Franklin students pose in front of Natsui Junior High School on their trip to Kuji, Japan, last month. Submitted photo
Nearly a dozen Franklin students went on 6,100-mile journey to Kuji, Japan, last month. They shared what they learned in Franklin’s sister city.
The 10-day trip marked the second time students from Franklin Community Schools visited the Japanese city, the last tour being in 2015. Japanese students made the trip to Franklin annually, but that changed when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down borders in 2020.
High schoolers and eighth graders from Franklin Community Middle School made the trip. They were placed with different host families, which allowed them to individually immerse themselves into the Japanese culture and have unique one-on-one experiences with Kuji community members.
Franklin Community High School Sophomore Rose Mahin said that one of her favorite memories of the trip was having dinner at the kitchen table with her host family.
“We talked about English phrases and were able to joke around,” Mahin said. “We were up until 2 a.m. just talking. Being able to compare their lives to American culture was amazing.”
Mahin’s brother visited Kuji during the 2015 trip and her family has hosted Kuji students when they have visited in the past. Creating connections with those kids inspired her to visit Japan herself. Mahin has been waiting for this opportunity since the third grade, she said.
Marnie Moore, another sophomore, has a cultural connection to Japan. She was raised by her American father Greg Moore and her Japanese mother Tamayo Fukomoto, who both used to live in Japan before moving to Franklin. Her parents have been highly influential when it comes to organizing these trips and maintaining the relationship between the sister cities.
Moore was especially impressed by her fellow students’ willingness to indulge in the local culture and cuisine.
“Since I have visited Japan and it is part of my culture, I had eaten most of everything we had, but it was really fun to see all of my friends trying everything for the first time,” Moore said. “I was so proud of them. They all ate and tried everything.”
Moore loves to keep in contact with her friends from Kuji, she said. Social media has become an instrumental part in her ability to maintain those relationships.
She used apps like Instagram and Line, which is similar to Snapchat, to communicate with their transcontinental friends, she said.
Junior Noah Woods was particularly inspired by the Japanese school system.
“Everyone was smiling and waving, and it was interesting to experience that they were so nice and welcoming,” Woods said. “They had uniforms and their schools were more specialized. Kids were already preparing for their path, like agriculture or healthcare. They were smaller. It didn’t feel clique-y. Everyone seemed to know each other and talk to each other. “
At the beginning of high school, Kuji students pick a club or extracurricular activity to focus on and commit to for the next three years. They were all highly skilled at their interests, Woods said.
Lincoln Rockey, a junior, is one of a few students on the trip who have studied Japanese in high school. Although he has taken a higher-level Japanese class, he found it surprising that he was able to communicate with the Kuji students as well as he could.
“I was able to talk to this one girl for a really long time all in Japanese, which was really cool,” Rockey said. “Everyone there was so nice.”
The Franklin and Kuji collaboration began in 1915 when Franklin graduate Thomasine Allen went to Japan as a missionary and founded the Kuji Christian Center. Then in 1961, Kuji and franklin made an international agreement to become sister cities. Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett helped initiate a program that invited students from Kuji to visit Franklin in 2008 while he was a member of city council.
“I was impressed by how organized and well-thought-out this trip was planned for us,” Moore said. “I am really grateful for that.”
“Most of the people at this school haven’t even left the country, but thanks to the city and our sponsors, I was able to cross the Pacific,” Woods added.
