During the July holidays 18 Japanese language students from Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 travelled to Japan on a cultural immersion trip.

The trip was designed to enable the students to experience a variety of aspects of Japanese culture and to practise their Japanese language skills. We began with a visit to our sister-school in Sapporo. This sister-school relationship is a well-established one, having begun more than 30 years ago. Our students were billeted by the school families and enjoyed many wonderful opportunities including attending lessons at school, an excursion to the Hokkaido Shrine and a myriad of cultural activities. Most importantly, TIGS students were able to connect with students from another culture to form lifelong connections and memories.

From Sapporo we travelled to Kyoto, where we stayed for 5 nights. Whilst in Kyoto we visited the most famous shrines and temples including Kinkakuji and Kyomizudera. We also spent a day in Nara, an ancient capital of Japan. Another day was spent visiting Himeji Castle, an ancient castle built in the 1600s, which showcased the samurai defence systems. We couldn’t visit this region without a trip to Universal Studios in Osaka.

We then boarded the shinkansen to Hiroshima to visit the Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park. This museum and park depict the impact of the dropping of the atomic bomb on the lives of the people there at the time. We later enjoyed cooking and eating ‘okonomiyaki’, the special dish of the Hiroshima area.

From Hiroshima we travelled via shinkansen to Tokyo, where we spent three days. We visited the most famous spots in Tokyo, including Meiji Shrine, Shibuya crossing and the Sky tree Tower. We spent our last day at our sister school in Kawasaki city, where we enjoyed attending lessons, school lunch and a variety of cultural activities including sumo, tea ceremony and calligraphy.