INDIANAPOLIS — Ten days. Three Japanese cities. 35 students. Countless memories.
This summer, nearly three dozen students immersed themselves in Japanese culture, marking the largest study abroad trip in Indiana University Kelley School of Business Indianapolis program history.
One of those students included Tanny Khun, a rising senior at IU Indianapolis studying marketing. With hundreds of university-sponsored study abroad experiences to choose from, Khun chose Japan for its innovation.
“Even in the marketing space, the Japanese are so advanced,” Khun said. “Their corporate culture is also different from the United States, and with an interest in international marketing, I thought this would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
Students traveled to three Japanese cities in just under two weeks: Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, accompanied by Lin Zheng, clinical professor of accounting, and Charlotte Westerhaus-Renfrow, clinical associate professor of business law and management.
Students enrolled in the program received three credit hours upon successful completion of the trip and all assignments, which included daily posts recapping that day’s events and lessons, as well as an end-of-trip reflection.
Zheng said what makes Japan an appealing place for Kelley students is Indiana’s connection to hundreds of Japanese businesses, including automobile companies Subaru, Toyota, and Honda. As of 2022, more than 300 Japanese businesses had offices in Indiana.
“We want students to become familiar with Japanese businesses because so many have set up offices in Indiana,” Zheng said. “Because so many of our students choose to build their careers in Indiana, it is beneficial for them to make these connections.”
Prior to their travels, students met once a week for six weeks. During that time, Kelley students virtually connected with students at the Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts and collaborated on a presentation to be given while together in Japan.
Josey Freeman, a rising senior studying tourism, conventions, and event management with the School of Health and Human Sciences, is also pursuing the Business Foundations Certificate from Kelley and took part in the school’s trip.
Freeman and her group created a presentation on how Japanese and American airlines are working to proactively lower carbon emissions. Freeman said cultural differences and language barriers strained communication between the two groups of students at times, but it was a learning experience Freeman said cannot be taught from a textbook.
“It was an important reminder to not assume we all have the same understanding. For example, our presentation included English words that the Japanese students did not know, so we pivoted and updated our presentation. If I were struggling, I would want someone to take their time and help me,” Freeman said.
“This experience takes away an ‘us vs. them’ mentality and puts into perspective that we all live in this world together,” Westerhaus-Renfrow said. “These students are learning first-hand how to work collaboratively with peers halfway across the globe.”
Students also visited several sites including the Tokyo Stock Exchange, KEISUUHKEN Corporation—a robotics/AI company—and the Osaka Entrepreneurial Museum of Challenge and Innovation.
“So many places were proud to have an American university, especially Kelley students, visiting their companies. The CEO of the robotics company even met with our students and said it was a big deal we were there,” Westerhaus-Renfrow shared.
Students also visited Cummins Japan where they met with IU Indianapolis alum Kai Soto.
“He was able to talk about how Japanese culture is different from Western culture, and for our students, hearing from someone once in their shoes really resonated with them,” Zheng said.
In addition to the educational experiences, cultural immersion was a key part of the trip, including a traditional tea ceremony where students wore kimonos.
“The traditional tea ceremony was another way for us to experience Japanese culture outside of the business world,” Freeman said. “It was one of the many highlights from our trip.”
Students acknowledged that every step of the trip—from traveling to Japan, immersing themselves in the culture, and learning about the business world—was a life changing experience.
“It was just a great balance every single day of learning and excursions or exploring. I am grateful for the faculty and students who I experienced this adventure with,” Khun said.
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