OCA Report MRA Foundation Off Campus Activities Program 2013/2014 Annual Report

This is published as an OCA activity report once every year and a half.

２０１３/１４Activity Report

Jul 2013 East Japan Earthquake Support Project

Sohma Wild Horse Festival

OCA supported the Sohma Wild Horse Festival in Minami Sohma City with 34 people

including five students from Thailand from July 26 to 29. Since the Odaka district has been

designated as a non-residential zone, the parishioners of the Shinto shrine cannot return and

the number of participants in the parade was insufficient. OCA helped by adding 34 people

to the Odaka Shrine parade. The participants including Thai students visited the disaster

area along the nearby coastline and heard the stories of the people. 12 participants were

invited to the Wild Horse Festival on the 29th by the courtesy of Odaka Shrine.

Oct 2013 ＯＣＡ Hokkaido Assembly

The OCA Hokkaido assembly was held from October 11 to 14 by 29 people including 11 Thai

people and five from Hokkaido, Mashike-cho. The participants from Thailand were professors

Sriwongese and Buddhagarn of Chulalongkorn Univ., the OCA Thailand chairman Chutima

and her familiy, and Ms. Orasuda from the Royal Phra Dabos Foundation. The Hokkaido visit

has become easier service Thai Airways started direct flights to Chitose this year. The party

toured Asahiyama Zoo, Furano, Biei, and then arrived at Mashike. There they were

welcomed by the Sato deputy mayor and other Mashike people. They also toured an orchard

and a brewery in Mashike. This helped them understand Japanese culture and tradition

which are different from urban areas – through contact with nature and the people of

Hokkaido.

Nov 2013 Common Beat Visit to Thailand

32 cast members from Common Beat and four OCA staff members went to Bangkok and

Chiang Mai in Thailand to conduct musical performances and a student exchange program

for eight days from Nov. 3 to 10. The Common Beat cast members were from five regions,

13 from Tokyo, 12 from Nagoya, 4 from Kansai, 2 from Kyushu and 2 from Tohoku. In

Bangkok, we performed a 90-minute show at the Chulalongkorn University Music Hall and

visited the Royal Foundation Phra Dabos to perform a show for those young people in poor

rural areas. On Nov. 7, we enjoyed a party with 50 people including members of OCA

Thailand and Chulalongkorn Univ. students who had participated in a training program in

Japan. We flew to Chiang Mai on the 8th and performed a show at an orphanage called

“Ban Rom Sai” which has accepted HIV-infected orphans. Ms. Natori, the chief of the facility,

explained about how the facility was started and the difficulties to run the facility. Her story

made us think how we can contribute to social activities. We raised Khom Loi (a sky lantern)

by the poolside of the Ban Rom sai with the children and wished their good health. This

project has been certified as the SEAN-Japan 40th Anniversary with the effort of Mr. Omori

from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

May 2014 Chulalongkorn University Students

Trained in Japan

A total of 13 studetns from Chulalongkorn Univ. and Professor Shirima visited Japan on an

exchange program with Saitama Univ. students and Common Beat members for ten days

from May 13 - 22 in 2014. Saitama Univ. students were responsible for the attendant during

their stay in Tokyo from May 13 – 17. They received a lecture from Mr. Usui, of the Saitama

Univ. Faculty of Economics and they made a company visit to Hitachi Ltd on the 14th. They

visited Tokyo on the 15th and 16th. On the 17th and 18th, the group was divided into three

teams, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka - to experience a home stay with a typical Japanese family.

All moved to Osaka on the 19th and visited Panasonic and historical places in Nara and Kyoto.

A welcome party was held on the 14th, and 60 people including Thai students, Common Beat

members and Saitama Univ. students enjoyed mingling together. At the farewell party held in

Osaka on the 21st, 57 people attended and made a lot of friends

Jul 2014 Chulalongkorn University 9 Students

Supported Sohma Wild Horse Festival

9 Chulalongkorn Univ. students visited Japan for ten days from Jul 25 to Aug 3. They

supported the Sohma Wild Horse Festival at Odaka Shrine of Minami Sohma city on the 25th

and 26th. This was the third time they have helped support the Soma Field Umaoi Festival

after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Odaka Shrine area remains a prohibited residential

area and residents cannot return home. A total of 21 people including nine Chulalongkorn

Univ. students, Common Beat members, Saitama Univ. students, and OCA staff members

participated in the parade. In Tokyo, Common Beat accepted the Thai students for a two-

night and three day home stay from July 29 and the students helped with the Tokyo

performances of Common Beat. We held a farewell party, inviting Common Beat members

and Saitama Univ. students at MRA House on Aug. 2.

Nov 2014 Common Beat・Saitama Univ. Students

Visited Thailand

A total of 40 people of Common Beat and Saitama Univ. students visited Thailand for eight

days from Nov. 2nd to 9th. We had a reunion party with Thai students. Some of them had

visited Japan in May and others had participated in the Sohma Wild Horse Festival in Sep.

We performed a 1-hour and 45 minute show at the auditorium of Chulalongkorn Univ. on Nov.

4th. The next day, we had a dinner party at the Chulalongkorn Univ. Sasa International

House. Common Beat members dressed in kimono and yukata to present a Japanese tea

ceremony. On Nov. 6, we flew to Chiang Rai to visit Mae Kok Farm which has been foster

sponsoring the mountain tribe’s orphans. Luckily, it was the period of the Loi Krathong

Festival and we floated the lanterns on a river. We moved to Chiang Mai and visited the

Ban Rom Sai, the orphanage for HIV-infected orphans. We played with the orphans and

listened to a story of Ms. Natori, the representative of the orphanage on Nov. 7th. Six

Chulalongkorn Univ. students participated in this trip. This project has been carried out with

the support of a 1.5 million yen grant from the Japan Foundation.

Support Activities by Common Beat

The Off Campus Activities (OCA) originated in the Sing Out activities of the Japanese young

people who were inspired by the musical show “Up With People” (UWP) started in the United

States in 1965. Those young people who used to belong Sing Out in 1971 embarked on

exchange activities with Asia. It was the beginning of OCA. OCA has carefully nurtured a

relationship with UWP since then. “A Common Beat” was one of the UWP musical programs

performed in 2004 in Japan and the Common Beat organization was established in Japan as an

NPO. OCA has been a supporter of Common Beat by providing donations to one Common Beat

member in 2013 and three members in 2014 to enable them to participate in the UWP program

and helping in the globalization of the members.

OCA Business and MRA House

MRA stands for Moral Re-Armament. Dr. Frank Buchman, an American,

proposed a peace movement called the Oxford Group in the 1920s after World

War I. After the end of World War II, a "World Conference", a pioneering

presence in the current Davos meeting, was held at Caux in Switzerland. The

group developed a movement of “harmony in Asia" including Japan and a

peaceful settlement between Germany and France. It then proposed to make

moral rearmament rather than weapon rearmament during the Cold War. This is

the origin of the activities of MRA. The activities have expanded to an Education

Foundation in the United States called “Up with People” which educates the youth,

traveling the world while performing musical shows. In Japan, they have

developed into "MRA House Foundation" which implements, supports, and

subsidizes projects which promote international mutual understanding and

develop global leaders. The MRA House Foundation has granted 93.13 million

Yen for public interest purposes in the fiscal year 2013.

OCA stands for Off Campus Activities. It was established by the MRA House

Foundation to promote an International cultural exchange among Southeast Asia,

and a student exchange program in 1971. Japanese university students started

the exchange activities by visiting Southeast Asian universities in the same year

and since then, OCA has been conducting annual student exchange programs

centering on Chulalongkorn University in Thailand for 40 years.

Guide line for the Management of OCA

Organization: OCA is a division of MRA House Foundation.

Policy: OCA is intended to foster global leadership through interaction with the

local community and cross-cultural exchange with foreign countries.

Budget: OCA has applied the annual budget of MRA House Foundation. MRA

House has financed its budget in the management of the basic assets.

Annual Budget: The expenses of the fiscal year of 2013/2014 are as follows.

2013 2014

- May: Thai student exchange program in Japan 440,000 1,463,079

- Jul: Support Sohma Wild Horse Festival Project 500,000 652,401

- Aug: Thai students/ Common Beat exchange program 636,346

- Oct: OCA Hokkaido Assembly 350,000

- Nov: Thailand student exchange program 1,200,000 1,066525

Support Chulalongkorn Univ. 400,000 480,960

Development of new partnerships 270,000 667,570

Donation to Mae Kok Farm 400,000 400,000

Donation to Ban Rom Sai 400,000 400,000

Donation to UWP program participants 920,000 1,750,000

Other expenses, report printing,

travel expenses, conference fees 1,310,000 1,020,000

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Activities Total Expenses JPY 6,190,000 8,536,881

Notes: Thai student Japan exchange program that had been scheduled for fiscal year 2013

(March 2014) was postponed to fiscal year 2014 (May 2014). Expenses of 2013 fiscal year

2014 is for preparing cost of the 2014 program.

Steering Committee:

Toyotane Soma, Takayoshi Sato, Kiyoshi Kehara, Masahiro Koseki,

Nobuyuki Takahashi, Toshio Shimizu, Ryo Adachi

How to Join: OCA does not have a membership system.

No admission fee required. Since the content and activities are shown in the

home page of MRA House, please feel free to contact us from the home page.

Anybody can join us. Let’s have fun!

How to Contact:

OCA International Exchange Program, MRA House Foundation

4-9-17 Minami Azabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo

TEL 03-3445-5111 FAX 03-3444-8629

Home Page: http://www.asia-center.or.jp