By Harlan Rose

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For most students, the closest they come to learning about another culture is through a textbook. However, for 32 Kaiyo High School students, the process involved a two month voyage on a fishing vessel and a bus ride to MHS to embrace the local lifestyle as a high school student in Hawaii.

“It’s a partnership where when they come to our school, they get a tour, they get to see our campus, they get to kind of understand what life is like for a teenager in Hawaii,” said Student Activities Coordinator Janet Ward-Riehle.

Kaiyo, a Japanese maritime trade fishing school, visits MHS every year as a part of their five day stay in Hawaii. They were welcomed with an opening ceremony and treated to several cultural performances. “We (invited) a hula performance because hula does represent our culture here,” Ward-Riehle said, “Then we kind of chose (performances based on) what’s trending around the school.” In return, the Kaiyo students performed a traditional Japanese bon dance and allowed MHS’ Japanese students to join in.

After the ceremony, the Kaiyo students separated into groups and took a tour of the campus, which included the visiting of various elective classes. “I really liked watching the different classes and learning about what they were doing,” said Kaiyo Junior Akihise Ishizuka.

The tours were led by students from MHS’ Japanese Language classes, who volunteered to help with the event. “I wanted experience (and) to interact with other Japanese students, especially from Japan,” said tour guide Sophomore Kiyomi Senaha.

Kaiyo students also had the opportunity to participate in a “Taste of Hawaii” food sampling, a new addition to this year’s tour. “They got to sample pineapple, poi, li hing mui apples, some Hurricane popcorn (and) other local favorites or things they may or may not have at their disposal, so that was kind of neat,” Ward-Riehle said.

Students from both schools were able to learn about the cultural differences that separated the two. “School here is more free,” Ishizuka said, “You can dye your hair and you don’t have to wear uniforms.” Senaha added, “Some things they think (are) normal (are) not normal to us and (vice versa).”

Despite the language barrier, the students were able to form new bonds and friendships during the visit. “We had similar interests and they were actually really fun to talk to when we got to know them and they were really nice,” said Senaha. Ward-Riehle added, “We don’t want them to walk away feeling like they wasted time; we wanted to make sure they had a positive experience.”

MHS’ partnership with Kaiyo High School continues and the Kaiyo students are looking forward to returning next year to continue the tradition.