Miyazaki Kaiyo High School and MHS form new friendships

By Cyanne Ito

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Students from MHS like Senior Kodey Gratz toured Miyazaki Kaiyo students, such as Yuya Kawaguchi, around MHS while classes were in session, where they were welcomed warmly.

After a month-long boat trip from Kyushu, Japan, to Hawaii, Miyazaki Kaiyo High School students toured MHS’ campus on Feb. 26. Though they were only at MHS for one out of their five-day stay in Hawaii, the memories they made will last a lifetime.

“Everyone was sincere and they kindly taught us, so it was fun,” said Ryuki Yoshizono, a junior at Kaiyo.

Every year, two groups of students from Kaiyo, a maritime trade school, come to visit Hawaii; this group was composed of only juniors. The main purpose of the students’ visit is to learn what life is like for teenagers in Hawaii, while also being able to apply the technical skills that they have learned in school during their trip here. “I think it’s important to have this opportunity to just get to know students from another place and just kind of have this world awareness that we’re not the only ones that are in this kind of high school environment,” said MHS Senior Rachel Brewer, who has been touring groups from Kaiyo since her sophomore year.

Whenever a group from Kaiyo comes to visit MHS, there is a gift exchange during the opening ceremony. This year, MHS presented Kaiyo with a wooden plaque with the Hawaiian islands on it, while Kaiyo presented MHS with a glass artwork named Aya Kiriko. The glass sculpture depicting an owl was created in the Miyazaki prefecture of Japan by contemporary master craftsman Kuniaki Kuroki. “(What I wish I could bring back to Kaiyo is) your kindness, hopeful warm hearts,” said Kaiyo Principal Kiyoshi Ono.

Though only here for a mere three hours, friendships formed between MHS and Kaiyo students. “I liked the informal conversations,” said Kaiyo student Kaori Iwasa, who was able to bond with students from MHS through similar interests in music. “Everyone is close friends.” Brewer added, “I definitely made good bonds with quite a few of the students, and a lot of them are very quirky and they have their own personality that just kind of shines through the little observations that they make.”

Although the schools are 4,600 miles apart and in two different countries, Kaiyo and MHS have their similarities. “(Both here and at Kaiyo), everyone is energetic and lively,” said Hiroki Sonoda, a student from Kaiyo. “All students are laughing every time in the school, smiling,” said Ono.

During the rest of their stay in Hawaii, the students of Kaiyo went sightseeing, shopped at stores in Waikiki and went to the beach.