JCC E-Magazine May 2025

Featured Article of the Month

In this edition of Kizuna Story, JCC speaks to JENESYS (Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange for Students and Youths) programme participants from Sapporo Kiyota High School, Hokkaido. Learn more about the students and teacher's experience on the JENESYS programme, and their advice to people who are interested. All 7 students and their teacher answered our interview, we would like to introduce a part of their answers representatively with our comments.

Tell us more about the JENESYS programme, which you participated in February, and what you learnt and acquired through the programme.

The students understood the purpose of the JENESYS programme and found it a valuable experience!

➤ The JENESYS programme aims to invite and dispatch human resources to expand interest in and understanding of Japan, and to encourage participants like us to actively communicate Japan's attractiveness and diplomatic stance to the world.

Through this programme, I think I gained the courage to actively try new things without being afraid of failure. I had to speak English all the time during school exchanges and homestays, and sometimes I could not express what I wanted to say well. Nonetheless I tried my best to convey my ideas, and the other side could understand me. Also, I tried food which were unfamiliar to me, so that I could learn the differences between Japanese and Singaporean food, and I was also able to discover some delicious Singaporean food.

➤ I learned the importance of understanding different cultures through this programme. Singapore is a multi-ethnic country, so we met people of various races during our stay. In particular, the homestay was a very valuable experience because I was able to experience the living culture of the local people.

Have you ever been to Singapore before?

Surprisingly, all 7 students had never been to Singapore before JENESYS programme. Only the teacher had visited 20 years ago!

What was your impression of Singapore before participating in this JENESYS programme? After the programme in Singapore, did the impression change?

Almost all the students indicated that their impressions of Singapore had changed after coming here.

➤ Yes, I think my impression of Singapore changed. Even before I visited Singapore, I knew that Singapore was a multiethnic country. But when I actually went to Chinatown, Arab Street, and Little India, the ambience was completely different from what I expected. I felt like I was in another country in each area, even though it was the same country. Many restaurants had their signs and menus written not only in English, but also in Chinese. There were also many restaurants selling Muslim menus; there are very few such restaurants in Japan.

It was my first time overseas, so I was worried because I didn’t know if my English skills are sufficient. However, all the people I met in Singapore were kind enough to try to listen to me.

What was the most enjoyable or memorable experience you had during your visit to Singapore in the JENESYS programme?

Most mentioned the homestay programme, outings with host families, and school exchanges as the most memorable and enjoyable.

➤ The most enjoyable experience was visiting the Marina Bay area with my host father and local polytechnic students.

➤ I enjoyed the school visit the most. The Singaporean students welcomed us warmly. Some of them were good at speaking Japanese, and they all liked Japanese culture. They showed us around their school, and gave us a presentation about Singapore. We also enjoyed having lunch with them.

➤ I remember the difference in lifestyles. For example, the water environment, food culture, and so on. Also, I was happy that our host family provided us with a lot of hospitality.

➤ The time with my host family was the most memorable. We went to Marina Bay Sands, and my host family brought us to the rooftop pool. That has become a treasured experience for a lifetime.

➤ The most enjoyable experience was the homestay. The food prepared by my host grandmother and host mother was very delicious, and I quickly became friends with the children. I also learned a lot about Singapore while walking around. On the second day, we were also taken to the pool at Marina Bay Sands, which was an experience that I will never forget.

Do you have any Japanese culture/place to recommend to Singaporeans to experience or visit? Why?

Many recommended places in Hokkaido, as well as Kyoto where you can experience the traditional culture of Japan.

➤ I recommend “Lake Shikotsu” in Hokkaido. I like taking photos, so I often go there to take photos over the weekend. The view is very beautiful.

➤ I would like them to experience calligraphy. Calligraphy was introduced from China many years ago, but later developed in Japan and is now a part of Japanese traditional culture. The interesting thing about calligraphy is that we can express the letters in our own way. During our visit this time, I had the Singaporean students experience it during the school exchange (although it was with a brush pen). Despite the difficulty, they expressed themselves in their own unique way and seemed to have enjoyed themselves.

I have been learning calligraphy since elementary school, and I hope to use my experience to spread calligraphy around the world.

Tell us more about the daily life of Japanese high school students.

➤ Teacher: Students go to school at 8:30am. They have four classes in the morning, and each class is 50 minutes long. They have bento at lunch time, and after that they have two classes in the afternoon. After school, they join club activities such as basketball, volleyball, baseball and so on. There are many activities which they can join. The club activities usually finish at 7pm.

➤ The school events that take place several times a year are very attractive. Because we work together to build a common thing and practice sports together, we bond with our friends at each event. They are all memorable parts of high school life.

➤ We always take the bus to get to school. If students join club activities, they go to school early to practise. After school, we have club activities. I think the life of Japanese students who participates in club activities is very hard.

➤ Everyone works hard during the morning classes. Some people can't stand it and end up falling asleep, but they still do their best. During lunch, we eat lunch box and snacks with good friends, and talk about various topics.

➤ I think Japanese schools often have events that we jointly prepare and cooperate with classmates. For instance, school festivals, sports festivals and school trips. For these events, we often need to discuss with everyone what we want to do and how we can do our best. We are also active in club activities. Many students work hard in club activities alongside their studies in their school life. Japanese schools have their school regulations. In our school, we must wear our uniforms, and we are not allowed to dye our hair.

Tell us about your future plans/dream.

Everyone has their own dreams and goals.

➤ Until now, I had not clearly decided what I wanted to do in the future. But after talking with the people at JCC through this programme, I am starting to think that becoming a diplomat would be a good idea. Also, after talking with the Japanese people working at ONE, I realised that although I have never been good at English, I think that it would be fun to do a job where I can interact with people from other countries.

➤ I want to do international work. To help countries suffering from starvation and poverty, I would like to work on eliminating food loss and develop policies to solve child labour issues. By studying SDGS again, which was the theme of this JENESYS programme, I feel that what I want to do in the future has become clearer.

Any message or hope towards the relationship between Japan and Singapore?

We hope that they will become a bridge between Japan and Singapore and other countries in the future!

➤ I would like to build on and further promote the relationship with them. I think it is very good that there are opportunities for students to connect with each other such as this programme, and I hope that there will be more of them.

➤ Thank you for allowing me to participate in such a wonderful programme!
Everyone in Singapore was very kind and I hope to remain friends with them in the future!
This programme was really fun!!

➤ I would like Japanese people to know the charms of Singapore and fall in love with Singapore. Our Instagram page shows the differences between Singapore and Japan and its charms, so please use it as a way to learn more about Singapore.

To find out more about their experience, please check their Instagram.

* All photos used in this article are provided by the authors unless otherwise stated

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