Dozens of students from a high school in quake-hit Ishikawa Prefecture have been welcomed at its affiliate in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo.

A welcome ceremony was held at the Japan Aviation High School in Kai City in Yamanashi on Monday for more than 50 students from Wajima City in Ishikawa.

Wajima is among the municipalities hit hard by the powerful earthquake that struck the Noto region on New Year's Day.

The Yamanashi school is set to accept some 600 students from the Ishikawa campus in April. So far, more than 50 members of the men's baseball club and the women's volleyball club have made a new start in Yamanashi, where they will continue their training.

At the ceremony, Umezawa Shigeo, the head of the Japan Aviation Academy, which operates the schools, told the Ishikawa students to put their minds at ease.

The captain of the baseball club, Hoda Ikkei, spoke as representative of the Ishikawa students. He said they will do their best to repay the debt of gratitude they owe to the many people who helped them. He added that he hopes to make new friends there.

The volleyball club captain, Kobayashi Yui, said she was relieved to learn of the support that was extended to them when anxiety almost dashed their hopes and dreams.

The school operator plans to build temporary classrooms and dormitories to accommodate the Ishikawa students, who will arrive in stages.