The 2022 Kakehashi Project: an Exchange Program to Promote Understanding of Japan (2023/01/16)
令和5年2月22日
From January 12 to 19, 2023, 12 students from Yokohama Jogakuin High School visited British Columbia as part of the 2022 Kakehashi Project, an exchange program to promote mutual trust and understanding between Japan and BC. The students visited the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in Victoria, Burnaby City Hall, and the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC) in Burnaby. They also interacted with students from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Byrne Creek Community School.
Consul General Maruyama attended a welcome dinner hosted by the City of Burnaby and met with the high school students and Burnaby City Council members.
For more information about the Kakehashi Project, an exchange program to promote understanding of Japan, please visit: https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/page25_000243.html
The following is a message from Ms. Yukana Nakagoshi, the teacher who led the Yokohama Jogakuin High School students on the Kakehashi Project.
“This year’s Kakehashi Project gave us with many wonderful opportunities, including the mission to promote the attractiveness of Japan and to make a courtesy call on the Mayor of Vancouver, Yokohama's sister city. We were very nervous to visit Vancouver City Hall, but we were warmly welcomed by Mayor Ken Sim, and the students had a great time.”
“We were also able to visit a community school – something which is not seen in Japan – called Byrne Creek Community School, where the local community and government work together to provide a school where all local children, including immigrants, refugees, and people with disabilities, can learn under one roof, which is the epitome of a multicultural society. I felt that Byrne Creek was truly a school for a multicultural society. There was also a First Nations classroom, and I was able to learn that there is a kind of education being practiced here that values children's roots.”
“Our students' Canadian buddies were also from various backgrounds. The students got along very well and quickly became friends, and I realized that this is the borderless sensibility of today's students.”
Consul General Maruyama attended a welcome dinner hosted by the City of Burnaby and met with the high school students and Burnaby City Council members.
 |
 |
For more information about the Kakehashi Project, an exchange program to promote understanding of Japan, please visit: https://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/page25_000243.html
The following is a message from Ms. Yukana Nakagoshi, the teacher who led the Yokohama Jogakuin High School students on the Kakehashi Project.
“This year’s Kakehashi Project gave us with many wonderful opportunities, including the mission to promote the attractiveness of Japan and to make a courtesy call on the Mayor of Vancouver, Yokohama's sister city. We were very nervous to visit Vancouver City Hall, but we were warmly welcomed by Mayor Ken Sim, and the students had a great time.”
“We were also able to visit a community school – something which is not seen in Japan – called Byrne Creek Community School, where the local community and government work together to provide a school where all local children, including immigrants, refugees, and people with disabilities, can learn under one roof, which is the epitome of a multicultural society. I felt that Byrne Creek was truly a school for a multicultural society. There was also a First Nations classroom, and I was able to learn that there is a kind of education being practiced here that values children's roots.”
“Our students' Canadian buddies were also from various backgrounds. The students got along very well and quickly became friends, and I realized that this is the borderless sensibility of today's students.”