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June 17, 2003

Belleville High is the first to arrive at the hotel. The group is standing to the left of the newly erected monument to the Shinsai-gumi which was a group of ronin (masterless) samurai commissioned to protect the Tokugawa shogunate's contrul over Kyoto. Palombi arrives at Kyoto station. Behind them is the Hikari bullet train. Everyone from Woodbridge really did arrive! Woodberry Forest stands in front of the Gion Matsuri display in the lobby of the Rihga Royal Hotel, the final stop of the NP:J tour. The AIMS team arrives at Kyoto Station. The Shinkansen, as you can see, is no longer behind them. It left one minute after arriving at the station. There's no room for dilly dallying to get off the train here! Sharon students pose for a shot...their teachers declined to share the opportunity to be on this page! Hmmm... Lane arrives excitedly after a fairly long journey from Takaoka to Kyoto. As you can see, their newly acquired goods nearly topple them over. Do you suppose any of these are for you? Really, all Center Grove participants arrived safe and sound in Kyoto. Perhaps the eighth student is shy?

On to Kyoto! On Tuesday, June 17th, New Perspectives: Japan participants returned to gather as a group in Kyoto. Yesterday morning, everybody bid a fond farewell to their host families and boarded buses and trains that would whisk them back to Japan's ancient capital city and seat of high culture and learning — Kyoto. It might be helpful to frame the Kyoto phase of the study tour as the third and final portion of the study tour that takes place on site in Japan. To review, the first part of the study tour took place in Tokyo, and it served as an opportunity for the students and their teachers to get acclimated to Japan. This first portion of the study tour was not merely a time to adjust to the new time zone. It was also a time to first engage the culture of Japan. Tokyo served as an excellent starting off point for the study tour. It is Japan's capital and, as the most westernized city in Japan, the culture shock some participants might have experienced was kept to a minimum. The second portion of the study tour officially came to a close yesterday. For the past eight days, NP:J participants lived with Japanese host families, tagging along with their host brother or sister to school, and getting an authentic experience in what it means to live and study in the culture of Japan. Year in and year out, this is the most highly rated aspect of the NP:J experience. The reasons for the positive response are many, but we suspect that our students learn most because of the personal interaction they experience each day, within an environment that encourages their sense of self-awareness and their ability to communicate. Leaving the homestay family is a difficult time for many an NP:J participant. It may be hard to believe, but students frequently forge strong bonds of friendship with the people who provide them with a home away from home. The first thing many students and teachers said upon arrival in Kyoto? "I cried when I said goodbye!" Although most NP:J groups were brought to the train station by their schools, many host families also traveled to the train station so they could postpone their goodbyes as long as possible. Yesterday, as stated earlier, is the third and concluding segment of the study tour. Over the next two and a half days, each of the NP:J school groups will make the most of every minute they have left in Japan. They will do this by exploring Kyoto and the surrounding area. Kyoto was spared the bombing that so many other Japanese cities experienced during WWII. American academicians convinced the Allied military that Kyoto contained absolutely no sites of military significance, so many of its ancient temples and cultural and historical sites still survive today. As a result, students might explore beautiful temples, like Kiyomizudera. Others will be going on a "Kyoto Walking Tour," where they will take hushed footsteps through the halls of Sanjusangendo, where the 1,001 statues of Kannon (Buddhist figure) reside in a building that is over 700 years old! If not visiting temples or museums, groups will be going to Osaka Castle, or to the beautiful ancient city of Nara. Other groups may explore more modern aspects of Japan's culture: the Peter Palombi group, for example, spent their first afternoon in the Kansai area with a visit to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, a short trainride outside of Kyoto. Osamu Tezuka is often thought of as the grandfather of Japan's manga and anime culture. All is well here in Japan. Two and a half days of learning more about Japan lie ahead. We'll post our final article of the NP:J newsletter June 20th. Until then, thanks for stopping by and catching up on our NP:J tour. The East Harding group poses for a shot in front of their Shinkansen, albeit a bit weary from their trip and their goodbyes. Mt. Vernon arrives from Anjo, an hour or so away from Kyoto. Their short trip to Kyoto enabled them to have more time to explore Kyoto. The Lathrop group arrives after experiencing a grand welcome at Hashimoto High School. There are talks of the Hashimoto students visiting Alaska! The Rihga Royal Hotel. NP:J's base station in Kyoto.