Hello! This is Sade Moore a Learning Mentor at Hakusanroku Campus. I want to take this journal as an opportunity to talk about and hard launch the official International College of Technology House System!

 At Hakusanroku Campus for the past two and a half years, we have been utilizing a House System for the students who reside here. This House System was created as a way for the 1st year and 2nd year students to work together for a common goal and get rewarded for the good deeds and accomplishments that they do throughout the semester at Hakusanroku Campus by collecting House Points. The students are split between four Houses and each House is led by their Head of House, which is a Learning Mentor who oversees those students who are in their House. Students can earn various amounts of House Points by finishing and completing homework assignments and showing it to a Learning Mentor, cleaning up around Hakusanroku Campus, attending designated workshops that the Learning Mentors put on throughout the semester, volunteering for organization checks of their school materials with a Learning Mentor, or any good merit that a Learning Mentor may see a student exhibit. Students can also get demerits and lose points for any negative aspects of their behavior such as, being late to Learning Session, not attending their Roll Calls, not cleaning up after themselves and leaving their materials, possessions, and trash unattended around the campus, or any other negative demerits that a Learning Mentor may take notice that a student has done. Together, in their house, over the semester they have to work together to collect and earn (or lose) as many House Points as possible, in order to be the House with the most House Points at the end of the semester and thus winning the ICT House Cup. After each semester, the students will randomly be placed in a different House for the next semester.

 In the semesters past, the ICT House System utilized the four Houses from a well-known book and movie franchise. However, obviously this system couldn’t be used forever, and there was a need to make the House System more tailored to being an ICT House System. Therefore, at the end of the 2025 1st Semester, we surveyed the students and asked them to choose between a list of animals that are endogenous to Hakusaroku and live around Hakusanroku Campus such as, kamemushi, Asian black bear, frog, golden eagle, kamoshika, etc. The thought was, the 4 animals that the students liked the most would go towards being the animals that would be the symbols of the new ICT Houses. The four winning animals of this survey ended up being: fox, Japanese monkey(macaque), golden eagle, and the stoat. From there, I went to work and began to design the new House Crests.

 I wanted the design for the new Houses to be cohesive and also indicative of ICT and the House System that the students were already used to using beforehand. For the logo I wanted to create something that was similar to the logo used officially for ICT, but still unique and different, and although it took a lot of time, between the end of the 1st Semester of 2025 and the start of the new 1st Semester of 2026, the new House logos were finally completed and ready to be unveiled to the students, and now we can reveal them to everyone else!

The first House I will be introducing is Soragle

 

Name origin: Sora (sky)+ Eagle

Representative animal: Golden Eagle

Main Color: Blue

Secondary Color: Gold

Element: Water

Cardinal Direction: West

Defining Characteristics: Bravery and Innovation

Head of House: Krishia

 

Now to introduce, Monkage house

Name origin: Monkey + kage (shadow)

Representative animal: Japanese monkey (macaque)

Main Color: Green

Secondary Color: Silver

Element: Earth

Cardinal Direction: East

Defining Characteristics: Grit and Teamwork

Head of House: Domyson

 

 

The next House to be introduced is Vixtsune.

Name origin: Vix (short for vixen) + kitsune (fox)

Representative animal: Fox

Main Color: Red

Secondary Color: Black

Element: Fire

Cardinal Direction: North

Defining Characteristics: Cleverness and Curiosity

Head of House: Dianne

 

Last but not least, introducing Fuwapaw house.

Name origin: Fuwafuwa (fluffy) + paw

Representative animal: Japanese stoat

Main Color: Yellow

Secondary Color: White

Element: Light

Cardinal Direction: South

Defining Characteristics: Nobility and Resilience

Head of House: Sade

 

 

 

 With these four distinct Houses created it was the hope that our students could feel like this is actually their school’s own identity and is in fact a unique characteristic that they can feel proud of. Since implementing the House System at ICT, there has been a marked difference in the demeanor and character of our students. Even though they hate losing points for their Houses, it gives them a sense of responsibility and teamwork that they can strive for throughout the semester and the overall feedback from our ICT 1st and 2nd year students has been overwhelmingly positive for the House System. At the end of each semester, we give a survey to the students and ask them if they want to continue to utilize the ICT House System and we consistently get over a response of over 96% of the students wanting to continue the House System into the next semester.

 With the launching of the official ICT House System from the 1st Semester of 2026, the stakes are even higher for the students. The House that accumulated the most points by the end of the semester usually gets to choose between a special meal of their choice provided by the Learning Mentors at the end of the semester party each semester for all of their hard work. From this semester though, there is now an official House Cup Trophy that the winning House can win and write their names on the pennant ribbon which will be attached to the House Cup Trophy and displayed on the campus for everyone to see. It is our hope that all of the 1st year and 2nd year students continue to enjoy and get value out of the ICT House System in the future and through the ICT House System will become and remain productive, caring, and helpful students at ICT.

Sade Moore

Hello everyone. I’m James Taylor, one of the English teachers at ICT Hakusanroku Campus. In this journal, I’d like to tell you about an event I held during the summer holiday.

On Tuesday, August 18th, 2026, I went to Shiramine to lead an English Café event for local children, organised by the Oguchi and Shiramine Community Centres. This year, we had seven children from Shiramine Primary School (that’s more than half of the school population!) and one child from Kawachi Nursery, along with some parents and young siblings of participants who watched.

August was very hot this year, but luckily the Shiramine Community Centre staff had brought ice creams for everyone, so we started by eating them while I read a few stories: “Leo the Late Bloomer” by Robert Kraus, about a lion who learns much more slowly than everyone else, but since everyone learns at their own pace, it doesn’t matter; “The Smartest Giant in Town” by Julia Donaldson, which is about a giant who buys new clothes but then gives them away to help his friends; and “They All Saw a Cat” by Brendan Wenzel, which shows how different creatures view the same cat. Each of these books has an important message for children (and adults).

Next, it was time to move around, so we played musical chairs: the children walked or danced around a circle of chairs while the music played and had to sit down when the music stopped. There was always one chair too few, so someone was always eliminated. The children enjoyed it enough to play three times!

Finally, we played bingo, but with a slight twist: the children had to make their own bingo cards before we could play! We used the animals from “They All Saw a Cat”, learnt the names in English, and then the children filled in the spaces on their bingo cards by drawing each animal that I said. After that, we could play! The Community Centre staff prepared prizes for everyone, along with extra presents to take home at the end.

As always, it was fun to spend time with the children in Shiramine, and I’m grateful to the staff of the Oguchi and Shiramine Community Centres for their hard work organising everything.

James Taylor

Hi, my name is Ady Rohizam, and I am a 1st year student from Malaysia. During my summer break, I had the opportunity to take part in my first-ever go-kart competition on August 8th, 2026.
The event was Round 4 of the Rookie Rush Karting League 2026, organized by PROJECT KAR7ING. I competed in the Junior category. For this competition, I drove a 270cc engine (cubic centimeters) Sodi RX8 go-kart, which could reach a top speed of around 60 km/h on the straights. We were provided with separate karts for qualifying and the race.
Karting has many different types and classes of karts, and I am still very new to the sport. This was my first real experience competing on a track.
Qualifying was a difficult start for me. I struggled with the grip of the rear tires and spun out around five times. During my third hot lap, one of my friends spun in the middle of the track, and I unfortunately bumped into him. Luckily, I was not seriously injured and managed to continue.
Despite the difficult session, I qualified 11th out of 16 drivers.
Starting 11th on the grid, I was quite nervous. The red lights came on one by one. Then, suddenly, they went out. Everyone launched towards the first corner.

 

My start was slow, and I dropped four positions. I was now 15th. I kept looking for opportunities to overtake. Lap by lap, I slowly gained positions and worked my way back through the field.

 

Then, on the final lap, I saw an opportunity at the last corner. I stayed close behind the driver in front of me and waited for the right moment. As we approached the corner, I made my move and managed to overtake him.
I crossed the finish line in 10th place.

For me, this was more than just a competition. I have always wanted to experience racing, and this was my first chance to actually get on the track and compete.
I enjoyed every part of the experience, even the mistakes. The atmosphere at the track made me feel like I belonged in this community, and it made me want to race again and continue improving.
I know I still have a lot to learn. I am not an experienced karter, and I am only at the beginning of my journey. But that is what makes this experience important to me.

To anyone who dreams of becoming a racing driver, whether your goal is Formula racing, GT racing, or another form of motorsport, do not let your starting point stop you.
You do not have to be the fastest when you begin. You do not have to know everything. What matters is that you start, keep learning, and keep working towards your goal.
If racing is your dream, take the chance to start. You never know how far you can go until you try.

Ady Rohizam

Walking With Anthony
By Dr. Pauline Baird

 At ICT, students are encouraged to "SHINE IN YOUR OWN WAY." Let me introduce one such student.
His name is Anthony Purba, a 2nd year student. On almost any weekday at about 4:45 p.m., you can find him walking around campus. His route takes him past the gymnasium, the dormitories, the onsen, the cafeteria, the main office building, and the school building—circling the campus again and again.
 At first, I simply noticed him walking. Then one Sunday, I decided to join him. As we walked, I discovered that he often uses this time to call his mother in Indonesia. Since then, we have walked together after school on most weekdays and occasionally on weekends. Anthony has made walking something worth noticing.
 Many students shine in sports such as basketball and badminton, while others excel in academics. Anthony may enjoy those activities too and do well in his studies, but what stands out to me is his commitment to a simple daily habit. From approximately 4:45 p.m. until 6:30 p.m., when the cafeteria opens for dinner, he walks steadily around campus. On his busiest day, he completed 17 laps. More than once, we have ended our walk by heading directly from the pathway into the cafeteria for our evening meal.
 When I asked Anthony how this routine began, his answer was surprisingly simple.
 "Nothing inspired me to start walking every day," he explained. "I just wanted to spend time on my own by calling my mom or listening to music. Sitting made me feel bored, so I decided to make my body move by walking."

 For Anthony, the walk is also a chance to stay connected with home.
 "I wanted to talk with someone I trusted the most in Indonesian," he said.
Over the past two months, a few other students have joined us from time to time. As we walk, our conversations wander naturally through topics such as family, hobbies, future dreams, personal challenges, and everyday life. Sometimes, we spend several laps simply enjoying the quiet.
 Anthony says what he enjoys most is "talking about any topic while keeping my body fit." He hopes more students will join in the future so they can "share a lot of stories while keeping our body sustained."
 Walking with Anthony becomes more than physical activity; it becomes a time for friendship, reflection, and connection. What appears to be an ordinary walk is, in fact, something quite meaningful. Anthony is quietly demonstrating another way to experience campus life—by spending time outdoors, enjoying the fresh mountain air, maintaining a healthy routine, and making space for conversations with family and friends.
 When I asked Anthony what he would say to someone who thinks walking is boring, he smiled and replied,
 "Be grateful to have the ability to walk. Not all people can enjoy what you have."
 At ICT, students are encouraged to shine in their own way.
 I believe Anthony is doing exactly that.

By Dr. Pauline Baird

Hello! This is Akira Azuma from the 2nd year student. It’s been quite a while since this happened so it may feel a bit off-season, but I would like to talk about my activities over spring vacation. I may only hope you give this article a read and find yourself enjoying it.
This spring break, I was allowed the chance to go see Antarctica by my fearless mother. What comes to mind when you hear “Antarctica”? An unexplored land? The southernmost edge of the world where extreme cold has swallowed countless adventurers and expeditions? At the very least, it’s not somewhere you’d casually decide to visit during spring break. In fact, many people might think it’s too dangerous for anyone except professional explorers. I used to think that too. But surprisingly, traveling to Antarctica is much easier than you may expect. Of course, it’s still more difficult when compared with visiting other places, but Antarctic and Arctic tourism actually exists as a proper industry, which was quite surprising. You don’t have to belong to a university research team or anything like that. I remember being unable to keep myself from questioning my mother’s sanity for a while. 

Given the nature of the Antarctic land, you can’t explore the deep interior like the researchers stationed there, but even so, there’s a wide range of things you can do—visiting islands around the Antarctic coast or even briefly landing on the continent itself. Some companies offer rather dull plans where you just stay on a cruise ship and look at Antarctica from nearby waters, but the company we used—QUARK expeditions—provided us with many extraordinary experiences. We jumped into the freezing Antarctic sea, saw whales and penguins up close, went canoeing, and did many other activities. In this piece, I’d like to introduce some of those experiences. 

The most memorable part of my trip was definitely seeing whales. When people say they’ve seen whales at sea, you usually imagine spotting them blowing water from a sightseeing boat. But whales are actually very curious creatures, and they often came toward us instead. We rode small inflatable boats to observe them, which may have contributed to their curiosity—but even so, they approached us and encircled us the entire time we were out there. I just realized, but that kind of sounds like they were trying to intimidate us, but they never contacted the boat, so I think I’ll believe that they were simply curious about our unusual presence.

We had several opportunities to observe these adorable whales. There were various kinds. One particularly memorable whale was a baby whale, playing around its sleeping mother. It was very curious, swimming up to us and playfully slapping its tail on the surface to splash water. It was so amusing and adorable. The funny thing was that our guide lamented the most when it was time for us to return to the ship. I guess the experience stays the same no matter how many times you see whales up close.

In another encounter, we had two whales approach us so close that I felt I could touch them if I reached out. I probably could have. It was one of the most mystical experiences I’ve had in my life. Being surrounded by icebergs while whales spouted water so close by was an entirely different kind of awe-inspiring experience compared to seeing whales in an aquarium.

For my in-ship experiences, when we weren’t out exploring, we were given lectures aboard the ship about the Antarctic explorers, glacier movement, and various other topics. We also learned about the wildlife we encountered that day, —the species and their characteristics—covering a wide range of subjects related to Antarctica.

So far, I’ve mainly talked about whales, but of course, they weren’t the only animals we saw. We also encountered many penguins and seals. I mean, this is Antarctica, going on a trip here and not seeing any penguins is like sandwiches without bread. Unlike in aquariums, the seals gave off a much more predatory and ferocious impression, probably because we saw them hunting penguins. When they catch one, they started to toss it into the air and play with it. To call this experience unsettling would be an understatement, those adorable bounce bags were absolutely owning the penguins.

The penguins, on the other hand, were absolutely adorable—no complaints there. Especially the younger ones, around a year old, those guys are very curious. Some of them were fascinated by the stakes placed to mark the point where we shouldn’t tread past, and started pecking at them eagerly—it was incredibly cute.

This is the little one, by the way. Yes—absolutely adorable.

There were also penguins that were blankly staring at each other’s face. Watching them just staring blankly was oddly therapeutic to see.

In addition to wildlife, Antarctica also offered us breathtaking scenery. My personal favorite was Deception Island, which is a volcanic island. What made the island so special is that about 10,000 years ago, a volcanic eruption formed a caldera, giving it a horseshoe shape. The volcano is still very active, and the geothermal heat creates hot springs. In other words, it’s like Sakurajima in Antarctica. There were also ruins of an old whaling station which was later converted into a British research base. Depending on the time of day, geothermal steam rises in large amounts, creating an incredibly surreal, almost otherworldly landscape. 

It felt like something straight out of Silent Hill. Penguins and seals were active even in this eerie environment. In the distance, there was what looked like a storage facility for whale oil, and even further back on the left—though hard to see—there is an aircraft hangar that waIt felt like something straight out of Silent Hill. Penguins and seals were active even in this eerie enviros used for weather observation. Along the coast, various objects were scattered around, including a partially buried vehicle with only the hood, handles, and part of the front seat sticking out. Freaky. It truly felt like stepping into another world. 

There were even remnants of penguins that had been eaten—honestly, a bit gruesome. And if that wasn’t odd enough, there was also an airplane wreck. It looked like it was straight out from a movie.

It reminded me just how incredibly difficult it must have been to explore Antarctica. Meanwhile, the seals in this picture were just fighting each other next to these wrecks, completely ignoring them, was quite the spectacle to see.

On the way back, we crossed the Drake Passage, known as one of the roughest seas in the world. I had braced myself for the worst, but surprisingly, it was quite calm—or at least calmer than expected. That said, the ship still rocked like a mild roller coaster, and I felt a little seasick despite normally never getting motion sickness. The crew were surprised; relieved would be the word most fitting. So, I asked them if it was usually that bad. They showed me a video from last year’s voyage. Yes, it was THAT bad. Compared to the video from last year— where no one was even able stand or move at all, and objects flying everywhere—it was relatively tame, you could move around as you wished, but it still was not exactly calm. Seeing videos from that voyage was honestly terrifying. Especially if you count the fact that it took us around 2 days to cross the passage. We were just happy that our kitchen was even able to function during the duration after seeing the video.

This return journey made me deeply appreciate the explorers of the 1800s, who crossed the Drake Passage in far worse conditions aboard wooden ships, with little hope of assistance, and still managed to reach the South Pole. I can only feel immense respect for their courage.

I guess that sums up my Antarctic spring break. There were many other experiences too—canoeing, spotting wild orcas, diving into icy waters—but I’ll stop here before this gets too long. It was truly an invaluable experience. I don’t think I want to cross the Drake passage again though.

Akira Azuma