Our school got an invitation from Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) for the Sakura Science Program (SSP).  Eight students of form XII were selected after an interview process and they got an opportunity to see Japan through the perspective of science and technology in an all-expense paid 7day trip to Japan.

The group consisted of around 100 students from 6 schools of India and students from Vietnam, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Each day was a new adventure, exhausting yet enriching. From seeing Urashima an AUV at JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science & Technology)  to seeing the control centre for the ISS (International space station) at JAXA( Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) ; from hearing the loud deafening roar of a super computer “Cygnus” at Tsukuba University to the silence in the state of the art labs at Saitama University, each experience was unique and fitted well into the organised and disciplined mould of Japan. In this trip students were fortunate enough to attend lectures by Dr. Noyori, a nobel laureate in chemistry and Mr. Mori, the first Japanese astronaut to go in space. Their words of wisdom and tales of overcoming adversity inspired many students.

Students also visited Miraikan, an amazing science museum housing the famous robot “Asimo”. Apart from museums and universities students were also taken to Shibuya High School for a day where they were able to interact closely with the Japanese students. The performances by their choir and the energetic fisherman dance were simply mersmerising. Visits to the picturesque Buddha temple and shrine at Kamakura balanced out the intensity of the science related outings.
The trip ended with a formal closing ceremony and a farewell party attended by representatives of the respective embassies of the attending countries. Students from each country put up a cultural performance. Through the trip, students were given the opportunity to interact and create memories.

(Participants- Kushaan Gulati, Navya Khanna, Pranav Gupta, Sana Kumar, Ishit Choudhary, Shivapriya Dalal, Ananya Verma, Shaurya Sinha, Anuradha Gupta )