When studying a foreign language, visiting that country can be very beneficial in many ways, not only to study through immersion but also to increase interest among students. Shoji Australia can assist schools to coordinate group cultural tours by schools groups to Japan. We have experience with primary school and high school groups.

OBJECTIVES

• To enhance the Japanese cultural awareness of the participating Australian students.
• To inspire the Australian students to study Japanese.
• Creation of inter-cultural bonds of friendship between the Australian students and their Japanese host families.To enhance the Japanese cultural awareness of the Australian students and the Australian cultural awareness of the Japanese visitor(s).
  

Role of Shoji Australia

• To liaise with Japan to organise all aspects of the tour in Japan. i.e booking flights, accommodation, transport, appointments, finding host families in Japan, organising travel insurance etc.
• To create the whole itinerary from scratch, or make arrangements for your school’s set itinerary.
• Where applicable, to assist the school in publicising the visit, and allocate participating student places.
• To organise payment by the participants prior to the visit, including a $200 deposit.
• To provide an orientation for participants to prepare them for the visit: including practical (money, health etc) and cultural points (differences etc) to note.
• To liaise with participants to ensure they have passports and visas as required.

N.B: Shoji Australia staff will not accompany the participants in Japan. However, depending on the arrangements, there is usually a coordinator who will meet them in Japan.

Role of West Australian School

• To liaise with Shoji Australia in regard to the organisation of the tour.
• To publicise the visit at the school and allocate participating student places.
• To assist Shoji Australia if necessary with liaison with participants.
• To organise for an adult or adults to accompany and supervise the participants in Japan.

Sample Itinerary