Japanese students wrap up Yakima exchange program visit

YAKIMA – Blaine Tamaki has visited Japan once in his 67 years. He traveled to the country of his ancestors when he was a student at Davis High School in Yakima.

His trip was part of the Yakima School District’s Yamate Japanese Exchange Program, a longstanding partnership with Yamate Gakuin High School in Yokohama, Japan. Tamaki was part of the first cohort of Yakima students who visited Yokohama.

“All four of my grandparents were born in Japan, but they immigrated to the United States. My parents never, ever visited Japan once in their lifetimes,” Tamaki said. “I was lucky enough to visit Japan once in my 67 years of life. … That was 50 years ago.”

Tamaki spoke about his experience at a reception Wednesday evening at the Yakima Valley Museum. The reception capped the “inbound” portion of the exchange, in which 75 Yamate students and a vice principal, a travel agent/interpreter and three teachers visited Yakima from April 11 to Friday. They stayed with local host families, attended classes at Eisenhower, Davis and East Valley high schools and participated in area cultural activities.

The “outbound” portion, when students from Yakima travel to Japan to stay with Yamate Gakuin families and experience school life and cultural activities in Yokohama, takes place from July 18 to Aug. 2.

Not only did Tamaki travel to Japan as part of the exchange program, his parents hosted exchange students at least five times. He and his wife, Preciosa, have hosted students multiple times, and their two children participated in the exchange program as Davis students. They also coordinated and sponsored Wednesday’s reception through the Blaine & Preciosa Tamaki Foundation and support the exchange program in other ways.

“So many memories made. So many friends made. … May our cultural exchange with the Yamate high school continue many years on,” Tamaki said.

The exchange is open to students from the Yakima, Ellensburg and East Valley (Yakima) school districts, according to the program website. Students from other districts who want to participate may tell their district superintendent, who can contact the program coordinator to discuss participation.

A total of 31 Yakima students are signed up to travel to Japan this summer, said Kirsten Fitterer, executive director of communications and engagement for the Yakima School District.

“This is the largest outbound group Yakima has had in many years,” Fitterer said in an email.

There are four more openings, and interested students need to submit their paperwork, passport application, and payment by May 22 to be considered.

The program is sustained through community generosity, she noted.

“The Yakima School District does not allocate general fund dollars to support this enrichment opportunity,” Fitterer said in her email. “Chaperones pay for their own flights and Yamate Gakuin pay for chaperone lodging, plus several donors have contributed scholarships to help lower travel costs for participating students.”

Visit YSD7.org/YamateExchange for more information.

Fitterer has coordinated the exchange program for 10 years and has hosted students. She thanked the host families for participating.

“Thank you for being here tonight and thank you for the care, generosity and open-heartedness you’ve shown over the past two weeks. Your willingness to host a student from Yamate Gakuin has created something powerful,” she said at the reception. “You’ve built a bridge between cultures, offered comfort to a young person far from home, and made a lasting impression that will stay with them – and with you – for life.”

Among their experiences, Yamate students, teachers and administrators took trips to Seattle and Leavenworth, Washington. As part of the reception Wednesday, they and their host families could check out the museum and exhibits. They include “Land of Joy and Sorrow: The Japanese Experience in the Yakima Valley.” The permanent exhibit debuted in 2023 and is getting some updates as more community and family stories have been discovered, museum executive director Liz Hobson said.

Reiko Yamada, vice principal of Yamate Gakuin, was among the speakers before the reception ended with a big group photo.

“Two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye,” Yamada said. The experiences have created lasting memories, she added.

“Our host families … we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” she said.