Undergraduate students taking the "Practical Cross-Course (Junior College: Off-Campus Art Project)" and Kyushu Sangyo University, Zokei Junior College of Art and Design are collaborating with Shikaumi Shrine (Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City) to create original amulets using Shikanoshima, which is celebrated in the Manyoshu anthology, as their theme, with the aim of conveying the history and traditions of the island to the present day.
This project started in 2025 and is now in its second year. This year, students from various faculties, including Faculty of International Studies of Culture, Faculty of Science and Engineering and Engineering, and Faculty of Art and Design will form mixed teams and work together to carry out the entire process from planning and production to promotion, integrating their expertise from their respective fields.
On Sunday, May 17th, fieldwork was conducted on the island as part of the project. At Shikaumi Shrine, we learned about the history and role of the shrine from Chief Priest Azumi, and at Shiomi Park, we received an explanation from Associate Professor Mari Tanaka Center for Fundamental Education in front of the Manyoshu poetry monument.
In the afternoon, students participated in a practical workshop on making "moshio" (seaweed salt), which is used to seal in amulets, using ancient methods. Using pottery they had made themselves, they boiled down seawater and produced about 100 grams of moshio over approximately two hours.
During the fieldwork that day, the students diligently collected ideas, taking notes at key points. Comments included: "I was interested in projects conducted outside of school, so I took the course," "I gained many insights by visiting the actual location, and it was a very good experience," and "I want to use the discoveries made during the fieldwork as the story and material for my project."
Going forward, this project will continue to work with local elementary schools to produce original amulets for distribution at the shrine's festival, "Yamahomare Gyoryosai," in November.
[Center for Fundamental Education / Kyushu Sangyo University, Zokei Junior College of Art and Design]
