Introduction of
the Biwako Floating School
The Biwako
Floating School:
...is employed as a part of school
education
...is conducted on board the study
vessel “Uminoko”
...is run on the largest lake in
Japan, Lake Biwa (Biwa-ko)
...is a study camp of 1 day and 2
nights
...was started 24 years ago in 1983, and has had over 380,000 student
participants
...helps to cultivate in children
‘the strength to live life to its fullest.’
The vessel
“Uminoko” is 65 metres long, 12 metres wide, 20 metres high, and weighs 928
freight tons.
All primary school
students in Shiga Prefecture undertake the Floating School voyage in their 5th
year. This includes students in all
primary, handicapped and foreign schools in Shiga -
approximately 250 schools, 15 thousand students are divided into 90
voyages on lake Biwa yearly.
Depending on the
size of the schools, in some cases up to nine schools’ fifth year students will
participate in the same Floating School voyage.
Also, large schools can sometimes be split into 2 groups to be taken on
2 separate voyages. The number of
participants per voyage is 120 to 200 children (average 160 children).
Each voyage lasts
for two days, a total of approximately 30 hours on board, where the students
stay overnight. On the first day the
ship leaves port at 10am and returns at 5pm.
The voyage ends at 3pm on the second day after the ship has returned to
port for the second time.
On board the ship,
students engage in a variety of learning experiences focused on Lake Biwa and
the environment. These activities
include: water analysis, plankton study,
water-plant study, making water-plant bookmarks, bird watching, fishing and
lake viewing, among others. Also, from
June through to the end of October, students are able to experience rowing a
junior cutter boat on the lake, in groups of 8 to 10 students with two
supervisors per boat.
Learning and
experiencing new things together as a group is a big focus of the Floating
School. Participants have fun meeting
new people and working together in various activities such as: school
introductions, various game tournaments, name card exchanging, rope-work
practice, town walking, and everyone’s favourite: the on-board tug-of-war
tournament in which the students have great fun and develop new bonds with
children they have never met before.
All students
undertake Floating School orientation, emergency drills, and the two days
consist of both small and large group activities.
All of the above
are carried out whilst paying special attention to the following three key
points: 1. Safety 2. Greetings 3. Cleaning up after oneself.
Whilst out on the
lake, students have the chance to observe the four islands on Lake Biwa,
Shiraishi, Takeshima, Chikubushima, and Okishima. The students land on Chikubushima, which is
well known for its historical shrines and temples, and the only island on Lake
Biwa with people living on it, Okishima.
As they leave Okishima, the local elementary school students send them
off with waving flags.
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