Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________________

Lil’ Angels Corner TOKYO 2020: Japan is trying to

make sure there

are enough English

speakers when it

hosts the Olympics.

How can LAIS help

in this struggle?

(p. 7)

ANGELS’

HERALD Little Angels International School Newsletter

FUTURE

TECHNOLOGY Reasons why we learn

robotics in our School

(p. 8)

Issue No. 12 Nothing Is Impossible 15 June 2018

Dance Club p. 5

LAIS calligraphy club p. 5

Table tennis club

p. 8

LAIS in Ajinomoto stadium: Niko (Y9) and Mayu (Y11) competed fantastically!

“What I learnt from competing in

Mitaka’s Running Tournament on the

5th of May was that with the right

training and motivation you can

achieve anything you want!” said

Nikolas after LAIS first official

participation in a State competition.

Our School participated in the 61st

Mi t ak a C i t y T r ack an d F i e ld

Championship Competition and the

results were fantastic: A silver and a

bronze medal for each of our

champions! The event was organised

by Mitaka City Track and Field

Recording Association and our

students had to compete with adults

and semi-professional athletes. Continued on p.3

INTERVIEW:

Okada Masao Taisei High School Principal

LAIS Project Day p. 10-11

Our Champions and Mitaka’s future Champions

On June 1st, 2018

an interview was

conducted with the

Principal of Taisei High

School, located just

across Little Angels.

Taisei High School is

one of the largest and

well-equipped High

Schools in Japan. The

School includes 38

classes, 36 different

types of club activities,

and an overwhelming

number of 1,398

students. Continued on p. 6

LIFE IN JAPAN Kieran Veal (Y6)

LIVING IN JAPAN, my life is

very different from living in

Australia, because the streets are a lot

narrower. The most different part has

been going to school. In Australia, we

don’t have to take a special bag.

I can remember my brother’s first day

when he went to school. We had a

ceremony, where everyone was

dressed up, but my brother wore

normal clothes!

Another different thing was

translating for my parents. I didn’t

like to translate. Now I try my best

translating for them, even though, I

still don’t like it. When I go to the

supermarket I try to read the kanji but

there are a lot that I can’t read. I have

to ask. The only problem is that when

Japanese people speak they mumble

a lot, so I don’t understand, but I try

my best to listen.

There are two things that I think are

so amazing. It is the manners the

Japanese have. In Australia a lot of

people have good manners. Living in

Japan made me wonder why their

manners are so good. I think in Japan

people have good and nice hearts

that’s why they have good manners.

Then, comes trash: daily, they

separate plastic and other materials

and dump it in proper places. I think

that is extremely convenient for

everybody. They have a schedule

too! It tells you when, where, and

what time the rubbish needs to be

thrown out. I think that is very useful.

Japan is a very small country, but it is

very safe and a nice environment to

live in. I’m glad I live in Japan!

Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 2

MY FIRST TIME

AT THE FIRE STATION

Parth More (Y5)

On April, 2018, Year 1 to Year 5 of my school, Little Angels

International School, went to attend an art competition at the Mitaka

Fire Station. It was my first time to visit a fire station.

I was a little nervous about my first experience. We left the school

at 9:15 a.m. to reach the venue by 9:30 a.m. I was partnered with

my friend, Rei, from Year 4. We played a lot of games enroute.

When we reached there, I saw five bright red coloured fire trucks

and a red and white ambulance. I was a little nervous initially, and

then I was not, because we learned a lot of new things there.

We learned that they purchase a new fire truck every year. Then the

station chief showed us their new fire truck which they had recently

bought. I am interested in automobiles, you see, so this was all very

exciting for me.

Then we learned an important thing - how to use a fire extinguisher:

Step 1-remove the knob

Step 2- remove the hose

Final step-Press the handle down for the foam to come out.

Then two teachers tried it – Mrs. Shibata and Mrs. Aparna. The

chief chooses a kid too, every year. This year they chose Aoi to try

out the fire extinguisher.

Then we started to draw. I was amazed when I saw a fire fighter

wearing a very thick coat on a very hot day. This was a fire proof

coat, which they use during the emergencies and rescue missions.

I learned a lot of things that day. That day was the best in my life.

Angels’ Herald_____________________________________________________________________________page 11

Dinosaur from recycled material - ES

Devil Island - ES

Map of Spain - ES Earth’s layers - ES

Japanese UNESCO sites - ES Crafts – Ruby Angels

Faces - JKG Geomorphology Diorama –HS

Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 4 Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 9

TRIP TO INDIA

Asahi Takeda (Y6)

This year’s Y5 and Y6 went to India from 27th January to 7th February. Our school, Little Angels International

School organizes this trip every two years. The purpose of this trip is to learn about a different country, their

lifestyle, culture, and history.

We started the trip on January 27th. Our flight to Delhi, India took eight hours. We traveled by bus to our hotel,

- Hilton Garden Inn. There were ten of us- eight children and two teachers. The children were Rena, Io,

Miho, Watoh, Tetsuhiko, Rino, Mira and me. We were

accompanied by Ms. Sanku and Ms. Deepa.

In Delhi, we visited the Qutub Minar. The design of the

monument was beautiful. Our guide, Mr. Hussain told us

interesting facts about it like who built it, why and how long it

takes to climb up. I was surprised that it was all made by hand.

Our stay at Pathways World School, Aravali was very good. The

students were very friendly. My buddy, Padmaja, was very

helpful and kind.

I really, really liked the musical performance at the Kingdom of

Dreams. The name of the show was “Zangoora”. I was surprised

that the performance was so good and wondered how they

practiced for it.

While I didn’t like my own presentation about Japan we made

at Pathways School, as I was so nervous about making a

mistake, but strangely the others liked our presentation.

After three days at the school, we went to Jaipur. We stayed at

the hotel Radisson Blu, Jaipur.

We rode elephants at the Amber Fort. The fort was very

high. I wanted to ride again. We also visited City Palace,

Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, and Jewelry Factory. I

really liked the Jewelry Factory. I bought some Jewelry

for my mother and me. Everything was so beautiful!

In Ranthambhor, we had an afternoon Safari. We

couldn’t see a tiger in the afternoon, but we saw lots of

other animals. We saw a few tiger cubs during our

morning Safari. We also watched a magic show at

Vivanta Hotel, where we had stayed in Ranthambhor.

In Agra I was interested in local shops. They were so

different from what we have in Japan! We stayed at

DoubleTree Hilton hotel in Agra.

Taj Mahal was beautiful. I’d seen it in pictures, but I was

very very happy to see it with my own eyes.

On the last day in India we watched a movie,

“Paddington 2”. I really wanted to watch it so I was

happy. We also attended a birthday party with Ms.

Deepa’s family. It was fun!

On our flight back to Japan, I thought the trip to India was good. I learned lots of new things in India. In

order to learn more, I wanted to go on such a trip again, maybe with my family next time.

CAPOEIRA Miho Hatanaka (Y6)

Capoeira is a Brazilian dance style martial arts with music and rhythm. There are many moves like dance

steps. The beginners start with learning Ginga, which is a basic capoeira walking step. There are instruments

used for music in capoeira. Some of these are:

Berimbau - A musical bow with strings. A long stick is used for playing the music. It is really heavy!

Atabaque - A hand drum. These drum come in many colours.

Pandeiro - A type of tambourine.

I learned capoeira for about five years and enjoyed it. You must try it at least once in your life!

PEARL HARBOR Watoh Doi (Y6)

Pearl Harbor incident was a Japanese attack on US naval ships on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. This ill-

fated event took place in the morning of Dec 7th, 1941, at 8:00 am. Japan’s Kamikaze pilots attacked Pearl

Harbor in their fighter planes called “Zero-sen”. In this attack US lost 2,390 people, 188 aircraft and 18 ships

were destroyed or damaged, and 4 ships sunk. Many believed it was an unfair attack because Japan had not

made a declaration of war on the US before attacking Pearl Harbor.

Japan attacked Pearl Harbor because of US intervention in Japan-China war. Japan’s strength was in short

scale conflict but the war with China continued longer than expected. Japan did not have lot of energy

resources to use for war. US stopped selling oil to Japan that was needed for its war against China. The US

condition to lift the embargo on Japan was to stop the war with China, end its alliance with Germany and

Italy and stop expanding its territories of its country called Manshu-Koku. But Japan did not agree to it. The

attack was planned and ordered by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and Prime Minister Tojo Hideki. At the time

of the Pearl Harbor attack, the president of USA was Franklin Roosevelt. In retaliation, after four years of

planning and preparation, the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs in 1945 on August 6th

and 9th respectively. Six days after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed, Japan accepted the Potsdam

Declaration on August 15th. It was 4 four years after the Pearl Harbor attack.

Before the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US and Allies made the Potsdam Declaration to

surrender unconditionally which if refused, would mean the complete destruction of Japan. Japan accepted

this declaration only after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

After the bombing and end of war, the US took over Amami Islands (Amami Gunto) and Okinawa to set

up General Head Quarters (GHQ), from where they ruled over occupied Japan. These islands were later given

back to Japan, though there is still a strong presence of American forces on Okinawa.

The USS Arizona, sunk during the attack, has been turned into a memorial of this tragic event. Pearl Harbor

attack not only destroyed American lives, but also the lives of many Japanese Americans living in America

at the time of the attack. These people were sent to concentration camps, simple because they were Japanese

and believed to have supported the attack on Pearl Harbor. After seeing so much destruction, Japanese chose

peace as their way of life.

Sato, a former Japanese PM, declared the three principles to be followed against the use of nuclear energy

for war by Japan:

1. Do not make;

2. Do not have;

3. Do not bring;

These principles have been followed by Japan and have become one of the principles of its constitution –

the renunciation of war.

Bibliography

Peter Chrisp, J. F. (2013). History YEAR BY YEAR, DK SMITHSONIAN.

Angels’ Herald_____________________________________________________________________________page 10 Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 3

LAIS AJINOMOTO TRIUMPH Nikolas Veal (Y9)

What I learnt from competing in the Mitaka Running Tournament on the 5th of May was that with the right

training and motivation you can achieve anything you want. I competed in the 800m and the 5000m against

adults and semi-professionals even though I was notified I was going to enter only two months before. I had never received any training everyday like these runners do, except for some

one-on-one training with Yusuke. For both Mayu and I, this was our first

official tournament. We did not know what to expect and I could feel the

butterflies in my stomach, nevertheless I decided to give it my best and ran

as fast as I could and despite having an under-age disadvantage I managed

to reach 2nd place in Mitaka with a time of 2 minutes and 20 seconds for

the 800m. I did not come first but I was proud that I had broken my personal

best by nearly 10 seconds.

Mayu did extremely well to come third in her divisions for the 1500m and 4th in the 100m. Overall, it was

a hard experience but rewarding in many ways. This is a good example that "Nothing is Impossible."

However, the tough part was having

to participate in the 5000m with less

than a 10 minute break after the

800m race in the sweltering hot

weather. Mentally and physically, I

was absolutely exhausted. In spite of

this, I gritted my teeth and managed

to push through, thanks to the cheering from the teachers, students and parents

who had come to watch and support both Mayu and me. I was not able

to break my personal record, however I was proud that I managed to

overcome the pain and help show the determination Little Angels

possess.

HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD Tetsuhiko Aramaki (Y6)

Earth Day is an annual event celebrated on April 22nd, worldwide. Now there are 193 countries celebrating

Earth Day. In 2016, Earth Day, Paris Agreement was signed by U.S. (United States), Japan, and some 120

countries. Earth Day is also celebrated in Tokyo, Japan. These are flea markets, shops selling non-plastic

things. The first Earth Day was celebrated on 22nd, April, 1970 in U.S. The reason for doing this is to learn

that we need to save electricity, which is one of the reasons for global warming. Global warming is heating

up of the earth’s temperature due to the imbalance in the greenhouse gases caused by fossil fuels. The years

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 recorded the highest temperatures in history. If we don’t stop wasting resources,

pollution, use of fossil fuels, earth’s temperature will get higher. Finally, we wouldn’t be able to live on this

planet. It is important that little by little, we make Earth a clean place to live. It is also important to work on

3Rs, which is reduce, reuse, and recycle. We would recycle things like giving clothes to our siblings.

Reducing using less of something like stopping use of bamboo chopsticks and starting use of reusable

chopsticks. Join in this movement to protect our earth.

LAIS PROJECT DAY

Wonders of the World - ES

Landforms - ES

Life cycle of a star - ES

Highlights

Bridge - HS

Adam Zidane – ES

Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 6 Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 7

OPENING MINDS, OPENING FUTURES Mayu Ono (Y11), Sho Ishizuka (Y10)

Taisei high school signed an agreement last year, which stated that Taisei High School will lend Little Angels

their spacious sports ground in return for an English exchange program in which LAIS students teach and

communicate in English with Taisei students.

Okada-san with our students

The interview of Taisei

School’s Principal, Okada-

san, went really well. He has

very positive energy, a great

sense of humour and he

knows how to make others

feel comfortable and relaxed!

Question 1: “How is your

school different compared to

other high schools?”

Principal: Our high school

has many students; 1398 to

be precise. We have 38

classes, and 36 different

types of club activities.

Students are allowed to

express their thoughts freely,

and that is why there are many club activities.

Question 2: “What is the secret behind staying positive all the time, even though teaching is a hard

vocation?”

Principal: If the Principal has a negative attitude, students would not enjoy coming to school. I want people to

feel happy, wherever they go, and in whatever circumstances. When I was 17 years old, I figured that there

are three main aspects in how one should achieve happiness. 1: One is able to do all the activities that one

desires. 2: That activity becomes work. 3: The activity brings a smile to people’s faces, and creates a warm

atmosphere. I believe that people always live to help others. I believe in the concept of “family first.” Helping

others is the only thing I want to do in life in the future, and nothing else.

Question 5: What do you think about learning more than one language?

Today, high schools in Japan have included English in their curriculum, however students just study for their

university test and forget everything after the test. Furthermore, students know and understand English but

when they try to speak in English, no words come out. Therefore, just including English class is not very

efficient if nobody can speak fluently. Hence, to change the education system, we added a new class called,

English speaking class. In this class, students focus in conversation rather than learning grammar.

Eventually, the society will become more global, not only in education, but also in occupation, economy,

interaction between people, and information, and people will start going out of the country. In order to help

current students to be ready for the global society, I believe the most important thing is to have the ability to

communicate in English.

Question 6: How is the relationship between teachers and students like?

In our school, teachers take good care of the students, and students can easily open up to the teachers. School

listens to the students’ ideas and opinions, and consider them properly without turning the deaf ears. I want

to make this school better together with my students and teachers.

Question 7: How do you want to let your school be involved in 2020 Olympics?

Our school is now working on with a 3R (Reuse, Reduce Recycle) project. Because I’m a member of Ministry

of Environment, we are planning to contribute in Tokyo Olympics by cleaning the environment and reducing

the garbage. In order to achieve the 3R, the school collects used mechanics and electronics, recycle the metals

and convert it into medals for the Olympic. I would like the students to be part of the Olympic, both as

audience and volunteers.

Question 3: Taisei High School has three main courses: college course; general course; and information

course. What exactly is information course?

Principal: In information course, we teach students to make posters by computer, make their own programs

using computer applications, and providing help to make them an expert in computers. By the end of the course

students take ICT Proficiency Test, and this gives students an opportunity to become a computer programmer

if they wish to. The main purpose of this course is to give out students with ability to use computers efficiently,

and foster the students to be capable in society today and in the future.

Question 4: How is the relationship between teachers and students like?

In our school, teachers take good care of the students, and students can easily open up to the teachers. School

staff listen to the students’ ideas and opinions, and consider them properly without turning an deaf ears. I want

to make this school better together with my students and teachers.

HOW CAN LAIS HELP JAPAN FOR THE UPCOMING

OLYMPICS IN 2020? Pranjal More (Y8)

Japan is aiming to attract 40 million tourists in 2020 when Tokyo will host the Olympics. Hundreds of

students are already seeking opportunities and preparing themselves to provide linguistic support as

interpreters or tourist guides during the international festival of peace and sports. The subject is now taught

in school from the age of eight or nine and remains compulsory for the next seven years.

University students and school teachers have been sent on trips abroad to learn English, and many

universities are giving language lessons to prospective Olympic volunteers.

Takumi Okado of Sano Educational Foundation who operates

Kanda University of International Studies said that “The Olympics

is going to be an outstanding experience for the students. They get

to take part in an international sports event,” Kanda will hold classes

to prepare students for volunteer positions starting in summer 2018,

with applicants expected have knowledge of sports and language

skills.In addition, Seven language schools — Kansai University,

Kanda University, Kyoto University, Kobe City University,

Tokyo University, Nagasaki University and Nagoya University — have joined forces to conduct special

programs biannually to get students ready for the opportunity.

Like these 7 universities there are also many other schools struggling days and nights trying to teach the

students English. We at LAIS are already learning English as our first language and it is not hard for us to

learn English like how the others are struggling; instead we can volunteer two hours a week to tutor Tokyo

adults, university students and high school students. This can be really helpful for japan. Moreover, middle

and high school students are already helping Taisei learn English for approximately 1-2 hours, this is a really

good step which LAIS has taken. We hope for the best in the future!

Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 8 Angels’ Herald______________________________________________________________________________page 5

WHY WE TEACH ROBOTICS Filipos Balasis, Robotics Club Teacher

Who doesn’t like robots? Definitely not the kids. When

I see the excitement on my students’ faces in robotics

club, it brings to my mind all these nostalgic memories

from my childhood where I was thrilled at the sight of

any humanoid or animal robot in toy shops and animated

TV series.

There is something about them that makes them so

fascinating and it is more than just looking cool. In

science fiction and pop culture, robots are depicted as

really powerful beings that have surpassed their creators

and pose a threat to mankind’s freedom, or even

existence. In reality though, they are really useful and

necessary to our modern society as they are made to do

things much faster and more efficiently than humans.

Japan actually is in the forefront of this technology and

has the majority of industrial robots in operation today

(e.g. in a car factory).

Besides learning

about robots and see

the “magic” behind

them, there are other

good reasons to

teach robotics in

schools. Robotics is

a enjoyable activity

through which students can be really creative and

imaginative. Robotics is also a good way to introduce

programming and the concept of algorithm to students

since they need to control the robot after they finish

building it. Finally, it teaches them to be persistent in

solving problems and accomplishing difficult goals

because in most cases, no finished robot will work at once.

Students need to persist and fix the flaws in their design or

program through trial and error method, and this prepares

them for a real world situation.

Fun facts about robots:

The first ever concept of robot is mentioned in Greek

mythology where a “giant man made of bronze” is

used as a protector of Crete island from pirates and

invaders.

According to Guinness records, the largest walking

robot ever made is a dragon robot named Tradinno

that is used in a German theatre play. The smallest one

is RoboBee, a tiny insect robot that is smaller than a

fly and was made by scientists from Harvard

University.

Programming a robot is always challenging.

LAIS SKI TRIP Io Fukuda (Y6)

This year, our school went for skiing to Niigata

Jyouetsu Kokusai Ski Resort. We stayed for two

days and one night. We went there by bus. What I

liked in the ski trip was the skiing time and the

hotel.

During ski time, we started with warm up

exercises, practiced skiing for two hours, rode the

ski lift to mid-level ski slopes and finally, played

with the snowballs when our instructor was

helping someone in the group. I was surprised that

we did not wear our number vests like every year.

At the hotel we played many card games. My

roommates were Rei, Tetsuhiko, Watoh, Yuki,

Reito, Parth and Sora Mori. We played our card

games till quite late at night. We ate many snacks

in our room.

The second day of ski time fun too. We did the

same things as the first day. I had a great time with

my friends during the ski trip. I am looking

forward to going again next year.

CALLIGRAPHY CLUB Karen Fujisawa (Y11)

Japanese calligraphy, or shodo in Japanese, is an

artistic style of writing that has evolved in Japan for

hundreds of years and is taught in elementary schools

around Japan as part of the national curriculum.

From the year Little Angels started, we had the class

where we can learn Japanese Calligraphy during our

Arts and Craft`s class. We use the materials that has

been authorized; Calligraphy Brush, mat, paperweight,

and a paper. The class usually was implemented once

per month. Although, since 2015, our Arts and Craft`s

teacher, Mrs. Shiraishi established the official

Calligraphy Club afterschool. She teaches from

Monday through Friday depending on the student`s

schedule from 3:30 to 4:00. Students annually apply

for the Calligraphy awards and many students do

receive awards. Just by leaning calligraphy, it is good

for the student`s mental health. It consumes time and

energy but it helps the students to improve their

concentration and handwriting skills.

school. The students participating are from Year 1 up to Year 6. The goal in teaching students is to help

them find their own unique talents through dancing, and most importantly to let them enjoy life after school!

LAIS DANCE CLUB Karen Fujisawa (Y11)

LAIS Dance club was the very first club that was founded in Little

Angels which is managed by the students in High School. Currently,

there are 17 students attending the class every Tuesday and Thursday

after school. The club starts from 3:30 and on Tuesday, it ends by 4:00

and on Thursday it is until 4:30. Every year in May for the Fine Arts Day,

the students perform their dance show including the teachers, fascinating

the audience for 10 min on the stage. Other than the performance on Fine

Arts Day, the club participates on Halloween and in the Talent show at

TABLE TENNIS CLUB Asahi Takeda (Y6)

Table tennis is a sport that looks like a tennis

game. It is a game that we play on the table. Its

club is advised by Mr. Yusuke, physical

education (PE)’s teacher. We always have our

club activities on Wednesdays.

In table tennis, we have two types of racket.

One is called “shake hand” - because when you

hold the racket, it feels like shaking hands with

someone. Its merit is that you can use both

sides of the racket to hit the ball, but the demerit

is that it is heavier than another type of the

racket.

The other type is called the “pen holder” -

because when you hold the racket it feels like

you are holding a real pen. The merit of this

racket is that it is light, so it will be easier to

move the racket than the “shake hand” type, but

the demerit is that you can’t use one side of the

racket to hit the ball. If you use that by mistake

in the competition, sometimes it might make

you lose. Most people feel comfortable with the

“shake hand”.

If you learn the rules, you can start the game as

soon as possible. It does not matter if you are

good or bad at the game, as you can always

have fun in table tennis! The training in the club

might be hard, but when you get better at it, you

will be surprised and that is the reason for the

fun in the club!

Join the club! Learn, play, and win!