Ferris University, in partnership with the UP Center for International Studies (UPCIS), hosted the 2023 Short Stay Visit (SSV)/Exchange Program in Yokohama and Tokyo from January 30 to February 8. This year’s program, with the theme “Japan Studies Program as Liberal Arts in the New Era,” primarily aims to nurture global awareness by introducing aspects of Japanese culture and society to students from other countries. It is also the first in-person SSV since AY 2019-2020, when the pandemic forcedly halted the activity.
The Short Stay Visit/Exchange Program is an engagement conceptualized by Prof. Amparo Adelina C. Umali III, coordinator of the East and Southeast Asian Studies of UPCIS, and Prof. Chiho Ogaya, professor at the Department of Communication Studies, Faculty of Letters at Ferris University.
MA Ling student Patricia Anne Asuncion was among the seven students from UP Diliman who received a scholarship from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) for this ten-day cultural immersion. The group engaged in various activities such as attending orientations in universities, participating in group discussions, and visiting relevant cultural sites and institutions.
Student participants toured the campuses of Ferris University, Yokohama National University, and Japan Women’s University, all of which have existing memorandums of agreement with UPCIS. They also interacted with Ferris students during a whole-day intercultural class, which was comprised of lectures, presentations, and a bead-making workshop facilitated by three UP students.
Meanwhile, two activities were dedicated to learning about Noh, a type of classical dance-drama. The first one was a tour of the Yokohama Noh Theatre, and the second was a training with Noh Master and Important Intangible Cultural Property Holder in Noh Theater Umewaka Yasunori (Chozaemon Sensei).
The cohort was also given a chance to visit areas apart from Yokohama. They went to parts of Kamakura, including the vibrant Komachi-dori and the Shinto shrine Tsurugaoka Hachiman-gū, and Tokyo, specifically the iconic Skytree and bustling Shibuya district.
A week after returning from Japan, UP students met with their counterparts from Yokohama National University (YNU), who are currently in the Philippines to conduct their own research, at the UPCIS and presented their essays that examine what they learned from the immersion.
Patricia shared that she wrote about walking: “[Because walking] was what was constant during our 10-day short-stay visit (SSV), apart from learning and experiencing new things. But by “walking” I don’t simply refer to the act of alternately lifting and setting down one’s left foot and right foot. This SSV allowed us to walk distances, walk in different manners, walk with new friends, and walk into new places and possibilities.”
The participants received partial assistance from the MOVE-UP and Travel Grant programs of the Office of International Linkages (UP OIL). Visit their website to know more about the existing funding support for UP students.
Published by UP Department of Linguistics
