A valuable interaction where local Japanese students meet international exchange students

On a sunny Saturday, May 18th, 2024, Miwada Gakuen Junior High School was filled with excitement and anticipation of a cultural and linguistic exchange. Hosei university had organized a special cross-cultural project, inviting five international students to engage with junior high school girls in a unique educational environment.

The selected international students from Hosei University each coming from various cultural backgrounds brought their together their knowledge about the world and the English language in the classroom.

Miwada Gakuen Junior, Senior and High school is an all-girls school located near Ichigaya station in Tokyo, Japan. The school has been established by Miwada Masako, with the phrase to “raise women with integrity and intelligence. Not only does the school emphasize the value of rich individuality through the path of sincerity, but they also want their students to become a citizen that can flexibly live in international communities.

The project started at 10.50 in front of the school and continued until 12.20. The five international students were welcomed by the smiling faces of the staff and the students. After being guided to the English classroom the students were welcomed with a short introduction. The international students also received an opportunity to introduce themselves, which was followed by a division into groups. The classroom was divided into smaller groups. Each group of students was accompanied by one international student.

Once the groups had been divided the students started asking questions that they had prepared prior to the project. This project was part of their English language classes at the school. Therefore, the students had received some time to brainstorm about questions within their groups. The questions were about the hobbies, favorite foods, home countries, festivals of the international students and many other (see the picture below for project preparation of the students).

It could be said that this project was the perfect opportunity for the students at the high school to get to know more about other cultures but also practice their English language skills. Beyond that, it was also a valuable and unique experience for the international students from Hosei University. The international students did not only get the opportunity to share their own experiences, but they also learned a lot about the inner workings of a Japanese school. Below are some of the impressions that the international students had.

“Even though the students were quite shy in the beginning they were very eager to get to know us, our culture, our background and who we are as a person and welcomed us with smiling faces. I am grateful that Hosei university has given me the opportunity to partake in this. I think this is something that only happens once in your life and therefore I am grateful that I got to experience this. I would like to thank both Hosei University and Miwada Junior, Senior and High School for allowing me to do this.”

“I recently saw the news that Japan was striving for global education, and it was an experience that I could feel. I was proud and inspired by the way the students tried to use foreign languages, although they might have been embarrassed and could not say anything.”

“Getting to talk with the girls at Miwada was such a fun experience and it was a place I wasn’t expecting to bond so much with the girls there. After they interviewed me and asked me questions, I got to learn so much about them too and their favorite places to go in their free time, like aquariums and local areas of Tokyo. It was so fun to talk about my favorite things, like my favorite Japanese food, and for one of the girls to light up and say, “Me too!”. I highly recommend this opportunity and I hope future ESOP students can get a chance to meet the kind, wonderful girls that attend Miwada.”

All in all, it was a very valuable and changing experience for both the international students and the girls at the school. Thank you, Hosei University, and Miwada Junior, Senior and High School.