Matsuyama City Yuzuki Elementary School in Japan Holds “Know Taipei” Exchange Event
On February 15, 2022, Yuzuki Elementary School in Matsuyama city in Ehime prefecture in Japan conducted an online exchange called Know Taipei.
Matsuyama city in Ehime prefecture and Taipei city concluded a Friendship Exchange Agreement in 2014, and since then the two cities have both been promoting sightseeing and cultural exchanges. In-person exchanges have been temporarily suspended since 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, on November 19, 2020, the Board of Education in Matsuyama city officially assigned Taiwanese students from Taipei who are currently studying at St. Catherine University in the city to be Friendship Exchange Promoters for the primary and secondary schools in the city. The Friendship Exchange Promoters introduce and explain Taipei’s history and culture to the students in Matsuyama city and encourage them to communicate and interact with the students at the primary and secondary schools in Taipei.
Covid-19 is still continuing to spread, and at the current time Japanese primary and secondary schools are temporarily closed to outsiders. For this reason, Matsuyama City Government conducted an online exchange on February 15, called Know Taipei, to continue the exchanges with Taipei city, and for the primary school students to improve their international understanding.
Two Taiwanese university students studying in Matsuyama city who have been assigned as Friendship Exchange Promoters for primary and secondary schools in Matsuyama city were invited to tell the students at Yuzuki Elementary school about Taiwan’s society and culture, and the features of Taipei city.
The online exchange taking part was lively and warm. The students happily shared lanterns shaped to represent the year of the Tiger, that were provided by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Osaka, and some of the drawings of free pineapples from Taiwan that were served at lunch time last summer.