The village of Otaki has a unique exchange program under which city kids attend the school for a year. They get to experience life in the countryside and learn to look after themselves. They also enjoy fishing, camping, and skiing and like program so much that some stay for a second or third year.

Otaki Elementary and Middle School

The things we do differently from other schools

Our Ski Trip to Otaki
Ayuko Kawabuchi
First year, Omaezaki Middle School

We first years went to Otaki for a ski trip for three days from January 21.

The trip was part of an annual exchange program between Omaezaki, a seaside town, and Otaki, a mountain town.



Middle-school kids from Otaki come to Omaezaki in summer, and kids from Omaezaki visit Otaki in winter. The program aims to deepen exchange between the two towns. This winter was warm, so there were some worries about whether there would be enough snow. But once January began, snow fell as in normal year, and the area surrounding Otaki turned into a brilliant-white snowscape.
By working together we all really enjoyed ourselves on the ski trip. It was a real shame that there were no kids from Otaki to talk to on the first and second days of our ski lessons. On the third day, however, I was delighted to be have the chance to talk to Madoka Senba and Hitomi Ishikawa. They were both very good at skiing.

It was the first time I'd been skiing for a long time, so I was worried whether I'd remember how to do it. But the instructors helped us a lot, and I feel like my skiing improved. On the third day I felt I wanted to ski just a little bit more. The memory of this program allowing kids from Omaezaki and Otaki to interact through skiing will stay with me for the rest of my life.