Article submitted by Therese Sakamoto - FSFA Executive Committee Member & Derinya Primary School Japanese Language Teacher
Last month I had the
delight of escorting our Derinya Primary School delegation to Susono and Tokyo.
Sixteen lucky students from Years 5 and 6 were selected to participate in an
action-packed trip of a lifetime! Our Assistant Principal, PE teacher and Prep
teacher completed the group of 20 and we were incredibly proud of our students’
efforts and enthusiasm in embracing all opportunities. They represented our
school, city and country with pride and succeeded in deepening the ties of
friendship with our dear friends in Susono.
Susono Mayor Takamura,
Board of Education Director Mr. Kazama, members of SOFA (Susono Overseas
Friendship Association) and host families from local schools warmly welcomed us
into the Susono community for a 4-night homestay, school visits (to Susono East
and Susono West Primary Schools), Mt. Fuji excursion and free day with our host
families. SOFA executive committee member, Mrs. Aiko Nakayama did a marvelous
job in organising our Susono schedule, especially our homestays and school
visits. She even prepared a bag of ‘onigiri’ rice balls for our hungry group to
refuel as we raced from Mishima Station to Susono for our first school visit!
The homestay experience is
always voted as the trip highlight, with students forging wonderful bonds of
friendship with their host brothers and sisters. As reciprocal hosting is
encouraged, our group was able to be hosted by Susono students who came to
Frankston in recent Susono Student Delegations. Watching our students reunite
with hugs and laughter and introduce themselves to their Susono host families is
always a special moment for me as their Japanese teacher.
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| Derinya students participating in classroom activities in Susono |
During the school visits
we participated in language and cultural exchange lessons with classes of each
year level. We arrived ready to go with our ‘uwabaki’ indoor shoes, ‘haburashi’
toothbrush, ‘meishi’ business cards and wore our Derinya uniform to show the
classes. Everyone enjoyed Japanese calligraphy, traditional games, club
activities and even personal interviews about Australia. Derinya students were
very surprised that there was no snack break and couldn’t wait for their school
lunch which was prepared in the school kitchen and served by the students. The
Susono students squealed with delight as they received ‘meishi’ cards, watched
our dance performances and kicked the Aussie footies around in the playground. It
was not surprising that our students felt like celebrities for the day! Students
from both cities were wonderful ambassadors as they took turns patiently
demonstrating and supporting each other in these cultural experiences.
Catching a glimpse of the elusive
Mt. Fuji proved tricky as it was only visible for a short time on one of our
Susono days! Nevertheless, we had a fun excursion up to the fifth station of
Japan’s highest mountain, zigzagging our way to the 2,400 meter mark in the coach.
From there, we walked along the hiking trail of volcanic rock for an additional
200 meters and experienced the oxygen level drop and the eeriness of trekking through
the clouds.
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| Above the 5th station on Mount Fuji at 2,600 meters |
Our kind host families
treated us like family members, as requested, but also spoilt the children
rotten! As well as being loaded with lollies (yes, no doubt another cultural
experience is to sample Japanese sweets!), they had a very happy time on their
free day with host families visiting all the kid-friendly places imaginable
including theme parks, sports events, aquariums, craft-making, karaoke rooms,
‘puri kura’ sticker photo booths and of course, shops!
Farewelling our Susono
friends is never easy and we took many photos and exchanged as many hugs and
kind words as time permitted before boarding our Shinkansen for the next stop
on our adventure, a Sumo Tournament! The sweet smells of Sumo wrestlers’ hair
product and the sound of the Taiko drums beating to announce the day’s bouts
guided us to a small-town gymnasium on the way back to Tokyo. Without the
pressures of a grand tournament, ‘Sekitori’ (wrestlers in the top 2 ranked divisions)
were relaxed, joking around with our Aussie entourage and happily posing for
photos – one sekitori even sat a few students on his knee like Santa!
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| Sakamoto sensei with sumo rikishi in Kanagawa |
The inclusion of a day trip
to Nikko (snuggled into the mountains, 2 hours by train NE of Tokyo) was definitely
a good choice. Unexpectedly bumping into the popular Japanese boyband
‘Generation’ (with comparable fame to One Direction!) whilst seeing the three
wise monkeys (Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil) at Toshugu Shrine
created bonus excitement for the group with our towering PE teacher catching
their attention and securing us a gig on national TV! But our favourite part of
Nikko was Edo Wonderland (also called Nikko Edomura and similar to Sovereign
Hill) where we dressed in olden day costumes of our choice (Ninja, Samurai and
kimono-clad townsfolk), participated in challenges and enjoyed a parade and
show.
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| Ninja dress ups at Edo Wonderland |
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| And the girls dressed in kimonos |
Weaving our way through
the streets of Tokyo with suitcases in tow became a skill that we mastered
well. Our bright yellow caps, cases with 4 moving wheels with a maximum weight
of 12 kg and comfortable shoes ensured that our human ‘snake’ moved at a good
speed and was visible at all times. Suica cards (similar to Myki but much more
useful!) allowed for smooth entry and exits at train stations for our group to
explore as much of this amazing city as possible. In a nutshell, within our 3-night
stay in Tokyo, we covered a variety of ‘old’ and ‘new’ regions and sights,
including Asakusa, Shibuya, Harajuku, Oshiage (Tokyo Skytree area), Tokyo Dome City
and Mitaka in the far western pocket of Tokyo to the must-see Studio Ghibli
(better known as the home of Totoro).
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| Students at the Karinarimon ("Thunder Gate") outside Sensō-ji - Tokyo's oldest (Buddhist) Temple in Asakusa |
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| Narita street shopping |
We had a wonderful evening
at Torinji Temple in Asakusa where we experienced Zazen (Zen meditation),
shared a delicious obento dinner and danced with our friends from Shukutoku
Elementary School. It was very special to catch up after hosting their student
and staff delegations for many years at Derinya.
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| Zazen at Torinji Temple in Asakusa |
For the first time, we
incorporated a Student Day into our itinerary which gave our students the
opportunity to research, plan and lead one of the days in Tokyo. This was to
promote our school plan for increased student voice and agency. Our students
thrived in this role and took full responsibility for organising an
action-packed day and evening for our team. Visiting the Ikebukuro Fire Station
to learn about natural disaster preparation and experience an earthquake
simulator, seeing the statue of the famous and loyal dog Hachiko who waited for
his master for almost 10 years at Shibuya Station, and exploring the home of
Totoro at Studio Ghibli were meaningful experiences for our students who had
learnt about these topics at school. And our day was topped off with an
absolutely crazy evening of fun, music, dance and weird food at Kawaii Monster
Café (affectionately dubbed KMC) where all the students danced atop the
merry-go-round cake! It was the perfect way to spend our final night in Japan.
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| Toshugu Shrine |
Since our return to Australia
in mid-October, our team continues to gather and reminisce fondly about our
time in Japan. Through speaking at school assemblies, writing articles and sharing
photos, we hope to spread our experiences and to inspire as many people as
possible to get involved in learning about and visiting Japan.
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| Hachiko statue at Shibuya Station |
I am so fortunate to be
able to promote Australia-Japan relations through my two passions of teaching
and student trips to our sister city. It is wonderful to have close ties of
friendship between the citizens of Frankston and Susono. My students already
regard their Susono host families as their second families and are maintaining contact
through social media. My hope is for these students and their families to
continue communication and to experience the joys of these friendships for many
years to come.
