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

Hello! This is Sade Moore, one of the Learning Mentors at ICT’s Hakusanroku Campus. For this Hakusanroku Journal entry, I want to talk about the End of the Year Party for the students, faculty, and staff at Hakusanroku Campus that the Learning Mentors organized. This year, the party took place on Tuesday, February 10th, 2026. The reason this date was chosen was because, by this time, all of the exams for the second semester had officially concluded and the results passed back. Due to this what better way to celebrate and unwind for both students and teachers, than to have a party where everyone could play board games, eat, and have fun together.

Many of the students were the first to show up and you could feel the excitement coming off of them. The End of the Year Party is one of the events that the students look forward to the most, I think, and this year was no exception. They all swarmed around the snacks and couldn’t wait to eat them. We also brought out plenty of board games and card games for everyone to enjoy and also had students and teachers sing some karaoke songs. It was really nice to see the students having fun with the teachers in a more relaxed setting and seeing everyone smiling and happy after such a stressful exam time.

Also, during the party the winner of the House Cup between the 4 separate Houses received their prize for collecting the most House Points throughout the year. The House System was built in order to build teamwork amongst the students, and they can collect points throughout the semester for completing their homework or assignments, attending workshops that the Learning Mentors conduct for them, cleaning up after themselves and others around campus, amongst other merits. The house with the most points wins at the end of the semester, and each of the 4 Houses wins a special treat for the End of the Year Party. All of the students seemed to really enjoy their special treats.

As the party drew to a close, a lot of the students kept asking if there was more and if they could stay longer because they wanted to play more games and sing more songs. Unfortunately though, with the teachers needing to get off work soon, it wasn’t possible. However, it was a great feeling to know that they enjoyed themselves and to see all of the students and other teachers’ smiling faces made all of the hard work for this semester and the past year at ICT completely worth it!

Sade Moore

 Hello, this is Justin Han. December is the time of the year when many cultures celebrate their holidays, whether it is Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just beginning of a new year. Although each person and culture celebrate differently, the end of the year remains a time for celebration with friends and family.

 Since December 2022, teachers at ICT Kanazawa Campus have volunteered their time and efforts to host an annual Holiday Party for students. Held during the last week of December, the party offers students and faculty a chance to celebrate together in a relaxed setting, enjoying food, drinks, and snacks while unwinding from the year’s challenges. In the spirit of international exchange, all participants are encouraged to speak English during the event.

 This year’s Holiday Party was held on Friday, December 19th, after classes ended with students and faculty enjoying a simple spread of pizza, potato chips, soda, and cake alongside holiday music playing in the background. As Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in many cultures, a Christmas tree, tinsel and other Christmas decorations adorned the room to create a festive atmosphere. 

 Different from previous years, this year’s event included 10 students and 2 faculty members from Singapore Polytechnic, visiting Kanazawa for the MILE program in collaboration with the International Program Center. Together with ICT students, they introduced themselves through an icebreaker game, learned about each other’s cultures, and then split into smaller groups to play simple party games.

 Unfortunately, after three hours of laughter and fun, the celebration came to an end as everyone parted ways. We hope that this party, even if only a little, helped everyone face the end of the year and welcome the new year with a brighter spirit.

Justin Han