| Location | 1-1 Odatoshiba-cho, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka |
|---|---|
| TEL. | (+81)72-643-1333 |
| Website | https://www.otemon-jh.ed.jp/ |
| Membership | 2014 |
2025 Annual Report
Disaster reduction/prevention, Cultural diversity, International understanding, Welfare, Global Citizenship Education (GCED), Other related areas
In the 2025 academic year, we continued our efforts to create spaces for glocal activities that connect global and local perspectives.
Global Context
In the global context, the acceptance of students from overseas was carried out as follows:
School Experience and Homestay Programs
April: 18 ninth-grade students from Portland, Oregon, USA (5 days)
June: 14 eleventh-grade students from Boise, Idaho, USA (1 week)
School Experience and Exchange Programs
May: 49 students (grades 8–11) from Mexico (half day)
September: 21 high school students from Mongolia (half day)
November: 16 high school students from Korea (half day)
December: 21 high school students from Indonesia (2 days)
Mid- to Long-term Enrollment
September to December: 1 twelfth-grade student from Chicago, Illinois, USA
In addition, we are scheduled to host an upcoming four-day homestay program for 18 high school students from France in February.
One of the most significant features of this academic year was that all first-year high school students were given opportunities to learn side by side in the classroom with peers of the same generation from around the world. As a public educational institution, we believe this initiative holds great value in providing all students—not only those from families with the financial means to study abroad—with opportunities to become aware of and engage with the global society.
Local Context
In the local context, we continued in the 2025 academic year to position its UNESCO activities around contributing to SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, with the goal of “community revitalization with junior and senior high school students serving as hubs.”
A major feature of this year’s activities was the further development of the community revitalization project centered on Shōkasuga Shrine, which was launched in the previous academic year (see last year’s report for background and objectives). Building on prior initiatives, the project placed particular emphasis on deepening relationships with the local community and creating mechanisms that foster dialogue across generations and social positions.
Specifically, the event format was significantly redesigned from the previous year’s “treasure hunt” into a mission-based game that participants could only complete by interacting with others in the park. The structure required participants to initiate conversations, cooperate, and engage in dialogue with people of different generations and backgrounds in order to successfully complete the missions. As a result, an environment naturally emerged in which children, parents, local residents, and junior and senior high school students interacted with one another. Even after the missions concluded, opportunities for continued multigenerational interuction—centered on junior and senior high school students—were successfully created.
This qualitative transformation from a merely “participatory event” to an “event that fosters relationships” represents a major achievement of the year.
Furthermore, notable progress was made in the operational structure of the project. Second-year students in the Creative Course who had participated in the project the previous year took on supervisory roles in the overall planning, while volunteer first-year Creative Course students were responsible for on-site operations. This structure emphasized inter-grade continuity and collaboration, enabling experiences and learning outcomes to be passed on to subsequent cohorts rather than remaining confined to a single academic year. This aspect holds significant educational value as part of school-based learning.
Through this project, students were able to recognize the roles they can play as members of the local community and to develop a strong sense of self-efficacy by realizing that there are contributions uniquely possible because they are junior and senior high school students. Moreover, engaging with people of diverse generations, values, and needs beyond the boundaries of the school provided students with valuable opportunities to practically develop their thinking, judgment, and expressive skills. For the community as well, the flexible ideas and initiative of the students served as a fresh stimulus, making this a mutually beneficial collaborative endeavor.
Annual Work Plan
In the 2026 academic year, the school will continue its efforts to create glocal spaces for learning and engagement.
From a global perspective, plans have already been confirmed to host ninth-grade students from Portland, Oregon, USA for five days in May, and high school students from Indonesia for two days in November. In addition, the school intends to actively accept students from overseas whenever new opportunities arise. Online classes are also being developed in collaboration with a middle school in Portland and with a middle and high school in Scarsdale, New York.
From a local perspective, we will continue our community development initiatives centered on Shōkasuga Shrine. In order to further expand opportunities for multigenerational exchange, the school will proceed while engaging in dialogue with community members regarding how to more effectively involve senior citizens.