Visit from Kagoshima Konan High School

We were delighted to welcome for a second time a group of Japanese Year 12 pupils who spent the morning in lessons with ‘buddies’; singing their school song in the Chapel having attended assembly; meeting the Head, Mrs King, over refreshments in the Crick Room; touring the campus of Mill Hill School and The Mount, Mill Hill International and presenting to Mill Hill pupils on topics including the eminent Old Millhillian Ernest Satow.

Some of our pupils also enjoyed a karate display by one of Kagoshima’s pupils.

A link with Mill Hill is particularly interesting for Kagoshima Konan due to the connection to Satow, who held a significant post as a British diplomat based in Kagoshima during the years 1862-1869 when Japan was changing from rule by the Tokugawa shogunate to the restoration of Imperial rule. Satow was also a keen student of the Japanese culture and Chinese calligraphy.

As was the case last year, Tomohisa Yamamoto (Fourth Form) and Mazuki Sakuri welcomed the visitors both in Japanese and fluent English, expressing the School’s hope that the link with Kagoshima Konan will continue for many years to come. Mrs King was pleased to receive gifts from one of the visiting teachers and presented a silver salver commemorating this year’s visit.