Intensive Japanese Language and Culture in Japan
Students are invited to travel with award-winning IU South Bend Professor Yoshiko Green to Japan in 2024. This program offers IU students a unique immersive experience in Japanese language and culture. Travel will be preceded by six class meetings in which students will discuss readings, hear lectures, and prepare for travel. You will spend two weeks, attending an intensive program of Japanese language at your own level. During the weekends, and in the final five days, we will visit culturally significant locations and experience real life in Japan.
In Japan, we will be based in Tokyo and also travel key historical Japanese sites including the Golden Pavilion, the bamboo forest of Arashiyama, and the mountain Fushimi Inari shrine and its 10,000 Torii gates in Kyoto. On weekends, and in the final week of the program, students will take part in cultural activities and visit relevant locations, both in Tokyo and other locations, such as Nikko, Kamakura, Nara, Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima etc.
The Japanese language part of the program will be based at our partner institution, JAPANSWITCH Japanese language School (Akihabara/Ueno, Tokyo) , a highly recognized school of Japanese for foreign students. It is located in the Taito ward, a major business and communication hub in Tokyo. The students participating in the program will attend the Japan Switch intensive program for two weeks, taking five 100 minutes classes every day, from Monday to Friday.
During their time in Tokyo the students will live in the Asakusa ward, in the old “low city” district, with many interesting attractions (just look up “Sanja Matsuri” on YouTube!). The Sanja Matsuri, one of the largest Shinto festivals in Japan, will be held during our stay in Asakusa. There we will also visit the Imperial Palace gardens, Harajuku, Akihabara and many other important sites.
If you are looking forward to improving your Japanese and experiencing Japanese culture, this is your program!
