JAPAN TOUR 2024 

Over the next few weeks, we are going to share highlights of the Japan Tour 2024 with our community through the newsletter and at assembly. We hope you enjoy reading about our wonderful experience and amazing adventures. 

Eighteen Grade 5/6s and 3 teachers were lucky to travel to Japan on the 1st  of October.

We met at school at 5.15am, said goodbye to our families and boarded the bus to take us to Melbourne Airport. I felt nervous but also excited!

The trip was an opportunity for us to show all the school values: 

• Courage to leave our families. 
• Ambition to complete the trip. 
• Compassion to support each other when we were homesick. 
• Creativity in entertaining ourselves on the plane trips and in passing the spare time. 

I would just like to say thank you to everyone who helped make this trip possible, and hope that you get at least a tiny glimpse into Japan through our articles.

By Alex

On our first day in Japan, we went to the Shibuya Crossing, the Hachiko statue, and the Pokemon Centre. First we went to the Hachiko statue, a statue of a loyal dog named Hachiko. Hachiko was a real dog who lived in Tokyo in the early 1900s. After his owner passed away, he continued to wait for his owner at a train station everyday. Hachiko became famous for his loyalty and devotion. We then walked to cross the Shibuya Crossing which was really close to the Hachiko statue. The Shibuya Crossing is the busiest road crossing in Japan and in the world (just a fact). Then we went to the Pokemon Centre by crossing the Shibuya Crossing. Inside, there were Pokemon plushies, pencil cases with Pokemon prints, Pokemon TCG trading cards, action figures etc. I couldn’t resist picking up a few goodies to bring back here as souvenirs.

By Sonnet

On day 3 of the Japan Tour, we went to Ayase Elementary school and spent a full day there. When we first got there, we saw the outside of the school. It was a modern 5 storey building with a big oval outside with a hurdles track and a playground. When we went inside to the gymnasium, they held a welcome ceremony and played music for us. (Their whole year level percussion performance was amazing!) During the welcome ceremony we all stood up and bravely introduced ourselves in Japanese. After the welcome ceremony, we went to our classroom. I was in a class with Amelie, Ansh, Emmett and Spencer. Our classes included Japanese brush calligraphy with large brushes and ink. Following our morning classes, we had a 15 minute play break outside with the rest of the school.

By Parinaz

On the third day of our Japan tour, we visited an elementary school and participated in their classroom activities. 

To my surprise at lunchtime, the school served a hot meal to all students. A team of students served and cleaned up after lunch. On this day, they served a deconstructed fish sandwich on sweet bread with coleslaw, a chunk of apple and some soup, all with a carton of milk. Usually, I wouldn’t eat fish, but it was delicious. We ate with our class at our desks and then we headed outside for a play.

I was really surprised that Japanese students don’t eat any morning tea before recess. 

By Griffin Potter