In the afternoon of 4th day of the training camp, the players from Japan and Korea Republic enjoyed cultural exchange by visiting Osaka. At Osaka Castle, they went up to the castle tower and they also enjoyed some shopping and a meal while it was very busy in Sunday afternoon in Doutonbori, the popular tourist place in Osaka.

For this trip, the players made groups of 3-4 players from both countries and each group members spent the whole afternoon in Osaka together. To understand each other within the group, they maximised little English and gestures; Japanese players missed the opportunity to tell Korean players to wait for them while they are paying at a shop and had to catch up to the Korean players. Also Japanese players helped Korean players by carrying lots of souvenirs that they bought. After all, Japanese players did good job by supporting Korean players as good “tourist guides” to maximise their off-time in Osaka.

Comments

INO Maya（Saitama: Urawa Reds Ladies Junior Youth）
It was difficult to communicate each other, but we tried by using every way such as little English, gesture and translation application of mobile phone. We improved friendship with Korean players. Tomorrow, we have the match against them. I want to win the match with good play.

MIURA Haruka（Saitama: Urawa Reds Ladies Junior Youth）
It was very difficult for us to communicate with Korean players because we don’t understand the Korean language at all. Anyway, Korean players seemed to enjoy this afternoon through buying watches and sweets for souvenirs. For dinner, we had Okonomiyaki, Takoyaki, and Yakisoba together with Korean players. They said “yummy” in Japanese and I was very happy to have a good time with them.

MATSUZAKI Aika（Chiba: JEF United Ichihara Chiba Ladies U-16）
At first, I could not talk with them well because I don’t know Korean language at all. Having a good time together with them by eating together or going for shopping was helpful for me to boost conversation with them. Even though it wasn’t straight forward, it was very good to be friends after all.

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