High School Exchange Program
The high school exchange program is still on hold due to COVID-19. It is our hope that it will resume in 2023.
Since 1974, the Spokane-Nishinomiya Sister City Society has sponsored a large number of Spokane high school students for a 6- week summer homestay exchange program in Nishinomiya. The selected students, usually three per year, each live with a Japanese host family in Nishinomiya and leave Spokane in June. In exchange, the families of the selected Spokane students host one Japanese student from the same family in Japan for six weeks the following September and October.
Are you interested in the High School Exchange Program?
The Spokane-Nishinomiya Sister City Society pays 75% of the airfare for each selected Spokane student. The student’s family is required to pay the remaining 25%. Host families in Japan are volunteers, thus there is no cost for basic room and board for the selected students. However, students are required to have pocket money and may need to pay for incidentals such as entertainment outside the home or the Nishinomiya bus or train system to get to school, etc. While in Japan, American students experience first-hand Japanese family and school life as well as visiting several famous sites in the area such as Kyoto, Nara, Osaka Castle, Himeji Castle, etc.
This program has had a significant impact on many high school students in terms of their future direction, their world view, and their overall maturity.
Please consider supporting the program by donating. Thank you!
Student Stories
Hana Hill shares about her exchange experience in Nishinomiya in the summer of 2019.
Past Student Groups
2019 Students
2018 Students