2025 Activity Report vol.26:Sapporo Asahigaoka Senior High School

From September 26 to October 2, 2025, we invited three students and one teacher from The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, as well as three students and one teacher from Delhi Public School, Bangalore East in India. Through visits to world-leading research institutions and various workshops, we provided an opportunity for high school students from the three countries and region to cultivate outstanding Asian talent who can play active roles on the global stage.　

Day 1: 26th September

The students from India traveled from Suvarnabhumi International Airport to New Chitose Airport and arrived at our school slightly earlier than the students from Taiwan. After arriving, they joined the entire student body to participate in the opening ceremony. Following their reunion with the Taiwanese students, they toured the school, exchanged gifts, met their host families, and then departed with them to their respective homes.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Day 2: 27th September

We spent the entire day conducting science activities at our school. In the morning, we held the “Asahigaoka Egg Drop Challenge,” a competition to see whose device could drop an egg most accurately onto a target from the school rooftop without breaking it. About one month prior to the program, we sent each school the competition rules and the materials to be used, so they could begin preparing in advance. Each school created highly inventive devices, and the event generated great excitement.

For lunch, all participants gathered in the school's cooking room to make “ramen salad,” a dish originating in Sapporo. In the afternoon, students took part in two workshops led by our teachers: a chemistry experiment (identifying an unknown white powder) and a biology experiment (“Chirimen Monster” sorting). Mixed groups of students from all participating schools discussed their ideas and carried out the experiments efficiently and collaboratively.

Day 3: 28th September

Students spent the day with their host families exploring Sapporo.

Day 4: 29th September

In the morning, three doctoral students from Hokkaido University (students from Taiwan and India) gave presentations on their research, followed by an explanation of the Integrated Science Program—which began at Hokkaido University in October 2017—by Associate Professor SHIGETOMI Kaori of the Institute for the Advancement of Higher Education. Through lunch with the international graduate students who presented their research, participants gained a clearer image of the high academic standards of Japanese universities and of student life in Japan. This experience is expected to encourage them to consider studying or working in Japan in the future.

In the afternoon, the students enjoyed a lecture on “Cell Origami” by Dr. SHIGETOMI and a workshop on “Creative Thinking,” where they learned engaging methods for generating new ideas.

Day 5: 30th September

Originally, the plan was to fly from New Chitose Airport to Kobe on the 8:25 a.m. flight, visit the supercomputer Fugaku, and then travel to Osaka Kyoiku University to conduct a workshop. However, due to an aircraft equipment problem, the flight was delayed by three hours. Thanks to the kind arrangements of the RIKEN Center for Computational Science and Professor NAKAYA Fumio of the Industry–Government–Academia Collaboration Center at Osaka Kyoiku University, we were still able to tour Fugaku in the afternoon and hold the workshop, titled “Learning How to Construct and Verify Scientific Models: Exploring the Inside of the Inquiry Material ‘BLACK BOX'”, starting at 20:00.

During the visit to Fugaku, the students repeatedly exclaimed “Amazing,” and the workshop featured highly active discussions, greatly deepening their interest in science.

Day 6: 1st October

In the morning, we visited the Osaka–Kansai Expo 2025, and in the afternoon, we toured Himeji Castle. At the Osaka–Kansai Expo, our group was treated as a school delegation, which unexpectedly allowed us to enter at the very front. The students enjoyed visiting various pavilions that matched their interests, such as those showcasing “Cardiac muscle cell sheets” and “CO₂-absorbing concrete.”

Day 7: 2nd October

We visited the RIKEN Harima Campus, home to the world-class Large Synchrotron Radiation Facility SPring-8 and the X-ray Free Electron Laser Facility SACLA. After the tour, we were given the opportunity to hear from a staff member from Germany, which helped the students gain a deeper appreciation of Japan's strengths and its advanced science and technology. Afterward, we traveled to Kansai International Airport for their return flight home.

Through this second Sakura Science Program conducted at our school, we truly felt that we were able to help cultivate outstanding young talent from Asia who can play active roles on the global stage. From India, three girls were selected from over one hundred applicants, and from Taiwan, three girls participated—one from the science class and two from the gifted class. As a result, most of the students from our school who were involved in the program were also female, and we believe this contributed meaningfully to the development of future Japanese women researchers.

We are currently discussing plans with The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, which we invited this year, and Princess Chulabhorn Science High School Phitsanulok in Thailand, which we invited last year, to hold a three-country online joint research presentation during our school's SSH Research Conference in February.