To celebrate 40 years of the Sister Province relationship between Yogyakarta and Kyoto, Japan, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) organized a Japanese Speech Contest with an open theme. This allowed participants, who were active UGM students, to deliver speeches on a variety of topics. The competition took place on November 15, 2024, in Multimedia Room 1, located on the 3rd floor, North Wing, of UGM’s Central Building.
Putri Mega Asmarani, a student studying Japanese language and culture in the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture of Cultural Sciences at Universitas Gadjah Mada, won second place in the Shodo (Japanese calligraphy) competition held during the Unsoed Japanese Festival. This festival was organized online by Universitas Jenderal Soedirman, with the winners announced on October 20, 2024.
On Saturday, October 19, 2024, Evelin Oktafianny, a student of the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada, won first place in the 21st Kanji Cup competition held at the LP3M Building of Universitas Negeri Surabaya. This competition was aimed at Japanese language learners, particularly those in higher education institutions or general Japanese language schools.
On September 13 and 20, 2023, the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Faculty of Cultural Sciences held a Workshop and Sharing Session titled “Job Readiness of Graduates from the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program.”
The event featured four speakers: (1) M. Tanfidz Tamamuddin, S.S., an alumnus working in the creative industry as a comic artist and scriptwriter; (2) Fath Yustia Hendrawan, S.S., an alumnus working in oral and written translation of Japanese; (3) Sekar Kinasih, S.S., MAPS., an alumnus who is pursuing a master’s degree with a scholarship; and (4) Irwan Hermawan, S.E., M.M., a guest practitioner who works as both an academic and entrepreneur. The four speakers shared their experiences and inspirational stories about preparing for a complex, competitive, and professional job market.
Students from the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Faculty of Cultural Sciences have once again proven their excellence. This achievement was accomplished in a competition held by the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program at Diponegoro University, Semarang, as part of the Orenji event on November 5.
Lulu Nabiha Nurilailati, a student from the 2020 cohort, secured first place in the Shodou (Japanese calligraphy) competition. Meanwhile, Anadia Sabrina Sucianastasya achieved third place in the Japanese Speech Competition for university students.
On Tuesday, February 13, 2024, from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM WIB, the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture at Universitas Gadjah Mada held a public lecture titled “Will Japan become a ‘normal country’?: Changes in The Defense Debate Before And After the Outbreak of The Ukraine War,” presented by Asst. Prof. Masato Nakahara, a researcher and lecturer at the Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies at Kobe University. This public lecture served as an opening for the even semester of the 2023/2024 academic year and was attended by lecturers and students from the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture, as well as students from outside the program interested in Japanese-related issues.
On Monday, February 26, 2024, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM WIB, the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture held a casual in-person discussion on the topic of “Current Conditions in Japan” with Dr. Aoyama Toru, an Emeritus Professor from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. The discussion was attended by lecturer and active students from the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture.
On Thursday, February 22, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM WIB, the Bachelor Program in Japansese Language and Culture held an Educational Collaboration event with Ferris Women University (FWU) from Yokohama, Japan. This cultural exchange activity was attended by Dr. Sato Akira, who served as the accompanying lecturer, along with three students from FWU, as well as faculty and students from the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program. After a welcoming event led by Dr. Tatang Hariri, M.A., the head of the Bachelor Program in Japansese Language and Culture, the FWU lecturers and students entered the classroom to engage in discussions and exchange information with UGM students.
The Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture accepted Mr. Yuki Murakami, a Master student of Development Economics Program from Kobe University as an intern student. The internship lasted for 16 days from February 13 to 29 with Dr. Masato Nakahara as her supervisor.
During his internship at Universitas Gadjah Mada, Mr. Murakami participated in several academic activities including being a teaching assistant in class, correcting practice questions, and participating in study program academic activities. As a teaching assistant, in the Conversation Japanese class, Mr. Murakami explains and practices how Japanese people speak well and naturally as well as basic knowledge to Japanese speaking habits. Next, in the History of Japanese Thought class, he helped the lecturer explain how Japan found a solution to be able to catch up with other countries after the implementation of sakoku (鎖国), which was Japan’s policy of isolating itself from the outside world.
On Wednesday, March 6 2024, the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture held a webinar entitled Webinar on Japanese Language and Literature. The webinar was attended by more than 70 participants, a combination of the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture students and students outside the study program who have an interest in Japanese Language and Literature.
The webinar was held in two sessions, with the first session by Dr. Mulyadi, M.A. as a lecturer in Linguistics at the Bachelor Program in Japanese Language and Culture and the second session by Prof. Mika Baba who is a lecturer in the Literature subprogram of the Undergraduate Program in Humanities and Literature from Tsukuba University.
