Kids' Activities 10-1

Kids Make Giant Welcome Sign

	Members of the Shirakashidai Junior High School art club in front of the panels. (Shirakashidai Junior High School)

Miyagi Stadium, where matches including Mexico vs. Ecuador took place, is located near Rifu Station on the JR Tohoku Honsen Line. At the end of May, three panels appeared on the square outside the station to welcome visitors. Each of the panels measures 1.8 meters by 1.8 meters. They were made by members of the art clubs of three middle schools in the town of Rifu. The completion of the panels has raised the mood of World Cup excitement another notch.

The theme for the panel drawn by Shirakashidai Junior High School was Italian and Japanese culture. This theme was chosen because the city of Sendai, near Rifu, has a long history of links with Italy, and the Italian World Cup team is holding a camp in Sendai. The panel's design is a blend of ukiyoe and the Mona Lisa. The student who had this idea said, "It was hard giving the Mona Lisa depth. It made me realize what a great artist Leonardo da Vinci was."

The panel made by Shirakashidai Junior High School art club. (Shirakashidai Junior High School)

The theme for the panel made by Rifu Junior High School was "Welcome." The design consists of the flags of Mexico, Ecuador, Sweden, and Argentina - the four teams that played at Miyagi Stadium - plus those of Japan and South Korea, the co-hosts, arranged in a star pattern.

Rifu-Nishi Junior High School chose friendship as the theme for its panel. On it is drawn a soccer ball made to look like the earth, with people of different nationalities and races standing holding hands.

It took each of the schools about two months to make their panel. On May 31 about 40 members of art clubs at the three schools, teachers, and the mayor of Rifu attended a ceremony to mark the completion of the panels. (Kahoku Shimpo)