The Global Education Center organized a short-term program entitled “Kobe Japanese Program January 2025: Explore Kobe and its links to Oceania!” The program was held from Tuesday, 7 January to Tuesday, 28 January 2025. This is the sixth time the program has been held. Students studying Japanese at universities in Australia and New Zealand were recruited, and 19 students from four Australian universities (Griffith University, University of Western Australia, University of New South Wales, and Monash University in alphabetical order) and four students from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand were accepted. The largest number of participants to date, 23, took part.
On the first day, Tuesday 7 January, an opening ceremony, orientation, and a welcome party were held, and the participants started their Japanese language lessons on the following day, Wednesday 8 January. On the afternoon of the 8th, an exchange meeting was held, attended by more than a dozen volunteers from Kobe University student body. Some international students went out with the students they met at the exchange meeting on their days off, further deepening their exchange during the program.
The program is designed not only to improve Japanese language skills but also to deepen understanding of Japanese society and culture through classes on regional studies in Kobe and Hyogo. While learning Japanese using original teaching materials developed for this purpose, the students visited areas such as central Kobe (Motomachi and Sannomiya areas), Rokko and Maya (Suidosuji shopping area), Himeji Castle and Arima in their area studies classes, learning about the history and characteristics of each area in depth through lectures and interpretation in English. The tour of Himeji Castle and the ryokan in Arima allowed them to experience Japanese history and culture, while the tour of the Kobe area and Suidosuji shopping arcade taught them what they could not learn on a sightseeing tour, and their eyes lit up with joy. They also learned about the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, which occurred 30 years ago this year, through a tour of Kobe by Dr. Jong Woo Park of Global Education Center, who experienced the earthquake, and a lecture by Dr. Aiko Sakurai of Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies, who specializes in disaster education, and a visit to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. All the students showed great interest regardless of whether they had experienced earthquakes.
On Saturday 18 January, an optional tour of the Sawanotsuru Museum was held again this year, attended by the program participants, voluntary exchange students, and domestic students. At the museum, they were given a guided tour by Mr. Makino of the museum through an English interpreter, on traditional sake brewing methods and the special features of the area known as Nada Gogo. The participants eagerly listened to the explanations and toured the museum, a traditional sake brewery, with great interest.
On Tuesday 28 January, the last day of the program, the final presentation was held and the participants gave presentations in groups of three or four in Japanese. The themes ranged from topics related to the program, such as area study classes and favorite things they found in Kobe, to favorite places in Japan and “En (connection)” formed through studying Japanese. Guest speaker Mr. Toshikazu Ota, President of the Kobe Japan-Australia Society, gave a few comments after the presentations by the participants. It was impressive to see the participants, who had been a little nervous on the first day of the program, speaking in Japanese in a dignified manner during their presentations. Afterward, certificates of completion were awarded, and a farewell party was held. At the farewell party, the students looked at photos taken during the program on the screen and talked about their memories. Two exchange students from the University of Wollongong, who participated in the program last year and are currently studying at Kobe University, also attended the farewell party and spoke about their life as exchange students at Kobe University.
As in previous years, the Collaboration Room and Innovation Studio of the Natural Sciences Library were used as classrooms and as venues for the opening ceremony and final presentation. Studying in an environment where ordinary Kobe University students also came and went, the participants must have had a concrete image of life at the University.
We hope that, as the students from the University of Wollongong mentioned above, the participants of this year's program will return to Kobe shortly.
In addition to the people named above, the program also benefited from the help of other ‘former international students’ living in the area, such as Mr. Chulwoong Park, who runs a guesthouse in the Rokko/Maya area; Ms. Ramiya Kanai, the proprietress of the long-established ryokan Goshobo in Arima; and Mr. Herinean Andrei, who acted as interpreter in several area studies classes. (Ms. Kanai and Mr. Herinean are alumni of the University). Four students from the Graduate School of Intercultural Studies acted as teaching assistants in the Japanese classes. We are grateful to all those who assisted in running this program.
Website for Kobe Japanese Program January 2025
(Global Education Center)
