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Ambassador of Japan visits South Academy of International Languages

Posted 10.31.24

Japan Ambassador visits S.A.I.L

Shigeo Yamada, Japanese ambassador to the U.S., visited Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ South Academy of International Languages (S.A.I.L.) on Oct. 28 to observe and interact with students in the Japanese immersion program. He was accompanied by Yasuki Takeda, second secretary, Embassy of Japan in the United States of America, and Nao Arii, consul, Economic and Intergovernmental Affairs, Consulate-General of Japan in Atlanta.

Principal David Lynn, Ph.D., said this was the first time a sitting Japanese ambassador has visited S.A.I.L. since the start of its Japanese immersion program in 1996.

Reagan Von Trapp introduced the Sōran Bushi, a traditional Japanese dance. She said students were excited about the ambassador’s visit, and that it shows the school is doing well. Reagan is in fifth grade and has studied Japanese since attending kindergarten at the former E.E. Waddell Language Academy, which preceded S.A.I.L.

Yamada began the day at the Southeast U.S. (SEUS) Japan Conference at the Charlotte Convention Center, along with Gov. Roy Cooper, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and about 500 business leaders. Eighteen students from S.A.I.L. helped open the conference by performing the U.S. national anthem in English and the Japanese national anthem in Japanese.

“It was certainly scary standing in front of those people, especially some that are pretty high up on the economic scale and the political scale,” said sixth-grader Kai Myers. “But I just tried to think about good stuff and not to stress about it too much.”

Japan Ambassador visits S.A.I.L

When Yamada arrived at S.A.I.L. in the afternoon, he was greeted in the entrance hall by Japanese immersion students waving flags and playing taiko drums. A welcome ceremony featured student speeches, a Sōran Bushi performance and the presentation of a gift from the students.

“My sister studied Japanese, but I would still choose Japanese out of the other languages,” Reagan said. “The Japanese people are so friendly, and there’s so many stories behind their culture and so much to learn from them.”

The ambassador visited Japanese immersion classes for kindergarten, third grade and middle school. He also met with 11 S.A.I.L. students who, along with two teachers, are participating in the Japan Student-to-Student Exchange with J.F. Oberlin Junior and Senior High School in Tokyo Oct. 31-Nov. 14. He signed the school’s official guest book, and an engraved plaque commemorating the visit was unveiled on the entry wall.

“You’re now part of our school,” Lynn said to the ambassador. S.A.I.L. is a K-8 public magnet school founded in 1992 that serves 1,265 students. There are 224 students enrolled in Japanese immersion at S.A.I.L., which is the only public language immersion school offering Japanese in North or South Carolina. In addition to Japanese, language immersion is also offered in French, German and Mandarin Chinese, with Spanish offered in middle school.

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