Published on: 22 August 2024










Christ Church recently welcomed 19 students from our partner school, Hotoku Gakuen, a private boys’ school in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. This year’s exchange program marks 35 years since the partnership between our two schools was established, and we were thrilled to not only welcome their students to Perth, but also their Principal and two staff members.

In April, a group of our Senior School language students visited Japan for the 2024 Japan Exchange. The group visited Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island, Himeji, and Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara and spent a week attending Hotoku Gakuen and living with their Japanese host families.

Some of the many highlights from their visit included the TeamLabs Borderlab, seeing the elusive Mount Fuji from the Shinkansen (bullet train), and visiting the Australian Embassy in Tokyo where they were accompanied by a CCGS Old Boy working as a Defence Diplomat. They also enjoyed a live baseball game, stunning cherry blossom trees, the friendly deer in Nara and Miyajima Island, and playing bilingual games with English language students at Kwansei Gakuin University. While at Hotoku, the boys engaged in all classes, co-curricular activities including an authentic Calligraphy lesson, and were given a tour of the various club activities in the afternoon, seeing everything from baseball to archery, Shorinji Kenpo (Kung Fu) to Sumo wrestling.

The Japanese reciprocal exchange saw students fly to Perth and immerse themselves in life at Christ Church, staying with their host families. The  Hotoku students assisted our Year 10 to 12 students in the Japanese classroom, tried their hand at Australian Rules Football, visited Fremantle Prison, and enjoyed getting up close and personal with our native wildlife. Weekends with their host families were spent exploring all our city has to offer, from Rottnest Island, breathtaking beaches and the Swan River, to fun activities such as rock climbing.

The students have said an emotional final ‘sayonara’ to their host brothers and we hope that they will stay in touch and foster these friendships for years to come. The language tours and exchange programs on offer at Christ Church not only immerse students in another culture and develop their language skills, but build empathy and confidence to make them well-rounded global citizens. The School looks forward to the next chapter of the Japan exchange program in 2026.