Happy New Year from Japan Study!

A Message from the Director

Happy New Year from the Japan Study offices at Earlham College and Waseda University. I am delighted and excited to present to you Japan Study’s first newsletter update. As I reflect on the final year of the decade, 2019 was a year of many firsts for Japan Study: the introduction of the new program logo; the inauguration of the Japan Study Alumni Network; the launch of the first US-based Japan Study Alumni Reunion; the kick-off of a Japan Study fundraising campaign to award need-based financial support to program participants; and the issuance of the first Japan Study-Jackson Bailey Endowed Travel Scholarship Fund made possible by a generous monetary gift by a Japan Study alumnus (the donor has requested to remain anonymous). Details of each initiative are included in this newsletter.

2020 represents the year that Japan Study celebrates 58 years of cross-cultural, cross-national education. Despite increasing competition in the global education market, Japan Study remains highly respected among our liberal arts college partners of the GLCA and ACM and a popular choice among students seeking a comprehensive curricular and co-curricular experience in Japan. Japan Study also continues to be the primary gateway for Waseda University students to experience a quality education and life in the Midwest at some of the finest liberal arts institutions in the U.S.

Collectively, nearly 3,600 alumni from Waseda University, GLCA and ACM campuses, and non-consortial partner institutions! To this end, Japan Study alumni are positioned to leverage its expansive base around the world to support each other, to inspire international educational exchanges, and to advance intercultural cooperation and understanding.

As we enter 2020, I am thankful for the opportunity to serve as Director of Japan Study for the past two and a half years with an amazing team of veteran and new administrative talent. I know that the success of the program rests with a team effort. I wish to thank the entire Japan Study team—staff, campus liaisons, and advisory committee members—for their dedication and commitment to Japan Study.

Collectively, we will continue to keep Japan Study a leading and accessible study abroad program to colleges and university undergraduates that will enhance and advance U.S.-Japan and global relations.

Alumni Reunions
In the U.S. and Japan

July 6 - Tokyo
August 24 - Chicago

On July 6, 2019, Japan Study held its annual Tokyo-based alumni gathering at the Someya Memorial International Reception Hall at Waseda University. 47 alumni, guests, past and current Japan Study administrators, and Waseda’s Center for International Education administrators—a record turnout! Notable highlights of the reunion include a toast by Masaichi Shimbo, 1980 Waseda alumni, to kick off the celebration, and a personal recognition by Dyron Dabney, Japan Study Director, of Michiyo Nagayama, Japan Study Program Coordinator, for her decades of dedicated service to the program and students.

On August 24, 2019 Japan Study alumni gathered in downtown Chicago’s Hilton Palmer House Hotel to celebrate the first alumni reunion in the U.S. Thirty Japan Study alums and administrators across many cohort years were in attendance for a festive evening of fellowship. Welcome remarks from Dyron Dabney were followed by reflections from past Resident Directors and participants of Japan Study. Japan Study was honored with a guest appearance by the Honorable Consul General Naoto Ito. Consul General Ito shared thoughtful comments on the impact and value of Japan Study to cross-cultural relations. All alumni participants and guests were offered Japan Study alumni keychains as a functional keepsake of their lifetime connection to Japan Study and automatic membership in the Alumni Network. The evening ended with a special thanks by Dyron Dabney to those in attendance to celebrate the first U.S.-based alumni reunion, and to acknowledge the hard work of the Japan Study administrative team who made the event possible.