August: Tour of Facilities
From the Federated States of Micronesia, Mr. Marcelo K. Peterson, Governor of Pohnpei State, and Mr. Esmond B. Moses, a member of the Congress, visited the Department of Intangible Cultural Heritage with Mr. Shoji Sato, the Executive Director of the Association for the Promotion of International Cooperation (APIC) (a former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Federated States of Micronesia) as a guide, and exchanged opinions on the protection of cultural heritage/traditional culture, and so forth. Mr. Osamu Kataoka (Researcher of the Intercultural Research Institute, Kansai Gaidai University) and Mr. Kanefusa Masuda (Senior Researcher of the Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan University) joined us to have an in-depth discussion over diverse topics, including the conservation and utilization of Nan Madol, which is a ruined city on Pohnpei island and a World Heritage Site officially recognized by UNESCO in 2016.