Deep Dive into Ibaraki (県内の裏観光・英語プレゼン)
Kasama Junior High School students have won the Ibaraki English Presentation Forum 2022!
They introduced Ibaraki tourism attractions, sightseeing spots, local food, and some local information you won’t find in a tourist guide.
Please enjoy this article based on their highly entertaining presentation!
You can also find the video with English subtitles on Kasama City Channel. Don't forget to check it out too.
So, let's get started!
A Deep Dive into Ibaraki
"A Deep Dive into Ibaraki.” What does it mean?
It means exploring Ibaraki deeply. We guess that people from abroad living in Ibaraki have already been to famous places in Ibaraki, right? But, there are still attractive places they might not know.
Ibaraki is DEEP. To introduce Ibaraki, we think it’s important to look around and find places we haven’t been to or seen.
So, let’s take a Deep Dive into Ibaraki together.
Waterfall with a Secret
Let’s start in the north.
Do you know the big waterfall? That’s the most famous Fall in Ibaraki, Fukuroda Falls!
Everyone knows about Fukuroda Falls but there is another beautiful waterfall near Fukuroda Falls. It's called Tsukimachi Falls. It has a secret. You can go behind the fall without getting wet! Doesn't that sound cool?
We recommend you go there.
Sweet Potato Shrine
Now, let’s go to the seaside.
We think that many of you have been to Oarai, right?
So, we'd like to introduce an interesting place near Orai. It's “Hoshiimo Shrine.” Have you heard of it?
We bet you you haven't.
"Hoshiimo" are dried sweet potatoes, and 90% of all dried sweet potatoes in Japan come from Ibaraki. Did you know that?
Sweet potatoes are also exported overseas from Ibaraki. They are nutritious and can help people who need food. This is related to SDGs No.2. Ibaraki's sweet potato production is increasing rapidly.
Back to the topic. When you go to the shrine, you can actually get whatever you want. Do you know why? Because it is “Hoshiimo shrine,” and "hoshiimo" sounds similar to "hoshii mono," which means "something you want." Did you get the idea?
Priceless Melon Cake
Let’s go to the south area of Ibaraki.
Did you know that Ibaraki has been the No.1 producer of melons for 23 years in Japan?
This is a Premium Melon Baum cake that you can buy at Fukasaku Farm in Hokota city. It’s fluffy, crispy, and delicious.
Do you want to buy it? Then be ready to pay about 7 thousand yen.
By the way, Fukasaku Farm uses slightly damaged melons that other places would throw away. It can reduce food loss and is related to SDGs 12.
Hometown Kasama
Now, let’s go to our beautiful hometown, Kasama. It is famous for Kasama Inari Shrine and pottery. Everybody knows that.
So, let us introduce another place, Mt. Ishikiri. Let’s dive deep!
You can see it in the left picture. Stones from Ishikiri Mountain were used to make the National Diet Building and the Supreme Court Building. It is called Grand Canyon in Kasama!
We also want to introduce a delicious spot in Kasama. There is a great hamburger shop called Mori-pan grill 244.
Why 244? The owner likes Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi, a Japanese singer-songwriter, poet, actor, and human-right advocate.
So, how is it connected? Japanese often turn syllables into numbers to memorize words and vise-s-versa. "Tsu" sounds similar to "two" in English. The Japanese character "four" has two readings, "yo" and "shi." So, with some imagination, you can transform the name Tsu-yo-shi into 244.
Anyway, it has great hamburgers. You should try one!
By the way, do you believe in ghosts?
This is a picture of a well on Mt. Sashiro in Kasama. It is said that the well in a famous horror movie was modeled after it. If you go there, you might meet the ghost from the movie.
Don’t dive into this well. Be careful!
See you in Ibaraki
How was the trip you took with us? Did you enjoy it?
Ibaraki is a great place. It has a lot of nature, vegetables, and fruits. There are still some places we haven’t explored yet.
You should take your own deep dive into Ibaraki. We’re sure that you’ll find something interesting.
Let’s Deep Dive into Ibaraki! Thank you!
About the Authors
The students who participated in the in the 2022 English Presentation Forum were: Sasame Arata, Fukasaku Miyu, Yamada Yuina, and Koni Sara, third grade students at Kasama Junior High School.
After winning in the Mito Area Contest, they advanced to the Prefectural Area Contest in Tsukuba where they won the Governor’s Prize, the highest prize awarded.
The students said that they entered the contest in order to improve their English ability. All of them said that they were happy and surprised to win at the Prefectural Contest. They all plan to continue studying and hope to someday be able to converse fluently with people from other countries in English. Ms. Konni hopes to someday work overseas in an English-speaking country.
On September 9, they reported on their achievement to the Mayor and the Superintendent of the Kasama Board of Education and gave their presentation in English.
"This is an excellent presentation. Your high English skills are very promising. With the advancement of internationalization, it will be a matter of course to speaking English. Therefore, please keep studying English," gave the Mayor his words of encouragement.
Left to right: Koni Sara, Sasame Arata, Yamaguchi Shinju (Kasama City Mayor), Yamada Yuina, Fukasaku Miyu
About the Ibaraki English Presentation Forum
The English Presentation Forum has a unique format.
Instead of simply giving a presentation on a particular subject the speakers must also answer questions related to their topic. As the presenters give a five-minute speech another team listens carefully to formulate questions. That team has four minutes to ask their questions.
Every team has a chance to present, listen, and ask questions. Points are awarded for; the content of the presentation, delivery, teamwork, how well the materials related to the presentation are made, and how well the students interact with one another during the question and answer, “Sharing Time.”
問い合わせ先
- 2022年9月14日
- 印刷する