Promoting Peace, PH-Japan Relations Highlighted to Japanese Junior HS Students

Kosei Gakuen Junior High School students make a presentation about the Philippines. (Tokyo PE photo)

TOKYO 12 September 2019 — Kosei Gakuen Junior High School students visited the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo on 28 August 2019 to share their experiences and learnings from recent visit to Cebu, Manila and Bataan.

Following their tour in the Philippines from 22 July to 8 August 2019, the high school students reported their learnings on the Philippines and its people, conveyed observed similarities and differences between Philippine and Japanese culture and traditions, and shared what was most impactful and meaningful in their visit.

As noted by the Embassy, the students walked through a segment of the Bataan Death March, infamously known for the deaths of thousands of Filipino and American prisoners of war under duress by the Japanese. The Philippines-Japan Friendship Tower and the Bataan World War II Museum were also visited. 

The students were reported to have gained a new perspective of World War II and Japan’s occupation of the Philippines from their visit, which included listening to first-hand accounts of the families of survivors.

As the students reflected about the Philippines’ experience under the Japanese occupation during World War II, the Embassy highlighted the importance of learning from history and working together towards promoting peace and strengthening the friendship between the Philippines and Japan.

The Embassy underscored that the relationship between the Philippines and Japan is a model of reconciliation, which now has evolved into a strategic partnership across broad areas of cooperation. The Embassy encouraged the students to be more inspired in working toward mutual understanding and peace, even in their own little ways.

The students’ visit to the Philippines is part of Kosei Gakuen Junior High School’s Global Leader Project, a program for a select group of students that provides immersion on multicultural experiences as well as platform to enhance English-language skills towards meaningful engagement as future global leaders. END

Embassy and school officials with the participants of Kosei Gakuen Junior High School’s Global Leader Project. (Tokyo PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.tokyo.philembassy.net or https://www.tokyope.dfa.gov.ph,   or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinJapan/.