6/4-5 CARP Korea Japan America Student Conference 2016
The two-day conference launched off with an inspiring and high-spirited opening ceremony. With students from Korea, America and Japan all gathered in one room, we could already feel the global spirit and significance of the next two days. The three CARP presidents were invited up onto the stage together to give a few opening remarks and encouragements. They all spoke about the vision of True Parents to unify the whole world and encouraged us to use this international conference as an opportunity to develop deep bonds with our peers from other countries. It was very inspiring to see the next generation of leaders from Japan, Korea and America all standing on the stage together, making a determination to work in concert toward the same vision and goal.
The CARP Presidents from America, Korea, and Japan (From left: America-Ushiroda, Korea-Kim, and Japan-Motoyama)
We then had a chance to engage in icebreakers from each country. Korea started us off with the “chicken fight” where you hop on one leg only and try to knock down all members of the opposing team. The team with the most surviving members won. It was quite intense but everyone had fun. Then Japan introduced their game, “Satan,” where you evolve every time you win around of ‘rock-paper-scissors.’ You start off as Satan and the goal is to become the “messiah.” Lastly, America ended the session by placing participants into groups of 8 and having them create 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional shapes using their bodies. The criteria for judging the shapes were teamwork and creativity.
The icebreakers served their purpose well as we were already feeling closer to each other. Right after these icebreakers, we created “families” with students from Japan, Korea and America all mixed together. The participants would spend the next two days in these families, getting to know each other better.
We then had presentations from CARP Japan, CARP Korea and CARP America about their unique visions, missions and activities. We also heard testimonies from representatives of each country.
Yumi Go from CARP Korea gave a heart-felt testimony on why she chose to become active in CARP, “I realized that I am not alone. That there are brothers and sisters like you all around the world walking next to me towards the same goal. If we work alone, it can get lonely and the path can be difficult. But let us remember that we are not alone. If we join hands and walk together, we can achieve many great things!”
CARP Japan also shared in detail about how they go about doing outreach and expressed their heart of never giving up. “CARP in Japan actually began with a group of students on campus who gathered to study and analyse the Divine Principle.” One Japanese student then gave a moving testimony about not giving up on his friend and always trusting that he would eventually join CARP.
Finally, CARP Las Vegas and CARP Los Angeles presented on recent activities and we heard a testimony from Takayo, “When I saw the Japanese mothers investing tirelessly into educating people and doing outreach, I was moved.” Pedro also spoke about joining CARP last year. “I used to be lonely. Loneliness is bad when you’re alone but it’s even worse when you feel lonely despite having people around you and being in a crowd. In CARP, I experienced unconditional love. Now I want to spread that love to everyone. CARP is a great way to share love with those around me.”
We ended the session with song performances from each country.
Visiting CARP Homes
Finally, we gathered in families and went out to Tokyo. Different families did different activities; visiting Asakusa, doing karaoke, and shopping. Then we went to different CARP homes. Our family went to Sosei CARP home where students attending Waseda University and Tokyo University live together. The students there welcomed us warmly and prepared dinner for us. We had dinner together and introduced ourselves. Then we played a charades game all together with a great on the line, Japanese cookies!
“My favorite part of the day was when we played games altogether. Despite the language differences, we could have fun and become closer through the games.” – Yuki
“Our languages and cultures are so diverse so sometimes it seemed like the cultural wall was really high but through the group activities and hanging out together, we could spend a very meaningful time together. Just being able to be together in itself was great.” -Yeon Ji
We then met up at Takadano Baba for the moment that we had all been waiting for – All you can eat sushi, Kaiten Sushi! For many, it was the first time going to Kaiten Sushi so it was very special. It was like the kingdom of heaven, being able to eat as much sushi as we wanted. We had a lot of fun but we also felt immense gratitude to True Mother for allowing us to have such a good time together with our brothers and sisters. We would ask, “what is this? Does this taste good?” and the Japanese students would patiently explain everything to us in detail. It felt amazing to be able to experience something new and exciting together as a family.
Pilgrimage to Waseda University
After having a feast at the sushi place, we set out on a pilgrimage to Waseda University and we were very lucky to have Mr.Inokuchi as our tour guide along the way.
We passed by the house where True Father stayed when he was a student and the police station where he was questioned and tortured. This course is called the “Path of Tears” because of the sorrow and suffering that True Father went through during this time in his life. The tour guide encouraged us to try to connect to the course that True Father went through during his youth. He was a student just like us, working towards an ideal and big goal for humankind.
“He was arrested and tortured by the Japanese police authorities. However, later on, when Korea became independent and Japan was in the victim position, True Father did not take revenge on those who tortured him. Rather he told the Koreans to forgive the Japanese.”
“This is where True Father first thought about doing international blessings, to bring together the enemy nations of Japan and Korea. So this place is your hometown of hometowns. It is also the place where True Father searched for the Divine Principle for many years. True Father’s vision was that when Japanese and Koreans, blacks and whites marry, then there will be no more war and fighting.”
“We’re all gathered here today because 60 years ago, one young Korean boy decided to love this enemy nation of Japan. Even though Japan rejected and persecuted him, he never gave up and still poured out love and forgiveness.” – Japanese student, Satoshi
We then took a picture in front of the Okuma Memorial Hall in Waseda university. It is a very historical spot because True Father took a graduating class photo in that very spot 60 years ago. And then about 20 years ago, the very first group of Americans went to Japan as an exchange and took a picture at this very spot. Today, we students from America, Korea and Japan took a historical picture here too! Through this, we came to appreciate the foundation laid by our predecessors and felt more connected to that foundation. It is our wish that the future will hold many more such historical moments!
We then went back to the Urayasu center where we held an Appreciation ceremony. This was the first time that such a ceremony was carried out. We had students gather by their country and brainstorm good points or points that they admire and appreciate about the other countries. We had several representatives come up to the stage to present the good points in the language of the country receiving it. First one student from America spoke to the Japanese students in Japanese,
“J-Carp members listened very attentively and tried to understand us.Even though they can’t speak English well, they still try their best to speak. They are considerate; when we went to Carp center, they asked an American brother was asked if he would like to get a massage, J-Carp members asked if the room wasn’t too cold, if the food was ok, asked if we were tired or feeling okay. They were concerned about our well-being and really demonstrated a motherly figure, mother nation. J-Carp also were concerned if we were enjoying ourselves and organized performances to entertain us. Lastly, they keep True Parents’ tradition alive and that was seen clearly at each of the Carp centers where we stayed.”
Then another student spoke in Korean to the Korean students,
“CARP KOREA was with us only 2 days but they impacted us by showing their unity through the song / dance performance. They tried to listen carefully and showed enthusiasm even though they don’t speak English or Japanese. They share everything, including food, feeling, and love. They are honest about their life of faith. And they constantly strive to improve their relationship with God. Their presence at this conference was so precious and we’re so glad that they came. Thank you CARP KOREA.”
Through this appreciation ceremony, everyone felt acknowledged and we felt that yet another cultural barrier had been removed. It is easy to focus on the negative points in others but through this ceremony, we were able to bring out the best in each other. I truly believe that if we take the best aspects of Japanese, Korean, and American culture and spirit, we can create a heavenly culture that can embrace all of humankind!
The session ended with a brief talk from the President of Family Federation in Japan, Mr. Tokuno. He mentioned that the Japanese people were grateful to America for their kind donation for the Kumamoto earthquake victims. “The first thing True Mother told the members who had suffered from the earthquake was, ‘Do not have resentment. Do not complain.'”
Our final hours together was drawing near so dinner time was preciously spent in families. We had a chance to do “popcorn appreciations” where each member got a chance to acknowledge and appreciate someone in their family.
The evening ended with a mini open mic and a special presentation of badges by Jermaine of CARP America to the student representatives of CARP Japan and Korea. Jermaine explained, “These badges were given to me while I was in the army for an act of unity that I was recognized for. Today, at this conference, I felt real unity and that is why I would like to present these badges.”
The conference came to an end as we sang “Saranghae” (meaning ‘we love you’) for True Mother. Then fun and excitement erupted as the students created a fun tunnel which everyone passed through.
The evening ended with a mini open mic and a special presentation of badges by Jermaine of CARP America to the student representatives of CARP Japan and Korea. Jermaine explained, “These badges were given to me while I was in the army for an act of unity that I was recognized for. Today, at this conference, I felt real unity and that is why I would like to present these badges.”
The conference came to an end as we sang “Saranghae” (meaning ‘we love you’) for True Mother. Then fun and excitement erupted as the students created a fun tunnel which everyone passed through.