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First batch of Japanese students arrive for cultural exchange
Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang, seventh from right, and a few of his staff pose with members of the Japan Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai group and their chaperone during their visit at the Saipan Mayor’s Office yesterday. (Mackenzie Perez)
A group of Japanese students arrived on Saipan yesterday morning for their yearly cultural exchange program.
This is the 37th time the Japan Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai group has visited Saipan. Most of the students are first-timers on island and they expect to learn more about the island’s history and way of life.
Saipan Mayor David M. Apatang and his executive assistant Yuki Kishimoto met with the students at the Saipan Mayor’s Office yesterday with their chaperone Ai Okubo.
Shortly after the meeting with the mayor, two of the students, Riko Nagasawa and Yui Sato, gave Apatang gifts as a thank you to welcoming them to the island.
According to Okubo, they learned about Saipan from the students that have been here before and from history books. “We expect to deepen our mutual understanding through knowing more about this island,” said Okubo
Second-timer Kouta Segishima said that he enjoyed his stay last year and that’s why he decided to come back again.
For the past 30 years students from the KSKK and Sanpo-En Winter Cultural Students Exchange Program have been visiting Saipan. They visit the island yearly in the summer and winter. In exchange, selected students from Saipan get to explore Japan.
”We are so grateful for this project in cooperation with Saipan, we are looking forward to this stay, thank you,” said Okubo.
