On Thursday the 10 April 2025, a keen group of senior students left for Japan for 2 weeks as part of the 2025 Japan Cultural Trip. The group comprised mainly of Year 11-13 Japanese students, some Year 13 Digital Students, some DRS Year 13 Service Students and of course, three staff members. This was a big part of the Japanese students’ curriculum. We were able to finally practice all the communication skills they have learned over the years in an authentic, real-life and practical setting. Students developed and enhanced their language skills, helping us to discover and experience the wonderful Japanese culture and people and how that connects to the language, especially through the homestay and local school visit. We were able to learn more about ourselves too, through the process – from both a linguistic and inter-cultural perspective.
Those studying digital technology explored the wonders of Japan’s technology – both historically and contemporarily in multiple contexts. Japan is known for its unique and prominent use of technology, being one of the world leaders in this space.
Finally, another reason for the trip was special character. As a Catholic school, our faith guides everything we do. Japan, historically, was an especially notorious place for spreading Christianity and many people died and suffered to allow us to reap the fruits of what they have done. Through this trip, we have deepened our faith by allowing us to witness how Catholicism has grown throughout the course of history and how to grow and stand by our faith.
We arrived at the airport at 6:30am to check in as a group. However, we weren’t able to go into international departure for another hour as a small majority of people were late. After everyone arrived, we took a photo of the group in front of the internation departure sign, and we walked through. While waiting for the boarding time, the group split up and we did our own exploring as well as shopping! We boarded our flight at 10:15am.
We arrived at Tokyo Narita Airport on the 10 April after a grueling 11 hours on the plane; we finally arrived in Japan.
Our group checked in at the hotel and had a wonderful sleep. The next day, we rode the shinkansen for 7 hours from Tokyo to Nagasaki. We rested up at the hotel and recovered swiftly for the first day in Nagasaki.
Nagasaki
On the first day in Nagasaki (Friday 11 April), we walked to the Former Site of the Dutch Trading Post (Dejima) and learnt how the Dutch travellers first settled themselves into Japan. It was highly informative, and the views were stunning, it opened our eyes to new things we didn’t know before. After that we went to the seaside park and enjoyed a delicious lunch. On the next day of Nagasaki, we went to have mass at St Philip Nishizaka Catholic Church in Nagasaki, and visited the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument, which was next to it. We celebrated Palm Sunday in Japan – this allowed us to understand how masses functioned in Japan and taught us the similarities and differences it has compared to New Zealand Masses. We were invited to be part of the Offertory Procession, where two of our peers, brought forward gifts of bread and wine to be offered to God during the Mass. We were warmly welcomed by Fr Alberto Marfil of St Philip Nishizaka Catholic Church who has extended invitation to us that in our next visit to Nagasaki he will show us other important Catholic church sites around Nagasaki. We gratefully accepted his offer.
After service, we went to Nagasaki Peace Park where we hung up our 1000 paper cranes with messages and prayers for world peace that we and our peers back at Sancta Maria College had folded earlier in Term 1 prior to our departure for Japan. Special mention of thank you to SMC Origami Club and to Mr Bidwell, Mr Piggins and Mr Tamayo (RE Department), Miss Black’s class (Year 7 & 8), Mr Rimamate (Social Science Department) for their facilitation and class bulk contribution to the せんばずる1000 paper cranes project.
We then commemorated at the Nagasaki Peace Park as we laid 1000 Paper Cranes at the World Peace Monument through prayers and hymns for those who had fallen from the effect of the atomic bomb and in various conflicts around the world. We left for Hiroshima the next day.
Hiroshima
We arrived in Hiroshima on a grey and wet Monday (14 April). However, because of the weather we could not get onto the boat onto Miyajima Island. So instead, we had a break from the 2-hour shinkansen ride, and we had free time around the hotel. Many of us explored the hotel and found an onsen. Excited, the students went to emerge themselves into the onsen – enjoying the experience it provided. After rest time was over, it was decided that we would be having dinner at Hiroshima Station. We all split up and had dinner. After that we went back to the hotel and had a plentiful night’s rest. On day 2 of Hiroshima, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome). The Genbaku Dome was the only structure left standing in the area after the first atomic bomb exploded and has been preserved for all the people to learn about the terrors of nuclear war.
We were able to look around the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park where one key feature was the flame of peace. The Flame of Peace has been burning ever since August 1st, 1964, and symbolizes the desire to eliminate nuclear weapons from the world. After taking photos, we went to the Hiroshima A-Bomb Museum. The weather that day was wet and gloomy reflecting the sorrow and suffering of the people who lived through the tragedy. Walking through the museum, many people in our group felt touched by the victim’s story. After the museum, we collected our bags from our hotel and left for Kyoto.
Kyoto
On Tuesday 15 April, we arrived in the city of Kyoto, famous for its traditional style with temples, palaces, shrines, wooden houses and more. After hopping off the shinkansen and taking the subway, we went straight for our hotel and checked in, having a rest until the evening – where we went to explore a nearby seafood market. The market was full of shops full of street food and exploring deeper, goodies like anime, clothing and electronics shops. We had dinner there and headed back home for the night.
The next day, we went to the historic Nijo Castle, with its beautiful palaces and traditional style – where we got to see inside Ninomaru Palace. The castle had lush and vibrant gardens, with Japan’s well-known cherry blossoms in full view. This was an awesome look into Japan and especially Kyoto’s history. Later in the day, we went to one of the most famous temples in Japan, the Kiyomizu-dera Temple and adjacent Kiyomizu Shopping Street. We then went to Kyoto’s Gion district with its stunning architecture and had dinner there. The next day came, and we took the Shinkansen – off to Yokohama.
Yokohama
On Thursday morning, 17 April, we travelled on the Tokaido Shinkansen en route to Yokohama and were able to catch a glimpse of the picturesque and renowned landmark Mount Fuji. Our main purpose in Yokohama was to allow us to experience homestay in Japan, so we went straight to a Japanese school for introductions, welcoming and to meet our homestay buddies. The purpose of our school and homestay exchange with Chuo University Yokohama junior & Senior High School is for us to experience homestay was to allow us to see how Japanese people and primarily students, lived their lives, cultural differences, and experience teen and school culture. It was an invaluable opportunity to put into practice our Japanese language skills – from classroom learning to real-life contexts. They held a special assembly for us where we introduced ourselves and both sides performed for each other. We performed a haka while they performed both traditional Japanese and contemporary pop dances. After, we met our homestay buddies for the first time and went home with them for the night. Everyone experienced something completely different at each homestay – whether it be shopping, food, snacks, arcade, etc.
Next day, we went to a full day of class, following our buddy. After school, the school organized a Japanese culture experience with four stations – shodō club (calligraphy), anime club, flower making and tea ceremony. The following day was Saturday 19 April, school – a half day. We participated in a volleyball and basketball match against their school clubs, performed dances and some songs. We said our final goodbyes to our incredible homestay buddies, family and school that made up many of the best moments of our trip and explored the waterfront of the Yokohama Port and mall until the afternoon, where we made our final journey to Tokyo early morning on Sunday 20 April 2025.
Tokyo
We hopped out of the station, and headed straight to Asakusa, where we walked past the well-known Sensoji temple on the way to our hostel. We checked in and dropped off our luggage. We were then given permission to explore around the area for the night, with Asakusa famed for having streets filled to the brim with stalls and shops. The subsequent day, we went to the buzzing and major shopping hub called Akihabara, known for its electronics, anime, manga and video game retailers. Straight after we went to Harajuku. It was absolutely bustling, especially at the vibrant Takeshita Street, where we spent the next few hours before heading to arguably Japan’s most famous area – Shibuya. With its legendary Shibuya Crossing (the world’s busiest crossing), Shibuya is famed for its world-famous sights, nightlife, youth culture, bustling streets and shops and colourful buildings.
We headed back ready for the next day, where we spent a bit more time exploring Asakusa, then went for a beautiful view of the Tokyo Skytree around Taito, and finally, the Suginami Animation Museum. Here, we were able to see the history of anime, how it is/was made and watch some anime or draw art for ourselves. Then dawned the next day – the final full day in Japan, where there was one last place to go – Tokyo Disneyland. Although a rainy day, it was an absolute blast. We had full autonomy within the park, so most of us split into small friend groups and set off on our own pace, experiencing the themed rides, rollercoasters, stories, castles, architecture, food, and more. Some highlights included Splash Mountain, Monster’s Inc. Ride & Go Seek! and Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast. There were two parades – in the day and at night, but the nighttime parade stood out with its flamboyant and colourful lights, characters acting and waving at you and relevantly themed music. However, the real show was just beginning. Everyone gathered around the castle for a small 5 minute firework show but then… the real show began. We got to watch ‘Reach for the Stars’, a breathtaking spectacular that brought characters to life, projected onto Cinderella Castle with accompanying dialogue, music, lights, fireworks and even actual fire. This was one of the most phenomenal and coolest shows many of us had ever seen. However, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so we headed back to our hostel after just under 12 hours at Disney.
On the final day, we packed our bags and left in the morning for the Narita Express to Narita Airport, where all of us cleared security, checked in our luggage, got our boarding passes and did some last-minute duty-free shopping.
Flight back home & conclusion
We boarded our return flight home at 8:00pm JST on Thursday 24 April and took off for the ~9 hour flight bound for Auckland. This trip was a trip like no other and many of us were devastated to leave. The culture, the language, the people, the places, the school, the conveniences and the obligatory konbini (convenience store) stops (that is to say everything), are all missed dearly. Thank you so much to Ms Kevern, Mr Naicker and Ms Cummings for organising everything, planning it all out, our weekly Japan Cultural Trip Orientation meeting and even the regular parent-student meetings that were held long before the trip. The amount of preparation work that was put in to execute something of this scale is huge. In addition, we would like to thank our parents and family for allowing us the opportunity to go on our 2025 Sancta Maria College Japan Cultural trip – lots of new learnings and cherished memories.
