WORLD SCOUT JAMBOREE

Tokyo Experience
The initial idea for the event was based on the Contingent Leader’s vision for the
Jamboree experience which was for a three part experience home hospitality, the Jamboree and a
pre event in Tokyo. Early on it became apparent that due to challenges with number of flights and
availability of HoHo post Jamboree that the contingent would need to be split with half taking part
in the Tokyo experience or HoHo, before and half after the event. Following this, educational
objectives for the Tokyo Experience were produced for agreement from the project
board/operations committee.
The programme for both Units and IST allowed for approximately 50% of the time in the city to be
free to explore. Having this amount of free time allowed the experience to be shaped by the
individuals.
All young people and IST had the opportunity to experience a rich and varied range of cultural
activities through the planned programme where IST had a traditional Sumo meal with
demonstrations, everyone had the opportunity to experience earthquakes on a simulator as well as
explore and view the city from the Sky Tree. The Units also had an evening at Joypolis which show
cased teen fashion, technology and entertainment. Tokyo live allowed all units the opportunity to
experience a range of foods, entertainment and activities that were all traditionally Japanese.
Allowing everyone to purchase their own meals and food in a range of establishments, whilst very
challenging to implement (via the cash wallets), made it easier and more flexible especially for those
with dietary requirements to find food they could consume. The ability to travel on public transport
(underground and bullet trains) allowed young people gain a greater sense of independence with
some units allowing young people to explore in small groups without an adult.
One aspect of the programme that wasn’t as successful as planned was the contingent gathering for
the post Jamboree version of Tokyo Live. Whilst prior to the Jamboree we had used a purpose built
venue which allowed for lighting and sound to be installed there was no availability post event,
therefore the large halls at the National Youth Centre were used. Whilst comparatively the cost was
the same for both events it was felt that the experience was not. From the outset an attempt was
made to make the two events as similar as possible but due to constraints with the venue and
changes as the Jamboree got closer this was not possible. Whilst the majority of the young people
present enjoyed themselves, when looking at the two different experiences through social media
some felt they had missed out.
IST Experience ‐ One new element of the UK Contingent experience was the addition of a pre
Jamboree experience for the IST. This used a similar model to that of the units and allowed the IST
freedom to plan their own programme as well as enjoy some planned programme organised by the
UKC. This allowed the IST to acclimatise and settle in country before starting work on site. It also
added to the IST quality experience. One extra feature of the Tokyo IST experience was the addition
of the Hiroshima visit on the way to the Jamboree, which IST wouldn’t have been able to do at
another point. 876 IST / JPT members selected ISTokyo at an additional cost.
Looking to the survey, most people were satisfied with the range of programmed activities that the
UK Contingent arranged during Tokyo.
Thinking about your Tokyo Experience, please rate the following. (1 is poor, and 4 is excellent)
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