Hartselle High seniors Tiffany Pittman, second from left, and Julian Lucky, fourth from left, are shown with Hartselle Mayor Don Hall and interim Hartselle City Schools Superintendent Dr. Nancy Horton at a Daiken Homestay send-off celebration Wed., July 10. | Special to the Enquirer

Two Hartselle High School seniors-to-be are among 13 students visiting the homes of Japanese hosts this week as participants in the 2013 Daiken Homestay Program.

Julian Lucky is staying with the Hara family in Sakai-City, Osaka and Tiffany Pittman is a guest in the home of the Sugami family in Ashlya-City, Hyogo.

The Daiken party departed from Huntsville International Airport early Thurs., July 11, and will arrive at Osaka International Airport at 12:25 a.m. (CST) Fri., July 12.

The students are scheduled to tour Osaka Saturday and be introduced to their homestay families later that day during a meet-and-greet party at Daiken Headquarters.

They will spend in-home time with their student hosts Sunday and join them in celebrating Japan’s national holiday. The following day they will be greeted by Daiken’s management team and tour two Daiken manufacturing plants. For the remainder of the week, they have planned visits to several tourist attractions, including the Golden Pavilion (Zen Buddhist Temple) and the Fushimi Inari (Shinto Temple), both in Kyoto. They are scheduled to attend classes with their student hosts at Doshisha International High School Fri., July 19.

Besides the two Hartselle visitors, the tour group included Sam Breeding of Priceville; Taylor Hjelm of Lawrence County; Shannon Howes and Chris Kelley, both of Danville; Addi McNutt and Tiara Washington, both of Austin; Chris Joiner and Olivia Morgan, both of Decatur; Chelsea Phelps of Brewer; Allison Shull of West Morgan and Kersten Terry of East Lawrenece. Chaperones were Donna Banks of Brewer and James Walker of Austin.

Students were chosen for the honor of representing Daikin as ambassadors to Japan during an extensive application and interview process.

The group is scheduled to arrive back in Huntsville Sun., July 21.