STUDY in JAPAN

Regional Internship Program for Career Development of Foreign Students in Japan

Kanto area

Implemented area：	Tokyo Metropolis, Kanagawa Prefecture, Ibaraki Prefecture, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, Yamanashi Prefecture, Niigata Prefecture etc. (Greater Kanto area)
Managing organization：	Japan Forum for Work Integrated Learning (WIL)
Universities participating in the program：	a total of 25 universities consisting of Ibaraki University, Kanagawa University, Keio University, Kokushikan University, Saitama University, Shibaura Institute Of Technology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Tokyo City University, Surugadai University, Seigakuen University, Chiba University, Chiba University of Commerce, University of Tsukuba, The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo Keizai University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo University of Science,Toyo University, Niigata University, Meiji University, Yamanashi Gakuin University, University of Yamanashi, Yokohama National University, and Waseda University.
Private companies participating in the program：	100 companies including KITO CORP., Canon Inc., Q.P.Corporation, KURODA ELECTRIC Co.,Ltd., Soken Chemical & Engineering Co., Ltd.,TOSHIBA CORPORATION.,Toyosystem Corporation, House Foods Corp., Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ., YAMATO TRANSPORT CO.,LTD., Ricoh Campany.,Ltd, etc.

Kanto area

The Kanto area is a vast area covering eleven prefectures: Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Yamanashi, Nagano, Niigata and Shizuoka. The area is a core of Japan which accounts for 40% of the total population, industrial production, commercial sales turnover and the number of businesses in the country. Also, world-leading technologies are accumulated in the area.

The area with Tokyo in its center, including Kanagawa, Chiba and Saitama, has a high economic concentration, while Tochigi with Nikko-Tosho-Gu designated as a World Heritage Site, Gunma with popular hot springs, Yamanashi and Shizuoka with a view of Mt. Fuji, Nagano which hosted Winter Olympic and Niigata as the largest producer of rice in Japan have thriving local industries and tourism based on abundant nature and local characteristics. This diversity truly represents the miniature version of Japan.

The area has a lot of universities where 54% of approximately 120,000 foreign students enrolled in Japan study. The area also has various companies from world-leading companies and venture companies with advanced expertise and technologies to companies utilizing the local characteristics, which can provide wide variety of career opportunities and make the area a center for Career Development Program for Foreign Students in Japan.

Outline of program

"Career Gateway to Asia"

"Career Gateway to Asia" is a program to provide courses to improve Japanese language and business skills, internship, job hunting support, etc. for highly capable and highly-motivated foreign students with a will to work for Japanese companies. An NPO, WIL, utilizes its know-how and network for internship program to provide education programs and lecturers, develop and coordinate the opportunities for education (university) and practice (company) and to meet the various demands from foreign students and companies.

■ Curriculum

・The four pillars for the curriculum of Career Gateway to Asia:

"Business Japanese education" to study Japanese necessary for communication and discussion in companies

"Japanese business education " to understand the cooperate culture and custom unique to Japan which is useful in actual business scenes

"Internship " to have first hand knowledge of a company and industry

" Job hunting support " by providing counseling and know-how

・ As courses are held basically at the participating universities, participating foreign students can attend on their own campus with no inconvenience. Also, joint lecture and event will be held to gather all the participating foreign students.

Picture of joint lecture

■ Support system for lecturers and foreign students

・Every lecture is given by a highly-specialized lecturer who have finished lecturer training program. Lecturer acts as a mentor to provide mentoring to each student (individual consultation on study and job hunting) and give fine support utilizing Web and e-mail.

■ Internship

Internship is implemented in a way that students can feel the actual business scenes in Japanese companies which they are interested in. Students are sent to companies while receiving classroom lecture and instruction from lecturers in order to reflect the experience in job hunting.

WIL supports the implementation and operation of internship through planning and holding of internship joint matching seminars and venture company exchange seminars, providing the internship matching system, "My Campus Web", etc.

Picture of internship joint matching seminar

Theme

Career Gateway to Asia aims to build relationship of trust brought by human resources who bridge Japan with other Asian countries through measures to nurture foreign students as a bridge and to help them obtain connections with Japanese companies.

Goal of human resources development

Human resources with motivation to challenge the world and global viewpoint who can understand culture and society of Japan and home country to acquire abilities to create new values overcoming those differences and who can bridge Japan with other Asian counties in business to play a key role in contributing to Asian industry as a whole.