Japanese Exchange

During the Term 3 school holidays, students in the Year 10 and VCE Japanese class went on a two-week school trip to Japan to discover and understand more about Japanese culture. We were also fortunate enough to have an exchange with students at Ritsumeikan Keisho.

In our first week in Japan, we did lots of sightseeing, starting in Tokyo and spending three days there. On the first day, we went to Tokyo Skytree, an animal café and Asakusa. From the Skytree, we could see all around Tokyo city, with many of us surprised to see so many schools with swimming pools on their roofs!

On the second day, we spent the entire day at Tokyo Disneyland, which was one of our favourite places we visited on the trip. Although it was quite humid in Tokyo and waiting in the lines was tedious, we all spent the day laughing and smiling, finishing the fantastic day with the famous light show parade. We watched as some of our childhood favourite characters passed by on their themed floats, including classics like Rapunzel, Frozen, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and Mickey Mouse.

On the last day in Tokyo, we were unlucky with the weather as it was pouring with rain all morning. This was unfortunate since we were visiting Meiji Shrine in the morning, but thanks to the rain, we all enjoyed having a go at photography, capturing the serene environment amongst the bustling city. We then spent the remainder of the last day in Shibuya. We all discovered our deep passion for shopping and returned with bags full of items, which then became a game of Tetris in the hotel as we tried to fit everything into our luggage.

The following day was an early start as we took the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Hiroshima for a two-day trip. On the first day, we visited the Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Museum, a very historically important site to Japan near the end of World War II. Despite being in the middle of a dense city, the memorial was incredibly peaceful and quiet, leaving a deep impression on everyone as we toured through the museum, witnessing how the atomic bomb had impacted the Japanese people. Many of us found the museum in Hiroshima to be very interesting and insightful, but also confronting as we saw the direct stories from survivors of the bombing and how their lives were changed by this event.

On the second day, we took a boat out to Miyajima Island, where the famous tori gate on water is located. Upon arriving on the island, many of us were fascinated by the deer which inhabit the island, but some unlucky people got too close to the deer and had their clothes nibbled at or maps chewed away. We then hiked up a mountain to a deer garden in hopes of seeing more deer but were disappointed to find none. However, we did come across a waterfall where we all stopped to take pictures and rest before hiking down the mountain. We were then given free time to explore the island, with some visiting other temples and shrines and others going shopping once again. We recommend trying the oysters on Miyajima Island; they are quite big and have a very good flavour as they are grilled over coal and seasoned to your liking.

On our final day of sightseeing, we took the Shinkansen again to Kyoto, visiting Kiyomizu-dera, Fushimi Inari Shrine and Kinkakujin. Personally, this was my favourite day of the trip as it felt like we had travelled back in time, with many homes and stores featuring traditional Japanese architecture and people dressing in kimonos and yukatas as they visited the shrines and temples. We also tried a more traditional Japanese style lunch, and it was quite entertaining to watch everyone try foods they had never had before. We finished our last day with a relaxing city view of Kyoto from the top floor of Kyoto Station, taking our last group picture.

Haeley H

In my opinion, the homestay in Sapporo was the best part of our trip to Japan. From the moment I arrived, I can remember the students waiting outside the gate. As a group, we were talking to each other, trying to determine who belonged to each of the host families. As we walked out, I remember feeling a mix of excitement and anxiety. I will always remember how welcome I felt, from their warm smiles and welcoming arms.

School in Japan is very different compared to Australia. The hardest part of the day was waking up at 5.00am and having to leave around 6.40 every day. The school day consisted of six sessions and after school there were clubs that we could watch. Personally, I liked the judo club but unfortunately, we couldn’t take part in judo.

Whilst at school, we were pulled out of our classes to do fun activities. These activities included tofu making, calligraphy and wearing kimonos. Calligraphy was my favourite activity. It was nice to see that everyone's calligraphy looked great. After the calligraphy session, we separated into different groups and were helped to put the kimonos on. We were then taken to a tea ceremony. The tea ceremony was a good experience and showed us one of the many traditions that are still being carried out.

One day, instead of going to school, our buddies took us on an excursion to Otaru. As a group, we took a few photos before splitting up. Markos, our buddies and I went to a small glass shop to make an appointment to create small marbles. Before making the marbles, we wandered around the city and bought food. After we made them, we met up with the others and went out for lunch. After lunch, we grabbed our marbles, which had finished cooling down, before heading back home.

It was sad waving goodbye to everyone at the airport, and I am thankful to them for letting us stay with them.