News
- The 11th installment of "Ethical Choice," a brand that considers the environment and biodiversity -
Metsä Village (Hanno City, Saitama Prefecture), a Nordic lifestyle experience facility operated by metsä Inc. (CEO: Mochizuki Kiyoshi), has developed a nature observation kit, Metsä NATURE MAP, in industry-academia collaboration with University of the Sacred Heart.
This kit will be sold to schools and educational organizations from April 11 as the 2025th edition of metsä's original brand, "Ethical Choice," which takes the environment and biodiversity into consideration.
This nature observation kit incorporates quizzes about English vocabulary and questions and trivia that stimulate the five senses, and aims to help children become familiar with living things and nature while having fun learning English, and thereby gaining new insights.
*Corresponds to [SDGs] "Goal 15: Protect and sustainably use land"
"Metsä NATURE MAP"
■Sales start: April 2025
■Sales price: 1 yen per kit (tax included) *Advance reservations required (for groups of 500 or more)
■Time required: ① Metsä (metsä) course (time required: approx. 45-60 minutes)
② Järvi Course (Time required: approx. 90-120 minutes)
■English level (guideline): Lower to upper grades of elementary school
■ Details:https://metsa-hanno.com/workshop/36169/
■Applications and inquiries
Group reservations (advance reservations):https://metsa-hanno.com/group/
Inquiries regarding group use:metsa_gtour@moomin-monogatari.co.jp
1. How to enjoy the kit and its features
"Metsä NATURE MAP" is based on the national curriculum guidelines and was developed with the aim of helping children feel closer to nature and living things through the kit, thereby making them aware of the importance and necessity of protecting the environment and providing an opportunity for them to think about what they can do to help; helping them use their five senses to acquire English knowledge about nature and living things around them; and helping them develop the ability to put their feelings into words, their thinking skills, and their ability to respect differing opinions through questions that have no correct answers.
<POINT>
・Based on the curriculum guidelines (announced in 29), elements of learning are reflected from each subject, such as science, daily life, comprehensive learning time, and English.
・Supervision by professionals in English, nature and living things
・Two courses to choose from depending on your stay
① Metsä (metsä) Course (Time required: approx. 45-60 minutes) A hiking course through the forest
② Järvi Course (Time required: approx. 90-120 minutes) This is a course that goes around Lake Miyazawa and to the private area.
- Includes explanatory guide to assist teachers
Can be used all year round regardless of the season
- Sold at an affordable price that takes into consideration field trip and excursion budgets
・Developed in collaboration with the University of the Sacred Heart, Faculty of Contemporary Liberal Arts, Department of English, Culture and Communication
2. Choose according to the length of your stay! Two original courses set in the forest and lake, unique to the natural environment of Metsä.
①Metsä (metsä) course [Time required: approx. 45-60 minutes]
-Take a deep breath. Smell the forest.-
This course, which means "forest" in Finnish, allows you to easily experience nature.
②Järvi Course [Time required: approx. 90-120 minutes]
-Run with the wind! Sing with the birds!-
The name means "lake" in Finnish, and this course takes you along the lakeside, deep into the forest and into the fields.
3. Comments from the editor, a professional in English, nature and living things
① ＜English Supervision＞ Mami Adachi※1 (President of University of the Sacred Heart), Misako Takahashi※2 (Full-time lecturer, Department of English Culture and Communication, Faculty of Contemporary Liberal Arts, University of the Sacred Heart)
"Metsä NATURE MAP" is a kit that allows you to encounter English while having fun interacting with nature, and to think deeply about the relationship between the natural environment and us humans while imagining the world cultures that spread from the English language. The students explored the forest of Metsä, listened to the sound of the water, tasted the nuts, and came up with quizzes and trivia and worked on translating them into English so that elementary school students could enjoy a natural experience using English.
"What is that?" "Why is it shaped like that?" "We use this word in Japanese, but why do we express it like this in English?" Both nature and language are full of mysteries.
With this map in hand, experience the rich nature of Metsä with your whole body and discover the fascinating things about the forest and English.
② <Nature and Living Creatures Supervision> Hiroshi Abe※3 (Naturalist, author)
"Metsä NATURE MAP" is a nature observation kit that allows you to enjoy the rich nature and biodiversity of Metsä Village more while learning more. The kit includes the "Järvi Course" for a pleasant stroll around Lake Miyazawa, and the "Metsä Course" for a little adventure deep in the forest.
The kit is packed with information that the students want to convey to you while walking the course. Use the "Metsä NATURE MAP" as your compass and enjoy Metsä Village, where you can experience the fun of English and stimulate your curiosity about nature and living things.
4. Industry-academia collaboration initiatives
This kit was created under the guidance of English language supervisors Mami Adachi and Misako Takahashi as part of the "Corporate Collaboration through Translation" curriculum of the Department of English Culture and Communication, Faculty of Contemporary Liberal Arts, University of the Sacred Heart. It is an industry-academia collaboration project with metsä Co., Ltd. that was completed after an intensive course period, in which students participated as interns and shared trivia about nature and English at nature observation events, multiple fieldwork trips, and more.
The map was designed by English professionals and university students, who used their young, flexible imagination to create catchy slogans, checkpoints, and quiz elements, and features warm illustrations reminiscent of the world of Nordic picture books.
<Original brand "Ethical Choice" that takes the global environment into consideration>
We thought that ethical and sustainable initiatives, which symbolize the global environment, people, society, local areas, biodiversity, and SDGs, were essential to the identity of the facility. The "Ethical Choice" logo is attached to comprehensive initiatives within the facility, from the production environment to food, products, materials, and services, which are developed based on ethical and sustainable choices, not just tangible and intangible things that do not put a burden on the human body or the environment.
* About the "Ethical Choice" initiative
https://metsa-hanno.com/feature/16707/
＜※1 About Mami Adachi＞
President of the University of the Sacred Heart. Born in Tokyo in 1956. English literature scholar and translator. Master of Arts (University of Tokyo Graduate School). Doctor of Arts (Ph.D., British Shakespeare Institute). Former President of the Japan Shakespeare Society. Supervised the special exhibition "Winnie-the-Pooh" and "Winnie-the-Pooh Exhibition Official Catalogue: Songs of the Hundred Forest" (held at PLAY! MUSEUM and Nagoya City Art Museum). Supervised the English for the special exhibition "Moomin's Table and Convivial" (held at Moominvalley Park exhibition facility KOKEMUS and other locations). Her books include "Image of the Nun in British Theatre" (Iwanami Shoten) and "Winnie-the-Pooh: The Imagination of British Literature" (Kobunsha Shinsho). His translations include T. Jansson and L. Jansson's English Translation of Moomin Comics (co-translated with Tomihara Mayumi), Thwaite's Winnie-the-Pooh Scrapbook (both published by Chikuma Shobo), Mymble's Imperial Projects and Fascism (co-translated with Takahashi Misako, published by Jinbun Shoin), Catton's The Luminaries, Rasmussen's Follow Shakespeare!, Logue et al.'s The King's Speech, Worschleger's Andersen (all published by Iwanami Shoten), Worschleger's Chagall, Blackwood's Steal Shakespeare! trilogy, Trafford's Ophelia (all published by Hakusuisha), Warner's From Beasts to Beauty (published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha), and Rackham's Cinderella (published by Shinshokan).
＜※2 About Misako Takahashi＞
Lecturer, Department of English Language, Culture and Communication, College of Contemporary Liberal Arts, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, born in 1991. A scholar of English literature, she holds a PhD from the Graduate School of University of the Sacred Heart. She has researched natural history and animal representations in literature. Her papers include "Representation of Marine Animals in Early Modern England" (Religion and Culture, no. 37) and "The Scenery the King Saw in the Wilderness: Famine, Tempest, and Plague in Shakespeare's Tragedy King Lear" (Tsuji Kazuhiko, Hiratsuka Hiroko, and Kishino Hidemi eds., The Scenery of the End: Representation of the End in English Literature, Shunpusha). Her translations include Mymble's Imperial Planning and Fascism (translated with Adachi Mami, Jinbun Shoin). Her original works include "A Leaf on the Water" (Literature Today: An International Journal of Contemporary Literature, vol. 10) and "A Walker at Night" (Artis Natura, vol. 2, issue 1).
＜※3 About Hiroshi Abe＞
Naturalist and writer. Born in Tokyo. In addition to editing and writing natural science picture books and picture books, she also creates environmental education programs and serves as a naturalist at field observation events and school lecturers. Her main publications include "First time learning how to observe small living things" (Gakken), "Compare and understand 1704 types of moths" (Yama to Keikokusha), "What kind of bud is this? XNUMX-XNUMX" (Shiobunsha), and she has also cooperated in supervising "Picture Book NEO Dangerous Creatures", "Picture Book NEO [New Edition] Animals", and "Picture Book NEO [New Edition] Birds" with their DVD supplements (Shogakukan), translated and peer-reviewed "Micro Forest: Life, Evolution, and the Earth as Told by a XNUMXmXNUMX Primeval Forest" (Tsukiji Shokan), and has also provided guidance on textbooks.