2024.03.19

Our students began a survey of Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark.

On Saturday, March 2, a survey was conducted at the UNESCO Global Geopark in Itoigawa City. The survey was intended to support the goal, set by the Youth Committee of Japanese National Commission for UNESCO Science Working Group, of strengthening cooperation with the Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark. A total of 25 people participated in the survey, including students and faculty members from Student SDGs Promoters, TE×DI (our engineering awareness team), Advanced Course, and the Department of Science of Technology Innovation.

First, participants visited the “Fossa Magna Museum,” a stone museum that explains the origin of the Earth and the Japanese archipelago in an easy-to-understand manner and received a lecture from Ms. Kooriyama, the curator (sedimentology), on the formation of the Fossa Magna and other topics. After the lecture, the group toured the museum and learned about the rich history of Itoigawa, including jade and the Itoigawa–Shizuoka Tectonic Line. Next, the group visited the Chojagahara Archaeological Museum and deepened their understanding through comparisons with the Umataka site in Nagaoka City.

After that, the group moved to a different location and again received a lecture from Ms. Kooriyama, visited Benten-iwa, a pyroclastic flow deposit that erupted from an underwater volcano, and then went to experience jade finding at the Jade Coast, where various types of stones can be found, including those that flowed out from the Kotakigawa Jade Gorge.

At the end of the visit, members of the Youth Committee of Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Mr. Alejandro Isidro Martinez Sanchez and Mr. Kaoru IGARASHI (both Student SDGs Promoters), conducted a questionnaire survey among the student participants on approaches to effectively promote cooperation with the Itoigawa UNESCO Global Geopark. The results of this survey will be shared within the Science Working Group and will serve as an important foundation to facilitate future initiatives.

In the future, we will continue our efforts to promote UNESCO’s activities through the members of the Youth Committee of Japanese National Commission for UNESCO.