我孫子市国際交流協会

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009 8:30a.m. to 4:45p.m.
Participant: 31 persons (including 5 foreigners from, India, Australia, China, Spain and Taiwan)

The tour members gathered at Keyaki Plaza, near the south exit of Abiko Station, and left at 8:30a.m. on board a bus for Yokohama. First they visited Yokohama Doll Museum, where Mr. T. Okubo, former President of AIRA welcomed the group and they were very pleased with the reunion.
The museum locates in front of Yamashita Park near the moored ship Hikawa-maru, exhibiting about 1300 dolls of Japan and 140 other countries. There are dolls called "Goodwill dolls" which have been heroines of cultural exchange through dolls between 2 nations, principally aiming at cross-cultural understanding.
In 1927, the U.S. sent Japan "blue-eyed dolls" and Japan sent them "return dolls". It was surprising to know that there was such an international exchange episode through dolls as many as 80 years ago. The visitors were impressed by the transition of dolls and the fact that this year falls 150th anniversary of the opening of the Port of Yokohama.
After visiting the Doll Museum, the tour group was divided into small groups and each of them took a stroll around the port area for about one and a half hour. One group toured from Minato-no-mieru-oka (the Hill overlooking the Harbor) to the Foreigners' Cemetery, another strolled around Motomachi, a rather lazy group went up to the Marine Tower to see a panoramic view of Yokohama, and so on.
Then they took lunch, one of the biggest pleasures of the day, at a Chinese restaurant at Chinatown, where plenty of delicious food were served. They enjoyed smorgasbord to the full. After lunch, they freely walked around in the Chinatown.
Before leaving Yokohama, they got encouraging words to AIRA from Mr. Okubo near the Marine Tower. The bus left at 3:00p.m.
On their way home, they played games for fun, keeping smiling cheerfully.
At 4:45p.m. the tour members arrived at Abiko without being caught in any traffic jams. They had a wonderful time together and were blessed by a nice weather.

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