Hello Kalani High School!

We’re the English Club in

Koyo High School and we’ll

introduce some interesting

things about our school in

this newspaper.

2013 was a big year for

Koyo High School because

the mascots of Koyo High

School were born last year!

Their names are Kota &

Yoko and they are very

adorable.

In Koyo High School,

more and more students are

becoming interested in Kala-

ni High School and thinking

of going to Hawaii to learn

about your culture. If you

have a interest in Koyo High

School, why don’t you come

visit us in November? We

are looking forward to

meeting you and having fun

with you!

- Koyo’s English Club

Caption describing picture

or graphic.

INSID E THIS

ISSUE:

Kalani’s Visit to

Koyo in 2013

2

Koyo’s New

Mascots

3

The

Broadcasting

Club!

4

Valentine’s Day

at Koyo

5

I Love One

Direction!

5

Mrs. Mishima’s

Travels

6

The Karuta

Competition

6

Foreign

Teachers at

Koyo

7

Aloha Kalani!

K O Y O S E N I O R

H I G H S C H O O L

広島高陽高等学校 The Koyo Times I S S U E # 2 : M A R C H 2 0 1 4 H I R O S H I M A , J A P A N

M I Y A J I M A ( N O V . 2 0 1 3 )

P A G E 2

In November, students from

Kalani once again came to visit

Koyo! Everybody was antici-

pating their arrival with much

excitement, including myself. In

2013 I had a great time having

class and showing students

from Kalani around Koyo and

Hiroshima, so I was eager to

repeat the experience. It was a

really cheerful group of stu-

dents this year. I

especially enjoyed

having them in

my classes and

watching Koyo and Kalani

students interacting together.

There were several funny

moments in school I’m sure

we will all remember, including

arm– wrestling, singing songs,

and many outrageous ques-

tions. One funny question was

when a student stood up, with

an adorable teddy-bear face,

he paused for a moment to get

his confidence before asking,

“Will you hug me?” I’m sure he

was hoping from a hug from one

of the girls, but Kevin was volun-

teered! Everybody had a big

laugh and applauded during their

embrace. In fact, Kevin turned

out to be Mr. Popular at Koyo,

making fans of many girls! How

many girls e-mail addresses did

he get, anyway?

You’ll have to ask

him.

proud of both Kalani and Koyo

students interacting to over-

come language barriers. Koyo

students’ motivation to learn

English goes up every year that

Kalani students come to visit,

so I feel very grateful that my

students at Koyo have this

opportunity. The

importance of the

Koyo – Kalani rela-

tionship can’t be

stressed enough! Both Koyo and

Kalani students forged precious

memories during their visit in

2013 and we are all looking for-

ward to the next group coming

again in November. Thank you

Kalani for bringing your bright

personalities to Koyo every year!

As an English

teacher, howev-

er, my favorite

memory was in

one of my own classes, when

Kalani students gave special

communication card prizes to

students who tried their best

to speak English during small

group activities. Seeing how

happy the students were to be

praised made me feel really

T H E K O Y O T I M E S

Kalani’s Visit to Koyo! B Y D A N N Y M A T S O N

Koyo’s New Mascots P A G E 3

Last summer, Koyo High School collected ideas for the Koyo’s official mascot character. Among many ideas,

Kota & Yoko was selected! We interviewed an art club member, Ikuri Utsunomiya, who created Kota & Yoko.

How did you feel when your characters became the Koyo’s official mascot character?

I was very very glad!

When did you start painting?

I think it was when I was in kindergarten.

What’s your favorite singer?

I love Onitsuka Chihiro.

Yes! Her music is great! And could you tell me a

secret about Kota & Yoko?

Haha. Actually, Yoko has a crush for Kota.

Wow! Please tell me about the big painting you’re

working on.

I started doing this painting last spring. The theme of

the painting is surrealism, I wanted to do something unreal

and fantastic. And I got inspiration from a limestone cave.

When are you going to complete it?

The art club will hold an exhibition in a department

store near this school in March. So I want to finish it by

then.

Thank you for your time!

You’re welcome!

B Y I S A M K O R E M A T S U

Kota’s ears symbolize the three rivers around the school.

Kota & Yoko’s tails and eyebrows symbolize the stuff excavated

from the ruins next to our school.

Work in progress by Ikuri Utsunomiya , with Isam Korematsu (interviewer)

By Sakura Funatsu

Art Club Selections:

By Rie Morihara By Kanako Kigawa

P A G E 4 The Broadcasting Club!

If you happen to be in the Koyo school yard in the afternoon, you might see a small group of stu-

dents standing in a circle, repeating the Japanese alphabet in lightning-fast, perfect unison. One of

the lines you might hear them say is “Sa, se, shi, su, se, so, sa, shi, su, se, so, sa, so, su”. What does

it mean? Who is this group of students? Well, it’s the Koyo Broadcasting Club of course! They do

this exercise to warm up their mouth muscles, as well as many other interesting things. We decided

to interview them to learn more about their club.

T H E K O Y O T I M E S

I N T E R V I E W E D B Y I S A M K O R E M A T S U

That’s interesting! Why did you join the

broadcasting club, anyway?

Yuki: I want to contribute something to all students

and I want to make my character brighter.

Sayuri: I was complimented in my class during middle

school when I read out loud and so I became confi-

dent in my voice and decided to pursue an interest in

using it.

Yoko: I was nervous to speak in front of people, so I

joined the club to improve my speaking confidence. I

joined the club to battle my fears.

What do you think about Kamigaki-sensei

(the teacher in charge of the club)?

Ohhhh! Gaki!! We love him like a brother, like a

father, like our own family. He always takes care

of us and gives us good advice. Sometimes he

even gives us good advice about love and rela-

tionships!

Thank you broadcasting club! We are im-

pressed by your bright personalities and

good relationships with each other.

Hello. Thank you for the interview!

So, what kind of club activities do

you have?

We train our voice, conduct meetings, and

make broadcasts over the school intercom

during lunch. We are also the M.C.s of

school events, such as sports day, which is

the busiest day of the year for us. But our

favorite event is Koyo’s cultural festival,

where various classes do performances

and showcase their talents. We also par-

ticipate in competitions, such as radio dra-

mas and reading contests!

Valentine’s Day at Koyo

dents themselves finished the sen-

tence “Love is…” by writing on a pink

post-it note. It wasn’t easy to write

their ideas in English, but nevertheless

I was surprised by the variety and

depth of their answers! I learned from

my students that love isn’t just about

finding a special person, but also lov-

ing and appreciating life and the world

around us.

Some students answers:

Love is courage

Love is instinct

Love is life

Love is trusting

Love is Kalani High School!

So what do you think?

What is love to you?

What is love? How would you finish the

sentence “Love is…”? Wonderful?

Awesome? Wild? Mysterious? Crazy? I

asked this question to my 2nd grader

classes (sophomore) during a special

Valentine’s Day class this year. At first

we listened to the John Lennon song

“Love”, and students could hear from

John Lennon (my favorite musician!)

about his ideas while figuring out the

meaning of the lyrics. And then stu-

P A G E 5

I Love One Direction! I’m a big One Direction fan. Last year I

went to a One Direction concert. It was

exciting from the beginning to the end. I

really enjoyed the concert! The reason I

like them is because their singing voice is

very nice :-). And I like them because they

get along well together. One Direction is

very popular in Japan. I think the reason for

their popularity is that they have a good

relationship with each other. Also, I think

that each of them has a unique personality,

so they are popular. I will continue to sup-

port One Direction in the future <3!

B Y D A N N Y M A T S O N

B Y S U M I R E N I S H I O

P A G E 6

I’m happy to report that

this visit to Kalani High

School is my ninth time

traveling abroad. Especially

the most memorable ones

are when I escorted the

students to Utah on the

main land of the United

States, Tasmania and Ha-

waii! In Utah, I met many

Mormons and learned that

they liked Japanese stu-

dents mainly because they

are very appreciative. They

bow a lot and say thank

you properly whenever

they feel they should.

In Hawaii, I visited one

High School on our school

trip. We exchanged dances

and performances of each

country in the school gym.

Since there were more

than three hundred stu-

dents altogether in our

side, that was a very short

cultural exchange.

On the other hand, with

Kalani High School, we

have more intimate rela-

tionship since the number

of the students involved is

rather small. This is the

third time for our school

to send our students to

Kalani High School. Since

the number of students is

small, they not only have

got to know Hawaiian cul-

ture more deeply but also

have acquired some language

skills as well as life-long

friends. Thanks to the dedi-

cation to this exchange pro-

gram by the principals and

the teachers of both schools,

Kalani and Koyo High

Schools have had experi-

enced many new things. I do

hope that through those cul-

tural exchanges, students will

enrich their perspectives and

become civil diplomats to

make the world a better

place to live.

T H E K O Y O T I M E S

Mrs. Mishima’s Travels

The Karuta Competition

B Y S A N A E M I S H I M A

B Y Y U Z U K I S O N E

We had Koyo’s karuta competition on January 31, 2014 for freshman students. Karuta is

called hyakuninnisshu (single poem by 100 poets). The game rule is the following: ①We make

a group of eight. Then we separate into two groups of four. ②The first group will play the

game. ③Teacher reads the poem. The poem is made from the first half of a poem and the

second half of a poem ④Students have to quickly look for the same poem card and pick it

up quickly. But the card that students take only has the second half of the poem written. So

we have to remember the poem’s lines. ⑤The second group will play a game after finishing.

⑥The team which takes the most cards wins. This year, class eight won.

Karuta is one of Japan’s traditional games. We usually play in January, from the first to the

third, during Oshogatsu, the New Year’s Holiday. Karuta is enjoyed by many generations.

They compete to see how many

cards they can get.

It’s a very fun game. If you played

it, I’m sure you will enjoy it!

P A G E 7

This is Neil Webber. He is from Australia. He teaches

classes at Koyo once a week. We asked him seven ques-

tions. Let’s see what he answered!

Q1: Why did you come to Japan?

Because I like sushi and sashimi!

Q2: What was your dream in childhood?

To be a pilot! Because I like flying.

Q3: What motto do you have?

There are no problems, only challenges!

Q4: What do you think is the good thing about

Koyo High School?

Students have good manners.

Q5: Which do you like better, wine or turkey?

Turkey needs good wine!

Q6: What is Australian traditional food?

It is meat pie.

Q7: What Japanese traditional event do you like?

I like the Flower Festival in Hiroshima. There are many

kinds of food in it. It’s a really nice event.

Neil, thank you for answering our questions. It was

very interesting!

Foreign Teachers at Koyo Mrs. Mishima’s Travels B Y Y U M I S O N E A N D R I N K A S A T O

B Y S A N A E M I S H I M A

Danny Matson

His name is Danny Matson. He is from America. He is studying Japa-

nese, including kanji. Incidentally, he has already mastered hiragana!

We asked him some questions. Let’s see what he answered.

Q1: Why did you come to Japan?

I wanted to learn about Japanese people’s heart, mind, way of think-

ing, and of course the Japanese language.

Q2: What was your dream in childhood?

I wanted to be an author. I wanted to write books for children.

Q3: What motto do you have?

Challenge yourself!!

Q4: What do you think is the good thing about Koyo High

School?

There are many friendly students and teachers, so I’m always happy

to be here.

Q5: Which kanji do you like the best?

I like 気ki

(mind) the best. It has many good meanings.

For example, やるyaru

気ki

、元気genki

、勇気yuki

、気楽kiraku

. 気 is everywhere!

※やる気― motivation 元気― energy, vitality

勇気― courage 気楽― easygoing

Q6: What is American traditional food?

Meat is popular, such as turkey, steak, barbecue, and meatloaf. Meat-

loaf is meat with vegetables inside of it.

Q7: What Japanese traditional event do you like?

I like Yukimatsuri. It’s amazing! There are so many beautiful snow

sculptures.

Danny, thank you for answering the questions!

Neil Webber

Thank you for

reading our

newspaper!

Drawing by Kaho Moriwaki