The fourth day in Korea Republic was also spent for cultural exchange opportunities with Korean players. 

In the morning, the girls from both countries worked out together. The total of 40 players, 20 each from Japan and Korea Republic, were divided into eight groups with every team consisting of two or three players from both countries. At first for a warmup, they played a game involving passing the ball by hands.

Then the groups competed with each other for their ball juggling skills, in the hit-the-post game, soccer golf game and lastly small-sided scrimmage as the main event. Four teams made up a pool and the teams played against each other on the round-robin basis. The top team from each of the two pools had the final match at last.

The afternoon was spared for cultural exchange activities. All the players by the groups used in the morning training visited a museum, strolled along the coast and went for shopping. When Japanese players were at cashiers for gift-shopping, Korean players helped them out. 

Each group also had dinner together while they actively tried to communicate with each other despite the language barrier.

In the meeting after dinner, Japanese players got into four groups and each made a presentation on Korea, which they prepared beforehand. The four themes of the presentations were “Korean Food”, “Currency” “Miscelleneous Things on Korea” and “Things You Should Know in Korea”.

Many questions were asked after the presentations, and the players tried to come up with answers with help by the translator, which all deepened their understanding of the neighbour country’s culture. In addition, they discussed what they learned in the match they played on 7 November before coach YODOGAWA gave a lecture to the players in the end.

Although the amount and intensity of the practice was not as much as previous days, the day was full of unforgettable experience they can never experience in Japan.

Players' Comments

SHIMADA Mei（Urawa Reds Ladies Junior Youth）
My team had two Korean players and three Japanese. We tried to communicate with Korean players. In the warming up in the beginning, we had to make five passes with hands and hit the ball. We had a hard time in receiving the ball well. But as we got used to it and we started talking to each other, we could receive the ball better.

I felt again that it is difficult to communicate with foreign players with gestures only when we can’t speak the same language. It was also good that we could both see each other’s strength and have fun through spending time together. 

IMADATE Nodoka (Hokkaido Lira Consadole)
We spent time together with Korean players, and we went to a nature museum and shopping mall. We could communicate with each other through sharing how each animal is called in our native languages. At the shopping mall, when I was checking out what I was buying, a Korean player helped me with putting them into a bag. They took care of us and taught us a lot of things. They all were friendly and kind, so I could have a good time with them.

SHIROWA Reina（JFA Academy Fukushima）
We played a lot of small-sided scrimmages in our joint training with Korean players. Our native languages are different, but we could communicate by using gestures and English. Our group advanced to the final in the eight-team tournament. And in the final, we could make passes to each other, score a lot and win. It was also good that I could talk with Korean players on my team and make friends with them. Through this training, I could find out how strong international players are.

HARADA Waka (Premier Tokushima Soccer Club/JFA Academy Sakai)
Today I went sightseeing with U-13 Korean players. We went to a museum first and looked around there together. There were many animals and we talked about how they are called in their language. It was very fun. Then we went to a shopping mall. There were some foods different from Japanese ones. I asked them what those snacks were like and they gave me answers. I can’t speak Korean, but we could communicate and I could tell how I felt, so it was good. 

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