EIGHT students from throughout the region took off to Tokyo on Monday.

Erin Beak, Sam Bell, Fynn Collins, Mitchell Cooke, Bryce Cracknell, Wendii McIver, Mandy-Jo Morris and Rhiannon Ryan left Australia for Japan, to spend 10 days experiencing another culture through the Central Highlands Regional Council's exchange program with its sister city, Ichinoseki city.

The students, joined by their chaperones, Hayden Thomson and Fran Rofe, will spend their time sightseeing and staying with local host families as they visit schools, historical sites, parks and Hiroshima.

Bidding them a final farewell on Saturday, family, friends, council representatives and major sponsors attended a ceremony at Blackwater International Coal Centre, where the students introduced themselves to the audience in Japanese and then signed a code of conduct.

Mitchell Cooke said it would be his first overseas adventure, and he signed up for the opportunity after his sister Kimberley went on the same exchange.

He said all the students had created albums with photos of their family, and Australian sights inside.

"It's to show them how we live, and we put pictures of our family, our pets and culture," he said.

"It's a good ice-breaker on the first night we arrive.

"I'm looking forward to staying with the host family the most."

In recent years, Rhiannon Ryan visited Japan on an exchange with the Rockhampton Grammar School where she swapped a central Queensland summer for snow and Tokyo.

"It's a great experience, and I can't wait to go back," she said.

Deputy Mayor Gail Nixon said the students should be commended for their fundraising, and the local sponsors thanked.

"It's great to see the students ready to go overseas to such a beautiful country," Cr Nixon said.

Lioness president Shirley Pidgeon said the group had sponsored the exchange for "many years now", and it was wonderful to see the students heading away.

"We gave them a shirt to wear, and Dorothy and I do afternoon tea in the Japanese Gardens when the Japanese exchange students visit," Ms Pidgeon said.