Sakai-machi Tour

Students and professors from TIAS2.0 visited Sakai-machi on January 11th.
We first got onto an autonomous bus, which is the first autonomous shuttle service operating on public roads in Japan.
The town, located in the western part of Ibaraki prefecture, has no railway station and bus companies were facing a shortage of drivers. As of today, three buses were installed with the hometown tax donation system. Local staff members introduced Sakai-machi Urban Sports Park. The park includes Judo arena, BMX park, SAKAI Tennis court 2020, Sakai Hockey field and its Club house. All of the facilities follows the Olympic standards. After an explanation about the historical relationship between Argentina and Sakai-machi, the future plans and strategies of Sakai-machi from local staff members, students asked them questions and discussed the future Sakai-machi at the PARK HOTEL SAKAI which is used for training camp.
Bobby Pei (from China) reflects, “Firstly, thank you TIAS2.0 for providing such an opportunity to visit Sakai town. The sports facilities here are perfect and are at the top level in the world. I wish the TIAS2.0 program can help Sakai town to be a more attractive city, and students are also able to practice their skills at such wonderful platform. ”