Multilingual Electronic Newsletter Kagoshima Southern Wind Tidings (Vol. 119)

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1 Multilingual Electronic Newsletter Kagoshima Southern Wind Tidings (Vol. 119) Latest Kagoshima News Governor Top Sales Promotions in Vietnam and France Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) Column Something the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Made Me Think About Seo Heekyung (CIR from South Korea) Kagoshima International Exchange A-Z The 20th Jiangsu-Kagoshima Conference Seasonal Tourism Information The Satsuma Hina Matsuri Festival Latest Kagoshima News Governor Top Sales Promotions in Vietnam and France Governor Mitazono visited Vietnam and France and carried out Top Sales promotions. The first stop was Vietnam, where the Governor visited Hanoi and Hochimin, and met with the Vietnamese government, airline companies, hotels, and others to promote Kagoshima products such as the number one in Japan Kagoshima Wagyu beef, as well as Kagoshima s tourism attractions. Continuing on to France, the Governor carried out more Kagoshima PR with a Kagoshima Fair event, as well as sales promotions at high-end restaurants.

2 Coordinator for International Relations (CIR) Column Something the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics Made Me Think About Seo Heekyung (CIR from South Korea) (anyohaseyo) With the Winter Olympics being hosted in Pyeongchang this year, I ve been hearing a lot of talk about Korea in the media, as well as from the people around me. And I get asked a lot in particular about how cold it is in Korea. It s probably just because of the season, but I feel like I ve seen the surprised newscaster so many times showing the jeans and cup ramen that quickly freeze. This year there is a record breaking cold wave, and terribly cold temperatures are shown in the weather report, but I think it s hard to tell how cold it really is just by seeing the numbers. This is how summer in Kagoshima was for me. I m the type of person who doesn t deal well with winter or summer, so I m not sure if I can really explain it well, but I would like to write a little about winter in Korea for month s column. The Korean winter generally lasts from December to February, but it changes a little depending on the location and the conditions that year. For this year s winter season, it was reported that winter started on November 20th of last year when the capital Seoul received its first snow. On top of that, a lot of people are saying winter is going to continue this year until the middle of March, because, despite the fact that temperatures usually start to increase after the Lichun beginning of spring on February 4th, this year there was a record low temperature of minus It seems spring is still far off. The further you go into the mountains, the more the cold combines with a wind so strong it makes you think you are going to bleed if it hits you, making for really tough conditions. Pyeongchang, Gangwon-do, where the Winter Olympics were held, is situated in an area with an average elevation of 700 meters, and since the area is surrounded by mountains, the average high temperature in February is minus 0.4, and the lowest temperature minus 10.5 ; every year the area dips to temperatures that make you feel a chill just hearing about them. It s not snowing as much as I thought it would this year, but Gangwon-do is a heavy snow region where they get big snowfalls every year, and even accumulations of around 30cm are not considered much by the tough locals. Which is why I can really understand when people from Kagoshima are compelled to ask: the Kagoshima winter must not be cold for Koreans right?. But for me, both winter and summer being difficult to handle, when I hear that question I just think what is Korean?. For someone who s always been told I m not a typical Korean, coming here and being thought of as a typical Korean has taken me a bit of time to get used to. Is it from my face or my style, or because the way I perceive things differently, or if there is just something about me that gives it away. I couldn t find a clear answer to this because I just couldn t figure out what being Korean really means. For the past 3 years, I feel like I have been looking for an answer that follows the image of a Korean, and that doesn t betray people s expectations. But when I really think about it, it s not realistic for me; having lived the life of someone called a Seoul suburbanite. Last year a person I met on a work trip asked me: you ve probably never met this many folks from North Jeolla Province in your life have you?, and I thought to myself: exactly! The instant I heard those words I was so relieved. In the end, the answer to the dilemma that had been on my mind for so long seems a little disappointing, but the answer that is true to myself really is the best answer. Because even though we share the same nationality, it doesn t mean I know all

3 about the lifestyle and customs and feelings of the North Jeolla Province people. Since two low cost Korean airlines put flights into service, there started being more Koreans in Kagoshima. When I think back 3 years ago, when it was decided I was coming to Kagoshima and I searched the internet for information but found only a few things like Sakurajima, volcanic ash, sweet potatoes, hot springs, and the local black pork products, and how nervous I was because I wasn t sure about how I was going to live my life there, for some reason I became happy and laughed to myself. I hope people s interest in both of our countries will grow even greater and continue for a long time. Starting in April I will already be entering my 4th year of living here as a Coordinator for International Relations.. Thanks in advance for your continued support. The Soohorang and Bandabi Pyeongchang Olympic mascot character stuffed animal goods are becoming hard to get, and my friend who is coming to Kagoshima to visit next month went a long ways to buy some for me. I am really looking forward to seeing her. Kagoshima International Exchange A-Z The 20th Jiangsu-Kagoshima Conference Alternating the location each year between Jiangsu and Kagoshima, The 20th Jiangsu-Kagoshima Conference was held on February 1st at the Kagoshima Prefectural Government office building. Attendees included, from Jiangsu: the Division of Asian Affairs Director, Foreign Affairs Office, the Social Welfare and Charity Promotion Section Director, Civil Affairs Department of Jiangsu Province. And from Kagoshima: the PR and Tourism Strategy Department Deputy Director General, the International Affairs Division Director, the Youth and Gender Equality Division Director, the Kagoshima PR Division Deputy Director, and others for a total of 13 attendees. At the conference the attendees discussed and agreed on plans for upcoming exchange activities in various fields including the reception of overseas technical trainees and coordinators for international relations, youth, tourism, and others.

4 Seasonal Tourism Information The Satusma Hina Matsuri Doll Festival The Satsuma Hina Matsuri doll festival will be held at Sengan-en. Over the course of the festival there are a variety of events such as the nagashibina (March 3rd) ritual for women, where miniature dolls riding on little bamboo floats are sent down the stream as a wish for happiness for the year, and the kyokusui no utage (April 8th), an elegant springtime event where a sake cup is floated down a meandering stream as poetry is recited. The Shimazu Family Traditional Doll and Accessories Display (February 3rd to March 26th, 2018) will be held at the Shoko Shuseikan, where the precious Shimazu Family dolls and 407 exquisite doll accessories of 99 varieties that have been passed down will be on display. Spring at Sengan-en is the season when plum and cherry blossoms are beautiful. From early February to early April about 150 cherry trees including: kanhi zakura, gantan zakura, yama zakura, sato zakura, somei yoshino, and others will be boasting their beautiful blossoms one after another, as Sengan-en is dyed the colours of spring. Festival period: February 3rd to March 26th, 2018 Closed March 4th for the Kagoshima Marathon Daily hours: 8:30-17:30 Location: Sengan-en Address: Yoshino cho, Kagoshima, Kagoshima. Access 20min drive from Chuo Station 40min drive rom Kagoshima Airport (take route 10 from the Aira interchange) 10 min drive from the Sakurajima ferry warf On the Kagoshima City View sightseing bus that departs from Kagoshima Chuo Station, disembark thebus at Sengan-en Mae, and you are right there. Fee For Sengan-en, (also ueable at Shoko Shuseikan

5 High school age and up: 1000 Middle school age and younger is 500 Homepage Japanese - English - Chinese (simplified chinese) Kagoshima Prefectural Government Website: From the Editors (Kagoshima Prefecture International Affairs Division) What did you think of this month s Kagoshima Southern Wind Tidings? The editors will continue to strive to make this prefectural foreign language newsletter a source of information and a bridge to connect all of you to Kagoshima. We d like to ask our readers to provide their opinions, suggestions, article contributions and Kagoshima-related news. Inquiries International Affairs Division, PR and Tourism Strategy Department Kagoshima Prefectural Government 10-1 Kamoike-shinmachi, Kagoshima City, Japan TEL: / FAX: BY English : cir1@pref.kagoshima.lg.jp Japanese : minami@pref.kagoshima.lg.jp Chinese : cir2@pref.kagoshima.lg.jp Korean : cir3@pref.kagoshima.lg.jp Kagoshima Prefecture owns the copyright to this report. Any and all unauthorized use of this report (redistribution, BBS, posting, etc) is prohibited.