The Mayor’s Office of Saipan and the Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai, or International Youth Association of Japan, continued its annual exchange program on December 27, when five Japanese students arrived on island to begin their trip.
According to their itinerary, the students will be on island with their chaperone Minoru Taniguchi from the 27th until January 1st.
The students on this trip are Sara Kurauchi, Akifumi Shibata, Gempei Ojima, Yamato Maie, and China Kawasaki.
Taniguchi says 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 museum; the Marianas Experience at T-Galleria; a guided historical tour of Marpi with stops at Bird Island, Banzai Cliff, and more; a Managaha tour and more.
Hiroko Tenorio, vice president of the Japanese Society of the Northern Mariana Islands, served as the group’s translator.
Through Tenorio, Taniguchi says that part of the goal is to educate the students on what Japanese people experienced while Saipan was under the country’s administration, both pre, during, and post-World War Two.
Taniguchi says the program has been operating for over forty years. He adds that the program has been running for so long, that the mother of Sara Kurauchi was once a KSKK exchange program participant who had visited Saipan.
For their part, when asked, the students themselves say they are most excited to swim at beaches and water parks.
After the students arrived on Saipan , they met with their host families and then Mayor RB Camacho.
During the meeting, Mayor Camacho shared that the historical ties between Japan and the CNMI support the exchange program’s continuance.
“We want to continue this program because it’s a good program. Japanese have a landmark here in Saipan,” Camacho said. “There’s a lot of [Japanese] memorial sites on Saipan. That’s why I continue as a new mayor to build this exchange program and build a sister city [relationships] in Japan.”
He encouraged them to experience the culture and food of their host families and to “gain more experience in Saipan and bring it to Japan” in order to promote the CNMI as a tourist destination.
According to the English version of the KSKK website, the organization was established in 1973 to promote “international friendly exchanges with the aim of fostering the internationality of young people.”
“Through group life and international exchange, we aim to cultivate a broad perspective as well as independence, social skills, and humanity, and to create young people who expand their own world,” the website states.
From left front row, Gempei Ojima, Yamato Maie, Mayor RB Camacho, Akifumi Shibata, China Kawasaki, and Sara Kurauchi. Back row Minoru Taniguchi
The Mayor’s Office of Saipan and the Kokusai Seishonen Kenshu Kyokai, or International Youth Association of Japan, continued its annual exchange program on December 27, when five Japanese students arrived on island to begin their trip.
On their first day on Saipan, the students met with Mayor RB Camacho. Other highlights on their itinerary include trips to the Marianas Experience at T-Galleria; museum filed trips; a Managaha tour; a guided tour of Marpi; and more.
Sara Kurauchi, right, stands and greets the mayor, sharing that this is her first trip to Saipan. She says 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.
