For the past few weeks, you’ve probably heard in the announcements, Daily Digest, and even your fellow students – Bloomington South is heading to Japan. The trip will take place over 14 days in the summer of 2027. There are only enough spots for 37 students to travel to Japan, where they’ll visit museums, eat at traditional restaurants, and even learn from the Hiroshima Peace Monument and Park. 

South English teacher Sheila McDermott-Sipe will be the chaperone. She said this trip is about “cultural education, historical education…just going to a maybe more exotic destination.” She has noticed that a lot of students have an interest in Japanese culture through Anime movies, such as Spirited Away, and some popular technology from Tokyo like the infrastructure, so she thought this might be an experience many students would be interested in, as well as herself. 

The trip was planned with Educational Tours, which is a company that specializes in offering travel experiences all over the globe for students and teachers with the lowest prices possible. For this trip, three sightseeing tours led by expert, licensed, local guides are included, as well as entrances to the following places: National Tokyo Museum, Meiji Shinto Shrine, Asakusa Kannon Temple, sumo-style hot pot dinner, Hachimangu Shrine, Mount Komagatake Ropeway, Todaji Temple, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and many more.  Flights, hotels, motorcoaches, bullet trains, breakfasts and dinners will be covered as well. 

McDermott-Sipe said that the expense of the trip is $5500 per student, so the fact that the trip is planned for 2027 “allows the payments to be divided monthly, and allows time for families, for students, to think about saving money, [and] making money” to spend toward this opportunity.

Freshman Derek Ly, who’s planning on going on the trip, first heard about it from a friend, and now that he has learned more about it, he says he’s “most excited [for] visiting Tokyo, the capital.” Ly said that his parents are supportive and believe it will be a really fun experience for him. 

McDermott-Sipe has done many foreign trips, and she hopes that students will realize that no place is too far away or too foreign, and that they also get some education out of the trips. There are still about seven spots left for Japan, and there are no prerequisites except wanting to travel, learn, and have fun.