International Exchange Festival "IMAGINE THE 海外(Kaigai)"

On December 1, 2022, the office of International Exchange Support, Student Support Center (Division of Student Exchange, Department of Student Affairs) held an international exchange festival "IMAGINE THE 海外(Kaigai)" at the University Hall.

We started the open call for students (presenters) to introduce their culture. We then received many applications from international student associations and clubs interested in this event. Eventually, we decided that the event would consist of booths (30th Anniversary Hall), presentations (Multimedia Room), and performances/workshops (Auditorium). Approximately 370 students and faculty staff, including presenters, attended this event.

17 international student groups, clubs, and organizations were in charge of the cultural introductions at their booths. Each booth displayed colorful traditional costumes, clothes, and accessories, which were a feast for the eyes of the participants. The presenters were pleasant to talk with and introduced their own culture and customs in a quiz format, and they very well received ingenious responses from the participants. In addition, participants not only had the chance to learn about different countries cultures but also to consider studying abroad in the future since we set up a study abroad counseling booth with staff from the Student Exchange Division and students with study abroad experience.
In the presentation section, students presented 13 programs. Topics included historical sightseeing spots, their home universities (partner universities), food and lifestyle, etc. Participants said they would like to see more presentations on various cultures.
The auditorium had performances with wonderful dances, songs, and powerful Japanese drums. The outstanding performances impressed many participants. We also had a salsa workshop attended by 25 participants, who were smiling and commented they had a lot of fun.

Some comments from the participants were: "we are grateful for this opportunity for exchange", "I hope this event will continue every year", "I would like to see more performances from various countries", "It was a wonderful event to learn about each other's cultures", and "I would like to see more variety of international exchange events".
This year's event was the first large-scale international exchange event to be held in a long time, keeping in mind the measures to be taken for COVID-19. We were impressed by many of the presenters' enthusiastic proposals from the preparation stage. On the day of the event, we were also overwhelmed by the brilliantly decorated booths, hospitality to the participants, wonderful presentations and performances, and the participants' positive attitude, making the day a reminder of the importance of face-to-face events.
We will continue to provide international exchange opportunities on our campus to promote one of our university's slogans, "Internationality as Everyday Life".