Applications are now being accepted for the University of Missouri 2014 Summer Japan Program. College and university students or graduates from any institution are welcome to apply for the program. Students begin in the Kansai region of Japan in pre-program activities in Kyoto, Osaka, Nara, and Wakayama. The Program then moves to a seaside youth hostel in Tokushima on the island of Shikoku. Then w
e travel to the small city of Iida in the mountains of southern Nagano Prefecture (site of the 1998 Winter Olympics), where students move in with host families and begin training in such traditional Japanese cultural activities as Traditional Bunraku Puppet Theater, Taiko Drumming, Traditional Kyudo Archery, Japanese Flute, Kendo, Aikido, Koto. Students will also study Japanese language and will have ample opportunity to practice their language skills with their Japanese host families and other members of the community. At the end of the program, students will performing at the Iida Puppetry Festival, the largest theater event in Japan devoted to puppetry. More than 250 puppet troupes participate for over 40,000 spectators. Program participants also will spend three days in a small village in mountains above Iida in houses from the 1800s, where we will prepare meals over an open hearth in the traditional style. Another four-day trip will take students to the coast of the Sea of Japan for a visit hosted by the city of Hakusan, sister city of Columbia, Missouri. Students have many free days to explore the mountains and streams, temples and shrines, shops and parks around Iida, or to make trips to destinations further afield. Applications are due February 17. No knowledge of Japanese is required for the program. For details on the program and application procedures, check out the University of Missouri International Center Japan Summer Program page at the following URL:
http://international.missouri.edu/study-outside-the-us/programs/detail.php?program=10015
If you are interested in applying or have questions, please contact Program Director, Prof Martin Holman at [email protected]
