A PARTY of Japanese exchange students is due to arrive in Tavistock this Saturday — the first students to arrive in the UK who experienced the huge earthquake first-hand.

The 13 students and their teacher will be staying with host families in the area during their week-long visit to Devon, which has been organised by Tavistock College.

The school has been running exchange trips with Japan for the last 12 years.?Head of Japanese at the college Crispin Chambers said he was delighted the visit had still been able to take place, despite the on-going problems besetting Japan.

'I am really pleased — it just shows how seriously they take the exchange programme, and the fact that the students' parents are happy for them to come over is very good,' said Mr Chambers.

He said that Tavistock College students had been in constant email contact with their Japanese counterparts since the earthquake and tsunami struck.

Kanto Daiichi High School, the college's host school in Edogawa city, Eastern Tokyo, wrote: 'The earthquake was very scary but we're all safe. 

'Thankfully, we're in the middle of spring vacation so there were very few students at school when it happened.

'As for the nuclear reactor, so far we're doing okay, although the constant stream of bad news and the speed at which the situation changes is making it hard to know if and when we'll finally start getting back to normal. 

'We're really touched to know that we have friends around the world wishing us well. It's made it easier to count our blessings rather than dwell on the difficulties we're facing. Please keep the people in Tohoku in your thoughts and prayers.'

Toru Tatsumi, who worked at Tavistock College for three years, emailed Mr Chambers: 'I felt a huge quake in my office on the sixth floor of my university building.

'The first earthquake lasted for two minutes and after the quake we had so many earthquakes every five minutes. It was very scary even if we didn't have any damage in this area.

'On TV I watched the tsunami was coming to the shore and hundreds of houses, cars and everything were being washed away. I was so scared.

'My parents and Rika's parents are also safe. They luckily didn't have huge damages, except some plates crushed on the floor from the cupboard and the goldfish jumped out from the fish tank.

'They suffer the power cuts — two to three hours every day — and shortage of the petrol and daily food.'