Location: Miyagi Prefecture
Participants: 89 campers, 4 LITs, 1 graduate, 32 care workers, 27 camp volunteers and staff (3 sessions total)
Dates: Session 1: August 7-11 / Session 2: 14-18 / Session 3: 21-25
Sponsors: Morgan Stanley, Adobe, KIWL, Public Resource Foundation, Avery Dennison, Equipment Japan, Patrick Achache, Tokyo Canadians Hockey Club
In-kind donors: Costco, Blue Owl Capital

Summer 2026 is officially behind us! This year’s Summer Camp welcomed around 90 campers from 9 care homes three sessions, each one built around five days of outdoor adventure and growth.

Session 1 welcomed many children from the Tohoku region, familiar faces we only get to see in the summer, from care homes we’ve partnered with since 2013. Session 2 brought many new campers from a care home in the Kanto region that we reconnected with after losing touch during COVID. It’s always inspiring to see first timers with eyes shining at all the newness, and a willingness to try new things. Session 3 had our most repeaters and our oldest campers, many already in middle school, which meant countless opportunities to give them space to step up into leadership and role-model positions for the younger campers.

What Was New in 2026

• A Full-Time Program Manager
  Our new full-time Program Manager has given us a stronger core team behind each activity, allowing us to be more intentional in our planning, and spend more individual time with each camper. This also sets us up for scalable growth as we look ahead to welcoming more and more children.
  
  
• Safeguarding Improvements
  After the first official implementation of our new safeguarding policy last year, we received feedback and made effective changes this year, including  info sessions with care workers on safeguarding guidelines, a core staff training session incorporating content from the Children and Families Agency, a deep risk assessment for every single activity, and an even stronger response system.
  
  
• Special Focus on Middle Schoolers
  The transition through middle school and high school is a key phase for the children we support, and we want to encourage them to keep using Mirai no Mori as a resource no matter how busy their lives get. With this in mind, and with an eye toward their path from camper to LIT to graduate, we were intentional about giving them special attention, such as assigning leadership tasks and having deeper, fruitful conversations about their current life stage, goals and struggles.

Activity Highlights

This year, the weather had other plans for us, and we weren’t always able to run activities exactly as scheduled. It turned into a good reminder of nature’s unpredictability, and a chance for everyone, staff and campers alike, to stay positive when things changed. Here are some of this year’s activity highlights. 

Stream Hike

This 8km hike is both physically and mentally challenging, with a different layer of growth for every camper. Those who love the water take on extra climbing and jumping challenges, and often find themselves helping the more nervous campers. Those who are less sure about the water find their own courage, while problem-solving their way to different paths through the stream. For everyone, it becomes a new way to connect with the people around them, a moment of self-discovery, and practice handling big new emotions. It’s a highlight for so many campers every year, and they’re always so proud of themselves at the end, as are the care workers who watch campers of every age exceed their expectations.

“I didn’t jump last year at stream hike, but this year I jumped from level 1, and next year I want to try level 2! I chose to work on the value of courage today, so even though it was scary, I’m happy I pushed through.” by camper, grade 3

“I’ve been to Summer Camp many times, but this year due to the rain, the stream water level was high so we played in a brand new spot. It was so fun going down the waterfall slide, and rock climbing until the jump spot!” by camper, grade 6

Outdoor Cooking

This activity is about cooking a full menu together: a whole chicken with vegetables and apple crumble for dessert, both cooked dutch oven style. Campers split into four teams- Chicken, Vegetable, Apple, and Fire. From the very start, it’s a learning experience. We do not assign the teams, but rather give the opportunity for campers to choose for themselves, experiencing the kindness of giving up one’s spot for someone else, or the leadership it takes to gather people together.
From there, it’s about responsibility, completing your role in getting dinner ready. For many campers, this is their first chance to help out in a kitchen, and we make sure to have trained staff and safety procedures in place to make this possible. Everyone celebrates together over dinner, with each chicken coming out with its own flavor, every vegetable getting cut its own way depending on what each team of campers prefers. This provides children the chance to see their own work reflected in the meal, feel proud of it, and sometimes learn what they’d do differently next time.

“It was my first time touching a raw chicken and learning how to prepare it from scratch- my hands even got tired from all the massaging!” by camper, grade 1

“I originally wanted to be in team Apple to make the dessert but I gave up my spot to others and joined team vegetable which was harder than I thought. We cute different kinds of vegetables and I wanted to challenge myself to cut the onion really small.” camper, grade 3

World Tour 

Diversity is one of Mirai no Mori’s core tools, and World Tour is one of the ways we bring it to life at camp. We’re lucky to have volunteers with all kinds of backgrounds, travel experiences, and hobbies, and this is their moment to share it. Each staff member chooses a country, prefecture, or state to represent, building an activity around their own personal story while introducing campers to something new, sometimes through music, traditional games, language, or sports. We’re always so fulfilled when campers and care workers walk away from this activity with their minds opened to a new way of thinking, acting, living, or speaking, curious to travel and learn even more. We close out the activity with a World Snack Tour, sampling snacks from different countries, a whole spread of new tastes and palettes.

“It was interesting to hear how the camp staff learned so many languages. Maybe I will try to learn a new one too.” camper, grade 4

“I tried vegemite from Australia on a cracker for the first time and I have never tasted or seen anything like it!” by camper, grade 4

“I tried on clothes from the Netherlands, the shoes were so hard to walk in!” by camper, grade 3

Molympics

The Mirai no Mori Olympics, or Molympics, is all about teamwork, featuring a variety of games that call on different skills but really test sportsmanship and communication. There are active physical challenges, English challenges, and thinking-and-drawing challenges, and different campers get their own moment to shine and contribute points to their team, learning what it really means to work toward one shared goal. Even the care workers get in on it with their own team, and many times have even more fun than the children! It all wraps up with a special ceremony, complete with a first-place trophy and awards like Best Camp Spirit, Best Teamwork, Genki-est, and Creativity.

“My team won Molympics and I will never forget it! As I really like sports, although I was shy, I shared my tips for active games and it was worth it!” camper, grade 4

“During one of the relays, my team was the last one and everyone gathered around to cheer us on until we crossed the finish line. Even though part of me wanted to give up, everyone’s kindness helped us keep going.” by camper, grade 6

Campfire

We close every session with a special campfire on the last evening. LITs light the fire, we sing camp songs together, and then one by one, every participant shares a reflection about camp, such as their most impactful activity, or a memory that stuck with them. Campers always manage to surprise the adults here, showing just how much they’ve grown or how deeply they are able to reflect no matter their age. Some campers who couldn’t bring themselves to speak in front of the group two or three years ago spoke for the first time this year, a true testament to their growth in confidence.

“I’m usually not good at making friends, but I surprised myself this Summer Camp. From helping out in the kitchen, to Capture the Flag, to the stream hike, I made so many fun memories with new friends, even though it was my first time. I hope I can bring this courage back home and stay connected with the people I’ve met through Mirai no Mori.” – camper, grade 6

“I remembered the campfire songs from last year much more than I expected, and it was so fun to sing them again loudly with so many people.” by camper, grade 6

Closing Ceremony

Following our Adventure Wave experiential learning structure, we ensure a strong close to camp on Day 5 at the Closing Ceremony. After reflecting on their growth at camp, campers choose one of our five camper values (courage, kindness, leadership, respect and responsibility) to keep working on in their daily lives, and take home a keychain of that value as a special reminder. 

“I want to work on my courage when I go back to school. Even when I know the answer, I am usually too nervous to say it out loud, and I want to try speaking up.” by camper, grade 7

“I tend to only think about myself and I’m not always kind to other people at the care home, so I want to work on taking care of others.” by camper, grade 2

“I would like to focus on respect when I am back home. Even when there are people with different opinions than me, I want to listen and be kind” by camper, grade 2

Additionally, one or two campers per session received the Camper of the Camp award, a very thought-out recognition for those who showed growth across all the values and truly embodied the spirit of camp, announced with a certificate.

New this year was the Last Camp as a Camper certificate, given to campers in their final year of middle school. To come back to camp in high school, they’ll need to return as an LIT, so this certificate was our way of both encouraging that lasting connection to our community and celebrating the journey they’ve had as campers so far.

This Summer Camp was made possible thanks to the support and dedication of volunteers, care workers, sponsors, and in-kind donors:

Together, we are building a community that empowers every child to take their next step forward with confidence!