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【インターンシップレポート】「つくば市ジオパーク室」Okin Yllah Kang

2020年1月31日 16時42分

I.Intern: OKIN YLLAH KANG, master’s student in environmental sciences

II.Hosting organization: Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark. It was founded in September 2016 and took the place of the 41st Geopark in Japan. Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark covers a region of 6 cities: Ishioka, Kasama, Tsukuba, Sakuragawa, Tsuchiura and, Kasumigaura, all located in Ibaraki prefecture. The importance of the region is based on some Geo heritage representative in Japan such as:
-The Kanto plain (largest plain in Japan)
-The lake Kasumigaura (second largest lake in Japan) 
-Tsukuba mountain or Mont Tsukuba (one of the hundred famous mountains in Japan)

III.Internship objectives: As a student in Nature conservation Program, I am interested in tourism, ecotourism and protection of natural sites.  I had the opportunity to have a short-term internship in Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark, where my assignment was to assess some touristic sites under its circumscription and, give my point of view as a foreigner. I assessed 6 geo-sites during the internship:

1.Mont Tsukuba (Tsukuba and Keisoku massifs zone) 
2.Sakayori and shiio (Tsukuba and Keisoku massifs zone)
3.Yamanosho (Tsukuba and Keisoku massifs zone)
4.Kasama basin (Tsukuba and Keisoku massifs zone) 
5.Kamigo (Kanto plain zone)
6.Ayumizaki, sakihama, kawajiri (Lake Kasumigaura zone) 

IV.Work experience: the kick-off day of the internship was a meeting with the hosting organization, where I had to present my internship plan, objectives and chosen sites for assessment. To reach the fixed objectives, I visited all the cited sites using a prospectus called travel and earth, provided by the hosting company. I was spending days in sites, taking pictures, talking to people and checking if the site is convenient for a foreign person unable to speak Japanese language. My main targets or criteria to assess the site were the accessibility (transportation wise), communication with the staff, provided activities, clarity of information, brochures and directions, access for people with low mobility, toilets and smoking areas, etc.

After each visit, I had to provide a report to my supervisor at Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark.
At the end of my internship, I presented in front of Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark staff members and CPNC professors, about the assessment results, my point of view about each visited site, the strong and weak points. I also wrote a final report that was received and checked by Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark staff members.

This internship gave me the opportunity to connect theoretical lessons to practical ones and challenge myself in thinking broadly when it comes to geo-sites value and maintenance.




Photo: Mt. Tsukuba Area Geopark Office 


Assessment report. (It is a 38-page report, and the above image is a part of it.)