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Day 13 "I will always remember..."

June 13, 2026 In thinking about this travel program to Japan, what is a cultural experience that will be a core memory for you? Kelland : The first thing that comes to mind when considering a core cultural memory from this trip is rice planting in the fields. As someone who eats rice daily, this experience has allowed me to grow appreciation for this food that I often take for granted. From trying not to think about what little critters may be surrounding my feet to moving in the mushy consistency of the mud, I confronted many of my previous fears while imagining the tastiness of the rice that I planted for whoever will eat it in the future. Just as importantly, it was the people in this process that made it so memorable. First is the very old couple that sat in the distance house, watching us with a curious glance, seeing a group of jumpy high school students struggling in the mud. Second is my peers—the people whose constant commentary made this experience more bearable, enjoyable, ...
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Day 12 Sing the Night Away

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June 12, 2026 Be sure to read the last blog (on Saturday, June 13)- composed by all 10 students:-) Here are the Poly students matched with their home/farm stay family. Today we said goodbye to the families that hosted us for last night’s overnight farm stay. What a range of experiences and several of us had a blast connecting with the families’ respective kids and the neighbors as well. From the community center, we piled into the bus and headed for Fukuoka; we dined at a roadside restaurant… and yes, the Panthers once again found ice cream. Arriving in Fukuoka, we can safely say that we saw more people in total during our first 10 minutes in Fukuoka than during the entirety of last week. After our hotel check-in, we finally hit the town for some shopping- parents, siblings, Poly adults, a major influx of gifts is due to arrive in LA tomorrow (June 13) at around 930am. The first and only shopping spree of the two week period ended with our choice of Ramen (or ...
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Day 11 (June 11) Deeper (and authentic) dive into Kunisaki Culture

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Day 11 (June 11) HUNTING for potatoes! Today was our last full day of a rural and more traditional experience on the Kunisaki Peninsula (tomorrow we head to Fukuoka, where we'll join its 1.67 million residents... and sing karaoke). We started today day with the traditional Japanese warm up routine; everyday for decades these "calisthenics", replayed daily on national tv, have been the common way Japanese students started their school day. Because these exercises have remained largely unchanged for decades, they have created a bond between generations; today, the young, even the elderly, can be seen executing their exercises. Our first "visit" today was to an exquisite local temple. While there, a monk led us through a time of meditation/reflection. We experienced 30 minutes of absolute silence- stunning to have not a sound considering there were 15 people in the room. We also walked the temple’s gorgeous mountainous grounds. Our next stop was ...
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Day 10 June 10 (our first double digit day in this travel program journey)

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8:30am: Breakfast at ryokan; 9:40am: Left for a temple near our ryokan inn; We visited 12000 year old "made" from one tree. The temple was bombed in WWII and most of the interior paintings were destroyed / roof burned but rebuilt; 10:40am: We rode bus to Usa-Jingu shrine; 11:10am: Walked around a lot of tori gates; We saw 3-4" caterpillars and koi fish; 11:30am: Visited the three shrines, drew fortunes and wrote wishes, which resulted in Love life predictions- and a few of us were disappointed and for the rest, their Life predictions left them happy; 12:45pm: Lunch; we had fried chicken (katsu) - very sugoi; 2:00pm: We found soft serve ice cream (continuing our quest to taste Japanese ice creams); meanwhile, Kelland, Jess and Emilio "found" more luck; 2:30pm: We rode bus to tea farm; we walked up mountains and hills and saw stinky kawaii cows and lots of solar farms; 3:25pm: Rode bus back to ryokan inn; 3:45pm: Show...
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Day 9 - June 9

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The sea, the mountains, and the plains We arrived a week ago and what a cultural feast and time to engage with Japanese students/adults over this intense, eye-opening and rewarding stretch. Today, after “our best sleep yet,” we enjoyed an amazing assortment of Japanese breakfast foods and then hit the pathways of Himeshima. We walked the streets, passed a shrimp farm (Himeshima provides an unusually large portion of shrimp to Tokyo on a daily basis), and then hiked to overlook space- looking down on one of Himeshima’s seven volcanic craters (not active). We even visited a small temple (about 7’ x 7’), where according to legend a princess, who regularly served and supported the people of Himeshima, hid 1000 island residents in this small structure from their exploitative tax collector. He eventually returned to the main island, and thus they were safe that year. We then took the ferry across the Setonaikai Sea back to Kunisaki. Upon our landing, we made our way to the community center...
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