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Day and Boarding school for ages 2 – 18.

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Future Global Leaders Program

We were lucky enough to be invited by the University of Tohoku for their annual future global leaders program. The five days in Sendai, Japan, was an unforgettable experience for the both of us. Not only did we get an insight of the university, but we also had the opportunity to explore the beautiful city of Sendai and it’s culture.

University Of Tohoku

IMG-20150805-WA0002Tohoku University is one of the top 100 university in the world. Recently, they began the Future Global Leadership Program which is taught in English and focuses on engineering, chemistry and marine biology.

On our first day, we had a fantastic welcoming reception and experienced Japanese flower arranging and got to meet some of the students at the University. On the second day, we visited laboratories where the professors gave us lectures. Both laboratories have various machinery that are more advanced than anything we’ve seen before. Furthemore, we had the opportunity to hear about the projects that the senior students were working on.

Moving on to the department of chemistry, this was the most interesting course for us and the lecture about DNA replication was something to remember. On the final day, we went to the marine biology laboratories which focuses on marine life and oceanography. The marine biology course is unique to the other two as students are required to work on the field by going deep sea diving every couple of weeks. They also taught us how to measure the age of fish which is very interesting. WP_20150806_15_24_45_Pro

Life in Sendai     

Sendai translate to “the city of trees” and lives up to its name. We came at the right time, as there was a festival going on and fireworks display lit up the city on our second day. Sendai is quite a small city and you can get around easily with a bike or even by walking. With our free time we went around exploring the city with the university students we’ve met. We learned more about Japanese culture and on our last day we went to a temple for meditation.WP_20150806_14_23_48_Pro Sight seeing was definitely the main highlight of the trip as Sendai was a very peaceful city with lots of places to visit and rich in Japanese culture. People were very humble and friendly this is one reason why we love Japan. All in all, it has been an unforgettable experience and it was a privilege to be part of the FGL program. We would like to thank everyone who has made this experience possible for us and highly recommend that everyone should participate in similar events.

By: Daffa & Mint, Year 12

A visit to Sendai, city of trees

Mr Anderson with Daffa and Mint.

In early August I accompanied two year 12 students, Daffa and Mint, to Tohoku University in Sendai for their Future Global Leaders summer school. While there, we experienced the famous Japanese hospitality as we visited the University campus, facilities and student accommodation, and attended lectures and presentations about the Future Global Leaders science and engineering courses.

Sendai City, situated in central Miyagi Prefecture, is the largest city in the Tohoku region. Sendai is known as the “City of Trees.” The main avenues, Aoba-dori and Jozenji-dori, are lined with rows of beautiful zelkova trees. Trees can even be found in the covered shopping area, Ichibancho Arcade. The impressive university campus is equally green, and is laid out on the hillside above the town.

For me, the highlight of the trip had to be our visit to a Japanese Buddhist temple and gardens. After an enthralling Buddhist prayer ceremony, we entered the main garden where stepping stone pathways and bridges circle central ponds filled with colourful Japanese Koi carp. Partially obscured in the distance is a three storied pagoda. A tea house, Buddhist cemetery, and tombs of relatives of the Date clan are also at the temple. We enjoyed a stroll through the gardens, stopping for plenty of photographs.

Something else which made the trip particularly memorable was the overwhelming noise of cicada insects everywhere. Tanna japonensis, also called the evening cicada is a species of cicada, a family of insects distributed throughout East Asia, and is most common in Japan. Its shrill call can be heard most often in the morning and evening. The incredible volume and range of sound emanating from these insects has to be heard to be believed.

We were fortunate to be present for the Tanabata Festival, held every summer in Sendai. This Buddhist festival is one of the three greatest festivals in the Tohoku region, attracting crowds of over 2 million every year. Gorgeous decorations made with bamboo and Japanese paper, are put up in the shopping arcades in front of Sendai Station and in the shopping malls.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our all-too-brief visit to Japan. The Future Global Leaders summer school is an annual event, so hopefully I will go back next year with more Regent’s students.

By Mr. Shane Anderson, Key Stage 3 Teacher

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