About 40 alums from Willamette University and Tokyo International University of America attended a reunion party on Saturday, June 14, in Tokyo, Japan.  The event was held at an Irish pub, Dubliner's, in Ikebukuro.  Attendees included a few regulars from the first ASP class in 1989, as well as students who have just graduated in the past couple of years, and everything in between.  Elizabeth Trayner, Director of Residence Life, Willamette University, and Gunnar Gundersen, Executive Vice President, Masaki Shimada, Director of Campus Life and Academic Services, and Barby Dressler, Director of University Relations/Special Programs, all from TIUA, flew in for the occasion. Other faculty members included Peter Harmer, Professor, Exercise Science and Department Chair, WU, and recently retired professor from Tokyo International University (TIU), Barry Duell.

It was great fun to see them interacting and networking with each other. As is typical in Japanese culture, after the reunion there was a second party, which also drew many of the alums, plus a few more! To see photos from the event, please click here.

Applications are available for this summer's Kaneko Day Camp (KDC), an annual event put on by the students and staff at TIUA. The KDC is a great way for children to get a small taste of Japanese culture.  This year's camp begins Monday, August 7 and runs through Thursday, August 7, 2014.

Camp begins at 8:30am and ends at noon each day, except for Thursday's camp which ends about 1pm. On Thursday, we offer a bento-style lunch for all campers, a chance for the parents to tour the classrooms, and a Japanese dance demonstration.

Campers are divided into groups of 10-15 children and they attend a variety of 30 minute sessions on origami, games and songs, basic language instruction, demonstrations, shodo (calligraphy), culture and dance.

Click here to read more, see photos from last year's camp, and access the application forms. There are also some scholarships available to families in need. Please read about those at the bottom of the linked page.  

Takahiro “Tanch” Hosoya, American Studies Program 2006, has already had some very interesting experiences in his life.  After graduating from Tokyo International University in 2008, he went to work for a Japanese company, but he really felt that he needed to see more of the world.  He had learned about international cooperation in the classroom, but wanted to experience what that was like out in the real world.

So after four years as a salesman, he quit his job and signed up to volunteer with JICA, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (http://www.jica.go.jp/english/index.html) as a JOCV – Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers. 

Tanch was sent to Mozambique where he worked on income improvement of small-scale farmers.  He worked with the farmers on rice production, beekeeping, and food processing technology, such as making jam.  He then organized markets for introducing and selling their products.

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