It looks like Nishinomiya businesses and students are teaming up over the course of a year to make something together, kind of like a school-style project.
Here it is↓
At first glance, you might wonder what exactly they’re going to do, but…
It’s like a real-life KidZania-style project where participants work with some of Nishinomiya’s well-known companies and organizations. And it’s not just for students. Pretty much anyone can join, so adults can take part too.
Nishinomiya Hankyu
Nishinomiya Hankyu is a place we’ve covered here on Nishi2 from time to time.
What they’ll do: Go behind the scenes at the department store and apparently plan and create an anniversary event for parents and children.Since it’s for parents and kids, parent-child pairs might be perfect for this
This article we covered on Nishi2 might be related:
Hanshin Koshien Stadium Groundskeeping
This is “Hanshin Engei,” famous nationwide for their almost legendary groundskeeping at Koshien Stadium.They even sold toy versions of their groundskeeping vehicles, remember?
What they’ll do: It’s called “0 Yen Park.” They’ll research “ways to play using things from nature” without relying on playground equipment, and actually try it out at an event in Rokutanji Park in October.This sounds very Nishinomiya and pretty fun
a little
They also write parenting info for Nishi2, and they’re basically heroes for moms and dads: the childcare support group a little.The other day, Shachomi visited Little House
What they’ll do: Work together on articles for Nishinomiya parenting information magazine “tomoni” while listening to the voices of local families raising children.
And these KidZania-like work experiences aren’t the only ones.
- MIYAON (Nishinomiya Music Festival): Join the operations team for the October music festival and help create the stages and vendor booths
- Co-op Kobe: Go into the satoyama forest area of Shakeyama and think up ways to bring people into the woods
- Netz Toyota Kobe: Learn how to create car displays that sell, then set up an EV display at a dealership
- Daiichi Gakuin managaraBASE: Build a place for junior high and high school students to belong, together
- Minato Bank: Find your own work values through “self-research” before job hunting (university students only)
- SARASA: Meet a new side of yourself alongside university students aiming to start businesses
- Machi Sugoroku: Turn the whole city of Nishinomiya into a board game, sugoroku-style
- Interview: Learn interview techniques from a Kwansei Gakuin teacher and turn them into a newspaper article
- Senior Intern: Seniors around retirement age can actually try out local community activities (※Applications for this year have closed)
- Sakura FM: Plan and record a monthly radio program (※Applications for this year have closed. You can still listen to the broadcast)
There are 13 “pavilions” in total.
For reference, the participation fee is roughly 2,000-5,000 yen for students and about 5,000-12,000 yen for adults(around 500-1,250 yen per session). It depends on the project, so check the recruitment page for details.
子どもに体験させたいのはどれ？
It’s a “Machigaku” Project
“Machigaku” is a school-like initiative run in Nishinomiya by NPO Nagomi, based on the idea of turning the whole city into a campus. It has a fun concept where people can learn together regardless of generation or job title.Their policy seems to be that learning together in Nishinomiya connects to community building
Final Thoughts
Adults can’t take part in KidZania, so an initiative that adults can join too sounds pretty interesting. From Hanshin Engei’s “0 Yen Park” to Nishinomiya Hankyu’s behind-the-scenes planning project, these are all experiences you normally don’t get to have. If you’re interested, you may want to sign up soon.
