Celebrating its centenary in 2021, J. F. Oberlin University where students can learn according to their own goals and interests and follow their hearts.
It is also an environment where students can acquire knowledge and experience across fields of knowledge, specializations, and even national borders.

Last autumn, a total of 40 people – 25 international students and 15 Japanese students – took part in ‘ Mt Takao Hike ‘!
This event provided an opportunity for international and Japanese students to get to know each other in small groups of five or six students each.

For most of the participating students, it was their first visit to Mt Takao. We interviewed Mr.Takaku and the international students who took part in the event. The content of their interviews will tell you what they liked about the event!

Mr.Takaku became good friends with a Korean student in the same group with whom he had an in-depth conversation.
They still go to Nakameguro cafés and Starbucks.
He says he was pleased to be part of this on-campus international exchange event!

Mr.Takaku is a member of the English track in the Global Communication Studies group. He studies Korean and Chinese in addition to English, and this event utilized all three languages.

“Many international students from China, Korea, and the UK participated in the Mt Takao hike. I was able to make use of the languages I had learned and it was a great experience!
I think it is a very valuable opportunity for Japanese students and international students alike.
It was a very valuable opportunity for both Japanese students and international students to teach Japanese which is commonly used in everyday life by international students. It was also a good experience for the international students to be able to speak with Japanese students in Japanese.”

Questionnaires were taken not only from Japanese students, but also from international students who attended the event. All students who responded to the questionnaire said they enjoyed the event!
Until now, it has been difficult to create opportunities to deepen international exchange due to COVID-19, but the students who took part in the event were able to rediscover the joy of being able to interact across borders!

Many of them also made new friends. There were Japanese and international students who became friends not only with other international students, but also with Japanese students.

Most of the participating students said that they would like to participate in such events again!
Student life will be richer if there are more and more opportunities to meet new people like this.

In 2023, we would like to organize such international exchange events more actively!
There are many things you can’t get from university classes alone. And for students who want to study abroad but can’t quite make it happen, we are preparing many opportunities for them to experience international exchange events as if they were studying abroad!

Please come and visit our upcoming international exchange events!