Gillingham’s ‘Shōgun’ samurai

The history of the exchange

Gillingham was first twinned with Itō and Yokosuka in 1982, and at the same time an exchange programme was set up to strengthen the link.

Every summer four students from Medway travel to Japan, and after that, they host the four students from Itō and Yokosuka. 

For 2024, parents were asked to pay £500 towards  flights and activities. The rest of the funding is provided by the Medway Japan Friendship Association, the group that arranges the exchange each year. 

Sue Haydock is the chair of the Association.

When Sue answered her front door, I was surprised to see a mannequin standing in the middle of the living room dressed in full Victorian finery, including a corset, bustle and hoop skirt.

However, by the time I left, it made perfect sense that this Medway history buff is the person who has kept the Japanese exchange going since 2006. 

“Well, normally twinning between cities is based on a similarity: seaside towns or industrial towns or car plants or whatever. In this case, it's history.”  

Sue was mayor of Medway during the 400th anniversary of Will Adams building the first western-style ship in Japan. She was invited to visit and do a home stay. While she was there she was made honorary mayor of Yokosuka. 

“They treated me like royalty. I was there at the end of December, they asked me to be Father Christmas and hand out presents.”

She also got to take part in Shinto new year ceremonies, she said: “It’s the only place I’ve ever been where I was hit in the back of the head with a rice cake.” 

When Sue’s term as mayor was over, the group that was running the exchange asked if she could take it over. It was a daunting task, but she agreed. 

Sue’s home is full of souvenirs from her travels in Japan.

It’s also made a big impact on the people who’ve taken part in the exchange over the past 40 years. 

“I know of at least three of our exchange students who have moved out to Japan and started families there. ”

“Another one was an art student and his trip to Japan influenced his designs for dresses based on the kimono. It’s had life changing effects.”

How the exchange works

Oliver Miller, 18, took part in this summer’s exchange. “It was the best 2 weeks of my life. It's a life-changing experience.”  

The exchange takes place every August, with four Medway students flying out to Japan first. Half the students are based in Itō and half in Yokosuka. 

Itō is a coastal town which is famous for its onsen (hot springs) and picturesque landscape. Yokosuka is larger and more urban, and has all the bright lights and sushi bars you’d expect from a Japanese city. 

Oliver found it hard to pick just one experience he enjoyed the most: “It was crazy, they would take us to see the most gorgeous sight you’ve seen in your life, then get us back into a car and we’d go to somewhere even more beautiful.”  

What the students get up to in Japan is quite different to what you might expect from a typical French or German exchange. 

As well as exploring tourist sites, the students are asked to meet Japanese dignitaries and attachés from countries all over the world. 

To prepare for this the students are given an introduction in Japanese to memorise.  

“That really helped, it was perfect for all those moments. The committee knew exactly what we would be doing, what we'd be asked and we learned all the most important phrases.” 

Japanese homes are often smaller than those in the UK, so instead of staying with their exchange partner, sometimes students are hosted in home stays during their trip. 

Oliver stayed with three different families when he was in Japan: an older couple, a family with young children and a couple and their grown-up daughter. 

He said: “I loved all of them so much and it was amazing to get a variety of experiences.” 

When the Japanese students come to Medway for the second fortnight of the exchange, they usually stay with their exchange partner’s family. 

Ali and Doug Davis’ son Alex went on the exchange last summer. His exchange partner Shota stayed with them during the trip. 

Ali said: “He was really interested in learning about our culture. He was willing to try all of our food, I was a bit worried about that when Alex went to Japan!”

“We were really sad to say goodbye to Shota, he was a joy.” 

They told me his English was really good, but translation apps helped out when they couldn’t understand each other. 

“We were worried there would be cultural differences, but he fitted right in.” 

Although the students’ itinerary is quite full while they are in Medway, parents often put on extra activities for the Japanese visitors. 

Hosts are encouraged to show off what makes Kent and Medway special.

Oliver took a group of students to the Gurdwara in Gravesend. On one of their host days, Ali and Doug laid out a full Christmas spread for Shota, even in the August heat.  

Doug said: “We saw it like a holiday, we threw ourselves in and went on a lot of the outings too.”