Report on the 21 Tokyo Challenge

This summer, 59 students from the University of Washington (UW) implemented for the first time in Tokyo a three-week summer program called C21 Tokyo Challenge. 20 Students from Waseda University participated for three days of the program (from July 29 to July 31) and carried out a special weekend project with the students from the UW.

The first day of the project started with a lecture at Waseda University. Afterwards, Waseda students joined UW students at the Olympic Center for three days and two nights, where they spent in 10 different groups of eight students (six from the UW, two from Waseda) throughout the weekend.

In order to find “something which is a result of a fusion between the cultures of the US and Japan”, which is their assigned theme, the students took to the streets in Tokyo amid the scorching heat in groups, holding discussions. Thus they prepared for the presentations they were supposed to give on the third day. All of the presentations were very interesting, as the students directed their attention to various phenomena and deepened their understanding in the society, culture and history, including sushi, jazz, pop music, tattoos, and rap music.

The professors also participated as judges. At the reception, Outstanding Performance Award, Innovation Award, and Popularity Award (which is given to the group which proved to be the most popular among students via a student vote) were announced. Each of the students seemed to have felt a sense of achievement, whether or not s/he has received an award, and thus the three-day project ended. Many students, professors, and staff members from both universities who participated in the program gave favorable comments about the project, saying that the three days were truly meaningful.
(Miki Mizuno, C21 Tokyo Challenge Program Coordinator)
 

Excerpts from the messages from Waseda students who participated in the project:

- Cross-cultural communication with UW students was fun. I could talk with them on topics including not only cultural “fusion”, a theme assigned for the project from an academic perspective, but also daily matters such as daily life, student life, family, friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, shopping, music, clothes, movies, and apps. I was inspired by them, and am happy to have participated in the project as the time spent with students from a foreign country with different mother tongues and backgrounds was truly worthwhile. As we were divided in small groups, everyone had a chance to speak up, and I was happy we could share our opinions.

- Being provided a chance to conduct an interview on the street with the students from the UW and Waseda in groups was the most impressive. It was very fun to see the students learn the Japanese culture through me. It is very important not only to talk with each other but also to actually do something together. This way, we can get to know each other better and become good friends.
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- The professors from the UW talked to us from various angles about the theme and how to tackle the assignment. When it was time for the professors to give each of the groups advice, we (the professors and the students) sometimes clashed with each other hoping to gain understanding from each other. This was very new to me. The fact that the professors eventually understood us led to our confidence and sense of achievement. 
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- The assignment was more interesting with less restriction than I had expected, and truly required the originality of ideas. In addition, the style of the assignment in which we go out to town and gain information from there was very new and interesting. Furthermore, UW students were given a chance to explore Tokyo. The assignment was a very good idea.
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- It was not easy to tackle an assignment while exchanging opinions with the students from a foreign country; however, this became a precious experience for me. The largest fruit of this experience is that I could find many things in myself I should carefully rethink about.
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- As the number of UW students was larger than that of Waseda (2:6), it was a truly international environment and fun. As there was much time to talk with everyone, I could talk about various values and differences between the US and Japan, which proved to be quite stimulating. I was satisfied to have walked around Tokyo with UW students, and been given the opportunity to see creative presentations of various groups. Most of all, I became friends with many UW students, and am looking forward to keeping in touch with them.
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- It is a nice program.  For Japanese university students, we do not really have an opportunity to study with American students like we did in this program.  It was good that we spent lots of time with each other.  It was not just during lectures.  I could communicate a lot with the UW students and go to many places together.  I was able to learn how they think and take an action.  And it was interesting to see that sometimes they do differently from Japanese students.