More foreign schools are coming to Osaka

While the traditional tourist spots of Japan and the cityscape of Tokyo are becoming bigger drawing cards for foreign tourists, Osaka is proving to be a popular destination for visitors of a different kind--students.

In fiscal 2006, a record number of students on school trips made their way to Osaka Prefecture. According to the Tourism Promotion Division of the Osaka prefectural government, more than 8,000 foreign students streamed into Osaka. The region was especially popular with Chinese students, with the number of such visitors rising four-fold in just a year.

For Japanese schools, it means their students get a chance to interact more with their peers from across the seas.

But many local schools feel they are on shaky ground when it comes to playing host to a bunch of international visitors.

To ease those concerns, the prefectural government is putting out a guidebook this month that gives suggestions and sample ideas to facilitate interchange programs. The idea is to motivate more schools to sign up as host schools. The government's goal is for local schools to host 10,000 overseas students in fiscal 2007.

It is a far cry from the 2004 school year, when only about 120 overseas students visited Osaka on school trips. The following year, the Osaka prefectural government began making earnest efforts to attract more visitors. That year, visitor numbers surged to 3,799 before hitting 8,041 in fiscal 2006.

According to a breakdown by nation and region, in fiscal 2006, 4,024 students, or roughly 50 percent of the total, came from South Korea; 3,291, or 41 percent, from China; followed by 536, or 7 percent, from Taiwan.

Visas for Chinese students on school visits were waived in fiscal 2004--which contributed to the increase.

China's continued strong economic growth is also another factor.

Most of the visiting student groups requested some kind of exchange with local Japanese schools. The Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau has been in charge of fielding such requests and inquiries. In fiscal 2006, 12 elementary schools, 50 junior high schools and 73 senior high schools in Osaka Prefecture participated in international exchange programs.

The Osaka prefectural government noted there was a rush of last-minute requests for exchange visits. Some schools give less than one month's notice before their arrival. In some cases, there was insufficient time to schedule an interchange experience.

On occasion, teachers at local schools find themselves fretting about hosting foreign visitors because they feel inexperienced and are unsure of what is expected of them.

In an effort to bolster the number of recipient schools, the Osaka government appointed a former senior high school principal to serve as a school visit interchange coordinator at the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau for fiscal 2006. It appointed a former junior high school principal for fiscal 2007.

In March, the prefectural government distributed reference material outlining interchange program activities to its public elementary and junior high schools.

A guidebook further promoting the program is now being prepared for distribution later this month. The booklet is designed to facilitate preparations for the host school.

It will show the flow of preparation and activities from step one, when a bus-load of visiting students arrives at the school gates, right to the moment when they bid farewell. The guidebook will also list examples of actual exchanges.
(IHT/Asahi: June 5,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200706050065.html