Planning a Walk Japan School Trip
Walk Japan has been operating its School Trips since 1996, since when the company has been creating top-quality School Trip programmes tailored to the requirements of each school. Examples have included, for example, tours with emphasises on service and contribution to society, immersion in Japan’s rich culture, exploring historical roads, and leisure.
Walk Japan has the experience and flexibility in planning to make sure that student, teacher and guardian participants on a School Trip gain valuable experiences whilst having an enjoyable time. Some of these are expressed in testimonials we have received from schools that have joined us in Japan.
Creation & Delivery
A typical flow of progress from first contact through delivery of a School Trip is as follows. Walk Japan
1. Liaises with the organisers to fully understand their school’s requirements, provide advice and ideas;
2. Provides a draft School Trip programme for review by the school;
3. As necessary, revises the draft programme for acceptance by the school;
4. Confirms the fine details of the programme;
5. Provides a Trip Information pack detailing how the school’s tour group joins the tour, clothing checklist, programme itinerary, etc;
6. Manages and leads the tour;
7. Follows up with the school after completion of the tour.
For schools interested in offering their students a tour to Japan but are unsure of where to begin, Walk Japan offers the choice of:
1. Using one of its original School Trip programmes;
2. Using one or more of Walk Japan’s Scheduled Tours as the basis of a programme;
3. Creating a custom programme tailored to the school’s ideas and requirements.
Group size, student age, teachers and guardians
Walk Japan welcomes groups of any size to its programmes, which it adapts according to group size and the students’ ages. To date, School Trips, groups have varied in size from 10 to 60 students and ages from 13 years to post-graduate university students. Teachers and guardians accompanying students on a programme usually do so free-of-charge (FOC) and at the ratio of one teacher or guardian to every eleven students.
Activities
Walk Japan can provide a variety of activities for student participation while on their tour. Examples include:
Creativity: One of the best ways to understand a culture is to participate in traditional arts and daily practices. Examples include:
- Ikebana flower arranging
- Zazen sitting meditation
- Takezaiku bamboo weaving
- Chado tea ceremony
- Weaving
- Cooking Japanese cuisine
- Singing traditional folk songs
- Wadaiko Japanese drumming
Action: For a better understanding of how dependent we are on each other and our environment. Examples include:
- Participation in Walk Japan's Community Project
- Planting and harvesting farm produce
- Foraging for food in the countryside
- Walking and hiking
- Planting trees; creating and caring for forests
- Helping re-establish natural habitats
- Interacting with local communities and individuals
- Staying with Japanese families
Service: Contribution proves the value of society and our place in it. Examples include:
- Revitalising disused farmland
- Re-generating native forests
- Reopening and maintaining trails
- Assisting local communities with their work
Leisure:
- Visiting a Sumo Tournament
- Karaoke
- Shopping
If you would like to learn from teachers who joined one of our School Trips please read about their experiences here. Please also see Walk Japan's sample School Trip programmes. to understand the kind of experiences they enjoyed.
