Welcome Ceremony Feb 8th (Sun)

Chief: Takanori Kido

The Welcome Ceremony is the first day of the two-week programme of wonders and excitements. The main purpose of this day is to welcome your visit to Japan and have an opportunity to know each other for the first time.

To begin the ceremony, we would like you to first briefly introduce yourself to everyone (Fellow members of I.I.R., other exchange students, and of course your host family). Then, we would eat lunch together and enjoy the time of free-talking. After that, we would like you to continue on, this time introducing your home country. Any kind of information about your country would interest us, from the basic to the perhaps  c national trend.

There would also be a time when you would get to know Kendo, one of the greatest martial arts of Japan. Donft just think of it as a typical crazy sword-fighting c itfs got the gsamuraih spirit of respect and justice.

 @Anyway, this day would be the very beginning of everything fantastic you would encounter throughout your stay in Japan. So, please look forward to it!!

Sightseeing Day Feb 9th (Mon)

 Chief: Ayano Goto

          Sightseeing Day is the first day after Welcome ceremony. Maybe, for some of, this might be your first visit to Japan. So please see what Japan is like and feel Japanese atmosphere through our Sightseeing Day!!!!
          We will go to Asakusa and Odaiba in this day. Asakusa is one of the most popular sites among foreign tourists. In Asakusa we will visit the temple (Sensouji) and after that, walk through the famous Japanese old-fashioned shopping arcade (Nakamise).

After lunch time, we will move to Odaiba, where is a modern bay side district in Tokyo. In Odaiba we visit the National Museum Emerging Science and Innovation firstly. In this museum we can see the leading edge of Japanese science technology. And then we will visit Odaiba Shouwa street. It is a theme street featuring Japanese good old period – Shouwa (1925-1988). Shouwa culture is really unique like 60fs culture in America, so we hope you would like it!!

We all are looking forward to seeing you in Japan. Please look forward to our day:)

Sports Day Feb 10th (Tue)

Chief: Satoshi Takeda

  @ In Sports Day, we will go to the gymnasium near Shinkiba station and enjoy taking exercises and playing sports all day long.

     First of all, we will do the radio exercise called gRadio taisoh. Taiso means exercise. gRadio taisoh is very famous and widely spread in Japan. Japanese people often do this exercise before a sports day. And most of the Japanese elementary school children often gather to do this exercise in the early morning during summer vacation.

Secondly, we will split into 4 groups, and enjoy jumping rope, obstacle race, and volleyball. No.1 team may receive a special prize, so you will become friends with your group members through these events.

Finally, we will have free time. In free time, we will enjoy sports that we want to play, like jumping rope, volleyball, basketball, badminton, futsal, table tennis, and so on.

Absolutely, you will spend a good time playing sports. Please bring your sportswear, sports shoes, and your open mind. Let`s enjoy together!!!!!

Kyoto Trip Feb 11th(Wed) - Feb 12th (Thu)

Chief: Akiko Ogura

         In this day, we will visit Kyoto from 11/2 to 13/2 early in the morning. On the 1^st day, wefll take the super express (Shinkansen). In addition, we will go back to Tokyo by the midnight bus.

As soon as arriving at Kyoto, we visit Kiyomizu temple which is a very famous sightseeing place. And then, we make Japanese-style confectioneries. Ifm glad if you feel them taste good. At night we will hold a drinking party, so please bring alcoholic drink which is peculiar to your country. On the 2^nd day, we go sightseeing following the plan you choose from among 4 areas (1. Kinkaku temple etc 2. Byoudouin etc 3. Nijoujou etc 4. Arashiyama etc). All of these plans are certainly good, so please enjoy. Add to these schedules, we are preparing much time for shopping!

In short, this trip is very exciting. Many traditional structures, foods and sceneries remain everywhere in Kyoto. So please feel Japanese traditions in this trip!

Cooking Day Feb 13th (Fri)

Chief: Izumi Yamane

Cooking day is a day full of amazing experiences!!

First of all, we are going to buy ingredients for what you will cook. Then we will cook at Tekuno Kawasaki, after that we will enjoy our dishes each other. Not only you can taste Japanese cuisine, but also try as many as 10 different foreign cuisines!

Finally, we will make presents for your host families as this day is on just before St.Valentinefs Day. We hope you will make chocolates with a lovely message on it.

I hope you and all of us will spend a wonderful day and enjoy the experience of cooking and many cuisines from all around the world.

Metro Day Feb 16th (Mon)

Chief: Emi Tabata, Takahiro Ando

On our Metro Day, your group is going to use subways in Tokyo to clear some instructions and compete to earn points with other groups. Every group has a subway map with some instructions and works on those instructions to earn points with group members.

At the end, we are going to visit an amusement place (I still cannot tell you right now) and find out which group gets the points most.

You can visit any places you want with using subways and take a lot of pictures. We hope youfll make a lot of memories and promise you that you would enjoy so much on this Metro Day!

Capital Day Feb 17th (Tue)

Chief: Hayato Yamada

     In our day, we will introduce about capital city Tokyo as a mainstay of Japan.   Firstly in the morning, we are going to visit the Imperial Palace, at which you can look around the mixture of cultures between modern and traditional. In your visiting, you can find the Emperor as a symbol of the unity of the Japanese.

      Secondly, we will visit the Bank of Japan which is just the only one central governmental bank in Japan.

     At last, the latter part of the day, we are going to discuss two themes. Those will be about the imperial family of each ESfs country and the money saving tips of the world connected with the Imperial Palace and the Bank of Japan.

     By joining our day programme, we hope your image toward Tokyo will be changed better. Please look forward to it!!  

Company Visiting Feb 18th (Wed)

Chief: Kasumi Hasegawa

On our company visiting day, we are going to visit Panasonic, which is one of the leading companies in Japan. There are currently more than 556 consolidated companies and 66 companies in the world. You probably have seen or used Panasonicfs TV or some electrical appliances. The founder was Konosuke MATSUSHITA. He started with only three people in 1918, but today Panasonic has more than 300,000 workers (including group companies). As he was a great manager, many chairmen learned how he ran the company. We are planning to have presentation by business person of Panasonic and will do a group discussion.

After the company visiting programme, we have an option going to Tokyo tower, if you want. This year is the 50^th anniversary of Tokyo tower! So when you climb the tower, you can enjoy amazing night view of Tokyo city.

Traditional Day Feb 19th (Thu)

Chief: Yukari Izawa & Miki Kobayashi

In Japan, many traditional cultures remain as they are. In our day, you can find out them!

     In the morning, we will visit Kamakura, which is famous for traditional city. The main building is Daibutsu, which is a great giant metal statue of Amida Nyorai (Roughly 15 metres high, and weighs 93 tons.).

     After that, we will move to the shrine by Enoshima Electric Railway, familiarly known as Enoden. On it you will enjoy the tremendous scenery. Getting off the train, we will walk to the traditional street and pay a visit to the shrine. For lunch, we will eat Udon which is Japanese noodles made from flour. Hope you will like it!

     Then in the afternoon, we are going to enjoy Japanese traditional cultures, Okou and Shodou. Okou is a kind of Japanese incense. We will try to make it and can take it for our souvenir. Shodou is a Japanese calligraphy. You can write your name in kanji (chinese character) with a writing brush.

     Throughout our day, we hope you will find out another aspect of Japanese traditional culture. Please look forward to it!