No.204-3
Another TERAKOYA Movement
How come ? A Fund-raising Campaign at a Coming-of-Age Ceremony ?!
Still being a relatively new member of Meguro UNESCO, it seemed odd to
me
to collect contributions at an event such as the coming-of-age ceremony.
I was told that it was only last year that the Meguro Board of Education
started putting a donation box at the venue of the event, which was quite
a new idea nationwide.The
Terakoya Movement booth was nothing big, but it was my greatest pleasure to be
able to work together in this meaningful activity. I believe that the act of donating is
something done when we are in a sweet and thoughtful state of mind. We
cannot feel like donating when we are in a bad mood or when in trouble. And so, it was only when the young 20 year-olds came to appreciate how
fortunate they really were that they could make a donation of their own
accord. Thanks to the festive and joyous feeling of the occasion, it worked,
and we could see them actually changing before our very eyes. They got
our message and we got theirs. Gee! You young people out there aren’t
bad at all, are you?
On
a day of celebration, let’s do something good for ourselves, and another for
our neighbors. The act of donating is only a beginning. My wish is for people
to feel something and to cherish that feeling so that it might lead to the next
big step forward. It takes time for this kind of movements to win a far and
wide support, but it has already started.
>>> “Sweetness
& Thoughtfulness,” from Meguro UNESCO. >>> By Machi Hayashi
On Jan. 12, Meguro Persimmon Hall was packed with
joyous new grown-ups in celebration of coming-of-age. The second part of the
ceremony was a “Congratulations Concert” of a piano and marimba performance,
open to the public. On the piano was Mitsutaka Shiraishi, well known to Meguro
UNESCO. On the marimba was Shoichi Takayashiki, a promising young musician.
Both are alumni of elementary and junior high schools in Meguro. At the climax
of their performance, Mr. Shiraishi recited a poem by Tanigawa Shuntaro called “Ikiru
(To Live)”, followed by the moving music of the marimba.
In
the end, the Mr. Shiraishi offered Chopin’s “Polonaise Heroique” to the young
20 year-olds, as a gift to welcome them into a new stage in life.
Training
Program Committee
The Training Program Committee bases its activities on a UNESCO spirit
of world peace, “to know and understand each other”. We provide learning
opportunities not only to the members of Meguro UNESCO Association but
also to the general public. And since this is the fiftieth anniversary
of the foundation, we would like to implement some special and significant
events for this memorable year, in addition to our regular activities.
next page