Japan—Theatre, Language and Culture

Locations: Tokyo and Sado Island, Japan

Dates: June 1 - June 15

Credits Offered: 6 credits

• JPN 42130 (3 credits)
  fulfills a 400-level elective for Japanese minor
• THEA 39718 or JPN 30301 (3 credits)
  fulfills a 300-level elective for Theatre majors and minors or 300-level elective for the Japanese minor

Application Deadlines: Please check back in September 2023 for 2024 deadlines.

Program Fee: $2,445 (estimate) includes housing, program activities, some meals, transportation associated with program activities in Sado, and international health and travel insurance.

Tuition and airfare are not included in the program fee.

Travel: Students are responsible for arriving at their study abroad location by the first day of the program; this may mean flying the day before.

Payment Schedule: $350 application fee and deposit is due on or before April 7 of the program year. The program deposit is due after acceptance to the program has been confirmed via email by our office.

Program fee balance $2,095 (estimate) is due on or before March 31 of the program year. Payments must be made with certified check or money order. No cash, personal checks, or credit cards. Payments should be made at the Office of Education Abroad during office hours. View our How to Submit Payments page to learn more.

Students are responsible for meeting the payment deadline regardless of funding source: eg. Macaulay Opportunities Fund, scholarships, loans, or any other type of financial aid. Late fees will be applied to all delayed payments.

Financial Aid: Please be sure to meet with the Financial Aid Office to discuss your particular financial aid package.

Scholarships: In addition to the Gilman Scholarship,* students should visit our Scholarships Page for more opportunities. Students interested in applying for the Gilman scholarship should email Stephen Lassonde at ops@hunter.cuny.edu.

Students must attend a class meeting in New York in May.

This program offers students two courses in a two-week trip to Japan, to study Japanese language and culture while also learning about Japan's unique traditional theater forms. The course begins with a brief stay in Tokyo, where students will get an overview of the city and take a workshop with a traditional Japanese kuruma-ningyō (or cart-puppetry) performer, see a kabuki performance, and make connections with Japanese college students of Meiji Gakuin University. Students will then take a train and a ferry to Sado Island, where the main part of the program takes place.

Sado is a beautiful, remote island off the west coast of Japan. It is a rural environment, still steeped in local agricultural traditions, and it is home to many wonderful performance traditions. In Sado, students will participate in numerous activities where they will have a chance to practice basic language skills at various levels of proficiency (with relevant vocabulary and sentence lists given out daily), while connecting with local residents.

The trip will be led jointly by Professor Akiyo Furukawa, from Hunter College's Japanese Studies Program, and Professor Claudia Orenstein, from the Hunter College Theatre Department. Professor Furukawa, a native of Japan, has been teaching Japanese language at Hunter for eight years and has also trained in Noh theatre and Taiko drumming. Professor Orenstein specializes in Asian theatre and has been teaching about Japanese performance traditions in her various classes at Hunter for over twenty years. Her research also focuses on puppetry traditions in Japan.

Activities will include a visit to a rice farm, a cooking class with local residents, a visit to the local high school, and participating in the lively local Matsuri or town festival, with its delicious street foods and vibrant entertainment. Throughout the trip, students will also be seeing performances and taking workshops with professionals in traditional Japanese theatre forms, including Noh, Joruri (puppet theatre), and Oni-daiko, a local Sado folk tradition that includes masked dancing and taiko drumming.

Prerequisites:

• Applicants must fulfill Hunter's general eligibility requirements.
• ENGL 120. Prerequisites for existing courses may be adjusted or waived with the approval of the academic department/college if appropriate. If the required prerequisites do not appear on your transcript, you may contact Professor Furukawa for a waiver form, which should be submitted with your transcript as part of your application to the Office of Education Abroad.

Credits & Grades: Students in this program will receive both course credit and letter grades. Grades will count toward their Hunter GPA.

A taraibune boat leaving a dock on Sado Island, Japan.   Credit: Yoshiyuki Ito, CC