Hello, I am Momoko from Hong Kong Branch.

In our branch, Social Value and Well-being Committee, which promotes SDGs activities and Well-being activities, plans and implements various activities.

As part of these efforts, we cosponsored “Online Trip to Kitakyushu” with Kitakyushu Branch and Global Business Planning and Coordination Department in Head Office.

For people in Hong Kong, Japan is one of the most popular international travel destinations. On the other hand, Kitakyushu in Fukuoka prefecture is not only a tourist sight, but also been selected by OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) as the only city in the Asian region to be a “Global Model City for the promotion of SDGs” and also been selected as “SDG Future City” in Japan.

The prolong pandemic stops us from travelling to Japan, therefore we plan this online trip to provide an expert insight and a safety net for you to get a chance to learn about the SDGs activities in Japan.

 On that day, around 50 people from Hong Kong Branch, 5 people from Kitakyushu Branch, and 15 people from HO have participated in this activity to learn directly from the staffs in Kitakyushu Branch about the SDGs activities of Kitakyushu City and Kitakyushu Branch. We also experienced the feeling of sightseeing in Kitakyushu City with relays of the local area.

What impressed us the most was Kitakyushu City’s efforts to deal with “Bamboo harm”. “Bamboo harm” is an environmental problem occurred by the rapidly growing bamboos, and the bamboos lead to the impact on other plants and risks of the landslides. Though Kitakyushu City had suffered from this problem for a long time, the City took advantage of this, and host a big event called “Kokura Castle Take Akari”, in which light a bamboo lantern created using a felled bamboo.

Also, in this activity, we were able to listen to the live performance of “Bamboo Cello”, which is created by felled bamboos, by the Kitakyushu Branch staffs.

During this activity, we had a very valuable experience that staffs in Hong Kong Branch and Kitakyushu Branch communicated directly in English through questions and answers, though they usually have almost no contacts.

The participants commented, “I was surprised to learn that Kitakyushu Branch is putting so much effort into activities for SDGs,” and “I didn’t know much about Kitakyushu City until this event, but it is attractive as a tourist destination, so I really wanted to go there.”

Hong Kong Branch will continue to plan and hold events that participants can experience the cultures, histories, and environmental protection efforts of Japan and other countries.

※Click Here for Kitakyusyu Branch Blog（Japanese only）