[August 2023] Face to Face School Cultural Exchange

As I reported before, since April this year, many prefectures and municipalities have planned activities in Australia/New Zealand because the attitude toward COVID-19 in Japan has changed and the travel restriction to Japan has lifted. One of the activities is the school cultural exchange, in which Japanese students visit Australia/New Zealand.

I attended the civic reception to welcome a student delegation from Campbelltown’s sister city, Koshigaya, Japan last month. This year, both local governments carry out mutual student visits for the first time in four years. I fully felt the warm welcome of the delegation by the Mayor of Campbelltown and the people of Campbeltown. I would like to take the opportunity and thank them all.

In the school cultural exchange, students will visit local schools, experience homestay and so on. I think they feel differences in various aspects such as culture, customs, way of thinking and values between Australia/New Zealand and Japan. There are things we realise for the first time when we visit a new place. I believe that these experiences will be very valuable for their future.

School cultural exchange is conducted between sister cities, sister schools, and other schools that have an international cultural exchange program. We have a dedicated website with a list of schools in Australia/New Zealand and Japan that have expressed interest in establishing cultural exchange programs. Even this year, we have added new schools in the list. If your school is interested in school cultural exchange with Japan, please take a look at this website.  If you would like to know more about a school on the list, please get in touch with the school directly. Also, if you would like to have your school listed here, please get in touch with us by filling out the application form.

We will continue to assist any municipalities or schools interested in establishing a School Cultural Exchange.