Coventry Young Ambassadors’ 2019 Japan Visit & Subsequent Activities

Categorised under: Art & Exhibitions, Grants

An Interview with Rebecca Bollands of Howes Primary School in Coventry

Building on the experience of hosting the London 2012 Olympic football events and keen to promote engagement with the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, teachers in Coventry worked together with The Japan Foundation to organise a Japan Conference in March 2018 that included 250 children from 30 different schools. From attending events linked to Japanese culture, language and sport, participants became Young Coventry Ambassadors and went on to organise workshops in their own schools with the aim of promoting Japanese culture as well as strengthen links with Japan.

Following an application by Howes Primary School Deputy Headteacher Rebecca Bollands, the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation supported a trip to Japan for ten Young Coventry Ambassadors aged 8-10 from five different schools in November 2019.

With extensive experience visiting Japanese schools and having supported cross-cultural exchange between Japan and the UK for over a decade, Rebecca was well positioned to lead the proposal and her strong vision for a resulting arts exhibition tied to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that would act as a platform to foster enduring transcultural ties was plainly apparent.

Across one week of Tokyo and Kamakura sightseeing interspersed with school exchanges, the ten Coventry pupils worked together with those of Japanese partner schools on an Olympics-based collaborative arts project set to comprise a major exhibit in a forthcoming, pupil-led Japan Arts Festival in Coventry City Centre during June 2020.

The Coventry pupils worked closely with Waseda High School, visiting their sports club, sharing presentations about the Olympics and receiving a local sightseeing tour of the area. They also visited the Yokohama National Stadium with Tateno Elementary and Shinohara Junior High Schools to meet the National Softball Team and collaborated with Tado Elementary and Boyo Elementary Schools on the artwork that would be displayed at the Japan Arts Festival.

“The visit gave our pupils an amazing opportunity to learn about Japan and about the Tokyo 2020 Games,” Rebecca commented. “It gave them an amazing insight into school life in Japan and helped them develop intercultural understanding. The schools we worked with in Japan told us it had been a fantastic opportunity. The older pupils from Waseda High School were able to practise speaking English in real-life situations. The trip created new links and strengthened existing ones.”

As the Olympics start date approached in 2020, widening concerns pertaining to the Covid-19 pandemic forced its delay and also necessitated postponement of the Japan Arts Festival planned alongside the games. Yet, despite the disappointing news, Rebecca and the Young Coventry Ambassadors resiliently continued their tireless cultural exchange activities throughout the pandemic. One such project now nearing completion is the Coventry Islands of Peace Japanese Garden created in collaboration with Coventry in the role of 2021 UK City of Culture from May 2021-2022.

“This has been a very exciting project for the five schools and the wider community. Luckily, we have been able to continue with the project throughout most of the lockdowns,” Rebecca told us. “The children are so proud of what they have achieved. There has been a great deal of interest in it. We are very excited for the official opening of the garden on 2nd July which will be attended by Ambassador Hayashi and the Lord Mayor,” she added.

Beyond this, a Coventry Schools’ Torch Relay is currently running to coincide with the relay in Japan. “An original [London] 1948 torch is being taken between 54 Coventry schools over a three-month period,” said Rebecca, adding that “I’m really pleased one of the schools we worked with on our visit to Japan made a video to wish all Coventry schools good luck with the relay. We have planned a closing ceremony on the 14th of July and will celebrate the Tokyo Games at this event. We hope to have Taiko drumming and Japanese sport.”

As the challenges of the pandemic are beginning to cede, the Japan Arts Festival has also been rescheduled for 2nd July at Coventry Cathedral. “We have still had the opportunity to work with Japanese artists and we will be able to display the pupils’ work,” reassured Rebecca. With the postponed Tokyo Olympics presently scheduled to commence from late-July, the rescheduling has aligned almost perfectly, and it is wonderful to know the collaborative artwork created as a result of the 2019 Japan trip will finally be unveiled for everyone to appreciate.

Furthermore, the excellent work of Rebecca and the Coventry Young Ambassadors is set to continue far beyond the Olympics event window, the Japan Arts Festival and Coventry Islands of Peace Japanese Garden. A number of future projects are already in motion that will continue marrying experiences and connections gained from the 2019 trip with the ongoing drive to further celebrate and strengthen UK-Japanese relations.

“We have just started to work with UNESCO developing an international Gardens of Peace project based on the experience of building our garden,” Rebecca informed us. “We are also working on a collaborative story writing project with Waseda High School, and we will be welcoming a Japanese teacher from Japan in the Autumn who will work with a number of Coventry schools.”

The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation are delighted to have supported such a foundational trip to Japan in 2019 and have closely followed the work of Rebecca Bollands and the Coventry Young Ambassadors in subsequent years with great interest and enthusiasm. With so many ongoing projects and future plans, it is with the utmost confidence in their ongoing commitment that we will continue to closely support their activities.

All images kindly provided by Rebecca Bollands.