In cooperation with our partner university Yamagata University (YU), a two-week Great Excursion to the northern region of the Japanese main island Honshu took place again this year, after a two-year pandemic break.
From 24 February to 5 March 2023, Japanese (YU), Italian (University of Turin), Ukrainian (Chernihiv Polytechnic University) and German (Leibniz University Hannover led by Benjamin Burkhard and Alexander Störmer) students took part in a joint Winter School in Japan. The excursion began late and under difficult circumstances for the German group, as the outbound flight was affected by the strike at Frankfurt Airport. The planned homestay with Japanese host families in Tsuruoka had to be cancelled and the excursion began in Yamagata with a visit to Mount Zaō (photo). Furthermore, there were stays in the prefectures of Fukushima and Sendai as well as in the cities of Morioka, Tsuruoka and Tokyo. The content of the excursion was mainly concerned with the effects of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the consequences of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as well as the massive destruction caused by the tsunami and the resulting consequences for the reconstruction and protection of the population. During the visit to Chuo University in Tokyo, the group took part in a design session on the sustainable redesign of the campus, among other things. In addition, numerous expert lectures were heard on the topic of remote sensing and processing "Big Data" with machine learning programmes, as well as practical exercises with drones.
Another International Winter School will be held in cooperation with Yamagata University in Tsuruoka in the coming winter of 2023/2024.
