PolyGlobal Japan blog

Lucas and Nick here.  Waking up early in Yokohama, we rushed to pack our bags. We went to a crowded breakfast, and stuffed our faces in preparation for the long day ahead. We met in the lobby of the hotel at 8:30, each with our bags overflowing and somehow so much bigger than they were just a few days prior. We hauled our bags to the train station, and took a brief ride to a larger station, where we were set to take the Shinkansen.  The Shinkansen offered us quick and comfortable travel to Nirayama. We sat and enjoyed the wonderful views of the ocean and country side as we zipped through Japan. Departing the Shinkansen, we made our way to yet another train. A couple of stops later and we arrived at Nirayama station. Waiting for use there was a triplet of taxis, and they escorted us to Nirayama High School. After arriving at Niriyama High School, we initially went to the conference room. There, we were met by the administrators and were given gifts. Inside lay snacks, small min...

 Hi everyone—Nathan writing here. The students are off at their homestays and won’t be able to blog tonight. But we made it to Nirayama HS without any trouble. The students and faculty took great care to offer us a warm welcome. Nick and Lucas will have a post tomorrow to share more about today’s activities. But here’s a quick glimpse into our arrival:

  Hi, this is Nick and Lucas. We started our day today visiting Engaku-ji after riding a couple trains to Kamakura. The large temple was complex. It contained many different pathways to various buildings. After walking for a bit, we hiked up the Daibutsu Hiking Trail. Despite the muddy path, we eventually visited a different shrine, where we waited for a bit until we started to walk again. After the signing a document about saving the view of Mount Fuji, we then visited the Zeniarai Benten shrine, where a large Buddha statue was located. At 9.18 meters tall, the large figure was empty and could be viewed from the inside. We then took a quick photo and decided to have lunch. After we finished lunch, we met at Hasadera. Here we all split up into groups of three or four and explored the area. The temple is known for its gardens, and we enjoyed looking at the flora and appreciating it. There was a temple at the top of the hill, and it offered welcome shade and a wonderful view of Kamak...

      Most of us had a pretty early morning, waking up from around 5-6 am.  We all met up for breakfast at 8.  The breakfast was a mix of American food with a Japanese twist such as eggs with bacon. We group and departed for the Kawagoe District after we finished. After a long hour and a half of a chaotic and wet couple of train rides, we arrived at the Kawagoe district ready to explore. Harper and Miles gave us an incredibly detailed and beautiful breakdown of what our plans were for the day. Once we got out of the train station, we were met with pouring rain. Quickly, we walked to the Hachimangu Shrine where looked at the beautiful hydrangeas and broke clay peaches for good luck. After, we walked to the Kitain shrine and explored a beautiful garden and a collections of 500 Buddha statues. During our exploration, we visited the remaining portions of the Shogun’s residency. With the rain dumping even harder, we started our trek to find lunch in the center o...

We started our journey at LAX on Sunday June 1, 2025. We all met in front of Terminal B and walked over to check in our bags and get our boarding passes. We were all excited, but a bit nervous as this was many of our first times being away from home for so long. We ended up getting to our gate 30 minutes before boarding, so Mrs. Tomokiyo and Dr. Stogdill told us we were free to use the bathrooms and visit the stores and restaurants that were nearby. Most of us just ended up getting Starbucks and using the bathroom. At around 10am, we boarded our flight, American Airlines 27, and soon, we were off and away.  We were told that the flight to Japan was around 12 hours, while the flight back to LA was going to be only around 10. Because our PolyGlobal group only has 10 students, we all fit in 4 rows on the plane. Most of us napped, watched movies, and worked on our Japanese throughout the span of the flight. When we landed Tokyo, we quickly made our way out the plane, through customs, a...

  Hiking the Nakasendo (coming soon) Countdown to departure: We will see you Poly Group: Meet at LAX on  SUNDAY JUNE 1 AT 7:30AM  outside Tom Bradley International Terminal (Terminal B)