Everyone was very excited, and had all been looking forward to the trip for a very long time.

After a marathon journey across Australia and into Singapore, then on from Singapore, past the Philippines and north to Japan, we finally stepped off the aircraft into the Summer Tokyo heat on Sunday morning on the 9th.

After a hectic few hours getting out of an unusually crowded Haneda airport and taking a short train ride to Tokyo station, we made it in on time to our bullet train bound for Sendai City in Northern Japan, where our host students eagerly awaited our arrival outside of the ticket gates.

All the host students were very excited to see us, and they were all waving miniature NZ flags as we came out of the gate.

After a short introduction from the teacher in charge of our visit, Mr Anezaki, we were paired off with our hosts and taken home for the day for a rest before the first day of school on Monday.

On Monday July 10th, we were treated to presentations from the students of the international class, had a session about the history and culture of the City of Sendai, and all made origami cranes with the Japanese students.

We also played some traditional games, and finished off with a cooking session in the home economics room making Yakisoba.

Overall, we were made to feel very welcome and there wasn’t a dull moment.

The next day, our students spent a full day accompanying their host students to all their regular classes. This was a very interesting and eye opening experience for our students, who were able to see firsthand what school life was like in a different country.

On Wednesday July 12th, we had an all day trip to the islands at Matsushima Bay.

We all traveled to and from Matsushima by train from Sendai station.

Each of our students were individually guided around this tourist attraction by a team of 3 to 4 Tokiwagi students from the international class.

The planning and execution of this excursion was a group assignment for their class.

Some students were taken on a ferry ride around the bay, which contains hundreds of picturesque islands which are all covered in pine trees. It is a significant historical site. They were also taken around the numerous temples, shrines, shops and restaurants around the town. Our students thoroughly enjoyed the experience

On Thursday, July 13th, we started off with a PE / basketball lesson with the international class which was a lot of fun. We had a lot of drink breaks and had students sitting down in front of the huge door-sized fans in the gym quite often, given the 34 degree heat.

After that, we were treated to a crafting session where we made little traditional paper folding umbrella ornaments, which we were able to freely decorate with various crafting materials.

Lastly, we were taken in the school minivan to an external site where we made traditional 'zunda mochi' / sweet edamame bean paste flavored rice cakes.

We all took turns with the giant hammer to smash the rice into solid rice cake material, which we then mixed in ground Edamame beans and sugar into to make the dessert which we all then ate. I accidentally broke the hammer when I swung it down, but these things happen sometimes.

We then returned to school, and the students made their ways home with their host students.

The handle, they assured me, was cheap and easily replaced.

They then spent the long weekend with their host families, who had various activities and excursions planned for them, which varied considerably.

We all returned to school on Tuesday, July 18th. We had a comparatively quiet day, participating in an English conversation class with the business class, and traveling a few kilometers into Sendai City to participate in a Kokeshi Doll painting workshop, where our students were able to showcase their considerable artistic talent.

Wednesday July 19th was another interesting day, when we were taken to a traditional Japanese sweet shop and factory, and were able to help make a traditional sweet which was unique to Sendai City. As an added bonus, we were able to eat them and take them home afterwards.

Following this, we were given a lesson in the ancient art of Japanese tea ceremony or sado, taught by an experienced sado practitioner, aka the school librarian.

Thursday 20th was another full day with our students attending all their host’s classes, and once again seeing firsthand what life is like for the average Japanese student.

Friday 21st was our last day at school, which was bittersweet for many of us. However, our hosts gave us a grand send-off, with a goodbye party which involved a well put together video commemorating our visit, along with a lot of tasty lollies and ice cream.

We then all played dodgeball with the international class in the gym, which got quite intense and competitive.

Just prior to this, we gave our cultural performance for which we had spent much of the previous week practicing. This began with the dance from the Japanese pop song ‘Mela!’, which was well received by our hosts who were all familiar with the song.

This was followed by a highly skilled traditional Samoan dance performance by Hadassah, and then we all performed Tūtira mai ngā iwi, finishing up with coming together and singing Te aroha.

Following this, Reige gave his speech, which he would later say in front of the entire school. I also gave a speech to assembled host students and international class members, where I thanked them for their hospitality and paid tribune to the late Francis Coburn who founded this exchange programme, and who sadly passed away earlier this year,

In the afternoon, we all attended the end-of-term whole school assembly in the gym. We were all assembled on stage in front of the whole school, and our head student Reige Amarillo gave an effective speech in Japanese thanking our hosts for the experiences and hospitality they provided us with, which was very well received.

We had one more day with our hosts on Saturday 22nd, before we all assembled at school for one final time early on Sunday morning on the 23rd, where we dropped off our large suitcases to be taken to the hotel in Tokyo, and said one final goodbye to our hosts, which was a very highly emotional time. We all sang Te Aroha again one last time before heading to the train station to board our bullet train to Tokyo.

We had a smooth ride back to Tokyo station on the bullet train, traveling in excess of 300km per hour, before switching to a local train which took us to Tokyo Disneyland.

Despite the considerable heat that day, we all had an enjoyable time going on rides and interacting with all the Disney characters.

The “It’s a small world after all” ride even had a NZ themed section.

At the end of the day, we met up again for our last few train rides of the trip to our hotel near Haneda airport for our final night in Japan.

Early the next morning, we took a short bus ride to Haneda Airport, and began our long return journey back to New Zealand via Singapore, and were greeted by a breathtaking view of the Southern Alps as we came back into Christchurch.

Overall, it was a highly successful and memorable trip. We look forward to hosting students from Tokiwagi next March in early 2024, and of course our own return trip in July 2025.

Duke of Edinburgh