Two Burbank High School students attended an immersion program at Koyasan High School in Japan during their summer break. Rising junior Chloe White and sophomore Sofia Obradovic were selected from a pool of more than sixty applicants by the Rockwell Education and Beyond foundation for the experience.
Obradovic and White visited Japan from June 8 to 15, attending Koyasan High School in the Koya region south of Osaka, and touring places of note in Kyoto. While attending classes at the high school, the girls stayed in the student dormitory on campus.
“We luckily didn’t have much jetlag when we landed in Japan,” White said.” “We hit the ground running, visiting the Seishu-no-Sato shrine, which honors a physician who pioneered the use of general anesthesia.”
“The first day we spent meeting the students and attending one English class and one special lesson given by Shoko Ieda [popular author] on drug abuse,” said Obradovic. “The following three days we spent the first half of the day attending various lectures in the school and then after lunchtime we would head out with the English teacher and do some sightseeing around Koyasan.”
“It wasn’t challenging to communicate when attending school since Chloe and I had translation apps on our phones plus the students were able to understand some of what we said,” she added.
“There were definitely some challenges with the language barrier, but everyone was very patient and accommodating,” White said. “We managed to fumble through conversations with minimal Japanese, waving our hands around and using translation apps.”
“Since we were in the girls dorms we got to live alongside the students and help with daily chores,” she also said. “I really enjoyed being a part of that community.”
“We had a mix between specialty classes and normal classes. We learned calligraphy, Ikebana (flower arranging) and religious studies. My favorite was the calligraphy class,” she added. “The teacher showed us all the steps and had us make custom souvenirs with calligraphy on them. The school also has a Buddhist class and a temple where we went to morning assemblies.”
Koyasan High School is located near Mount Koya, one of the most sacred places in Japan and the place Shingon Buddhism was founded in the early ninth century. The small school with a population of about 200 students offers both religious studies and general studies tracks.
The school “welcomes international students from around the world, making it a uniquely global environment,” explained Etsuko Iwai, President of Rockwell Education and Beyond and the chaperone for the Burbank students’ trip. “Because of its small size, the principal’s educational philosophy is reflected quickly and consistently throughout the school.”
“In the case of Koyasan High School, dormitories were originally established for students in the Religious Studies track (many of whom come from temple families), but many General Studies students — both boys and girls — also live in the dorms,” she went on to say, noting that dormitories are not a common feature of Japanese high schools.
“Koyasan High School is part of the Shingon Buddhist tradition, and its educational approach is rooted in that cultural environment. Every morning, students recite the Heart Sutra.”
“Our two scholars participated as well, and the principal emphasized that this practice is not about religious indoctrination but about cultivating emotional development, discipline and moral grounding,” Iwai said.
On the second day of school at Koyasan, Obradovic and White took a calligraphy class and an English class.
“In the calligraphy class we learned the kanji ume meaning plum and how to write our names in Japanese using the writing system of our choice (hiragana, katakana, or kanji),” explained Obradovic.
“In the English class, we were split into two groups, one with me and one with Chloe. We were asked to write as many colors as we can in English and then have the students teach us the names of those colors in Japanese.”
“On the third day, we attended a class that taught us how to make an Ikebana, a traditional Japanese art of making flowers. After that we attended a religion course where the teacher conducted a lesson out of the textbook he wrote.”
On the fourth day, Obradovic and White attended two English classes that focused on exercises for the Japanese and American students to get to know each other. The final class was a religion class where students played an adaptation of a card game based on luck.
“This experience was new for me. It was the first time I have ever stayed at a dormitory and the first time I have attended classes like this. I thought it was an exciting experience and it definitely helped me see Japan from a new perspective,” Obradovic said.
“At the end of each day Chloe and I asked some of the girls that stayed at a dormitory to go for a walk. They took us down to the convenience store and we all got late night snacks.”
“One of my favorite parts was our free time in the evening because the girls at the dorm would take us on walks at night to go to the convenience stores and explore the town,” White concurred.
“I was a little scared at first to stay in a school abroad for some days, but I really enjoyed the new experience and perspective,” she also said. “The students there were so kind and it was really interesting to see someone else’s completely different lifestyle. I would definitely recommend this kind of experience to anyone interested in going abroad.”
After their Koyasan High School immersion concluded, Obradovic and White went to Kyoto with Iwai and visited the Daitoku Temple, the International Manga Museum, the Kiyomizu Temple, Nishiki Market and Team Labs.
“One of my favorite experiences was when we were in Kyoto on the second half of our trip,” White said. “We had a chance to do a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and wear traditional kimonos. After the ceremony, we wore the kimonos out as we walked around a giant outdoor food market. It’s a pretty big tourist spot so there were all kinds of different foods lining the shops.”
White also mentioned the Kiyomizu Dera shrine in Kyoto.
“The shrine is really unique because it sits on the side of a mountain, and you can look over the entire city below from its balcony,” she said. “It was packed with people and on the walk up there were tons of shops lining the streets selling drinks, mochi and souvenirs.”
Both Obradovic and White noticed some differences between high schools in the U.S. and Japan, apart from the obvious population contrast, as Burbank High averages about 2300 students.
“The layout of the classes were different. When we walked down hallways, I noticed students greeted every teacher with a bow whereas in Burbank they would go unnoticed,” Obradovic commented.
“The high school was actually pretty different from school here in Burbank,” White agreed. “The biggest difference was the way the students treated staff. It felt like they respected them a lot more and would put more of an effort into treating their classrooms with care. A good example is how the students would clean the board and sweep the floors in between classes.”
While they adjusted easily to the time change going to Japan, Obradovic and White noticed they were both pretty jetlagged the first few days back home in Burbank.
The students found out about the scholarship contest offered by Rockwell Education and Beyond from John Muir Middle School teacher Ted DeVirgilis, who has helped host Muir’s annual Japan Day celebrations for over a decade with visiting students from Rebun Island. Their selection was announced in May at the historic Koyasan Buddhist Temple in downtown Los Angeles.
Obradovic and White will share photos and their thoughts on the trip at an event held at The Japan Foundation in Los Angeles later this month.
“I’m really grateful Rockwell Global Elite gave me this scholarship and opportunity to go to Japan,” White said. “After this amazing trip, I can only hope other students take the leap and try to go on their own trips abroad to deepen their connections with other people and cultures.”
