Anything I say about the quality of the students that I have had the chance to meet, talk to, and watch debate during the tour will be lacking. I have had such a great combination of experiences – fun and exciting combined with intellectual stimulation – that it is hard to express my full appreciation for the students who hosted us and made it possible. But I’m going to try to detail the events as best I can.

First is Kyushu University in Fukuoka, they have an amazingly beautiful campus as seen here:

It’s a totally new campus, so everything was pristine. The debate was about banning mobile phones from those who are minors, and was attended by about 100 students. I gave a talk about the Second Life Debate and recieved a good number of criticisms and questions. Then we had an amazing reception with many delicious foods – I really enjoyed a kind of beef stew served over rice with okra. Simple flavors, but very delicious.

The students were very well organized, and very excited about the debate:

The girl on the right kept trying to convince me that I should eat natto, which is a sort of fermented soybean dish usually eaten for breakfast or maybe lunch. I haven’t become brave enough to do it yet, although I almost did this morning.

Kyushu University was a great stop on the tour, we were treated as honored guests, given a great debate, and hosted with a fabulous reception by some really outstanding debate students!

One of the best things about this stop was meeting Prof. Inoue, who really took a great interest in my studies and work, and we had a great conversation or 2 about University life. One of the most interesting stories he told me was how he judged a debate round alongside Charles Willard once. Amazing! He also printed for me a story about how Musashi used to live in Fukuoka City. He really took a personal interest in hosting us, and also handed us off very nicely to our next hosts.

Thank you Kyushu University!