Osaka Exchange 2025

On September 13th 2025 15 Mornington Secondary College Students travelled to Japan as part of an international exchange program with Mrs Stanton, Mr Evans and Mrs Brindle. The participating students participated in a strict selection process to gain a place on the program. Once selected they spent many hours before the exchange program (during their own lunch time) improving their Japanese language skills, while learning more about the culture and lifestyle.

All of our students were warmly welcomed by their Japanese host families, and during the 2-week program had an opportunity to be fully immersed in Japanese family life and culture. Our students attended school in Japan where they made many friends and performed their Jiko Sho kai Self Introductions multiple times. Students soon became accustomed to bowing and removing shoes when they went indoors. Despite a busy schedule and the extreme heat and humidity in Japan, all of our students embraced every opportunity, and enjoyed speaking in Japanese, trying new experiences, tasting new foods and eating with chopsticks.

As well as experiencing Japanese family life we travelled as a school group on many sightseeing excursions. We visited Osaka Castle, Universal Studios Japan and the Kaiyukan Aquarium Osaka. We also visited the Osaka Museum of Housing and Living, which replicates an old fashioned Japanese village, where students wore traditional Japanese kimonos and yukatas. This experience was a real highlight of the trip, and the MSC staff were so thrilled to see our students looking so special. We also travelled via Shinkansen to Hiroshima for an overnight stay. Here students toured the Atomic Bomb Museum, and saw the Genbaku Dome and the statue of Sadako – where we hung our 1000 paper cranes in a gesture of memorial and ongoing peace. Many MSC students helped to make some of these cranes, and it was a moving experience to represent our school in such a solemn place. The next day we travelled to Miyajima Island, and saw the famous Istukushima Shrine with its beautiful red torii gates rising out of the water, and met some very friendly deer before returning to Osaka and our host families on the bullet train.

Towards the end of our exchange program we paid a formal visit to the Osaka Mayor’s office to pay our respects and to thank the city of Osaka for welcoming our students and for giving them this wonderful opportunity. Mrs Stanton gave a speech and presented a gift, and Jack Pryor made us proud when he gave the student representative speech. At the end of our program the Osaka PTA staff and our host families gave a Sayonara Party where they performed speeches and songs, and Sky Schwarz performed a traditional Japanese dance with her host sister Rui. It was really hard to say goodbye to our Japanese friends after such a wonderful experience and many tears were shed.

Mrs Stanton, Mr Evans and Mrs Brindle are very proud of all of the students who participated in the Osaka Exchange Program, and we hope they all had a wonderful experience and made some memories that will last a lifetime. 

Below are some reflections on the trip from our participating exchange students.

I was amazed by how beautiful Japan was….A highlight for me was taking a bullet train to Hiroshima, where we learnt of the devastating history surrounding the atomic bomb that was dropped. We paid our respects by hanging 1,000 paper cranes; a symbol of peace and hope….I will forever treasure the time I spent in Japan. I met so many amazing people there and was able to learn about Japanese culture and understand more of the language. I hold this experience very dear to my heart. (Maddie)

Seeing Japan’s amazing temples and shrines rich with history among beautiful sceneries was one of the highlights of my trip….It was the best experience of my life so far. I made some lifelong memories, and built friendships and connections that I will cherish forever. Thanks to everyone involved, I am forever grateful. (Jack)