Twenty-two students of the Summer School Program visited Kamikochi, Takayama and Kanazawa from July 2 to 3. Professor Hitoshi Iwahashi of Applied Biological Sciences and a staff from International Planning Division accompanied them as supervisors.

Kamikochi, the first destination of this excursion, is a small basin on highland in Nagano Prefecture. The students strolled along a popular walking course which includes Taisho-ike Pond and Kappa-bashi Bridge. They truly enjoyed magnificent nature by observing trees, plants, crystal-clear streams and beautiful mountain ranges in the distance, all of which they found totally different from those in their home countries. They stayed at a hotel within Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture on that day. In the next morning, the students walked through shops and stalls at Takayama Morning Market, and later headed to Kanazawa, an old castle town in Ishikawa Prefecture. They visited Kenrokuen Garden and Ohmicho Market. All the students were greatly impressed with perfectly-trimmed, well-kept traditional Kenrokuen Garden, one of three best gardens in Japan. In Ohmicho Market, they came to contact with the unique food culture of Hokuriku Region where local residents eat freshly-caught marine products for many years.