| 1．Date | November 10, 2013 |
| 2．Venue | Kitakyusnu Municipal Gender Equality Center, MOVE |
| 4．Participants | 【South Korea】Incheon Council of Women 【Japan】The Council of Women’s Groups of Kitakyushu; KitakyushuCouncil to Promote Better Eating Habits; Kitakyushu Associationof Nursery & Kindergarten Teachers, the National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs of Japan, Kitakyushu; and the Training Network for Leaders of Lifelong Learning |
The interactive relationship between Incheon Metropolitan City and KFAW began in 2007. This year, 11 members of the Incheon Council of Women, including the organization’s President LEE, visited KFAW and attended a cultural exchange event with women’s organizations in Kitakyushu. President LEE and the organization’s Chief Secretary SHIN also visited KFAW in February 2013, in order to help us make this interactive event happen. On the day of the event, Ms. Mihee HONG, the panelist of the previous day’s 24th Kitakyushu Conference on Asian Women, joined in the group; we welcomed a total of 12 members.
The event attracted more than 30 persons from women’s organizations in Kitakyushu. Associate Professor KIM of the University of Kitakyushu served as an interpreter for this event and a supervisor for the Korean cooking session held as part of the event. In addition, citizen volunteer interpreters and staff dispatched from Incheon Metropolitan City to the City of Kitakyushu joined the interactive event.
The event began with cooking and tasting typical dishes representing each country. While rolled sushi, inari-zushi (fl avored boiled rice wrapped in fried bean curd), and a nishime (dish simmered slowly in a soy broth) were cooked as representative of Japanese dishes, chapchae and songpyeon (types of beanjam cakes)* were prepared as Korean dishes. The members from the women’s organizations in South Korea also tried making rolled sushi. The participants from both countries demonstrated their wonderful cooking skills and made delicious dishes.
Subsequently, the participants moved to a Japanese tea room, where Japanese participants demonstrated their skills of making the traditional Japanese tea under the guidance of Ms. Masako Date, a tea ceremony master of Urasenke. The South Korean participants also tried making traditional Japanese tea and enjoyed the taste of their tea.
Next, they tried on the national costumes of each country. The South Korean participants put on Japanese kimono, while Japanese participants put on chima chogori, the Korean national costume. The South Korean members selected kimono with their favorite patterns and the Japanese members helped dress them in the kimono. The scene of all 12 members wearing kimono was very impressive, making the atmosphere at the venue even more exciting.
The event concluded with interaction among all the participants at the Exchange Plaza on the fi rst fl oor of the MOVE. Sharing tables together, the Japanese and South Korean participants formed closer relationships with each other through interpreters. On behalf of women in Kitakyushu, Ms. Katae Terasaka delivered her greetings and gave a singing performance, before the event reached a successful conclusion.
