{"id":17210,"date":"2017-10-25T09:26:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T13:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/?p=17210"},"modified":"2024-07-03T19:51:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T23:51:59","slug":"historians-abroad-hands-history-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/2017\/historians-abroad-hands-history-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Historians Abroad: Hands-on History in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Historians Abroad: Hands-on History in Japan\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

In this post, undergraduate student Ken Yoshida tells us what it\u2019s like to be the first Carleton student to study at Okayama Universi<\/em>ty in Japan and what it\u2019s like to study history in Japan.
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\"Ken<\/a>
Ken Yoshida. \u201cMy time in Japan started at the beginning of April when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom in Okayama.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When student Ken Yoshida arrived at Okayama, Japan this past April, he was just in time to see the cherry blossoms and just in time to start the new school year.  Cherry blossoms, after all, signal a new start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken is the first Carleton student to study at Okayama University, a national university which has been designated as a \u201cTop Global University\u201d by the Japanese government. It is Japan\u2019s second largest university and its patterns and rhythms offer a marked change to studying in Ottawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, there\u2019s the different academic calendar. Okayama University operates on a \u201cQuarter System\u201d with eight weeks per quarter, and four quarters in one academic year.  Courses either last only one quarter or span over two quarters, but not for the whole academic year. The daily rhythm of classes is different as well. The university chimes its bells at official breaks, and to mark the beginning and end of each class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ken\u2019s class time is divided between Japanese language classes and a number of academic courses that have been created purposely for exchange students or for Japanese students who want to study in English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Ken, studying at Okayama has allowed him to participate in a ground-breaking course in East Asian urban history and to conduct field work in historic Kobe, Japan.  As a student in Dr. Yunlian Chen\u2019s \u201cUrban History of the East Asian Region,\u201d he is studying how both architecture and history can help explain the urban development of the region. The course includes obligatory field trips (referred to as \u201cfield work\u201d). Rather than write lengthy research papers or exams, students are assessed on their participation in these outings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His urban history class explored the port and foreign concession areas of Kobe. The class was able to view up close the architectural styles from the late Tokugawa and early Meiji eras and to explore the physical landscapes that emerged from these pivotal moments in Japanese history.  All the while, students were quizzed about the buildings and their evolving purposes. \u201cWe were able to see these historic buildings in person and to learn and discuss their significance,\u201d he notes. It\u2019s as though you could reach out and touch history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since all exchange students at Okayama University are required to enroll in a mandatory research course and to pursue a research project related to a Japanese topic, Ken took inspiration from his Carleton coursework. In the History department\u2019s second-year required course, the Historians\u2019 Craft, \u201cI learned that picture postcards, photographs or any visual material can be used as primary sources for historical research. I decided to research Japanese postcards and woodblock prints from the Meiji era.\u201d The project is in its early stages and will provide a focus for his work during the winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked about what advice he would offer to students considering studying abroad as part of their undergraduate History degree, Ken is unequivocal: \u201cJust do it.\u201d \u201c<\/em>No matter how much you Google about the country, the city, and the university, it is nothing like experiencing the location yourself,\u201d he notes. Despite facing the cultural, linguistic and other challenges that come with studying abroad, the experience and knowledge he has already acquired from his stay in Japan have been more than worth it. And he\u2019s only just at the midpoint of his stay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this post, undergraduate student Ken Yoshida tells us what it\u2019s like to be the first Carleton student to study at Okayama University in Japan and what it\u2019s like to study history in Japan. When student Ken Yoshida arrived at Okayama, Japan this past April, he was just in time to see the cherry blossoms […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,1,150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-news","category-undergraduate-news"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17210"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17216,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17210\/revisions\/17216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}