NEWS

ICU Students Participate in Summer Internship Offered by Middlebury College in Tenryu Village, Nagano Prefecture

Update: August 25, 2025

From Wednesday, June 25 to Tuesday, July 22, 2025, a new internship program was launched in Tenryu Village, Nagano Prefecture, by Middlebury College (US), an ICU partner institution that also operates its Japanese campus at ICU. The four-week program brought together a total of six participants: two ICU students, two Middlebury students who had just completed their One-Year-Regular (OYR) exchange at ICU, and two other Middlebury students who came to Japan from the US. The group conducted activities based in Tenryu Village throughout the four-week internship.

Comments from the Organizers

Tenryu Village is a very small, remote mountain village. It is the second most depopulated municipality in Japan, facing serious challenges of a declining population and advanced aging. Of its approximately 1,200 residents, the average age is 64.6, and the aging rate is 62%. In sum, two out of every three people you pass on the street are 65 years old or older.
These figures may suggest a place burdened with problems. But the villagers introduce themselves differently ――
"It is a village of 1,200 people, where over 700 'life seniors' (65-year-old or older residents) can continue to live happily."

Tenryu Village has long been active in community revitalization efforts. It has previously hosted ICU's Japan Summer Service-Learning program (2016-2023), organized by Service-Learning Center, and has welcomed OYR students through the Middlebury College Japanese School's Global Partnership for Sustainability (2017-). This year, a new chapter began with Middlebury College launching its own summer internship in the village.

The theme of the internship was "learning as you live." This year's students took part in the promotional campaign for Teizanasu eggplants, a local initiative currently underway in Tenryu Village.
Teizanasu is a specialty product officially recognized as a "Traditional Vegetable of Shinshu." It has long been cherished and cultivated by the local community. Some of the larger plants can grow up to 30 cm in length, weighing between 450 and 650 grams. However, in recent years, the aging of its producers has presented a significant challenge.

In response to these challenges, the six-student team contemplated what university students could do to help make Teizanasu production sustainable. Their answer was to first grow knowledge of and build genuine interest in Teizanasu and Tenryu Village, and then to share their activities through Instagram and blog posts, which enabled them to offer authentic insights as enthusiastic supporters. To embody the program's theme of "learning as you live," the students also assisted with English classes at the local elementary and junior high schools, joined in farm work, and engaged with a wide range of villagers. Furthermore, to help bridge the gap between producers and consumers, they visited a trading company in Tokyo that deals in Teizanasu for promotional activities and visited restaurants in Mitaka to explore new distribution opportunities.

Left: Grilled Teizanasu with miso　Right: Making handmade fertilizer

This initiative is expected to continue in the years ahead. To all of this year's participants, thank you for your hard work. We look forward to seeing how the achievements of this year's group will carry over to next year's, and how the students' efforts will continue to contribute to the growth of Tenryu Village. (Sanae Eda, Associate Professor, Middlebury College Japan Program)

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the following contributors for their cooperation in this program:

Tenryu Village Regional Development Division, Teizanasu Producers' Association of Tenryu Village, Tenryu Agriculture and Forestry Corporation Ltd., Yuzusuke LLC, Nishiiwa Shoji Co., Ltd.

Comments from Participating Students

Rina Takada (3rd-year student, College of Liberal Arts, ICU; Major: Law, Minor: Environmental Studies): The charm of Tenryu Village becomes truly apparent once you visit. During my nearly one-month stay, I was able to experience the people, nature, history, and local efforts that make up that charm. It was an incredible richness that can't be summed up in a few words. At the beginning of the program, we weren't sure how we, a group of students meeting each other for the first time, could contribute to Tenryu Village. But through repeated discussions with teammates on questions like "How can we make information more accessible to our generation?" or "How can the villagers feel connected to the outside world?" our goals and challenges gradually came into focus, and I believe we were able to take meaningful action even within the limited time we had. I hope to contribute, even just a little, to the continued connection between ICU, Middlebury, and Tenryu Village. I'm truly grateful for this invaluable opportunity and would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the villagers who welcomed us so warmly.

Fukine Minai (3rd-year student, College of Liberal Arts, ICU; Major: Sociology, Minor: Philosophy and Religion):
Our summer began with a visit to Tenryu, a village none of us had been to before, and a shared living experience with students we were meeting for the first time. We also encountered Teizanasu, a vegetable we had never seen. Starting from such a blank slate and having to define our own direction was by no means easy. With each of us coming from different cultural backgrounds and personalities, we faced and overcame small clashes along the way. But thanks to the open and relaxed environment of Tenryu and the villagers who looked out for us and treated us with warmth and affection, we were able to laugh and enjoy each day together. Teizanasu, lovingly grown by local farmers, turned out to be thick yet tender and juicy, and it even won over members of our group who weren't fans of eggplant. Through my experience in Tenryu Village, I came to understand that even a single vegetable in front of us carries the feelings, hopes, and pride of the farmers behind it. We live in an age of abundance, but I now want to approach each item I hold with imagination, care, and gratitude.

All photos taken by Fukine Minai