TOMODACHI Program in Memory of Monty Dickson Sends University of Alaska Anchorage Students to Japan
Ten undergraduate students and two faculty members visited Japan between May 7 – 15, 2015, as participants of the TOMODACHI University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA)-Iwate University KAKEHASHI Program. This faculty-led program brought students to Japan as part of a 2-credite Geography and Environmental Studies Course titled:Tsunami Lessons from Japan. This program was launched by the UAA Montgomery Dickson Center for Japanese Language & Culture. The center was established to commemorate Montgomery (Monty) Dickson, a UAA graduate, who perished in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami while serving as a JET ALT (Japan Exchange & Teaching Program Assistant Language Teacher) in Rikuzentakata.
The participants arrived in Japan on May 8 and first traveled to Rikuzentakata, Iwate prefecture, where they visited the disaster zone in the city, met with civic leaders, and learned about the reconstruction efforts. In 1964, the Anchorage area experienced a devastating earthquake (magnitude 9.2) and tsunami, and there is a high probability of such a disaster occurring again in the future. Due to the enormous scale of the devastation that Rikuzentakata and other areas experienced, much can be learned from Japan in drafting Alaska’s future disaster preparedness plans. The UAA students were joined in their Tohoku activities by students from Iwate University. The group was in Tokyo for a day before traveling on to Kyoto, where they visited the Kiyomizu Temple to see the Buddha statue crafted from the once famous Rikuzentakata pine trees that were washed away by the tsunami. The temple also held a special memorial service in honor of Monty Dickson. The group ended their program with a visit to Hiroshima, where they reflected on the resilience of Japanese society.
- To read about the program in the Asahi newspaper, click here
- To see the Facebook page, click here
