Thursday 26 March 2008 was a momentous occasion. Twenty or so JAGS girls boarded a plane bearing the name 'Japan Airlines'. Twelve hours and nine hours time difference later, we were in JAPAN! Still slightly in shock, despite anticipating this for the last year and revising last minute vocabulary on the plane, we arrived in Kyoto, one of the most historically significant cities in Japan. To have our first experience of purchasing in Japan (apart from buying Starbucks at the airport), it was decided we should buy dinner from a nearby 'Konbini'; a popular system of 'convenience stores' that exists to sell anything and everything, from pink face-masks to sushi boxes. (As I soon discovered however, vegetarian food wasn't such a convenience; having read the kanji symbol for fish on nearly everything I picked up, I finally found my rescue - instant corn soup).

The next day saw an impossible amount of activities in one day. We began by visiting the Rokuonji Temple, which kindly desposited our jaws on the ground for us, and left us gaping unashamedly at its beauty. Thousands of photos, a tour and some souvenir shopping later, we continued to Kiyomizu Temple. We soon discovered the reason behind the name, which means 'pure water'; three streams of holy water fall from the temple, and provide the drinker with Love, Intelligence and Beauty respectively. There's a catch; it's ineffective if you drink from more than one stream, because you're just being greedy. Apparently. Despite numerous attempts to find a loophole in the rules, we had to make the choice. Our third temple, the magnificent Todaiji Temple, was in the ancient capital of Japan, in Nara. The largest wooden structure in the world, it houses a stunning gold Buddha and is surrounded by Nara deer park; where we fed the free-roaming deer who bowed to everyone in gratitude!

Our first day in Kyoto also included a tour around the prestigious Kyoto University, a memorable walk around the area of Gion, made famous in 'Memoirs of a Geisha' and inevitably, much admiring of the cherry blossom, which was in full and glorious bloom. Eager to take every opportunity to sample the unique culture of Japan, we ended our day with a 'Nabe' or one-pot meal, allowing us to create our own dinner with an on-table stove.

The 'Shinkansen' or Bullet train took us, travelling at three-hundred kilometres an hour, with our faces firmly glued to the window in the (unsuccessful) hope of seeing Fuji-san, to Tokyo. There, we were delighted to travel on the far-more-efficient-than-London underground system with an average train delay time of six seconds. However, a few more days in Tokyo saw us blending in (well, apart from being a head or so taller) with the crowds of Tokyoites, having learned to queue on the platform, bow in apology, and sort-of-read the amusing Japanese advertisements.

While in Tokyo, we were invited to visit Shinkai Makoto's very own studio, where we were shown the details of film production (yes, yes all this exposure means we ARE now experts on producing Japanese Films) and chatted to Mr Kawaguchi, the Producer of Comix Wave Films, over refreshing green tea. We made sure to visit the must-see areas of Tokyo, including Shinjuku, where we bought vast amounts of stationery and some of us, radish costumes, Harajuku, the area famous for its dress sense (and as we gleefully discovered, 100 shops), and Asakusa, the location of the iconic Sensouji Temple and Kaminari-mon Gate, to which we caught a leisurely water-bus along the river Sumida. As if we hadn't done enough, we were lucky to see panoramic night views of the city, from Tokyo Tower (made to look like the Eiffel but dare I say, far more incredible!).

Despite such innumerable experiences and visits including also a day spent in Tokyo Disneyland, perhaps the most memorable part of the trip, for me at least, was the two nights spent on a homestay with a Japanese family. After meeting the students of Shibumaku school, we were taken 'home' to stay with the family, an experience that threw us headfirst into Japanese life in its reality. Initially we were nervous, to say the least and frightened about offending the family with our western ignorance of Japanese customs. However, I was met with infinite and overwhelming kindness and generosity from 'my family' (who invited me to call them mother and father, and in return treated me as one of their children). After introductory greetings and smiles I realised how ruthlessly my Japanese was to be tested. The family spoke little English, which occasionally resulted in conversations turning into charades, and my English-speaking ability being turned to homework tutoring for my little sister, who had just begun to learn English in Primary school. They were curious about London and I ambitiously tried to explain, in Japanese, concepts such as trains being late and bikes being stolen (generally in Japan, people don't find the need to lock their bikes). They became used to my frequent use of the dictionary however and it took only a day for me to become used to saying 'gochisosama!' after meals, bowing 'ohayo gozaimasu!' in the mornings, and slipping into indoor shoes in the ï¿½genkan'.

'I was taken aback by the rapid development of our relationship, such that at the end of the two days, we were genuinely sad at parting, and repeatedly promised to keep in email and letter contact. The more we saw, the more it felt like there was to see, and I hope that this highly successful and needless to say, memorable, trip to Japan is just the first of many.

Shivaangee Agrawal , Year 12

Please click here for photos from the gallery