International leg — Kanazawa
Kanazawa
The WorldSkills flag was welcomed in Kanazawa, Japan, on 1 August. Japan was the penultimate country of the international stage of the Flag Relay. The event was held at the Youth Monozukuri Skills Competition 2018. These competitions first took place in 2005 with an aim to broaden horizons of young skilled professionals under 20 who are currently studying skills in vocational schools, colleges and other institutes.
Present at the Ceremony were Dr Michael K K Fung, Vice Chair of the Competitions Committee, WorldSkills International, К. Hideki Makihara, Senior Vice Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan, Mr. Nobuyoshi Fujita, General Director, Labor and Bureau, Aichi Prefecture, Mr. Toshihide Tanabe, President of Japan Vocational Ability Development Association, Mr.Hiroaki Tabata, Vice Minister, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Ms. Ayaka Ikezawa, TV entertainer, a member of WorldSkills Competition 2023 Bid Committee, and Ms.Hanako Inoue, Board member, Japan Landscape Architecture Union Association, a member of WorldSkills Competition 2023 Bid Committee.
Patches of the previous WorldSkills Competitions in Japan were added to the flag: Tokyo 1970, Osaka 1985, and Shizuoka 2007.