Junten Junior High School / Senior High School

Students have begun preparing for their upcoming field work in the Philippines this year. One of the projects is ” 「Tetanus Prevention – Nuno Zori (Cloth Sandals)”. On Wednesday July 18th, Junten invited Ms.Noguchi from Deux mamans so that students can learn how to make Non Zori. The materials used for the sandals are old t-shirts. Students checked some youtube videos to learn how to make Zori in advance and compared with the ones Ms.Noguchi handcrafted. It was apparent that the strength and durability are different. It was very fun and valuable workshop. 

Here are some feedbacks from the attendees. 

Misuzu Kishimoto: 
How it is made was less complicated than expected.  I was able to create one. The instruction illustrations were not very clear, so I could not have done it by myself. It was very helpful to learn at first hand. Now I think I can show the local children how to make it. It was also very interesting that colors and decorations will change the image of the sandals. I only made one sandal this time, but the instruction was easy so I would like to make another one very soon (actually I am making it now!)  I would like to create ones that I use popular colors for children in the Philippines and I would also like to explore the designs and materials that are suitable for the sandals.  I have learned a lot from today’s workshop and thank you!

Riko Masuda 
Today’s workshop was a real fun, thank you! “Proir to the workshop, I saw youtube videos, but it was easy to understand when I learned at first hand. I have never made sandals using different colors, but it was much fun than using just one color. It was also satisfactory that I was able to design my own sandals. However, we used available clothes, so there was not much choice in colors, which was challenging. The corsages have different types so the choices of colors or styles may not be much of a challenge. There are more to learn but it was such an interesting and effective workshop. I will keep trying and try my best. 

Masane Shibata

Ms.Noguchi, thank you for teaching us how to make Zori today despite your busy schedule. I imagined that making a zori is difficult but it was not so complicated and even a beginner, like me, can make it.  Changing cloth into strings, how to tie and adjust the cloth to connect each other was a difficult task. As I move forward, I am hoping to make the complex tasks like these easy. I expect that there are some challenges, such as the language, finding materials, available time and so forth in the Philippines.  I will share my learnings with the my classmates so that we can provide the “communicative” workshop.