3rd Lecture on Olympic/Paralympic Games, 'Olympics & Volunteering,' held at TUFS

September 7, 2017

On Wednesday 5 ^th of July, 'Olympics & Volunteering,' the third lecture in the TUFS-sponsored 'Thinking about the Olympic and Paralympic Games' lecture series was held.

The third lecture was taught by Naofumi Masumoto of the Japan Olympic Academy, with TUFS Professor Mika Hasebe (specially-appointed professor at the TUFS World Language and Society Education Centre) as commentator, and covered the topic of volunteering at the Olympics and Paralympics.

Mr. Masumoto gave a very interesting presentation covering the basic facts of the Olympics, information on volunteers at past Olympic games, the expectations for volunteers in the upcoming Tokyo games, and what we can do in preparation for 2020. When discussing volunteer activities at previous games, Mr. Masumoto used pictures to explain the volunteer activities expected for the upcoming games. As not many people know much about the volunteer activities at past Olympic games in Japan (1964, 1988), participants took great interest in the pictures.

Professor Hasebe introduced the TUFS Volunteer Action Space (VOLAS), and discussed things such as the definition of 'volunteer,' and how universities can provide support.

The lecture was attended by 52 TUFS students and four Language & Culture Supporters. Following Professor Hasebe's comments, there was a question and answer session, with participants asking about the strengths of Japanese volunteers and the areas in need of improvement, and the application process for those who are currently on an overseas exchange, with the lecture overall serving as a good opportunity to make people think about what they can do before 2020.

The fourth lecture will be held on the 25 ^th of October to the topic of 'Sustainability.' This lecture will be led by Mr. Takeo Tanaka (Senior Director of Sustainability, The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee).