1. All third-year students at Tokyo Minato ward’s public junior high schools will be sent abroad on school trips in 2024. In Japan, school trips are commonly taken in the third year of junior high school, but destinations are usually inside Japan. Previously, Minato ward has sent its students to the historical cities of Nara and Kyoto.
2. However, next year, in order to help students better understand foreign cultures, Minato ward has decided to send the students to Singapore.
3. Singapore was chosen because English is one of its official languages, the time difference with Japan is small, and the country is thought to be relatively safe.
(1)Where did you go for your school trips? Did you ever go abroad?
(2)How old were you when you first went abroad? Where did you go?
4. Ward officials said they hoped that the trip would give the students a chance to practice English conversation, and that their international experience would make them more open-minded. The Japanese students may be able to take classes at local schools and have exchanges with local students.
5. Around 760 students at 10 public junior high schools will go to Singapore for five-day trips between June and September next year.
6. The good news for parents is that it shouldn’t cost them any extra. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, each student will receive a subsidy of around 500,000 yen — around $3,400 — to help with the cost of the trip.
Do you think international travel makes people more open-minded?
8. The ward says the school trip project will cost 512 million yen — around $3.5 million. This might seem like a lot of money, but Minato is said to be Tokyo’s richest ward, with its residents earning some of the highest incomes in Japan.
