Ikimahashoo
Or: A School Trip To Japan

On October 17 a group of 12 students and 3 teachers of the Herbartgymnasium left Oldenburg to visit the land that had been at the centre of their interest for so long. The students had been studying Japanese for up to four years at the Herbartgymnasium, they had learned quite a lot about Japanese culture and they had prepared diligently for their homestays in Japanese families (buying appropriate presents!). Now the time had come to see the fruits of their labour.

Naturally the students were in an emotional turmoil – Did the weight of their luggage meet the requirements? Would the Japanese food agree with them? What about earthquakes? Not getting along with host families?

Only the future would show. Via Bremen and Amsterdam we arrived at Kansai Airport on a beautiful morning. All anxietes seemed to vanish, replaced by the manifold impressions the journey by bus through Osaka to Kyoto provided.

The friendliness of our hosts from Otsu Junior Sports Club who met us in Kyoto dispelled the last fears our students might have harboured. And it stayed like that most of the time – a bit of homesickness once in a while being the only problem for some of the students.

During the first part of our trip we stayed at Otsu at the Lake Biwa. There we visited the famous temples Miidera and Ishiyamadera and crossed Lake Biwa on the steam boat "Michigan". From Otsu we went to nearby Kyoto by train to watch the colourful display of "Jidai-matsuri", a parade in which the different periods of Kyoto's imperial history were shown. Nijo-jo and the spectacularly illuminated Kinkakuji were further highlights of an eventful day in Kyoto.

Time flies – as the proverb goes. So the Sayonara party at Otsu came sooner than we thought. Singing "Volkslieder" and playing the "taiko" drums made for a memorable evening.

Our next stop was the small town of Ayabe. As in Otsu we were not only greeted by our hosts but also officially by a representative of the town in the town hall. Speeches were given (our students spoke about Oldenburg in Japanese!) and small presents were exchanged. In Ayabe we visited Hoojuji temple, a national treasure, the Maruyama burial mound and the peace memorial. In Kurotani we saw how "washi", the traditional Japanese paper, is made and in Maizuru we were moved by the exhibition about Japanese prisoners of war and their repatriation in Maizuru (the Friedland of Japan). A day trip to Amanohashidate, alas on a rainly and cold day, to have a look at one of the most beautiful landscapes of Japan provided another highlight of our stay in Japan.

From Ayabe to Kurashiki – there was hardly any respite for the students in our tightly-packed schedule. One highlight of our stay in this beautiful city with its picturesque "old town" was the visit to Kojoo-ike kooko, a renowned high school where we took part in lessons and were shown around the school. Even the local TV stations took notice of our visit.

A day trip to Hiroshima, the place where this terrible weapon – the atomic bomb was first used against human beings, left a deep impression on students and teachers alike. The "Peace Memorial Museum" and the "Peace Memorial Park" showed us the horrors of atomic warfare and served as a reminder that everything has to be done to never let this happen again. In a very subdued mood we went to the beautiful island of Miyajima in the vicinity of Hiroshima with its breathtaking landscape and ist famous torii and it took some time till we could fully appreciate the autumnal beauty of this place.

Back in Kurashiki the next day we could participate in the production of a traditional Japanese artefact – a tiger made of paper maché.

Again, as in Ayabe and Otsu, we were overwhelmed by the hospitality of our host families. It was always hard to part from our newly-acquired friends.

Our next stop was Takarazuka. There we attended the lessons in our partner school Hibarigaoka Gakuen, where we were made most welcome as during our visit with a group from our school in 1995. We learned quite a lot about the traditional Japanese arts of judo, kendo, the tea ceremony and calligraphy. We also got an insight into the lives of Japanese students which besides a lot of hard work is also a lot of fun when one is with one's friends. The friendship between our students and their host students from Hibarigaoka Junior and Senior High School was further cemented during an outing to Nara where Todaiji and Horyuji were visited.

We are looking forward to seeing a group of students and teachers from Hibarigaoka Gakuen, who are going to visit Oldenburg in the summer of 1999.

Again, time went by quickly and quite a few tears were shed when it came time to say goodbye to the friends of Hibarigaoka Gakuen. For our last stay the group split up. Part of the group went to Sakai, another part to Wakayama. There the last days of our trip were spent shopping and sightseeing with our host families.

We had a wonderful time in Japan thanks to the friendliness and generosity of our Japanese host families. (A lot of them even came to Kansai Airport to bid us farewell on November 8th)

So we are very thankful to all the Japanese friends who made our trip to the Kansai region an unforgettable experience – domo arigato!!