Tokyo, April 21, 2006 : Culinary delights from an assortment of countries are being lined up to provide Japanese youngsters with a taste for international volleyball.
Following on from its successful campaign ahead of the FIFA World Cup in 2002, local government officials in Saitama City are planning to do the same again in the countdown to the FIVB World Championships in 2006.
The high-tech Saitama Super Arena will host a first-round pool of the men's event, from November 17-22, and as the time draws nearer, local schoolchildren will be offered a wide variety of cuisine for their mid-day meal.
The idea is to increase awareness and understanding of the countries who will be coming to Japan for the World Championships, and to introduce new tastes to young palates in some 160 schools.
Saitama will stage Pool A, featuring Japan, Argentina, Poland, China, Egypt and Puerto Rico, and city officials are now working on a range of menus to cover these countries, and others who will also be represented. They are set to start in September.
Before the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the school menus featured traditional dishes from around the world, including Belgian waffles, fried fish and buttered scones from England, French bread, Parisian salad, German Frankfurters, Russian Bortsch, Korean Bulkogi (short beef ribs) and Spanish paella.
With a similar campaign ahead of the World Championships, officials are convinced it will provide a mouth-watering appetiser for the main course of volleyball to be served up shortly after.
Saitama City officials have already placed countdown boards at four sites to increase awareness of the World Championships, and will decorate the streets and shops with flags as the countdown continues.
Japan's men's national team has played its part in promotional efforts, too, by holding a coaching clinic and an inter-squad practice match. A total of 108 junior high school students took part in the clinic, and 2,500 spectators then watched the two-set exhibition match involving 28 players and staff.
Two of the squad, Kyohei Shibata and Yusuke Ishijima, attended the local volleyball power Fukaya High School in Saitama Prefecture.
The Saitama City promotions were outlined by Saitama Volleyball Association representative Tsuneo Murai, and city planning officials Miho Araki and Nobuo Kuroiwa.
