Oi 21

CODE: NICE-25V-0529A

Work:

1) Support for agricultural activities to revitalize the Sudachi production area.
2) International cultural exchange activities with the few children in the community.
3) Cleaning vacant houses, moving furniture, trimming overgrown cedar and cypress branches in abandoned forests, and picking up plastic waste from rivers and seas.
4)Activities to support English signage at various locations for foreign pilgrims.
5) Maintenance of areas for the Asagimadara butterfly and firefly habitats. etc.

Accomodation and food

Home staying at local farmhouses. All meals will be cooked by volunteers by turns. Sleeping bag is NOT necessary.

Location and leisure

Oi-cho, Anan city, Tokushima pref. Other activities - Visiting Kakurin-ji temple.

Project hosted by

This project is actively working for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDGs 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), organized together with the local group since 2019. This village has been welcoming "Ohenro (pilgrims)" who visit 88 temples in Shikoku since long time ago. The pilgrims walk through this village before visiting "Kakurin-ji temple"; the 20th temple out of 88 temples of the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage. However, there are problems which should be solved such as aging and depopulation of the community these days, and locals haven't been able to find solutions for those problems. On the other hand, since more and more people from overseas visit for the Shikoku Ohenro Pilgrimage locals are trying to find new ways for "omotenashi (hospitality)". Volunteers who have been working on the project have come up with ideas for the reuse of vacant and abandoned land. Local host Oi have finally decided that they can freely renovate and modify the vacant houses. Moreover, the site is in a good location, with mountains, a river and fields. It is up to the volunteers from now on to decide how to develop the project. The aim is for the volunteer members to clean up the abandoned houses and village landscape and transform it into a village that people will want to visit to take photos, as it used to be a village where people came and went since ancient times.

Directions to meeting point

Additional comments

Study theme - Finding ways for sustainability of a depopulated village, Pass down the "osettai" culture to the next generation, Helping senior citizens to host foreigners Participation fee - 9,000 JPY (54 EUR by the rate on 2024 Nov. 2nd) of "NICE Volunteers" fee need to be paid in advance either by Card or PayPal. This is used for the project preparation/ coordination such as the transportation of the camp leaders while the meals and the accommodation are provided by the local host by free. Other - Video about Kakurin-ji temple https://youtu.be/V2vX5Ik4ASM