Study Abroad Programme Hōsei University

From September to February, 13 students from Hōsei University in Tokyo spent a semester abroad at Leuphana. Ryo Azuma and Hiroto Fukushima talk about their impressions.

The semester abroad starts for the students of Hōsei University at the beginning of September with the Language and Orientation Programme. In a 3-week intensive German course, the participants can prepare themselves for the semester. There is also a cultural programme to explore the campus, city and region, and the opportunity to meet many other international students from different countries.

At the beginning of the winter semester, international students can take part in the Opening Week and work in teams together with German students.

During the lecture period of the wintersemester, the Study Abroad Programme comprises 5 modules and a tutorial, which take place regularly every week. In addition to the on-campus courses, there are some full-day and several half-day excursions during the semester, to discover Lüneburg and Northern Germany.

Of course, a visit to the Christmas market is on the bucket list for the winter semester as well, and there are many student initiatives that invite students to take part in social events like board game evenings or movie nights.

The semester ends at the beginning of February, and when the exams are finished, students have still time to discover Germany on their own in mid-February before the group starts the return journey to Tokyo at the end of February.

During the lecture period, the students regularly attend a German language course every week (2x 90 minutes) and train written skills, reading comprehension, listening comprehension and oral expression. Leuphana students who are interested in a German/Japanese language tandem are welcome to contact the programme coordinator.

The module German Culture and Society is offered exclusively for the student group by Hōsei University. It introduces topics that are formative for German culture and social reality. Students acquire an authentic insight into contemporary German culture and social life and learn to understand its background. Among other activities, a visit to the Hamburg State Opera is planned for the 2024_25 winter semester.

On the other hand, the students from Hōsei University also take a look at their own culture together with Leuphana students in the complementary studies programme. Tea ceremony, coloured woodblock prints, porcelain, katana, bento box, mangas and fashion...Japanese art and culture is present in German museums in many forms. Students explore questions about the perception and reception of Japanese art and culture in German museums - always taking into account the different Japanese and German viewers' perspectives.

Leuphana College students who are interested in participating can apply by 7 October 2024 via a letter of motivation and take the course in module 21703000 Mediality-oriented approaches to the humanities.

In the module German Memory Culture, students from Hōsei University, together with other international students, get to know selected places of memory where the victims of the crimes of National Socialism, the Second World War and the division of Germany are commemorated. For example, an all-day excursion in the winter semester 2023_24 led to the Bergen-Belsen memorial site

Basic knowledge of academic writing in German is taught in an exclusive tutorial.

Furthermore, students can select additional modules in German or English from the entire range of complementary studies according to their individual interests. They can view the courses on offer before their arrival via guest access to the course catalogue in myStudy.

• Lübeck
• Schwerin
• Concentration Camp Memorial
• Hamburg State Opera
• Tea ceremony Museum of Arts and Crafts Hamburg
• Japanese/German dinner at the Mosaique House of Cultures Lüneburg