I took part in an exchange event at Hachioji Municipal Dairoku Elementary School! Activities with the second graders and school lunches with each grade made for a very fun day 😊✨

I attended a tea ceremony class held in Hachioji and was delighted by my first experience 🍵✨

The intermediate class field trip was to the 'Building Clean Center' at Takao Station. We learned about Hachioji City's waste management system!

We went on a field trip to Takao 599 Museum. (Beginner class) The students were captivated by the animal and insect specimens found on Mt. Takao. They were also enchanted by the beautiful projection mapping✨

Many students are taking part in guiding volunteers on Mt. Takao again this year! Feel free to speak to any of them.

I climbed Mt. Takao on a school trip. The weather was excellent, and I could see Mt. Fuji! The climate on Mt. Takao in March was pleasant, but people with hay fever had a bit of a hard time. 💦

Today is Hinamatsuri. We also decorated the school with tsurushi-bina and dolls!

We visited Hachioji City Fifth Elementary School and held an exchange with the second graders! We enjoyed playing Fruit Basket and the Rock-Paper-Scissors Train. We also taught the children "Myanmar Rock-Paper-Scissors." 😊

We celebrated Setsubun at school! Everyone made masks and threw beans together, and it was a lot of fun.

We held an evacuation drill and an AED training session. During the evacuation drill, we walked from the school to the entrance of Takushin High School and listened to the principal's talk. The students were encountering AED training for the first time, but they worked together with friends, practicing calling out, performing chest compressions, and using the AED.

A new “wa” space has been created at the school! It features tatami chairs and shoji-style tapestries. Many students have never touched tatami before. I hope they take the opportunity to enjoy the pleasant scent of igusa and the soft, comfortable feel of sitting on tatami.

We held a year-end party! A lively spread of dishes from many countries lined the tables, and everything tasted delicious. The day was full of fun, with a ceremony honoring the school emblem and a dance performance.

We recently held a big school cleanup! Everyone also cleaned the road near hachioji station, making it tidy. It feels like we can welcome the New Year with a fresh, pleasant start.

We went on a school excursion to Tama Zoological Park! Here are the best shots taken by students. ✨

Here are scenes from the "Odore Nishi-Hachi Summer Festival" held recently in front of the school (Nishi-Hachioji Station). The festival is small in scale but very lively, and the students said they enjoyed it a lot. Nishi-Hachioji is also planning another festival in November. Hachioji is a great city for international students to experience Japanese culture firsthand!

I went to cheer on a high school baseball game at Threebond Stadium in Hachioji! Everyone was thrilled by seeing baseball for the first time ⚾ We spent a wonderful day meeting friendly nearby high school students and listening to the brass band’s impressive performance ✨

Many students enrolled this year too! Their traditional costumes are beautiful. They will study in Nishi-Hachioji for one to two years. We will teach not only Japanese but also proper Japanese manners. They are all excellent students, so please give them your support!

We were invited by the ballet studio next to our school to a ballet performance. We watched it at J:COM Hall in front of Hachioji Station. The beautiful ballet and wonderful live music left everyone spellbound…✨ It became a very lovely memory 😊

In Mongolia, people keep the anklebone of sheep and goats, called shagai, instead of throwing it away. A tradition says that discarding these bones brings bad luck, so every household saves them in a bone container. Children use the bones for play and learning. For example, they play games similar to Japanese ohajiki and do addition and subtraction with the bones. The bones displayed at the multicultural exhibition held in Hachioji in March are now posted at the school entrance. If you live nearby, please come see and touch them!

On March 24, I participated in the 3rd Multicultural Coexistence Photo Exhibition held at Tokyo Tama Mirai Messe, a five-minute walk from hachioji station. Students from our school introduced the cultures of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Mongolia. The Bangladeshi students also ran a henna corner called mehendi, where people lined up because it was so popular✨

Our graduation ceremony took place on March 15th! Some students will go on to further study and others will start working, and each will follow their own path.

The other day, on a field trip, we visited Isonuma Milk Farm in Hachioji to tour the ranch and try milking cows! A student who grew up on a farm proudly showed off their milking skills. They chatted with the ranch staff about how cattle are raised in different countries. The drinkable yogurt was so delicious that I bought some as a souvenir.

We held an exchange event with elementary schools in Hachioji. We talked about each country and played games together, including tag. There was also a first-time school lunch experience. They said there is no school lunch in the countries (Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Nepal). They said it was very delicious ✨

We held a Setsubun event. The students made oni masks, and each one showed a unique personality! There were traditional Japanese oni and oni from other countries. Which oni do you think is the scariest?

This is a little farther ahead, but our school will participate in a multicultural photo exhibition in Hachioji on Sunday, March 24. Please see the photos for details. On the day, students will introduce their own countries and assist with cross-cultural experiences. The exhibits from other organizations are also very interesting. Please come and see them!

Have you heard of Myanmar rock-paper-scissors? In Myanmar’s version, players compete as the Tiger, the Police, or the Gun. The Tiger beats the Police but loses to the Gun. The Police lose to the Tiger but beat the Gun (because they can control it). The Gun loses to the Police but beats the Tiger. That’s the power relationship! 🐯👮‍♀️🔫 The photo on the left shows the Police pose, and the right shows the Tiger pose. At our school, students from Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Mongolia study together. The students get along very well across nationalities and show mutual respect for each other’s cultures 😊 They chat in Japanese in class, so their conversation skills improve.

I went to Seilon Green, a Sri Lankan restaurant five minutes on foot from Hachioji Station, tucked behind Don Quijote. The building itself has a very unique shape that many say resembles a Minecraft Nether Fortress. I tried kottu, a Sri Lankan casual dish. Kottu is made by stir-frying wheat-based noodles with vegetables. It was a bit spicier than other Hachioji restaurants I’ve tried before, so the sweetness and fizz of the ginger beer (a Sri Lankan soft drink) felt refreshing in my mouth. With more Sri Lankan students enrolling at our school, I’m really happy to have a Sri Lankan restaurant in Hachioji. When I told the students I’d eaten there, they were very pleased. I plan to try another dish next time. 😊

Happy New Year to everyone. The notices around the school now feature New Year greetings from various countries. Also, classes have resumed today, and we held a kakizome (first calligraphy of the year) session.

We did a big school cleanup. The male students pulled weeds along the Chuo Line tracks and swept everything clean with brooms. The path looked very tidy and felt refreshing. The students often comment that Japanese streets are very clean. They also realized that someone usually cleans up for them and expressed a desire not to litter on the streets in their daily lives 😊

The other day, we visited the Tachikawa Disaster Prevention Center on a school field trip. At the center, we participated in a fire-extinguishing exercise and disaster-prevention experiences using VR. The facility had just been renovated, so it was clean and equipped with the latest gear, which made learning about disaster preparedness very enjoyable. A Mongolian student commented that their country should have facilities like this because there are many deaths from snow-related incidents. It really is important to be prepared for anything and to build knowledge about it!