On March 31, 2018, a group of international Aoyama Gakuin
University students, from Thailand and Vietnam, joined our high school students
for a Shibuya – Harajuku walking tour.
Based on the advice of our high school geography teachers, we held a Shibuya and Harajuku walking tour to explore how friendly these cities are for different kinds of visitors to Japan. Since the 2020 Olympic Games will be held in Tokyo we adopted it as the main theme for discussions.
As the university and high school students were walking through the Shibuya and Harajuku areas they were given various topics to discuss such as "How Shibuya will be viewed by overseas visitors with different cultural and religious backgrounds" and "How Shibuya will be viewed from people with disabilities".
After returning to school, each student group put their opinions on what they discovered during this walking tour on sticky notes and then presented what they learned to the other groups. Given all their new discoveries, they were able to share in making a concept of what a universally designed Shibuya should be like.
【Excerpt of Feedback from students】
Although living in Tokyo is comfortable for us, it is essential that we look at our city through the eyes of tourists in order to be a truly international city. As the 2020 Olympic Games approach, I feel it is essential for Japan to evaluate how internationally friendly we really are.
After spending the day with the international students, I learned that many things that I take for granted are actually customs only in Japan. Such things as when to walk on the left or right side of the road, and carrying our waste home with us because there aren’t any garbage cans, are unique customs that need to be explained to visitors when they come to Japan.
