Wada-mura, the green of Shinshu, the green of Japan, and the beauty of its nature, the young people have talked through the nights about themselves, their future and how to achieve world peace.

　This gathering started as an international exchange student camp in 1990, changed its name to "Retreat" along the way, and successfully ended the13th session this year.

The home countries of the visitors to this Wada-mura are not restricted to permanent members of the U.N. Security Council such as the U.S., the U.K., Russia, China, and France, but people also have come from Yugoslavia which does not exist as a state any more

　Youth from abroad return to their own countries after finishing their study in Japan. Government-financed foreign students from developing countries usually take up responsible posts in their respective countries. Students who have studied DNA research and high-tech technology also must be contributing to development of their countries. In either case, they will remember the valuable experiences in their youth when they made friends with Japanese young people, talked about memories of Wada-mura, and had lively discussions till dawn. They will recall the importance of the peace they have learned in UNESCO and Retreat.

　The leader of this year’s Retreat went abroad just as the event was over. No sooner had he came back than the sub-leader left Japan with the young man from Croatia. Young people’s stage is large. They cross national borders unconsciously. The whole world seems to be a part of their life. They owe their everyday life to the peace at hand. I wish the whole world could enjoy peace in this way.

　Some people have gone to the United States or Britain to study after opening up to vastness of the world which they encountered in Wada-mura. There have been international marriages. A former leader got married to another former leader and the child participated in the event for the first time this year. It is the first WADA-MURA BABY.

　The janitor family of Wada-mura also makes a great contribution. "How tall you’ve grown!” You’ve got slender, haven’t you?" Youth from abroad open themselves immediately at gentle words and considerations. A grandchild of the janitor who had served until three years ago visited Wada-mura for the occasion of Retreat. A grade -school pupil, he attentively listened to the lectures for grownups. The child seemed to be interested in the youth earnestly talking about their countries. The young people took a liking to the child.

　A rumor says that Wada-mura might be closed by the end of this year. All the young people seem to think that it must not happen. Probably it is the institution best known to the world of all the institutions in the Meguro ward. Furthermore, it is a most precious place as a living inheritance where they talked about and prayed for world peace together.

　Thanks to the immeasurable cooperation and support of Meguro-ward and its board of education, the Meguro UNESCO association has been able to continue such valuable events in Wada-mura. I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation. I am also very anxious from the bottom of my heart for this precious institution to be preserved in the future.

Yukio Okusawa, Chief adviser of Retreat and vice president

　Note for the picture: It is a custom of a village opening ceremony to hoist the national flags of the participants’ home countries, and to introduce the flags of their countries. In the picture you can see the flags of China and Taiwan. The youth think what a “country” is. Who drew national borders and when? Heated debates sometimes continue till dawn when they talk about the future of their homelands. Peace is absolutely required in the whole world. There is much to be learned for the realization of peace. We are reminded that it is the non-governmental UNESCO activities that make various things possible.