The participants tackled the training with great enthusiasm; they would all be seated and waiting for the lectures to start 15 minutes ahead of time. The content of the lectures was difficult and covered a wide range of fields‚ so the participants found them tough going. However‚ they were very rewarding for everyone involved‚ with the lecturers kindly responding to the questions they were peppered with each time.

Meals were a concern throughout the training. There were no problems while we were at JICA Kyushu‚ but when we were visiting work sites or on the training tour‚ we were faced with the big problem of what meals were available for participants with religious dietary restrictions. I remember a lunch at an Indian restaurant which could handle halal food that all the participants would have no worries about eating. It was a very lively meal‚ with people interacting in Arabic and lots of smiling faces. I was rather surprised that one of the participants was even less fond of hot spices than me.

During our visit to Matsubara Dam‚ the participants expressed their amazement at being able to carry out real-time remote checks via monitor screens of the situation at other dams and at measurement points of rivers. They were also thrilled and slightly nervous when we descended into the innermost recesses of the concrete dam itself. The training tour concluded with a visit to Suizenji Jojuen Garden in Kumamoto. As I watched them enjoying a traditional Japanese garden that makes use of spring water‚ pray rather awkwardly at the shrine in the traditional style (two bows‚ two hand claps‚ then one more bow) and‚ in some cases‚ have fun feeding the carp in the pond or the pigeons‚ I found myself thinking about the everyday life that awaited them when they returned‚ a ‘normal’ completely opposite to that of peaceful Japan.

There can be no doubt that climate change has a huge impact on water resource issues. Obviously we must achieve a decarbonized society‚ but there is a need now for resilience and mitigation against changes caused by global warming. Going forward‚ it seems that the importance of training related to water resources will only increase. Japan is a country that often suffers natural disasters. Although not all the measures it has taken to deal with its various experiences have been right‚ I sincerely hope that the participants will adopt those which are appropriate for their own country to deal with water-related issues.