Kanagawa, Japan - From September 21 to 22, UPF-Japan and the Youth Federation for World Peace co-hosted a cleanup project at the Wada-Nagahama beach on the Miura Peninsula located in the Kanagawa prefecture. Carried out as a part of Global Peace Action, the project was characterized as an event to honor the International Day of Peace and gathered nearly 20 young men and women residing in Tokyo.
Arriving at the beach on September 21, the group listened to the Secretary General of the Youth Federation for World Peace-Tokyo, Mr. Koji Matsuda, speak about the significance of volunteer activities at a facility managed by the Yokohama YMCA. At 9:00 the next morning, participants gathered at the beach. After explaining the meaning of the United Nations International Day of Peace, Mr. Shunsuke Uotani, Deputy Secretary General of UPF-Japan, read the UPF Peace Declaration.
The cleanup was done under the supervision of staff from the Environment Division of the Miura City Government. Participants sorted what they collected by type and bagged it for disposal by the City Beautification Committee.
Wada-Nagahama beach is a famous bathing spot and is clean at first glance, but the participants were surprised by the amount of trash they found, including nails and pegs remaining from broken-down seaside houses, jagged shards of beer bottles buried in the sand, and driftwood and debris washed up on the shore.
To read UPF's Declaration on the International Day of Peace 2009, click here.