Tokyo Metropolitan Hachioji Higashi Senior High School Visits Toronto

On March 25, Consul-General Matsunaga, together with students and teachers from Tokyo Metropolitan Hachioji Higashi Senior High School who were visiting Toronto, visited the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and met with Honourable Paul Calandra, Minister of Education, and Mr. Billy Pang, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education. The students received a briefing on educational policies and the provincial legislature in Ontario and toured the historic provincial legislature building.

On the same day, Consul-General Matsunaga hosted a reception at his official residence, welcoming representatives from various educational institutions, including C. W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute, St. Robert Catholic High School, and the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, with whom Hachioji Higashi High School conducts educational exchanges. Minister Calandra attended the reception and offered words of encouragement, expressing his hope that this visit would provide an opportunity for students from Ontario and Japan to deepen their understanding of each other's cultures. Mr. Keith Irish, City Councillor, Markham Ward 1, and Ms. Stacey Zucker, Interim Director of Education, Toronto District School Board, also shared words of encouragement for the students and expressed their expectations for the further development of the partnership. At the reception, student representatives from Hachioji Higashi High School expressed their aspirations, and participants engaged in a lively exchange of views on promoting future exchanges.

The visiting group from the school also visited the Consulate-General, where its staff provided a briefing on such matters as multiculturalism, and the students took part in active group discussions.