New Mansfield Fellows Immersed in Japanese Language and Culture

August 10, 2017

Members of the twenty-second class of Mansfield Fellows have spent the last few weeks immersed not only in intensive Japanese language study, but also in Japanese culture.  The seven-week program in Ishikawa Prefecture is intended to strengthen the new Fellows’ Japanese language skills and introduce them to aspects of Japan’s culture, economy, government, and education outside Tokyo.  For the ten newest Fellows, this has meant classes in traditional Japanese arts and visits to solar and wind power facilities and an elementary school.  The photo below shows Mansfield Fellow Rodger Welding (United States Air Force) during a visit to Oura Elementary.  The Fellows also travelled to Noto Peninsula, where they attended the Issaki Hôtô Festival and visited the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art, the Myojoji Temple, the Keta Shrine, and Shiroyone Senmaida (rice terraces in Shiroyonetown, pictured above). Please click here to read an Ishikawa Foundation for International Exchange blogpost in Japanese about the Noto trip.  Later this month the Fellows will return to Tokyo for ten months of placements, further language training, and supplemental programs.