Hello. I’m Masaaki Shikada, ICT President.

As has become an annual tradition, I delivered the President’s Lecture again this year. The address for 1st and 2nd students was held on the afternoon of Friday, April 3rd, 2026 at Hakusanroku Campus, while the address for 4th and 5th year students took place on the morning of Tuesday, April 7th, at Kanazawa Campus. When I was appointed the Vice President of ICT, I heard that the President’s Lecture is traditionally given during the April orientation period each year.

I then began to wonder what I should talk about in my lecture. After giving it some thought, I decided that it would be best to explain my field of expertise—Spatial Information Technology—in an easy-to-understand way. Accordingly, I chose to base my talk on my past research and classes (Surveying), linking them to well-known historical figures and events so that the content would be both accessible and engaging.

In my first year, I gave the same talk to students of all grades (excluding 3rd year students). After the 1st year, however, I gradually added new material as students advanced through the grades. As a result, the four themes of my lectures have been organized as follows.
(Note: this full sequence by grade level will be completed in the 2027 academic year)

　1st year students: The Ten Most Beautiful Scientific Experiments in the World
　2nd year students: Maps Are Liars
　4th year students: Struve’s Geodetic Arc
　5th year students: Ino Tadataka and the Record of Points

In every lecture, I include quizzes so that students can enjoy active learning while having fun. In the themes for 4th and 5th year students, I also introduce related films and television programs. Through these four lectures, I hope that students will come to enjoy and appreciate the world of Spatial Information Technology.

Masaaki Shikada

Hello, this is Sharmee Abuan, one of the Learning Mentors at ICT Hakusanroku Campus. As the Academic Year 2025–2026 comes to an end, I find myself looking back on our Optional Friday Learning Sessions.

Those Fridays felt a little different from our regular Learning Sessions. They gave us extra space to focus on skills that we did not always have time to cover and allowed students to grow in ways that supported both their academic work and personal development. Our workshops this year had three main parts. 

First, Self-Development Workshops. At the start of the year, we focused on simple but important habits like organization, note-taking, and time management. I still remember students bringing folders filled with loose papers to the first organization workshop, where we spent the evening sorting, arranging, and setting things up properly. It was a very simple activity, but it made a real difference. When we noticed that some students were struggling to submit assignments on time, we held a Time Management workshop. We talked about planning their week and breaking big tasks into smaller steps. The progress was quiet but steady. Slowly, some students seemed lighter and more in control. It became less about chasing deadlines and more about learning how to manage their time and responsibilities. 

Second, is a Fun Review-Game Workshops. As the months went by, our Fridays became more exciting. We had workshops like The Secret Billionaire, the $10,000 Tournament, and A Stairway Challenge. Students practiced STEAM ideas through games and challenges. Each workshop was full of laughter, problem-solving, and teamwork. It was nice to see students apply what they learned in class in such a natural and fun way.

The Secret Billionaire

The $10,000 Tournament

A Stairway Challenge

Lastly, IELTS Workshops. By the second semester, our focus shifted to IELTS preparation, as students were preparing to take the IELTS exam. The atmosphere became quieter and more focused. We practiced speaking, writing, listening, and reading in a safe and encouraging environment so they could feel ready. Over time, the students who attended grew more confident in using English, their hesitation faded and was replaced by a willingness to try.

Looking back, I think what made these optional workshops special was the simple mix of structure and fun. Students kept coming back because they wanted to be there, not because they had to. For me, these Fridays became special moments of growth for both the students and us Learning Mentors.

Sharmee Abuan

Hello. I’m Meguru Ito, the chairperson of the Platinum Festival Executive Committee. I would like to write about the Platinum Festival (Hakkinsai School Festival) held on Sunday, February 22nd, 2026. The content of the festival has also been featured before in Topics, so please take a look there as well.

This year, we welcomed a record high 114 visitors. We had a wonderfully diverse group of attendees, including the families of current students, local elementary and junior high school students, and alumni. It was encouraging to see the recognition of the Platinum Festival steadily growing. I hope to continue developing the event into something even more appealing so that more people can enjoy it in the coming years.

One of the biggest highlights this year was the large number of new projects introduced compared with previous years. For the first time, we held a baked sweet potato sale using Kosen Beni Haruka, as well as a game corner where visitors could try out student made games. Both projects were very well received, based on visitor surveys and student feedback, and they generated a lot of excitement. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the students who worked hard to plan these activities, and to the faculty members who supported them.
In addition, the festival’s traditional main attraction, the on-campus robot contest and the piano performances, where students showcased the results of their practice, were also very successful. On the other hand, it was unfortunate that there were no band performance this year. I hope they will return next year.

Due to the end-of-term examinations being pushed back by one week this year, the preparation period between the exams and the festival was shorter than usual. February’s extracurricular period was also packed with other activities besides the festival, and the students worked on preparations despite being extremely busy. This experience made me realize the importance of establishing a more efficient preparation process going forward.

There were also some last-minute issues, such as members of the executive committee falling ill right before the event, which kept us busy up until the start. However, we were able to bring the festival to a successful close. I hope the students on the committee will carry both the successes and the lessons learned from this experience into their student life next year.

Meguru Ito

Hello. This is Meguru Ito, the physics instructor. Today, I’d like to write about the illustration workshop held on February 16th and 18th, 2026.
At the Hakusanroku Campus, February marks the start of the extracurricular activity period. This is a time when various workshops and special extracurricular activities are planned and offered by different faculty members. These workshop and special extracurricular activities are not offered in regular classes.

This year marked the third Illustration Workshop. Following last year, we once again invited illustrator Ibuki rev to lead the sessions (Ibuki rev, thank you very much again!). The theme this time was “Let’s create a sticker pack.” Using Akane Kurihara, an original character created during the first illustration workshop two years ago, each student designed a set of stickers. 
On the first day, Ibuki rev gave a lecture on the profession of being an illustrator, as well as how to draw characters and chibi-style characters. After that, each participating student created their own illustration. On the second day, the illustrations were put together into printable data, printed out sheet of illustrations, and the cutting work began. Students left a margin around the illustrations and then carefully cut the sheets with scissors and finally packaged them into sets. Although it was a bit challenging, they produced sticker packs of impressively high quality.
We also had the chance to hear from a professional about topics such as how to work with AI and how to handle copyright. These insights from someone active in the field, were extremely interesting. The students actively participated in the workshop and asked many questions about illustration techniques and the illustrator profession.
Many of the students who participated already enjoyed drawing, so they seemed to really appreciate the process of seeing their own illustrations become actual stickers. I personally don’t draw, but seeing their eyes sparkle made me feel that organizing this workshop was truly worthwhile.

Finally, I’d like to thank Ibuki rev for the two day lecture! We are very grateful for the thoughtful, entertaining, and informative slides, as well as the kind guidance throughout. We would be delighted to welcome you again to ICT next year!

Day1

Day2

Meguru Ito

Hullo, I’m Ian Stevenson, an English teacher at the Hakusanroku Campus.
The 2nd Semester has finished, and that means it is time for tie-dye t-shirts. Making tie-dye t-shirts is an activity that ICT students have done almost every year since ICT began. See here and here for past tie-dye events. This year, the tie-dye activity was a mix of old and new patterns and designs, and it was spread over 2 days (February 17th and 19th, 2026).

On February 17th, 2026, after the students arrived at the Project Booth on the 2nd floor, they made an apron with a garbage bag and put on a pair of gloves to protect themselves and their clothes from the dye. Then, the students were shown 5 patterns that they could use to make their tie-dye t-shirts. 4 of these patterns had been used in the past; spiral, bullseye, stripe and crumple. There was also a new pattern, heart. I had never made a heart pattern tie-dye t-shirt, so I included a link to a YouTube video that demonstrated how to make it. 

One student (Reika Kubo, a 1st year) decided to try this heart-shaped pattern and to use light green and blue dye. Another student (Hiroki Yatsuo, a 1st year) saw that the video also had information about making a star-shaped pattern and made a t-shirt with a dark red and blue star. The other students used the 4 previously used patterns, with crumple and spiral being the most popular choices.

The t-shirts were then hung to dry for 2 days. On February 19, 2026, the students returned to further decorate their t-shirts with fabric markers. Some students (Shunta Tamura, a 1st year and Ayane Ito, a 2nd year) drew characters on their t-shirts. Shunta drew hamsters, which I originally thought were frogs, and Ayane drew (Kino Kino) a mushroom character. Other students (Toshimune Izumiya, a 1st year and Hajime Tani, a 2nd year) used the fabric markers to write their names into the tie-dye patterns.

After another 2 days, I soaked and wrung out the excess dye from the t-shirts before washing and returning the t-shirts to the students. They seemed quite pleased with the results of their work. Some students (Kotori Mae, 2ns year and Ayane) asked teachers and friends to further decorate their t-shirts with messages and drawings.

Ian Stevenson