Following the success of Momiji’s involvement in the Medway Student Exchange in 2023, we were delighted to once again support the work of the programme in the summer of 2024.
Four students – Robert, Oliver, Charlie and Alex – were selected and travelled to Itō and Yokosuka in August as representatives of the Medway region before returning to the UK with their Japanese counterparts. The four of them spent two weeks at the height of summer, in their respective host cities, sightseeing, taking part in a range of cultural activities, meeting local dignitaries and attending an International Youth Forum. They had the opportunity to give a presentation on their hometown to an audience of many exchange students from other twinned cities around the world.
In what is a very beautiful, but perhaps less visited, part of Japan, along the coastline under two hours from Tokyo, the UK students enjoyed a range of experiences, including going to a water temple in Itō with a wasabi garden and participating in a harvest alongside local families. From the breathtaking scenery of the landscapes along the Jōgasaki Coast to the traditional architecture of the Tōkaikan museum and the immense generosity of the local people, in Oliver’s words: “I really feel that Itō has the best the world can offer”.
The exchange programme is only possible through the dedication and commitment of members of the Medway Group – now constituted as the Medway Japan Friendship Association. Chairman Susan Haydock notes that the purpose of the Association is more than simply to facilitate the exchange, but to allow for the continued flourishing of the links between the Medway region and Japan, with many Japanese visitors keen to participate in what amounts to a pilgrimage to William Adams’ birthplace in Gillingham.
In Japan, there are four key places still associated with the first known Englishman to have visited the country and who rose to prominence as a diplomatic advisor to the shōgunate court. Usuki, where he was shipwrecked, Itō where he built naval ships for Tokugawa Ieyasu, Yokosuka where he was given estates and Hirado where he died and was buried. It is appropriate then that the Japanese still widely venerate the person and the history of William Adams, with Itō holding its annual Anjin Festival, commemorating Japan’s first Western-style ships with floating lanterns, a taiko drum competition and a spectacular fireworks display – all attended by our students this August.
Even in the West, the recent success of the FX TV series Shōgun – based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell – underscores the enduring appeal of William Adams across the globe. Clavell’s story of a shipwrecked English navigator John Blackthorne being drawn into the power games of local Japanese feudal lords is a direct retelling of Adams’ own arrival in Japan and his elevation alongside the first Tokugawa shōgun.
The work of the exchange is therefore vital in ensuring the origins of one of Britain’s first links with Japan remain known, and the young people on the programme have a real role as modern plenipotentiaries. They are ambassadors for Medway in Japan and advocates for the importance of the connection between our two countries at home.
Momiji continues to fully support the exchange and we are pleased to announce a further donation towards the programme this coming year. Over three years since our first involvement, it is clear there is strong and growing momentum behind this project, in terms of the greater number of people involved and the raised profile of the exchange.
With another four excellent candidates selected for 2025, the exchange – alongside the other exciting projects we have got behind this year – continues to fulfil Masa’s legacy of opening up life-changing opportunities for young people in the UK and Japan.
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Posted: December 20, 2024 by momiji123
Medway Exchange continues to thrive
Following the success of Momiji’s involvement in the Medway Student Exchange in 2023, we were delighted to once again support the work of the programme in the summer of 2024.
Four students – Robert, Oliver, Charlie and Alex – were selected and travelled to Itō and Yokosuka in August as representatives of the Medway region before returning to the UK with their Japanese counterparts. The four of them spent two weeks at the height of summer, in their respective host cities, sightseeing, taking part in a range of cultural activities, meeting local dignitaries and attending an International Youth Forum. They had the opportunity to give a presentation on their hometown to an audience of many exchange students from other twinned cities around the world.
In what is a very beautiful, but perhaps less visited, part of Japan, along the coastline under two hours from Tokyo, the UK students enjoyed a range of experiences, including going to a water temple in Itō with a wasabi garden and participating in a harvest alongside local families. From the breathtaking scenery of the landscapes along the Jōgasaki Coast to the traditional architecture of the Tōkaikan museum and the immense generosity of the local people, in Oliver’s words: “I really feel that Itō has the best the world can offer”.
The exchange programme is only possible through the dedication and commitment of members of the Medway Group – now constituted as the Medway Japan Friendship Association. Chairman Susan Haydock notes that the purpose of the Association is more than simply to facilitate the exchange, but to allow for the continued flourishing of the links between the Medway region and Japan, with many Japanese visitors keen to participate in what amounts to a pilgrimage to William Adams’ birthplace in Gillingham.
In Japan, there are four key places still associated with the first known Englishman to have visited the country and who rose to prominence as a diplomatic advisor to the shōgunate court. Usuki, where he was shipwrecked, Itō where he built naval ships for Tokugawa Ieyasu, Yokosuka where he was given estates and Hirado where he died and was buried. It is appropriate then that the Japanese still widely venerate the person and the history of William Adams, with Itō holding its annual Anjin Festival, commemorating Japan’s first Western-style ships with floating lanterns, a taiko drum competition and a spectacular fireworks display – all attended by our students this August.
Even in the West, the recent success of the FX TV series Shōgun – based on the 1975 novel of the same name by James Clavell – underscores the enduring appeal of William Adams across the globe. Clavell’s story of a shipwrecked English navigator John Blackthorne being drawn into the power games of local Japanese feudal lords is a direct retelling of Adams’ own arrival in Japan and his elevation alongside the first Tokugawa shōgun.
The work of the exchange is therefore vital in ensuring the origins of one of Britain’s first links with Japan remain known, and the young people on the programme have a real role as modern plenipotentiaries. They are ambassadors for Medway in Japan and advocates for the importance of the connection between our two countries at home.
Momiji continues to fully support the exchange and we are pleased to announce a further donation towards the programme this coming year. Over three years since our first involvement, it is clear there is strong and growing momentum behind this project, in terms of the greater number of people involved and the raised profile of the exchange.
With another four excellent candidates selected for 2025, the exchange – alongside the other exciting projects we have got behind this year – continues to fulfil Masa’s legacy of opening up life-changing opportunities for young people in the UK and Japan.
Category: Medway Exchange