Hawaii Students Welcomed by Snow
The Japan-America Society of Hawaii (JASH) and Japan’s Soshi Educational Group (SEG) partnered on an Educational and Cultural Exchange program in 2023 and launched its inaugural Hokkaido Snow Camp (HSC) for students in Hawaii. Nine high school juniors (Grade 10 and 11) residing in Hawaii visited Hokkaido to explore the city of Sapporo and nature-focused learning experiences, and engage in collaborative activities and winter sports with students in Hokkaido. Generous funding from the State GIA Grants has enabled JASH to launch this program.
Day 1-Arrival Day (1/13~1/14 Saturday~Sunday)
To begin the group's adventure they took a tiring nine hour flight to Haneda, and then an hour flight to Chitose. Once they obtained their luggage they were happily surprised to see the cameraman recording their arrival. On the bus ride to Garden Palace Sapporo Hotel, students spent the hour ride eating a shiraoi beef bento for dinner and admiring the winter weather. For a few of them it was their first time experiencing the wintery snow. Finally, after a long day of travel, the group reached the hotel to get some rest for the long day ahead of them.
Day 2-Exploring Sapporo (1/15, Monday)
The group’s first full day in Sapporo was jam packed with many new attractions on the itinerary. To start they traveled by bus to the Clark Sapporo Campus where they met their soon to be friends. After a couple ice breaking activities and brief introductions, they journeyed to their next stop which was the Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill. There they took in the beautiful scenery of the William S. Clark statue, before heading in to eat a delicious bento. Now energized, they moved on to the culturally immersing Hokkaido Jingu Shrine and entertaining Maruyama Zoo. Then taking a dive into the city, they experienced all of Sapporo’s shopping and gaming centers. To end the day the entire group tried jingisukan, a Hokkaido special similar to yakiniku, for the first time.
At the Hitsujioka observation hill with Dr. Clark statue
Day 3-Environmental Summit (1/16, Tuesday)
On the third day of the Hokkaido Snow Camp Trip, the nine students from Hawaii joined twenty other students from high schools all over Japan to the Environmental Summit hosted at the Garden Palace Sapporo Hotel. Expert lectures by Dr. Okada, who presented information about the indigenous people native to Hokkaido called the Ainu, and Dr. Yamanaka from Hokkaido University, who showed a powerpoint about climate change, along with the highschool environmental discussion workshops, fostered a deeper understanding of environmental issues. During the lunch break students from Hawaii gifted Japanese students omiyage. Students were tasked to create proposals that positively promoted environmental change. After the environmental summit, students were interviewed as they exited the conference hall.
Students at the environmental summit
Day 4-Snowboarding Day 1 (1/17 Wednesday)
On the first day of snowboarding the group of students from Clark Memorial High School and Hawaii had left for a day of snowboarding at the Sapporo Teine Ski Resort. There the group all learned the basics of snowboarding together from three of the resort's instructors. Later on in the day all the students enjoyed a lunch of their choice at the resort's restaurant. They had spent most of the day learning how to maneuver themselves and get a feel for snowboarding. Later the students who were able to get a hold of the basics were able to get a chance to go on the lifts for the first time which took them up to the Paradise Course. There they practiced going down their first run.
Students practicing the basics of snowboarding
Day 5-Snowboarding Day 2 (1/18 Thursday)
By the second day of snowboarding, the students had all gotten a chance to see what it was like snowboarding down an actual hill. On this day, with a new set of teachers the students had all gotten a chance to go up on the new lift which took them up to the Natural Course and use their improved snowboarding skills. On this day all the students and teachers were able to have the popular dish Katsu Curry at the resort restaurant and some of us had gotten fresh Taiyaki at the end.
Students sitting at the top of the natural course
Day 6-Departure (1/19 Friday)
The final segment of our journey consisted of cultural exchange activities at the Clark Sapporo Campus. The students from Hawaii presented their slideshow about Hawaiian folklore. To recap on the trip all of the students got into groups and created picture collages, and then students said farewell to each other. At the airport students were allowed to shop for a little bit, and then they hopped on a long flight back to Hawaii. Students arrived back in Hawaii in the morning and reunited with their families.
Students with their families at the Daniel K. Inouye Airport
More Details: https://www.jashawaii.org/education/hsc
