Explore Japan

Japan-discovery, Self-discovery: Exchange Students in Tokyo

Japanese anime and manga have countless fans overseas. Many of them are teenagers. Some of them have been inspired to become high school exchange students. On this program, we meet three such exchange students who are attending Meiji Gakuin Senior High School in Tokyo. They enrolled in the school year starting April 2016. The students came with many expectations. One they didn’t anticipate was the rigor of school life. After a commute, they start classes from 8:30 a.m. and finish around 3:00 p.m. After school, they all participate in school clubs. And while back home they might look forward to the weekend, here at this private school, Saturdays are spent on campus. This documentary captures the three students living in a foreign culture at the height of adolescence. We see Japanese high school life through their perspective. We also see that these students are getting much more than an education during their year abroad.