A one-day excursion to Kyoto took place on Sunday, December 12 for international students to get to know each other, experience traditional Japanese culture, and learn about the history of Japan.

The group of forty students first visited the Ohashi-no-Ohshita in Kyoto. They were able to see chopstick-making, and to create their own chopsticks with the advice of a specialist. They next walked around Nineizaka and Sanneizaka, the pedestrian road consisted of a series of stone pavements and steps lined on both sides with traditional Kyoto-style houses of merchants and souvenir shops in the "sukiya" style. Then at the Junsei Restaurant, they had "Yudofu", a typical hot pot dish of Kyoto.

The last visit for this trip was to Uji, where they enjoyed making "matcha" at Mitsuboshi-en Kanbayashi Sannyu, followed by visiting Byodo-in-Temple.

Through this excursion, they deepened their knowledge of Japanese culture and history, and also developed good relationships with each other. The outing was valuable and successful, as seen from comments by the students that they were impressed with Japanese traditional culture.