The Internship Support Grant, sponsored by the Japanese Program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, enabled an American student to have a life-changing experience in a remote town in Japan this summer. The grantee, Bryant Lam (’25), spent the month of July engaging in various community support activities in Kihoku-chō, Mie-ken. Among his tasks was helping prepare for the town’s renowned lantern and fireworks festival, held on July 27th, which attracted tens of thousands of people from all over Japan.
The grant, the first of its kind in the Japanese program, was made possible through donations from alumni and supporters. In addition to subsidizing airfare and housing, the grant program assists in securing internship placements. “Although everybody knows that internship experiences are crucial for finding a job, it is not so easy to have for students of Japanese,” says Prof. Reiko Sono, who coordinated the grant program. “Needless to say, to do an internship in Japan, you first have to get there, which costs around $2,000. Because the concept of internships is just beginning to seep into the corporate world there, however, not many companies are willing to pay interns, let alone cover their travel costs. This is why we haven’t been urging our students to do internships in Japan until now. With today’s tough job market, however, we can’t just sit back anymore. There are many ways our students can contribute to society with their expertise in Japanese language and culture, but they cannot always expect someone to offer them a position. They need to be creative about it, and to be creative, they need work experiences. As providers of knowledge about Japan, we want to help them gain those experiences however we can.”
With the grant, Lam, who had never been to Japan before, bought airplane tickets and arrived in Kihoku-chō in early July. Although he was accepted at a web design company called DGreen, he mostly worked for the local community, helping with tours, interacting with elementary school students in an after-school program, and preparing for the lantern festival. Because Kihoku-chō is an idyllic coastal town with a population of 14,000, he felt lonely at times, but the locals were “extremely friendly and kind” to him, and he enjoyed interacting with them sincerely. “Something that surprised me,” says Lam, “is how welcoming everyone is, despite me being a foreigner. I have always heard stories of xenophobia in Japan, but I did not experience this at all. As long as you’re willing to learn and appreciate the culture and customs, people will treat you as an equal.”
Lam’s presence was appreciated by the people in Kihoku-chō as well. “Because he has such a friendly personality, everyone really liked him,” says Mr. Jo Higashi, the CEO of DGreen. “Our town is so small and remote that children here don’t have many opportunities to interact with people from outside Japan. They were so excited to have Bryant at their after-school program. It was a good experience for us, too. We had had interns from other parts of Japan before, but never from abroad. Having Bryant allowed us to recognize some interesting cultural differences firsthand.” Like many other local towns in Japan, Kihoku-chō is facing a serious population decrease problem and is vigorously exploring ways to develop sustainable tourism. They hope to continue accepting American students to help work toward that goal.
Given the success of this first attempt, the Japanese program is now applying for several grants to sponsor more students for internships in Japan next year.