2026.6.12 ”Cross-Cultural Understanding Collaborative Class (From the Job Hunting Seminar)”
One of the challenges many foreign nationals working in Japan experience is friction and confusion with Japanese people arising from differences in culture. In the Business Class, students learn about Japanese corporate culture, workplace customs, ways of understanding cross-cultural differences, and how to respond to them over the course of three lessons.
In the final lesson, Japanese guests from outside the school were invited to participate in a case-study session. Together, they discussed real examples of cross-cultural issues that occur in Japanese companies. Through these discussions, students gained new insights and a deeper understanding of intercultural communication.
For international students studying at a Japanese language school, opportunities to have in-depth discussions with Japanese people on topics like these are rare. Using the business Japanese they had learned in class, the students actively exchanged ideas and engaged in lively discussions.
Based on what they learned, each team presented an “ideal role-play” demonstrating what kind of communication could have prevented misunderstandings and conflicts before they occurred.
As a result, the students realized that although they understood the concepts in theory, putting them into practice was much more challenging. The class helped deepen their awareness of how both Japanese people and foreign nationals can build positive and comfortable relationships in Japanese society.
