The Nakayoshi Gakuen Project is carrying out a "learning project that connects with the world" together with Koryo Town in Nara Prefecture, elementary schools in the town and local companies. Koryo is Japan's top sock-producing area by volume. In July 2026, students at Mamigaoka Daiichi Elementary School learned about the town's industry and the SDGs, dyed socks with skins of locally grown eggplants, and made plastic bottle holders from the leftover fabric produced in sock making. Their creations were entrusted to the organization as "presents to the world."
In Rwanda in August, the organization gave the eggplant-dyed socks to children at an elementary school where it carries out ongoing educational activities. It also visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where the head of the organization that runs the site folded origami cranes from "sock rinshi," paper made by a company in the town from recycled leftover sock fabric, and the cranes were brought back to Japan.
In Cambodia in late August, the organization ran explosive-risk education at schools near minefields and provided logistical support to a demining team, and handed the children's plastic bottle holders to the staff doing the clearance work. In Ukraine in September, it gave classes in Kyiv and Lviv on the theme of "building the towns of the future," introducing items made from Koryo's leftover fabric as an example of Japanese manufacturing that creates new value from what would be thrown away.
Key points
- Works created in an elementary school's local studies became a starting point for exchange with children overseas and with people working in the field
- A circular, locally rooted way of making things that turns leftover sock fabric into paper and holders
- A "round trip" effort in which origami cranes folded in Rwanda and Ukraine were brought back to Japan
Why this news is worth your attention
This is a form of international cooperation that goes beyond simply "sending" goods: Japanese children learn about their own town's industry and hand the results to people around the world. By linking local studies, environmental education, global education and peace education in a single flow, it offers a useful reference for anyone who wants to take up international cooperation in schools and communities.
It is also a model of connecting to the world from one's own community, with the local government, schools, local companies and an NGO each contributing their own strengths to shape a single project.
Editor's comment
Socks dyed with eggplant skins, and paper cranes folded from paper made from leftover fabric. It warmed my heart to see everyday materials turn into encouragement for children in faraway countries and for the people working at demining sites.
Thinking about connections to the world through what is in your own town: this initiative is full of hints for learning about international cooperation in schools and communities. The announcement includes photos of the activities in each country, so please take a look.