We will introduce the efforts of the Reiwa 3rd year learning town collaboration project.

The "Gakumachi Collaboration Project" recruits plans and projects in which universities, students, and the local community collaborate to work on urban development and regional revitalization in Kyoto, and provides subsidy support.
We would like to inform you about the efforts of this year's selected organizations!

【Activities】Kyoto Women's University, Ryukoku University, etc. Sujin Leather Industry Sustainability Project

On Sunday, December 12, we visited the "2nd Leather Workshop".

The "Sujin Leather Industry Sustainability Project" is an organization consisting of members from Kyoto Women's University, Ryukoku University, and other organizations, and is engaged in activities aimed at revitalizing citizen exchanges in the Sojin School District and making the leather industry sustainable. They met two years ago. Participating in the Miyako KAMADOKI Program, a practical program aimed at forming a network to achieve the SDGs, and launching the "Sujin Brand" to widely inform the desire to make the "leather" of the traditional industry that the Sujin district has preserved sustainable. Proposed a project to collaborate with Kyoto City University of Arts to make it sustainable. Even after the program ended, the members continued to work on their own projects and applied for the Gakumachi collaboration.

This day is the second leather workshop! One in the world. Let's make your own original bookmark & smartphone stand!" Make a bookmark and smartphone stand using leather. There were seven participants, ranging from elementary school students to university students.
Before starting the work, the members first explained the history of the leather industry in the Chongjin area using slides.
Prior to the workshop, they also visited a leather factory to learn about the leather industry, and there was a lecture on the process from "leather" to "leather" that they had seen there. I was impressed by the impression that "when I entered the factory, I smelled animals."

After the lecture, it's time to get to work! First of all, let's choose leather.
In order to make it easier to understand the size, leather taken from one animal was brought in the same size as it was. The ones used on this day are pighide and cowhide. Depending on the tanning method and dye, the finished color, surface pattern, and touch feel also vary. Participants can choose their favorite from four types. Each of them has its own merits, and it is difficult to decide. It seems that the members and instructors finally decided after telling us the characteristics of each leather and consulting with them about the image of what they wanted to make.

Then, let's stand up for the smartphone! Cut the selected leather along the pattern and attach it to the plastic smartphone stand with a leather bond. The outside seems to be easy to stick, but the inside is a struggle. Due to the thickness of the leather, it does not fit in as expected. Members who have made two prototypes are called in by the participants and go around to support. It's reliable, I'll ♪ dry it when I manage to finish sticking it!

While drying, I start making bookmarks!!
Cut the selected leather into the desired shape and make holes through which the string will pass. …… And here is the appearance of an unfamiliar tool! It is called a "eyelet removal", and it is pressed against the leather and hit from above with a hammer called "mallet taiko". Will there be a person who is afraid or a person who hits hard and well, or a personality (laughs)? It's fun just to watch. The position was too high and it penetrated … There was an accident, but that's also the taste! !! There is only one bookmark in the world, and you will ♪ feel attached to it.

After drilling the holes, the next step is to color them. This time, choose your favorite color from the three colors of yellow, purple, and red. It seems that vegetable dyes are used, and in order yellowfin logwood akane. Boil each one, while soaking the leather in water to make it easier to color. When it started to simmer, I could smell each dye and heard people saying, "It looks delicious~" (laughs). Akane smells like red beans. I see, maybe it's because the colors are close? The conversation seems to be lively and fun. Throw the bookmark into the boiled dye and boil for a while to color.

Now, in the meantime, let's see how dry your smartphone stand! The way you use your time is also ingenious, which is superb. If it is dry, cut around the leather and trim it. After cutting, if you like, you can use a soldering iron to insert letters and illustrations. Please enjoy ♪ the finish in the photo

In the meantime, it seems that the bookmarks have also become colored. Take it out and place it in a mordant with the alum melted in it to fix the color. "Oh~! Please also see the ♪ photo of the finish.

Everyone seemed satisfied when they saw their finished work. It seems that there were many unfamiliar tasks, and there were naturally exchanges such as consulting with nearby people and university students caring about elementary school students.

【Activities】Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto Seika University, Seian University of Art and Design BORDER! executive committee

On Sunday, December 5th, I went to "Art Festival BORDER! 2021".

「BORDER! The Executive Committee is an organization consisting mainly of art university students from the Kansai region, including Kyoto City University of Arts, Kyoto Seika University, and Seian University of Art and Design. With the hope of helping aspiring artists, we plan, operate, and implement art festivals to create opportunities for young artists who will lead the next generation to make presentations.

"BORDER" means "border". Art and what is not are borders. An invisible line that says, "I can't do it." The boundaries of genre. The name expresses the desire to jump over such various boundaries and create wonderful encounters.

In 2018 and '19, Miyako Messe held a live painting, food, and art marche. In 2020, we held an online web exhibition and live painting in front of the Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art.
Although there were concerns about the impact of the new coronavirus this year, we decided to hold the exhibition in person in light of the requests for face-to-face exhibitions such as "people who come to see other exhibitors can see it" and "you can enjoy meeting people who are next to the exhibition location" in the questionnaire after last year, as well as the loss of opportunities for artists to present their works and people's art due to the closure of museums. As usual, we hoped that it would catch the eyes of people who came to shop, and with the expectation of a chance encounter, we held it at Zest Oike.

The theme is "Rinkonekushon". It seems to be a word created by tightly combining Link, Connect, and Linker Nation. Connect and connect. And I imagine that the circle will expand in an infinite chain.

Now, let's take a look at the venue. In each of the three squares, live painting, marches, workshops and art supply store booths were held.
First, the live paint venue. Four students will complete their works within 5 hours of the event, and at the same time as the MC announces the event, they will face a large canvas about 1m wide × 2m high and start drawing! People who passed near the venue also stopped and looked at the powerful scene.

It's something I've been wanting to see for a long time, but next it's the Marche venue! 33 groups of artists exhibit and sell handmade accessories, wallets, bags, vessels, paintings, illustrations, etc. Some people bought it saying "it's cute ♪," while others talked to the artist with great interest, "How do you draw this?" You can also hear the thoughts put into the work and the background to creating the work, so I think many of the people who purchased it felt special.

Finally, there is the workshop and art supply store booth venue. Here, workshops planned by the students themselves are held to "Let's actually experience art!" and art supply stores that handle art supplies that are indispensable for creating works are exhibited and you can experience them.
In the workshop, we create works using a technique called "marbling," in which the pattern of the surface of the water made by dripping colored ink and paint on water is copied onto a piece of wood or paper. When I talked to the students who planned it, they told me that marbling is a technique (called modern technique) that uses patterns and colors that can be accidentally created. He decided to use this technique because he wanted people who are not usually involved in art to enjoy it easily, and as can be said for this event itself, he wanted people to enjoy chance encounters. Two pieces of wood are selected and one is for oneself and the other is for exhibition, so that visitors can enjoy them. It was said that adults take more time to make it than children. It's a ♪ great success as a project.

Now that we've made a round, let's go back to the live paint venue! The work is steadily approaching completion!! It's not finished yet, but please enjoy the photos.

We also spoke with Gashindo, who came up with the idea for this initiative. "If we continue to do business on our own for a long time, we tend to do the same thing, so we asked the students to bring a new wind to it! When I actually try it, I feel the young power of the students, and I am often stimulated by their ideas. I hope that we will continue to do so and gradually expand our base."

"BORDER! 2021" was held only on December 5th, but the website is also very attractive, so please take a look There ♪ are many interview articles with the artists who exhibited this time. In the past, there were also rare side-scrolling specifications. Even if you couldn't make it to the event this time, please try to experience art!

Click here for the website of BORDER!2021! !! ⇒ https://borderfes.art/

【Activities】Bukkyo University Waku Waku Laboratory

On Wednesday, December 1, we observed the video shooting for the online science class of the "Children's Science Class".

"Waku Waku Laboratory" is an organization consisting of students of the Hirata Seminar (science education) of the Faculty of Education at Bukkyo University. This year's team has 13 members. Since fiscal 2016, students have been planning and operating the Children's Science Class themselves with the aim of promoting the spread of science for children as part of the seminar's social contribution activities. Until fiscal 2019, we held science experiment classes mainly for elementary school students at Zest Oike and the Student Festival (@平安神宮), mainly in Kitano Shopping Street. In fiscal 2020, we were unable to hold the event due to the Corona disaster, but this year we are newly based at the Rakuda Children's Center, which is closer to the university.

In July, we were able to hold a children's science class at a children's center, but in August, due to the declaration of a state of emergency, two scheduled classes were canceled. The effects of the corona disaster are still unsettled, so let's try an online science class! So, on this day, we shot a video for that.

When I arrived at the shooting venue, I was greeted by 11 students who had decided to wear white coats.

This year's theme is "Science experiments that can be done at home!!" They will shoot two experimental videos. After considering what to use to shoot, the easiest thing to edit later was a smartphone! So, I started shooting with my smartphone.

First, make crack marbles! Put the marbles in a pot on the gas stove and heat them over medium~high heat for about 10 minutes while rolling the marbles. When you're done heating, take out the marbles and put them in ice water! If you put it in vigorously, the marble itself will break, so the key is to put it in gently. Let this cool for about 10 minutes. The marbles cracked beautifully.
He tried using a toaster oven instead of a gas stove, but he said that the gas stove works better because it is difficult to heat evenly or the heat is not good enough.

Next, make soap bubbles that won't break! It was a dream to touch soap bubbles~ ♪ Maybe it will come true today! It is a challenge with two patterns of soap bubble liquid.

First of all, kitchen detergent, laundry glue, sugar.
Measure each ingredient in a beaker, mix well and let it sit a little.
Let's finally try to fly soap bubbles! …… And a military hand in the hands of a person waiting for a soap bubble! !!
Fibers float on the surface of the hand and act like a cushion, making it difficult for soap bubbles to break. I see, it's one of the important goods.
With a shout of "I'm going!" the soap bubble is blown and received. "Oh!!" jumps up on ♪ the gloves Success!

Next, let's add a lotion containing hyaluronic acid to a commercially available soap bubble liquid.
This one seems to be struggling. It cracks quickly, so add lotion with hyaluronic acid to fine-tune it. The receiving side also cooperates hard while turning the palm of the hand with the military hand upside down and down, but I feel that the purpose is different from this experiment… (laughs)

I struggled a little with the experimental results, but the shooting was successfully completed! After this, the video will be edited and an explanation (audio) of the experiment will be added.

By the way, this time the theme was "You can do it at home!", but taking advantage of the advantages of online, "You can do it because it's a science room!!" It seems that they are planning to shoot dynamic experiments that cannot be done in ordinary children's science classes, and to create experimental videos that can be enjoyed just by watching. I'm ♪ looking forward to that as well.

【Activities】Otani University And House

On Thursday, November 4, we observed the labeling of beer bottles of the "Rediscovering Life in the Nakagawa School District – Beer with Tea Project."

"And House" is an organization centered on students of the Shito Seminar of the Department of Community Design, Faculty of Sociology, Otani University. Since 2015, in the Nakagawa area of Kita-ku, Kyoto City, where depopulation and aging are progressing, we have been conducting activities to learn about community development, including thinking about transportation inconveniences and issues related to living welfare.
I would like many people to know and take an interest in the many beautiful nature, culture, and attractive historical life of the people that I noticed in the process! One of the initiatives we started was "Rediscovering Living in the Nakagawa School District: Beer with Tea Project."
Through the production of the craft beer "Manma Beea!" using "Manma tea" that has been grown in the region for generations and drunk in between mountain work as it was when tea was handed down to Japan, we are working to further deepen our ties with the local community and expand our connections with people who are attracted to Nakagawa.

On this day, all seminar students performed "labeling", which is one of the manufacturing processes of "Manma Bia!".
First, you will receive a brief explanation from the teacher. If you make a mistake, they will buy it with the contents inside!!" One student said, "Then I'd be happy to buy it (laughs)." Yes, there was no beer in it that day. I was hoping to be able to taste it, but it was a shame (laughs).

On October 2 and 3, several students (the number of participants is limited due to the corona disaster) went to pick tea, made tea leaves, and the tea leaves were brewed with Nishijin Beer operated by the affiliated organization NPO HEROES, and it will be completed soon. It is scheduled to go on sale in early December. I'm looking forward to it, ♪ but it seems that you can also buy it from the Nishijin Beer online store!

600 beer bottles and labels were brought into the classroom, and the third-year leaders gave instructions such as dividing into groups. This year is the third installment, so the third year is also the third time the label has been applied. The role of the upper year students is also to teach the first year!
The bottle has vertical lines, and the label is easy to stick if you match the line. The label position should not be too high or too low. Of course, it is useless if air enters on the way. It seems to require a lot of concentration, and everyone's faces are serious. When you finish pasting, show it to each other in the group and check it.
When I talked to the second-year students who were teaching and working with the first-year students, they seemed satisfied, saying, "[The first-year students] absorb it ♪ like a sponge." When the first-year students heard this, they were embarrassed but smiling happily. This is how it is passed down from generation to generation.
Among the third-year students, the veteran group goes around to inspect and check the workmanship as fast as a craftsman. We will give you OK and re-pasting instructions. I can count on it.
We also spoke to the next leaders. While the number of people participating in the event was limited due to the Corona disaster, if he still enjoyed participating actively and enjoyably, he would naturally become a leader. He said, "It's fun to interact with local people and hear things you don't know!" While working on making tea leaves, he talked nostalgically about the history of tea and his childhood (in the past, the entire community worked together).
He seems to be from an area where the forestry industry is thriving, and there are some similarities. Maybe it makes you feel at home and settle down.

As a group, they also hold concerts at local elderly facilities, but they are currently unable to hold them due to the influence of the corona disaster.
Listening to the story, I was reminded that it is really important to continue what we can and not break the connection. There are 3~40 seminar students. We may have different feelings, but it was a label that made us feel the importance of working on one thing together and being involved.

【Activities】Kyoto Tachibana University Joy Eats Association

On Saturday, October 23, we visited the "True Pleasure EETS" held at Umekoji Park. 

"Daigo EETS " is a project that aims to deepen cooperation and relationships among various entities such as citizens, businesses, students, and children in the Daigo region, where the birthrate is declining and the population is aging, and to tour the Daigo area through events and re-feel the charm of the region.
Since fiscal 2019, we have been holding stage events at multiple venues in the Daigo area of Fushimi Ward, mainly for students from nearby elementary, junior high, and high schools, as well as university clubs and circles, to showcase the results of their daily activities, such as brass bands, light music, Japanese taiko drums, a cappella, dance, and batons.

In fiscal 2019, it was held at Paseo Daigoro, Tatsumi Bathhouse, and MOMO Terrace, and in fiscal 2020, it was held at Kyoto City Daigo Kaikan Hall, but this year, due to the ongoing Corona disaster, we are considering holding it outdoors. We tried to hold the event in the Daigo area, but we were forced to give up due to the scale, setup, and budget of the event, and even after it was finally decided to hold it in Umekoji Park, we were forced to postpone it due to the declaration of a state of emergency.

And so on the day we arrived. Although we were blessed with good weather and some groups could not participate at the last minute, we were able to complete the entire program safely.
Last year, we were able to hold the opening parade, which was canceled due to the influence of the Corona disaster, and the audience was fascinated by the energetic smiles of the high school students and the sharp marching band.
At the announcement stage, songs that can be enjoyed by a wide range of generations such as GReeeeN's "Kiseki", "Sing Sing Sing", and "Lupin III's Theme" were performed, and some groups introduced songs while performing famous scenes from the movie "Titanic"! !! The venue was very exciting.

It seems that many groups were unable to practice as much as they wanted or had fewer opportunities to present due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in the interview after the performance, we heard voices of joy about the event, such as "I practiced efficiently by cooperating and concentrating in a limited time," "I'm happy to be able to perform in front of many people for the first time in a long time," and "I feel a sense of openness."
The fact that the entire event, reception, and stage proceedings were conducted mainly by students was also reassuring and smiling.
At the finale, it seems that a joint performance was held by volunteers from all participating organizations, and I think both the participants and the audience felt a sense of unity!

This year's event was held outside the Daigo area, but visitors were able to learn about the real pleasure of eets at this event! !! When it is held in the Daigo area in the future, please ♪ come and visit it.