From left, Gempei Ojima, Yamato Maie, Mayor RB Camacho, Akifumi Shibata, China Kawasaki, Sara Kurauchi and Minoru Taniguchi.
THE Saipan Mayor’s Office and the Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai or KSKK, the International Youth Association of Japan, resumed their annual exchange program on Wednesday with five Japanese students arriving on island.
According to their itinerary, the students and their chaperone, Minoru Taniguchi, will be on island from Dec. 27 until Jan. 1.
The visiting students are Sara Kurauchi, Akifumi Shibata, Gempei Ojima, Yamato Maie, and China Kawasaki.
Taniguchi said this is the first time any of the participants have been to Saipan.
Their trip will include visits to the NMI Museum of History and Culture, Sugar King Park, American Memorial Park, the Marianas Experience at T-Galleria, Marpi and Managaha.
Hiroko Tenorio, vice president of the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, is the group’s translator.
Through Tenorio, Taniguchi said part of their goal is to educate the students about the Japanese administration of the NMI from 1914 to 1944.
Taniguchi said the student exchange program has been in existence for 50 years now. He noted that the mother of Sara Kurauchi was a KSKK exchange program participant who had visited Saipan.
The students, for their part, said they are most excited to swim at beaches and water parks.
Upon arriving on Saipan, they met with their host families and then with Mayor RB Camacho at his office.
“We want to continue this program because it’s a good program,” Camacho said. “Japanese have a lot of landmarks here on Saipan. There are a lot of [Japanese] memorial sites on island. That’s why I want to further build this exchange program and create sister-city [relationships] with Japan.”
He encouraged the visitors to experience local culture, enjoy local food and help promote the island as a tourist destination in Japan.
According to the KSKK website, the organization was established in 1973 to promote “international friendly exchanges with the aim of fostering the internationality of young people.”
On their first day on Saipan, visiting students from Japan met with Mayor RB Camacho at his office.
Sara Kurauchi, right, says that this is her first trip to Saipan. She is looking forward to going to the beach. According to chaperone Minoru Taniguchi, Kurauchi’s mother was once a youth participant in the KSKK exchange program to Saipan.
