Photo By Noriko Kudo | American and Japanese children from Camp Zama and Sagamihara City play “rock, paper,...... read more read more
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CAMP ZAMA, Japan – American and Japanese children forged friendships and gained a better understanding of each other through games, craftmaking and other activities during a cultural exchange held here Saturday.
U.S. Army Garrison Japan co-hosted the event with the South Kanto Defense Bureau and the neighboring city of Sagamihara, inviting to Camp Zama’s Youth Center about 25 children from off the installation to play with youths from the Army installation.
The children did things like writing their names in calligraphy, making pin badges, and playing various games together.
Col. Marcus Hunter, U.S. Army Garrison Japan commander, who experienced the calligraphy-writing with the children, said the whole event was a great opportunity for the Japanese and American youths to make introductions and learn more about each other.
“They have a lot of fun together,” Hunter said of the children. “It’s really fun to see how much [these interactions] translate for the younger generation.”
Learning about other people and cultures is a valuable skill to learn at an early age, Hunter said. He said he hopes the military children who participated will not only remember the event for the games, but that they also learn they have things in common with their host-nation neighbors wherever they may live overseas.
“No matter where you’re at in the world, we all share and relate to [many of] the same values,” Hunter said. “That’s definitely evident here in Japan.”
The event was the third for Cecilia Hughes, a sixth grader at Zama Middle High School, who said she always looks for opportunities to hang out with Japanese kids.
There was a bit of a language barrier, Hughes said, but both groups tried their best to speak the other’s language when they could.
“I tried to speak Japanese a little bit and messed up, but I felt like they kind of understood me,” she said. “It was really fun and I want to participate again.”
Kohei Takasaki, a fourth grader from Sagamihara City, was a bit nervous meeting a lot of American children for the first time, but also said he ended up having a lot of fun despite the initial communication challenges.
“I realized that American kids are just like us Japanese kids,” Takasaki said. “We all want to have fun in whatever we do.”
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.25.2025 01:56 |
| Story ID: | 491435 |
| Location: | ZAMA, KANAGAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 20 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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