Profiling UWS Japanese students
Hajime Hashimoto
Osaka, Japan
I am a Study Abroad student from Kinki University in Japan. This internship project is actually the very last part of my 1-year study in Australia. Although this internship project was just for 5 weeks, it was an incredibly full and concentrated in many respects. Mainly, I conducted interviews with Japanese students at the University of Western Sydney (UWS), put their stories into
a type of profile and translated those into English, hoping it will be a help for next UWS international students.
At my Japanese university, I major in English Linguistics, and this is the reason why I came here. Despite the fact that I had never been to any other country until last year, since I believe that one needs to go to a country where the language is spoken at least once if he/she studies a language, I decided to participate in this Study Abroad program offered by Kinki Uni.
UWS offered me many valuable and indispensable opportunities. In this project, I met some Japanese students who are studying in Australia. I learnt a lot from those students through the process of conducting the interviews with them. Finally, I would like to express my full appreciation to all the people who helped me during my stay, UWS and Kin-Dai.
Japanese student profiles
by Hajime HashimotoEriko Kinoshita
Master of Art Therapy - Penrith campus
from Chiba Prefecture, Japan
In Japan, I majored in international economics and studied English for my university degree. As a personal interest I also worked as a professional in the traditional arts of Japanese dance and tea ceremony, and then I started teaching English to children. Continued 
Hiroko Kato
Bachelor of Business (Accounting) -Parramatta campus
from Kanagawa prefecture, Japan
Before coming to Australia, I had no prior experience as a student in another country, but I worked in Germany for 2 years. I also have work experience in Japan. Continued
Miyuki Kaneko
Master of Arts (Interpreting and Translation) 
Bankstown campus
from Saitama Prefecture, Japan
In Japan, after graduating a Japanese University where I major in Management, I worked as a lecturer of Japanese and English at a private tutoring school for a while. Continued
Yasushi Tateno
Bachelor of Applied Science (Food Technology) 
Hawkesbury campus
from Osaka Prefecture, Japan
I was born in Osaka in Japan, but I moved to Germany when I was 2 years old. I went back to Japan from the age of my junior high school, and lived in Nara Prefecture at that time. Two years later, I came to Australia. Continued
Yuki Fujitatsu
Visiting student from Kinki University
Bankstown campus
from Osaka Prefecture, Japan
I major in English Linguistics at my Japanese university, and thought that I need to study in an English speaking country, since I also wanted to learn the background cultures behind the language. Continued
Japanese Students Celebrate UWS Study Experience
Japanese students Soshi Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Harukawa, Naotaka Ogizoho and Hiroyuki Maruo, recently finished their international study program with UWS by celebrating Australia Day.
In the lead-up to the public holiday, Careers & Cooperative Education hosted a special gathering for the Japanese students and their UWS supervisers. The group celebrated with a lunch in which they indulged in both Australian and Japanese cuisine.
While being very familiar with sushi and sashimi, Hiroyuki Harukawa admitted he had never heard of lamingtons, but definitely wanted to try them.
Our international guests have had a busy year in Australia. They arrived in March 2006 to study English for the first five months and then quickly put their new language skills to the test, commencing study at UWS in the spring semester. Keeping busy over the vacation period, they all also participated in the International Summer Internship Program, run by Careers & Cooperative Education. The aim of this internship program is for international students to experience an Australian work culture. The four students were all assigned varying roles and worked with the Office of Marketing, uwsconnect and UWS International.
The highlight for Hiroyuki Harukawa was working and socialising with the rest of his office team. He found it interesting that “everyone treats each other equally” despite differences in age and job status.
The students also participated in professional development and report-writing workshops to improve their understanding of expectations in the workforce. Upon completion of the program the students will receive academic credit from their home university, Kinki University in Japan.