2023 Japan Study Tour

POSTED October 20 2023 , Academic, News, Senior School

When learning a language, it is crucial to engage with the environment where that language is used, because language studies is so much more than learning grammar and memorising vocabulary – you need to understand the culture and customs from which it hails.

To me, visiting Japan was arguably the most valuable experience in my journey of learning Japanese. From the moment I stepped into the hubbub of Fukuoka International Airport, I was instantly and constantly surrounded by Japanese culture and language, so it was easy to identify things that I didn’t know, and even easier to inquire and receive answers, thanks to my supportive teachers.

I have gained a better understanding of Japanese society and their way of life, from things ranging from how certain verb endings to phrases changes with the regional dialect, to how the mindset and ideologies of the Japanese people affect their habits and social customs.

While this trip was first and foremost a study tour, we enjoyed many other delights in Japan. Through our amalgam of English and Japanese, we made lifelong friends at our sister school, Hakata Girls’ School. We learnt about Japan’s major religions at sacred temples and shrines and participated in praying and receiving fortunes, sometimes accompanied by a rangale of deer, under komorebi – sunlight filtered through trees, dappled on the stone path.

From the peak of the Tokyo Skytree, we witnessed the setting sun fall from hues of flame and heather into the grey-blue cityscape of bustling Tokyo that scintillated with evening lights like a field of stars. We enjoyed dinner at an izakaya – an unsual place compared to the quietude of most Japanese settings, where the nature of cacophony was embraced. My friends and I savoured a variety of dishes, ranging from gentle miso soup to flavourful yakitori.

Aside from learning and immersing myself in the culture, I enjoyed the moments that I had spent with friends – some whom I was familiar with before the trip, and some whom I became close with during the trip. And one day, under the first evening stars and the crimson Miyajima tori gate, I realised that eating breakfast on the shinkansen and chatting as we walked from place to place was going to be something that I’d miss once the trip ended.

While my fortune slip from Itsukushima Shrine divined my luck to be behindhand, I believe that I was blessed with the privilege of participating in this trip, an experience I’ll never forget.

Annie, Year 11