Japan becomes more eco-friendly as Himeji City was selected as the "SDGs Future City"

Japan becomes more eco-friendly as Himeji City was selected as the "SDGs Future City"

Himeji City, Hyogo Prefecture, was selected as the "SDGs Future City" recruited by the Cabinet Office from local governments nationwide to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In February, the city was declared as a "zero-carbon city" that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions to virtually zero by 2050.
The SDGs are international goals set in 17 fields such as health, human rights, economy, and environment, and were adopted by the United Nations as "the whole world should be achieved by 30 years." Since 2018, the Cabinet Office has been sequentially selecting prefectures and municipalities that are likely to achieve the goal as "future cities". This time, 31 local governments were designated, and Nishiwaki City in Hyogo Prefecture was also selected.
By having high school students learn this activity independently, they aim to develop "glocal human resources" who will take on the challenge of solving global problems in the region.
There was a selection certificate awarding ceremony online recently.
The city's initiative is to engage in online international exchange between young people from Krakow and high school students from Himeji, who are also decarbonizing. Furthermore, there is a plan of developing "Himeji SDGs Cafe" where young people could learn about the future image of the town, which will lead to the development of glocal human resources.

a big white castle in a Japanese stile with pagodas source: https://www.knt.co.jp/travelguide/kokunai/049/

Mayor Hideyasu Kiyomoto has also announced plans to form a "sister castle tie-up" between Himeji Castle and Wawel Castle (build in 970) in Poland's world cultural heritage "Krakow Historical District".
Krakow, where Wawel Castle is located, is the former capital of Poland and retains the medieval cityscape. Discussions have already begun with the country for a partnership, and if realized, it will be the third sister castle tie-up following Chantilly Castle in France and Conwy Castle in Wales, England. Mayor Kiyomoto said, "Poland has many pro-Japanese families, and we would like to cooperate with other cities that value history and culture."

a big caste with white and beige walls and red roof source:https://www.visitpoland.com/wawel-royal-castle-in-krakow

I personally think it's a big step for Japan! I lived in Japan for over a year and most people don't know or care much about ecology. There is plastic everywhere and people still use old technology like fax, print out resumes for the interviews and use a lot of paper advertisement everywhere. This is why it's so good to know that Japan is slowly moving towards being an eco-friendly country!