When is It? The 2008-2009 NP:J program has scheduled three summer study tours: June 4-19, 2009, June 11-26, 2009 (only for groups with Japanese sister city or sister school relationships), and July 9-24, 2009. These dates are subject to scheduling changes based upon the Japanese academic calendar. Schools are also able to schedule study tours to Japan on an individual basis any time during the Japanese 2009-10 academic year, per arrangement with The Laurasian Institution. Your NP:J experience actually begins the second semester of the 2008-09 academic year when your study theme curriculum arrives at your school. Your experience ends when you have completed follow-on learning activities after your return to the United States. Check out a sample itinerary for an idea of what your trip will be like. (This is a sample itinerary only.) In February, each group designs its own itinerary based on the NP:J Building Blocks. Each group's itinerary is then finalized around April which gives the group approximately two months to research sites on the itinerary. It is recommended that responsibility for researching each site be divided among the student participants. Then prior to the trip, students teach each other about their researched sites as well as refresh everyone's memory regarding the sites when standing in front of the site in Japan!