"We Explored Japan! 2026" -- Report from J.LIVE Talk 2025 winners
- Kelsey O'Donnel (George Washington University)
- Dusty Rogers (George Washington University)
- Allie Colburn (University of Nebraska at Lincoln)
- Reports from past winners
Kelsey O'Donnel (George Washington University), the College Category I Silver award winner studied at International Christian University in Tokyo.
Through J-Live, I had the amazing opportunity to study abroad at International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan for a 4-week program.
During the program, I was able to further my language ability through an intensive language class, and also learn more about Japan through a cultural studies class. Our culture classes focused on how cities like Tokyo are built to foster community, and we were able to discuss how cities function through various lenses, such as psychology, environment, and architecture. It was interesting to be able to learn from so many different perspectives, and for my final project I was able to share my experiences from my own city and talk about the ways in which community is formed here.
However, while the academic aspects of the program were important, some of my most meaningful moments came from exploring Tokyo with my friends, interacting with the local culture, and adapting to unfamiliar situations. Together, we were able to explore areas of Tokyo, visit temples, try local food, and create unforgettable memories. One of my favorite memories that I have with my friends is spending a day thrifting in Kichijoji. We were able to interact with many different people, but we met one shop owner in particular who we spoke to for a while. He taught us helpful phrases for shopping and gave us restaurant recommendations in the area, and while it was a small interaction, his patience meant a lot to us. His kindness made me feel much more comfortable navigating an unfamiliar environment and reminded me of the true purpose of experiencing a new culture: to step outside of your comfort zone and to connect with others.
I’m so grateful to have been able to experience life in a country so different from my own, and I’m incredibly grateful to the George Washington University Japanese language department for giving me the skills to be able to not just communicate effectively with Japanese people, but to be able to connect with them and create shared experiences together.
Dusty Rogers (George Washington University), the College Category II Gold award winner studied at Nanzan University in Nagoya.
A young kid sat at a worn kitchen table, crayon and scratch marks decorating the surface, pen in hand, studying Japanese with nothing more than a few YouTube videos and a dream; that is how I began my language journey. It had always been my dream to study abroad in Japan, but growing up in Kentucky, a state whose economy was just recently crushed by the loss of coal, and as the oldest of 10 children, I knew better than to think of it as a possibility.
Studying abroad always seemed just out of reach for me. I’d seen my friends do it, so I knew it was possible, but even with scholarships or financial aid, the extra costs made it entirely out of the cards for me. The J.LIVE Talk Program completely changed that. Thanks to their program’s full tuition and plane ticket coverage, along with the stipend provided for living expenses and necessities, my dream finally became a reality, and I was able to spend this summer studying at Nanzan University’s Center for Japanese Studies in Nagoya.
This program absolutely changed the way I thought about my Japanese education up to this point, as it was the first time in my life that I was able to experience constant language immersion. Through this program, I was able to study new grammar and vocabulary through the intensive language courses at school, and then immediately put it to use in my daily life. Whether that was through school exchange opportunities or at home with my host family, I was able to improve my Japanese a little bit each day through real-world practice and experiences.
One thing I enjoyed most about this program was the opportunity to enroll in “open-courses,” classes taught by Japanese professors for native Japanese speakers that were also open to exchange students. The two open-courses I enrolled in quickly became my favorites, due in part to their immersion and exchange opportunities. Through these courses, I was able to gain a lot of conversation practice covering topics that delve deeper than your usual language course, and become friends with native speakers interested in learning English. This was especially nice because we were able to fill in our language gaps with loan words from our native languages when we found our vocabularies lacking. This was also a great opportunity to experience Japanese in a real-world context. Textbooks are great for things like grammar and kanji, but real conversations tend to look much different from what our textbooks show. They require an entirely different skill set that includes things like a high listening ability and the ability to pivot quickly when we run into language blocks, which can only be improved with practice and time.
Another thing I liked about the CJS program in particular was the placement test. It’s easy to misjudge ourselves when we’re asked where we think we might place, and this ensures no one ends up placed too low or too high for their current language level. Of course, it’s always possible our test results may be lower than we hope or higher than we expect, which I understand can cause some concern, but we aren’t locked into our initial placements. If placed lower than desired, there is a chance to move up a level, and if placed too high, there is the option to step down into a lower class later on. While it’s easy to understand the qualms some people may have with this method, I liked it because it ensured the students in each class were roughly around the same skill level and made it so that each student got the most benefit out of their time in the program.
The classes themselves were rigorous and fast-paced, with a large amount of homework and studying occupying the majority of our weekdays. However, I will say they were absolutely worth the effort. The teachers were fantastic, and every week we were able to practice new grammar in real conversations with Japanese students during structured-in class exchanges.
In addition to the coursework, I chose to stay with a host family instead of in one of Nanzan’s dormitories. Although I heard great things about the dormitories through my friends in the program, I highly recommend taking the homestay option if it’s ever available to you. Meeting my host family and growing closer to them over my stay was, by far, the most amazing part of my study abroad experience. The family I stayed with was comprised of four people: the mom, dad, and two young girls, along with the family cat Jiji, which I always called Jiji-san because of his old age. We went on many beautiful adventures together, my favorite of which were visiting my host mom’s grandma in the rural mountains of Gifu Prefecture and watching the fireflies together, and visiting Kanazawa for Kanazawa Castle and the infamous Oyama Shrine, which my host mom insisted we visit due to its good fortune in marriage and romance. Whether it was heartfelt conversations with my host mom over dinner, where she gave me advice on life and love and following your dreams, or playing card games and doing puzzles with the family on weekends, I will always cherish the memories I made with them. By the time I had to leave, we were all crying in front of the airport security line.
Although my time at Nanzan University has come to an end, my Japanese language journey is far from over, and I am beyond excited to take these new connections, experiences, and language skills with me well into my future. To anyone considering applying to this competition, I absolutely recommend it. I would also like to say thank you again to the J.LIVE Talk team and all of the donors and volunteers who make this event possible. Thanks to you, my life has become immeasurably brighter, and my future is forever changed.
Allie Colburn (University of Nebraska at Lincoln), the College Category III Gold award winner studied at Naganuma School in Tokyo.
It was an honor to be presented with the opportunity to study at the Naganuma school and live in central Tokyo over the summer. Despite already having the experience of living in Japan as a high school student in Wakayama, I had never had the chance to visit Tokyo because of school responsibilities and club activities. Coming from Kansai, I had only ever heard harsh things about Tokyo, “The people are cold,” “No one had a sense of humor,” “The pollution turns your snot black,” etc. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t be able to make friends or that I would be overwhelmed but I’m happy to report that wasn’t the case at all!
I attended the Naganuma School in Shibuya, and I was placed in the Advanced level communication class during the morning session. My class had sixteen students, and I was surprised at the diversity of the students. My class had an age range from late teens to 40’s and my classmates had all different kinds of careers and interests. It was fun to get to know everybody, and I enjoyed hearing their perspectives on the readings and news that came up in class. I was also the youngest in the class, so I also liked hearing about everyone’s lives as real-deal members of society. The content of the classes was structured but flow of class centered on conversation and instructors let things lead where they may which made for fun and engaging classes. It was a good refresher for Japanese and helped to clarify some terms and grammar that I thought I understood but did not. At the end, I had the tools and confidence to sign up for the JLPT N1, which I will be taking this December! (Wish me luck!).
As a class we had the chance to visit the Japanese Diet and participate in a mock parliament activity. I had studied about how the Japanese government worked back when I was a student in Wakayama, so it was a great experience to go and see the real thing. Based on what I had seen in my textbooks, I has always thought that it was smaller. I was shocked to see how big it was in person. For the mock parliament activity, we all were assigned different roles and read our part off a script. We debated about juvenile detention laws and at the end we all got to vote to pass the law. Everyone took their parts seriously and it ended up feeling like the real thing.
Outside of class, I did my best to explore Tokyo to the fullest. On the days that weren’t too hot, I would go to a new neighborhood and explore. I was taking college classes online through my university, so I loved finding a laptop friendly café and studying/reading. My favorite neighborhoods were Koenji, Shibamata, and Shimokitazawa. Only having the experience of living in rural Japan, one of my favorite things about Tokyo was how often the trains come. Gone were the days of missing my train and having to wait an hour!! I also turned 20 in the middle of my trip and celebrated by taking coming of age photos to give to friends and family when I returned to Wakayama for the weekend.
If not for J-LIVE Talk, I would not have had the means or opportunity to return to Japan after completing high school. I was able to improve my Japanese (even though I still speak in dialect sometimes), reconnect with loved ones and make more connections than I thought possible. I would like to thank the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s Japanese Department for cheering me on, George Washington University Department of East Asian Languages for organizing J-LIVE Talk, the Naganuma School for their hospitality and all the sponsors of for making J-LIVE Talk possible. Attending J-LIVE Talk was the highlight of my freshman year of college and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can continue to use and improve my Japanese going forward. Thank you very much!
