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Study abroad in Japan summer program

The Sun cresting Mt. Fuji as seen from Tateyama, Chiba, Japan

Do you like Japanese anime, manga, games, and culture? Would you like to learn how Japanese people express what they and others have experienced literally, visually, and performatively, and how these representations shaped our understanding of such past events as natural disasters and wars? Then this course is for you!

Summer in Tokyo and Tateyama (Chiba)

In this action-packed study abroad program, you will visit such places as Asakusa, Ueno, Ginza, the Imperial Palace (former Edo Castle), Yasukuni Shrine, Meiji Shrine, and Harajuku (a youth culture/fashion Mecca) in Tokyo. You will stay in a hostel for three weeks in Tateyama, Chiba. Our hostel directly faces the Tokyo Bay and Mt. Fuji. We will have lectures and field trips to castles, museums, shrines, temples, bamboo forests, and abandoned military bunkers. You will interact with university students and locals by participating in rice transplanting, old-house restoration, traditional fan (uchiwa) making, and anime film viewing.This program includes cycling, fishing, hiking, and mountain climbing. We will have unique food experiences as well: seaside BBQ (local seafood and wildboar meat), pounding rice to make rice cakes (mochitsuki), Japanese cooking demo, and bento box meals.

2023 study abroad dates: May 8–June 1

Locations: Tokyo and Tateyama (Chiba)

Associated course: HIST 372A History of Japanese Popular Culture (4 credits)

Contact Professor Sumiko Otsubo, History, at history@metrostate.edu for more information.

Apply online.

This program is open for applications from Metro State and Minnesota State students. The program has an associated fee of $1,500 (not including course tuition, airfare, or personal expenses), and scholarships and financial aid may be available.