Getting Inspired by International Cooperation – Study Trip to Japan as part of Flavoria Innovation Festival 2024

Pyry Ruonavaara, alumni of the Turku University Department of Finnish Literature, participated in the Flavoria Innovation Festival last year. Pyry’s team was awarded for their solution for the marketing themed company challenge provided by Turun Osuuskauppa, and he was one of the students chosen for the Study Trip to Japan. In this blog post, Pyry offers a glance into his experience of Flavoria Innovation Festival, and what has followed after the course.

Invite to Japan & Preparations for the Study Trip

Soon after the Innovation Festival had ended, I received the invitation to participate in the study trip to Japan, based on my motivation letter and my efforts during the course. I was overjoyed!

I had stayed in Japan for six months as an exchange student, and returned to Turku in March. Therefore, I already had a basic command of Japanese, which ended up being extremely helpful during the study trip. I was thrilled to get a chance to return to Japan again in December already!

I was also looking forward to networking with the current and future professionals and experts working on sustainability and circularity in Tottori and Obuse. Working in between Finland and Japan and, for example, coordinating projects and cooperation between the two countries, has long been a dream of mine. For that reason, I wanted to use the study trip to build connections and see for myself what my dream job could potentially look like.

Before the trip, I tried my best to review some formal business vocabulary and expressions. And, of course, I had to go buy some Finnish chocolate that I could later hand out as a gift for the students we would meet.

Tottori – Meeting Students, Researchers and City Staff

After arriving in Japan, we stayed overnight in Tokyo. I took the time to catch up with friends, enjoy foods that I had been missing, and do some christmas shopping. Then it was time to catch a flight to Tottori.

In Tottori, we received a warm welcome from members of TottoReborn, including TUES (Tottori University of Environmental Studies) students and city staff. TottoReborn is a project of the prefecture of Tottori, promoting decarbonization, circularity, and an increasingly ecological lifestyle.

The student members of TottoReborn are, for example, participating in international youth conferences, and organising sustainability themed workshops for school children. They had also visited Turku earlier in September.

Even though we had a packed schedule, including eg. a guided tour at the Marusan soy milk factory, visits to Karoichi Fish Market and Otonosato Nature Farm, seeing Tottori Sand Dunes, and a formal meeting at the Tottori City Hall, as well as a seminar and a workshop session, I had a great experience thanks to our friendly hosts!

Seeing the enthusiasm of TottoReborn and the students of TUES made me think – how could we further strengthen the connection and cooperation between Tottori and Turku?

Meeting at Tottori City Hall, together with city staff and students of the University of Enviromental Studies associated with TottoReborn.

Lunch at Oenosato Natural Farm, made out of locally produced ingredients, such as salmon from a local fish market, and eggs ang vegetables from the Oenosato farm.

Presentation by prof. Shinsuke Ifuku, working with his team to further develop and commercialize chitin fiber, a biomaterial derived from crab shells.

Enjoying the Atmosphere of a Small Town in Obuse

After five days in Tottori, we headed back to Tokyo to catch a Shinkansen train to Nagano. It was my first time on a bullet train, and I was looking forward to the trip.

In Nagano, we met up with a representative of Obuse town, who took us on a brief sightseeing tour through the city centre to Zenkoji temple. Then we were headed to Obuse to our accommodation, a hot spring hotel called Akebinoyu, to prepare for a dinner party with representatives of Obuse. We enjoyed a skillfully curated, traditional Japanese meal utilizing local delicacies, and had great talks with our hosts.

Next day, we were taken on a tour to see the area. We visited a flower farm and an organic vegetable farm, had lunch at Ichiryu-Manpei, a restaurant that farms their own vegetables, and visited a shopping street and some museums.

Obuse is a charming town full of old-fashioned, carefully preserved buildings and small businesses. To conserve the historical atmosphere of the town, chain stores have not been established in the area. Overall, I was impressed by the peace and beauty of Obuse, as well as the kindness of the people.

Many of the beautiful, old building in Obuse had operating small businesses, such as this little coffee roastery located in a courtyard surrounded by other houses and an open garden.

Returning home – What’s next?

Participating in Flavoria Innovation Festival and the study trip to Japan made me realize two things. First of all, building international and multidisciplinary cooperation around sustainability issues, bringing experts of different fields together, is something I would love to do in the future. In addition, I am ready to start taking steps towards my dreams – even if it is small steps or a slow process, I will still be growing and proceeding towards my goals.

I might not be the sort of researcher who is able to solve issues related to circularity, sustainability, or decarbonization. However, I am confident that my expertise could be used to build connections, coordinate projects, and communicate about the work that experts of different fields are carrying out.

Inspired by these thoughts, I created Verso – a sustainability fair aimed at students, to be organized again in October 2025. The idea behind Verso is to encourage and inspire students – to connect with like-minded people, to share their sustainable projects, and to work together to build a more sustainable tomorrow.