Sustainable Cities and Communities: Shanghai reconstruction project structure tour: 50 years of normalized diplomatic relations between Japan and China
Shanghai, China
- Overview
"Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities: Shanghai reconstruction project structure tour": We participated in activities to pass along sustainable development by learning about Japan and China on the theme of learning about our predecessors, by visiting the Shanghai Toyota Textile Factory, a restored and preserved textile factory built by a Japanese firm in 1921. I was able to learn about what Shanghai was like in the 1920s and 1930s and exchange between Japan and China through doing business in Shanghai and restoring and preserving the factory. At the end of the program, we presented a gift of flowers as part of environmental beautification activities.
- Partner organization
Shanghai Toyota Textile Factory
- Contact
JTB Shanghai International Tours Co. Ltd. Garden Hotel office
Attn：Kae Hisano
Tel.：86-21-63112460 Closed：Saturdays, Sundays, and Chinese holidays Hours：10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Comments from participants
･ This was very informational about subjects such as the history at the time of the plant.
･ I am grateful for this very valuable opportunity. Given the opportunity, I would like to participate in similar activities in the future as well.
･ If possible, I definitely would like to participate in similar activities in the future.
･ This was a very meaningful experience in which I learned a lot about the history of Shanghai and Toyota's origins.
･ This activity was very interesting. I definitely would like to participate again, given the opportunity.
･ It inspired me to want to learn more about Shanghai.
･ It was refreshing to plant some plants for the first time since coming to China.
･ I sensed how even small activities can contribute to the SDGs.
･ I definitely would like to participate in events on similar themes in the future.
Comments from the partner organization
The Toyota Textile Factory in Shanghai, built by Sakichi Toyoda to contribute to amicable relations between Japan and China, today has been restored and is operated as a museum. Since it is not open to the general public, it seems that few people who are unrelated to Toyota know about it. This was a very meaningful activity that gave us a feel, on the actual spot where they worked, of the feelings of Sakichi Toyoda and Akiji Nishikawa, who worked in Shanghai for nearly 30 years as a manager of Toyota Boshoku, while also getting an opportunity to interact with local residents. We are grateful to all the staff who assisted us.
Comments from the staff member responsible
Conducted even as the pandemic continued, this was our seventh activity in Shanghai. It was planned as an opportunity to learn and interact with local residents once the lockdowns were lifted. It served as an opportunity to get a true feel for the activities of Japanese and Chinese people who lived in Shanghai 100 years ago, as we commemorate this year the 50th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and China, while also learning how interaction among people is essential to the sustainable cities and communities of the future. The flows we donated to help beautify the site are called "long-life flowers" in Chinese, and now staff of the partner organization are taking care of them so that they can keep blooming for a long time.
Scenes from the program
