Sengari Camp

nihongo|Sengari Camp|千刈キャンプ|Sengari Kyanpu is an off-campus, public facility located outside of Sanda, Hyōgo, Japan that is operated by Kwansei Gakuin University. About 12,000 people visit Sengari Camp a year. Half of them are connected to Kwansei Gakuin University, for example, kindergarten children, junior high school, high school, and university students in the Kwansei Gakuin group. 25% are associated with Christianity in some way, and there are two Chapels for this purpose. The rest of the guests are from the general public. Most guests stay one or two days. Many people visit the camp in July and August. Sengari camp was created in 1955 and this camp's aim is a connection between the forest and human life. Usually employees work full season, but in long vacation, camp leaders, who are Kwansei Gakuin university students, work as volunteers there.

History

1955: Sengari camp was established

1960: The telephone line was established

1965: Sengari camp held its 10th anniversary party

1971: Chestnut, Hydrangea, and Metasequoia were planted

1975: Sengari camp held the 20th anniversary party

1985: First Sengari festival (Sengari camp held the 30th anniversary party)

1987: Sengari area vegetation research was done

1993: Private promotion foundation subsidy was given

1999: Forest maintenance festival was held

2002: Student staff system was created

2004: Typhoons No.14, No.19 and No.23 caused a lot of damage, such as collapsed trees and damage to the water service tube.

2005: Sengari camp held the 50th anniversary party

Location and Access Map

Sengari Camp is located at 1817-1 Kashita, Sanda, Hyōgo, 669-1507, Japan.

Access to Sengari Camp

Bus from Sanda station (about 20 minutes)

Bus from Takarazuka station

On-site Facilities

Sengari has new cabins, old cabins, and tents as accommodations. There are also three meeting rooms, two Japanese-style rooms, two guest rooms and a cafeteria. In addition, there is a staffed office. For outdoor meetings, four facilities are available. Guests can use campfire places and sports grounds as well.

The Camp Center is the main lodge. There are three workshop rooms, two Japanese-style rooms, two guest rooms, one cafeteria, one room for camp leaders, two bathes and six bathrooms in the main lodge. The Camp Center is handicap accessible.

There several other facilities located in Sengari Camp that can be used for various purposes. “Shalom Hall", which is a monument of the Great Hanshin earthquake, can be used as an assembly hall and for doing campfires inside. Three meeting places are “Outerbridge Hall”, “Tsuji Memorial Chapel”, and the “Log House”. "Outerbridge Hall" has an organ, blackboard, some desks and chairs. Outerbridge Hall’s capacity is about 100 people. "Tsuji Memorial Chapel" has an organ and the floor is concrete. Tsuji Chapel’s capacity is about 120 people. This chapel is used for doing campfires with candles, and making handcrafts. The "Log House" has a refrigerator, heater, bookshelves and some books. The log house’s capacity is about 20 people. Three outdoor facilities are “Green Chapel”, “Grace Hill” and the grounds. Green chapel is the open-air chapel with 15 benches. It is found near "Praying Hill", an outdoor praying space near a big pond, where crayfish fishing is permitted. Near this pond there are many flowers. Five campfires places are Dai-ichi campfires place, Dai-ni campfires place, the “Pole Sight”, the "Coliseum", and the “Diamond Stage”. The Pole Sight is a small area often used for doing "hangousuisan", a Japanese way of cooking rice above a campfire. The Coloseum is used for playing many sports like baseball, soccer, and badminton, and it must be reserved before use. The Diamond Stage is used for doing campfires. The playground has some handmade equipment such as a slide and swing. "Suisanjyou" resembles the Pole Sight but is smaller. Additionally, the "Tent Site" is a space to pitch tents.

Equipment

Sengari camp has furniture, sports goods and cooking tools. We can borrow following things from Sengari camp.

Furniture for studying (Pay for external group)

O.H.P., slide, projector, VTR, amplifier set, CD cassette recorder, etc.

Sports Goods (free)

Softball, Volleyball, Badminton, Gate ball, Table tennis, Silver compass, Astronomical telescope, Binocular, saw, knife

Staff

There are full-time staff, part-time staff and student leaders. The full-time staff consists of two managers, four clerks and two kitchen staff. Their work is to manage the camp, to take reservations and to cook. The part-time staff’s work is cleaning and helping the kitchen staff.

Student leaders are students of Kwansei Gakuin University. They call visitor campers. They get up at 6:30 and open the various facilities. They give orientations and explain the ways to use the camp. Sometimes they raise the flag. Their main job is preparing meals and helping campers make campfires. The student leaders also cut trees and grasses for safely. The challenge of this job is to practice the spirit of ‘Mastery for Service’ and the growth of oneself. They work for camper’s enjoyment.

・Full-time staff and part-time staff of 20 people

・18 Student leaders

Visitors

Approximately 12,000 visitors come in a year. Summer is the most popular season to visit.

Famous Visitors
* Prince Mikasa of the Imperial House of Japan

* Ekizo Fujibayashi (藤林益三 ) (Chief Justice of the Supreme Court)

*Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

Sengari SciTech English Camp

Sengari SciTech English Camp (千刈科学技術英語合宿) started in 2004. Approximately 60-70 science students from Kwansei Gakuin University take part in this course for 5 days during summer vacation (with an additional 2 days on-campus). The students are separated into small groups, and each group has a native English teacher and 8~9 students. The main purpose of this course is to provide intensive English opportunities for students. Teachers try to make students work harder so that students can learn about Science in English and Science ethics.

Flora and Fauna

Sengari Camp has some dangerous points. They are insects, animals, plants, and certain area.

Insects

Bees (wasps, honeybees, Paper wasps)

Animals

Snakes (viper) , boars.

Plants

Japanese lacquer trees

Sengari Camp has many kinds of insects typical for the area. The following insects are most easily found: Crab spider(April-October), Wasp (April), Paper wasp (April), Millipede (September-October), Cicada (August-September), Stag beetle (May-October), Cricket (insect) (August-October)

Nearby Facilities

Sengari Camp is in the countryside but there are several facilities nearby. There is a vast field nearby Sengari Camp, so there are many golf courses. The nearest golf course is Sengari Country Club. Another facilitiy nearby is the Itami Open-air Activity Center.

Itami Open-air Activity Center

It has some cabins, some tents, some tennis courts and a gym. There is also places to have barbecues.

Sengari Country Club

There are 18 holes. Out yardage of the course is 3295 yards, in yardage of the course is 3190 yards, so total is 6485 yards.

References

*"Sengari Camp Nature Guide Map", Ezo Azuma. (Date unknown). Sengari Camp Materials.
*"Campers First", Ken Okumura. (Date unknown). Sengari Camp Materials.
*Official site (Japanese): Sengari Camp

External links

* Official site (Japanese): [http://www.kwansei.ac.jp/sengari/index.html Sengari Camp]
* For more images, see .