Сибирский федеральный университет

The event was organized by the SibFU Centre for Japanese Language and Culture, and backed by the Japanese-Russian Centre for Youth Exchange.

During their joint program with SibFU students, the visitors gave origami and calligraphy workshops, talked about using Japanese paper in the past and modern days, and led discussions on such topics as “stereotypes about Russia”, “my career” and the like, where everybody could have their say.

In their turn, students of the Japanese-English department at SibFU School of Philology and Language Communication presented the history of traditional cuisine of those multiple nations living in Russia. SibFU teachers gave language classes in Russian and Japanese for the visitors.

The head of the Centre for Japanese Language and Culture Ekaterina Efimova said: “It is not uncommon for us to host people from Japan, but each time it is all different. This group has come to see the way Russian students live and study here, and some of the visitors have been learning Russian for 5 years. The level of their proficiency in Russian is really different, but the common ground is their high interest in our country. Together with the Japanese-Russian Centre for Youth Exchange we are now considering sending a delegation of Russian students to Japan and thinking of the criteria upon which the candidates should be chosen. These Japanese students, for instance, have been selected after writing an essay on the reasons why they would like to visit Russia”.

Yotaro Hoshijima, a linguist-to-be from Osaka University, has shared his feedback: “I am impressed with the size of the university campus – it looks just as large as whole Russia. In japan we are limited by the territory, so nothing can be of such great size. I am also happy with the friendly welcoming. All students around are ready to help with whatever questions and talk on various topics. This is a great way to practice Russian which I have been learning for two years”.