On June 28th (Friday) morning, participants gathered in front of the Shinjuku Center Building, amidst a heavy rain. Considering the fact that we were stopping by at the Mitake Shosenkyo, considered "the most beautiful gorge in Japan", this was not a particularly great start. Despite the rain, we arrived at the Shosenkyo Museum of Shadowgraph on schedule at 11:45 AM, and had a great lunch at the museum restaurant. After the meal, some visited the museum, while others took a stroll in Shosenkyo. The trail was somewhat difficult to navigate because of the rain, but walking through the quiet rain and gazing at the mist-covered mountains was a rather quaint experience. Is this what they call "wabi-sabi"?

We arrived at CHÂTERAISÉ Hotel Nirasaki no Mori earlier than planned. For our ice-breaking activity, we played an interesting variation of bingo, in which we were to talked to someone who fits into a specific phrase on the sheet. Without getting into too much detail, the conversation was quite lively despite the quirky phrases we were given, likely because there were people from diverse background participating. After enjoying a fantastic dinner at the hotel's restaurant, we had a warm-up session for the workshop. Here, we played various games around the concept of "space," to think, express, and present some words or our aspects of our lives related to it.

June 29th (Saturday) began with a traditional Japanese morning radio exercise. Yesterday's heavy rain was nowhere to be seen, and while there was some lingering humidity, the morning air was quite pleasant. Mohammed Aqil Cheddadi, a 2022 fellow, was the host of the 1st session. He presented about space and personal space, which is also his research topic. What was particularly intriguing was his perspective related to packed trains in Tokyo, where we "create a mental space precisely because there is no physical space", so that we "are there, but not there", an action that we, to varying degrees, may have felt or have engaged in.

After a short break, and with a lunch break in-between, we considered about "public space" across 2 sessions. We first listened to presentations about the concept of "human scale" from Tatsuuma Natsumi, a Foundation staff, and the problem of "accessibility" of public space towards societal minority such as LGBTQIA+ individuals or elderly women from Yu Ning, a 2020 fellow. We then split into small groups, discussing and debating these topics while taking a stroll around the hotel. One noteworthy thing was that when another non-Japanese group member and the author mentioned that "the street of Tokyo is very safe (or is very pedestrian-friendly)", a Japanese group member seemed surprised. While it is obvious that people who have different background and experience would possess different perception of things, the juxtaposition here really deepened our understanding towards "space". In the following section, Chiang Yung-po, a 2018 fellow, showed how a perception towards the same public space could change depending on the situation or context, through the contrast of Waseda University in the student movement era and in the present day.

In the 3rd session of the workshop, we discussed how we should live with the "online space" that has become more prominent since the COVID-19 pandemic, through two debates. Kusuda Yuki, a 2023 fellow in charge of this session, posted two motions that are quite close to heart for the participants: "should classes be held online" and "should academic conferences be held online". We were able to think about how the online and offline spaces interact with our lives, at times with some heated exchanges. In the following 4th session, Wu Xiaoxiao, a 2018 fellow, took us away from a physical and empirical conception of space, into a world of knowledge and perception of space based on "fengshui". I must admit that the "spot the error" game of finding spots that are bad in terms of fengshui in a picture was very difficult.

The second day came to a wrap with an outdoor barbeque. Coming together to grill meat, vegetables and yakisoba, with alcohol in hand, is fun no matter how old I have become, and was a great throwback to my university days. Aside from socializing and chatting like in the first night, some were having a heated knockout match of table tennis, but that is a story for another day.

In the final day's session, we engaged with the idea of a "just city", as a conclusion to the workshop. In the first half, we were split into group, discussing and debating about our relationship and experience with a "city". In the second half, we were split into another group, and did a "city building" that comes with an ideal space. The "pictures of city" from the 4 groups were varied, and just looking at them was an enjoyable experience.

It was a great experience to participate in the Nirasaki Workshop 2024. I would like to thank the Atsumi staffs, senior fellows, and my batchmates, for a wonderful workshop memory. My sincere gratitude to everyone involved with the Atsumi International Foundation for giving me this opportunity.

Written by: Motoki Luxmiwattana (2024 fellow)

Photos from the event