Arts at HIS

Hokkaido International School is an international boarding school that doesn't only value the core academic classes. School can be a place to cultivate creativity, allowing students to bring out their uniqueness through visual arts, music, writing, and performance. We believe that all students are capable to grow in all areas of their life. The Arts are a huge part of being a Husky.

In high school, students may elect to take regular visual arts or one of the Advanced Placement options, while publications provides space for media arts such as photography, videography, writing, and design. Middle school, too, has options for visual arts along with design thinking and creative writing. All of our secondary students work at creative oral expression through HIS Reads. And at the foundation of our students, our elementary emphasizes creativity through visual and written expression and personal inquiry.

But of all the arts at HIS, music is our staple. Our music program is special because of where it leads. Each year (putting the pandemic years aside) leads to an end-of-the-year concert, sometimes held at Nakajima's Kitara Hall, other times hosted in our fourth-floor gymnasium—but always something to be proud of. Every year, students work on developing their singing, instrumental playing, or dancing skills. And for those who aren't in music or dance, they help make the backdrop for the show wonderful, from controlling the lighting to assisting with the flow of performers to setting up and resetting the stage. Each year over 90% of the students participate in some form in our end-of-year concert, making it one of the most unifying events at Hokkaido International School. 

Please enjoy learning about one of our Pillar Programs: the Arts, through the photos and posts below, or by exploring one of our past performances: Kitara "One". We know you will be as mesmerized as we are.

The Kitara "One" End-of-Year Performance