JAPAN TOUR - PART 1

Japan Tour – Part 1: Tokyo 

In September 2023, 15 fortunate Japanese students and 3 teachers travelled to the land of the rising sun. Here is a small snapshot into the trip. This trip will happen every two years for students who are studying Japanese at a Year 10-12 level and on alternating years, Japanese students come here. 

Written by Arthur Nguyen, Oliver Roberts, Patrick Stanford 

“When we arrived in Japan, we were struck with 30-degree humid weather. It was raining, yet we still felt hot. We were eager to get to our hotel, Hotel Edoya. It was a traditional hotel including onsen, tatami rooms and a buffet for breakfast serving traditional Japanese food. On our first day, we went to Sensoji Temple, where we could find traditional Japanese foods and pull for fortunes, one of the students got bad luck but some of us got good luck! Afterwards, we went to the Tokyo sky tree, where we got an amazing view of Tokyo.  

On our second day, we explored Harajuku, where we got to try their famous crepes, which were filled with unique fillings such as cheesecake. We then went to the Ghibli museum, which was a complex house filled with popular Ghibli characters and even had a cinema where they showed an exclusive Ghibli film. In the evening, we went to Shibuya for shopping and dinner. It was filled with many shops full of unique clothing, video games and anime-themed items.  

On the third day, we went to Disney land, the lines for each ride were extremely long however it was worth it as the rides were unexpectedly exhilarating. The food was unique yet delicious and surprisingly cheap, for only about $15 for a full meal! The scenery around us was amazing, with artificial mountains surrounding the park and each ride being themed.  

Overall, in Tokyo, we saw an abundance of vending machines which included various Japanese drinks, ice cream and sometimes even meat products. We were sad to leave the next day, however, we were excited for the rest of the trip!”