Hello! This is Hiroko Takeda, a 3rd year student who loves shimaenaga (a bird called long- tailed tit). It is now the middle of the 1st semester. I am getting used to the classes. There are no serious science subjects such as math yet, so I am spending my days at a fairly relaxed pace. In this journal, I would like to introduce a little bit about my life in New Zealand.

Letter to Grandma
Getting used to life in New Zealand, I decided to send a postcard to my grandmother and went on a little journey to find one that would give her a sense of New Zealand. First, I went to a souvenir shop. However, I could not find any postcards that caught my eye. I also visited another souvenir shop, but I couldn't find anything there either. Then I went to a bookstore, but still could not find any. Finally, I found a postcard with cute illustrations of a kiwi and a fantail (New Zealand birds) at another bookstore called “Paper Plus”.

After I finished writing, I took the postcard to the bookstore where I bought it, and the staff helped me by putting a stamp and a blue sticker on it. Then I put it in the postbox in front of the store, and that was it!! It hasn't arrived yet, so I'm still waiting eagerly.

Green! Birds! Sore muscles!
I went to the Dunedin Botanic Garden, which is a little north of the school. The first place we went to was the greenhouse. It was really interesting to see plants that I don't usually come across. My favorite area was the one with the cacti lined up.

After that, we sat on a bench with a nice view and ate lunch. The sun felt warm, and it was one of those moments that made me think, “This kind of holiday is really nice.”　Then we decided to go to a place we found on the map that was supposed to have lots of birds. There were many colorful birds there, and I remember feeling very uplifted. I forgot the names of each bird, but I’ll post some photos of my favorites.

After walking for a long time on a road with lots of ups and downs, I ended up with sore muscles. It made me realize that I’m not getting enough exercise. Walking takes time, but it’s the one way I can always rely on to get around. I want to build up my stamina so I can walk for longer periods.

The Way to School
If someone asked me whether I prefer dogs or cats, I would answer “cats” without hesitation. However, the pet at my homestay is a dog. That made me a little sad, but I often see cats on my way to school, which is really soothing. I got so excited that I started taking pictures on the spot, but some people saw me and I felt a bit embarrassed… Maybe I should tone it down a little from now on.
Actually, a friend told me that there are wild hedgehogs in this area. I haven't encountered one yet, but I really want to see one.

There have been many things I’m not used to, but I’m surprised at how well I’ve been managing. I’ll keep doing my best from now on, too.

Hiroko Takeda

This is Michihiro Hayashi, Engineering Design teacher at Kanazawa campus. Today, I would like to share my experience attending SID Display Week 2025, an international conference held in San Jose, CA, USA, from Monday, May 12th to Saturday, May 17th, 2025.　

Our school contributed two presentations to the conference, titled “Hyper-Realistic SDR/LDR Image Reproduction Proposal Needing Just Approx. 1/30th Exposure of Conventional SDR Image and Global-Tone Mapping, or 1D-LUT, in UHDR Environments Regardless of Time of Day” and “Research on Individual Differences in Ability to Recognize Obstacles Employing Binocular Stereopsis and Development of Stereoscopic Test Video Sequences for Analyses”

Both of our presentations were presented using the poster session format.
For more detailed information on each presentation, please refer to the following.
https://researchmap.jp/Sakuichi_Ohtsuka/published_papers/50160420
https://researchmap.jp/Sakuichi_Ohtsuka/published_papers/50160352

The first presentation, given by Prof. Sakuichi Ohtsuka, was about an image processing technique that makes photos taken with digital cameras appear more natural. The culmination of the research was a series of beautiful photographs produced with this image process technique. These images, printed on large-format paper, looked remarkably natural and attracted a great deal of attention from attendees. The second presentation, given by 5th year student, Ema Miwa, demonstrated a video for evaluating binocular stereoscopic vision. She brought playback equipment to the venue so that attendees could actually view the video, and prepared printed materials with a pair of images for stereoscopic viewing as part of her presentation. This presentation also led to active discussions with attendees in front of the poster.

Since the venue was the San Jose Convention Center in California, I traveled from Kanazawa with Ema and Prof. Justin Han, taking connecting flights from Komatsu to Haneda, then to Honolulu, and finally to San Jose. With multiple flight connections, we had to go through several security checks, immigration procedures, and customs inspections, making the journey quite hectic. It was my first time in Hawaii since my honeymoon, but due to the transfer procedures, I had very little time to enjoy the scenery. However, I do remember how dazzling the sunlight was. After arriving in San Jose, we met up with Prof. Ohtsuka, who had traveled separately. We discussed the upcoming presentation and he showed us around the area near the hotel.

Since San Jose is not a tourist destination, we rarely saw other Japanese people outside the conference venue. It is located near Silicon Valley, the city is home to the headquarters of many IT companies such as Google, Adobe, PayPal, and Zoom. For transportation within San Jose, we used both the light rail and Uber. When taking the light rail, we purchased tickets from the automated machines at the stations. There were no ticket gates or inspections, so we could simply board the train. On the other hand, since cars are the main mode of transportation in San Jose, there were many Ubers available. Using the dedicated app, we could easily call a ride. The drivers were friendly, and we were able to travel conveniently and safely.

During our stay in San Jose, we had the chance to meet one of Prof. Justin’s high school friends. When we mentioned that he teaches 'Applied Physics' at school, his friend seemed genuinely surprised at how accomplished he had become. It made me wonder—what kind of student he was back in high school?

At the conference, time flew by as I listened to other participants' presentations and checked out the latest tech exhibits from companies. After finishing our presentations, we departed from San Jose the next morning and returned to Komatsu using the same connecting flights as on the way there. After safely arriving in Kanazawa, I suddenly had a craving for Kanazawa curry for some reason. The next SID Display Week is scheduled to take place in Los Angeles from May 3rd to 8th, 2026. I hope to continue my research activities and student mentorship with the goal of presenting my work there once again.

*Prof. Ohtsuka’s presentation has been uploaded to YouTube @charbax
Please search for “Paper: ICT Kanazawa Hyper-Realistic SDR/LDR Global Tone Mapping 1/30x Exposure” to watch it.

Hello. My name is Hamish Barnetson, a new English teacher at ICT. Nice to meet you all! I’m from the UK. I was born in Scotland but moved around a lot as a child, so I am used to changes. I also went to boarding school when I was 7 years old, so I know what it’s like to be away from home! I have lived and worked in Japan for over 10 years in several regions including Tokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Niigata. I recently moved to Hakusanroku Campus with my family, and we are really enjoying living here so far. I am looking forward to meeting all the staff and students here.

So far, it has been really interesting to see the students participating in classes that are basically all in English. They seem to be making good friends and trying their best with all the new information. They are enjoying some friendly competition in classes, and getting used to interacting, working together and presenting their ideas in English.

As I mentioned, I have a family here so you might see them wandering around campus sometimes. Please say hello to them if you get a chance. I’m glad they can be in such an international environment and meet people from many different countries. Plus, what a great place for outdoor activities! I hope to get involved in some outdoor activities with students in the future.

Anyway, I will try my best to help the students with their English skills, and I really hope they enjoy their time here. I encourage them to use English as much as possible in my classes. It is usually challenging at first but after a while it should start to feel more natural hopefully.

Let’s enjoy this first year together at ICT!

Hamish Barnetson

Hello! I’m Sharmee Abuan, a new Learning Mentor (LM) at Hakusanroku Campus. I studied Information Technology in university and spent several years working in the field, doing tasks related to network configuration, data transactions, and system development in the Philippines.

 At Hakusanroku Campus, we hold Learning Sessions (LS) in the evening where students work on their homework, projects, or practice their English. LM are there to help out whenever students need support or guidance. While my main role is during LS time, I also join afternoon classes to observe and get a better idea of how students learn in class. I am hoping to use my IT background to help students figure out solutions to their tasks, when they have computer-related issues or get stuck with online tools. 

 In my first month of working, I have encountered several teachable moments while interacting with other LM’s and students and I hope to share them here. Little moments that make me reflect on what skills I still need to work on to hopefully become an effective LM.

 1. The Communication Trick - The students are currently doing a self-guided reading program that ensures each student is learning at the appropriate level and advancing at their optional pace called SRA during LS and we try to bring up the learned words and content when chatting with them. This, hopefully, would help reinforce their language skills.

 2. I do, We do, You do - One evening during LS, a student came over and asked for help with their Computer Skills homework. As I have observed from what other LM’s do, we sat down together and worked through the task step by step at first. I showed them how it’s done on my laptop so they could follow along. Afterwards, we ask them to do it by themselves and it is always nice to see when they can finally work independently.

 3. Working Together Works - At LS, students also get the chance to help each other. It is amazing to see students sitting together and talking about school. For example, trying to solve that one challenging quiz of the day and learning tips and tricks from each other.

 I learn something new each time I work with the students, especially during the two hours I spend with them in the evening at LS. Little by little, it’s helping me understand how to support them better.

 When I first heard about what LM’s do, the possibilities for growth not only on the students’ side but also for my personal growth made me feel excited. It felt like I’d be learning alongside the students as I support them, and that idea really motivated me. Now that more than a month has passed since the semester started, I’ve seen students gradually open up. The first-year students are still adjusting to their new environment but are becoming more confident, while the second-year students are stepping up and even helping their juniors. 

 Right now, I’m still in the process of adjusting and learning, just like the students. I plan to use this first year to grow by studying many of the subjects they’re learning, especially the computer-related ones, and by observing what makes an effective LM. I hope that by doing so, I can support the students even better in the years to come.

Sharmee Abuan

Hello, I’m Kentaro Takano, a 3rd year student. About one month has passed since I arrived in New Zealand.

I found a food that I like in New Zealand: meat pies. When I heard the word “pie,” I could only imagine pies with fruit, which I don’t like. Therefore, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy pies here. But when I went to a store, I saw pies with meat being sold, and they were very tasty. After that, I talked to my mother about it, and she told me that I had eaten a pie with sausages in Japan before.

I have spent too much money since I came to New Zealand, probably because of the delicious meat pies. I thought the price was high, and I didn’t feel like I was spending money because I used a card when paying. I realized that this wasn’t good for me, so I started using cash as much as possible to feel the money decreasing.

Next, I will introduce some sightseeing places. On Thursday, April 24, 2025, we went to Saint Clair Beach. I had walked around the area several times before, but it was my first time going onto the beach. The funniest thing was that when I walked on the beach, the waves came crashing many times, and my shoes almost got wet. However, walking on the beach in shoes is quite difficult, so next time I’ll wear sandals instead.

On the same day, we headed to Tunnel Beach, but we stopped halfway and gave up. Walking was fun because I like walking, and I was with my friends. What I remember most was climbing the stairs—there were 285 steps. Next time, I will plan better, and I’m looking forward to going to Tunnel Beach again.

On Friday, April 25, we went to Baldwin Street, which is the steepest street in the world. I had been there before with my host family, but we only looked at it from the bottom. Thus, this was my first time going up and down the street. The view from the top was beautiful, and I felt a sense of accomplishment when we reached the top. I had wanted to visit Baldwin Street since I was in Japan, and it’s the best sightseeing place I’ve been to since I started living here.

On the same day, we also went to Signal Hill Lookout. I had been there before with my host family by car, but this time I went on foot for the first time. I felt good because the weather was nice and the view was great. On the way there, we walked on a road with a narrow footpath, so I was a bit scared. On the way back, we took a hiking track. Although the path was slippery, I liked the return route more than the way there. I will use the track next time.

I will find new sightseeing places, and I want to enjoy sightseeing for the remaining 10 months or so.

Kentaro Takano