The annual clean-up activity took place under clear autumn skies. After dividing into groups, everyone headed to the meeting point at the Social Welfare Council. This clean-up activity, also held last year, is not only a chance to make the town clean but also an opportunity to interact with local community members.

“It’s such nice weather!”
The warm sunshine and cool breeze made it a very pleasant day. Local residents also divided into groups and walked with the children of Yumenomori to their assigned cleaning areas. Everyone walked carefully, watching out for cars along the way.

“We found one!”
“Let’s put it in the bag!”
“Is this trash too?”

“We cleaned this area last year, too.”
“Is this plastic trash?”
“There’s less trash than I expected.”

As they walked around, they checked the surroundings. The trash they collected was then sorted. It seemed that most of it was fallen leaves and plastic bottles.

Got a praying mantis, too!
Finally, we wrapped up with closing remarks.

〜Reflections〜

  • “I was glad to see that the town was very clean and that there wasn’t much trash. Walking was tiring, but I had fun because I was able to interact with friends and people in the community.”
  • “There wasn’t much trash, but there were lots of fallen leaves, so picking them up was hard. I think the town became cleaner. Next time, I hope I can talk more actively with local residents.”
  • “I thought there would be a lot of trash, but there was almost none. I realized that people are keeping the town clean. I hope it stays this way.”
  • “There was almost no trash. I hope this clean state continues.”
  • “We were able to pick up trash and fallen leaves, so I think the town became cleaner. Next time, during the clean-up activity, I want to interact more with local people and build closer relationships.”
  • “I was impressed that there was almost no trash. Next time, I want to talk more with the people in town.”