Japanese Students Visit Fredericksburg in Summer of 2022

In Japanese, Kakehashi means building bridges. This partnership helps strengthen the friendship between Japan and the United States through an exchange program that brings groups of American students and Japanese students together for engaging, focused, and customized experiences. In August, we welcomed sixteen Japanese high school students to Texas as part of the program! They began their experience in Houston where they met the Consulate General and representatives from Rice University and visited the Houston Space Center.

Next, they traveled to Fredericksburg, TX where they experienced their first county fair complete with rides and goat wrangling. The next day they enjoyed a tour of the George Bush Gallery led by Sherwood in both English and Japanese! The student's Kakehashi Instagram posted on their page with the note, “Today we went to the National Museum of the Pacific War. There were so many things that we can’t learn at school. Some of the facts were really shocking. We learned that it is important to learn about it and never make the tragedy happen again.”

That afternoon the students were joined by local American students in the Historic Nimitz Ballroom where they enjoyed lunch and led presentations on life in Japan. That evening, four families welcomed the students to their homes for dinner which by all accounts was a huge success. The next day the students visited
Fredericksburg High School for morning classes and lunch before returning to the Nimitz Ballroom. They
presented what they had learned and enjoyed a farewell dinner with their American counterparts. We
were sad to see them go but we hope to see our new friends in Japan soon!