Yogyakarta, 24/3/2025 – Gayatri Dyah Paramesti Lituhayu, a student of the Japanese Language and Culture program, class of 2021, had the opportunity to study at Kansai University in Japan for one semester with a scholarship from the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO). Kansai University was the university Gayatri chose to experience studying in Japan because it offers an attractive program focused on career preparation in Japan.

Gayatri’s journey to Kansai University began with her desire to join an exchange program in Japan. She prepared all the necessary requirements for applying for the scholarship, including documents such as her Japanese language proficiency form, reasons for choosing the program, and future plans. However, passing the program did not guarantee a scholarship. Nevertheless, Gayatri eventually passed the program and was able to attend Kansai University with the JASSO scholarship.

One of the most memorable experiences for Gayatri during her time at Kansai University was working part-time as an English teacher at a Kindergarten after receiving a recommendation from Kansai University. At the kindergarten, Gayatri engaged in activities such as singing and playing games in English. Additionally, Gayatri introduced Indonesian culture and language to the children at the kindergarten. The warm welcome from the teachers made this part-time work experience one of the most unforgettable moments for Gayatri in Japan. Gayatri also shared her participation in the Ikeda Matsuri, a festival held to welcome the autumn season. The participation of international students in this festival is a special activity arranged by Kansai University. The students wore traditional Japanese attire and joined the local residents in celebrating the festival.

One of the challenges Gayatri faced in Japan was the limitation of her Japanese language skills. This obstacle made it difficult for her to actively participate in the Japanese Corporate Culture class. In this class, students were expected to answer questions, engage in discussions, and give presentations related to business. Consequently, the Japanese language used in this class included many vocabulary terms specific to Japanese business, which were quite difficult for foreign students to understand. Despite this, Gayatri did not give up and studied Japanese more diligently in order to participate actively in class.

Japanese society is often viewed as homogeneous. Knowing this initially made Gayatri concerned about the adaptation process in Japan. However, her concerns proved to be unnecessary. The people of Kansai whom Gayatri met were welcoming and respectful of religious differences. Gayatri’s new friends helped her find halal food, and even a dim sum vendor informed her that the dim sum he was selling contained pork when he noticed that Gayatri was wearing a hijab.

This valuable experience at Kansai University ultimately changed Gayatri’s future plans. Initially, Gayatri wanted to work in a field unrelated to Japan. However, this plan changed, and her dream now is to work in a field related to Japan. Furthermore, Gayatri has expressed her determination to pursue graduate studies in Japan.

[Valentina Pramahita Iswari through Public Relations of Japanese Literature UGM, Yulia Agustiani]

On Monday, November 25, 2024, students of the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program, Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Universitas Gadjah Mada (FIB UGM), conducted a field study to PT Rupa Raya Indonesia, a company engaged in the field of Japanese home architecture design.

This activity is a direct learning event for students to understand the application of creative technology while seeing opportunities for cooperation between Japanese culture and technological innovation in Indonesia. PT Rupa Raya Indonesia, which has a reputation for excellence in the field of design, was the perfect location to broaden the students’ knowledge of culture and technology.

The event began with a warm welcome from the CEO of Marumori Company Japan, PT Rupa Raya Indonesia’s international partner, who explained the company’s vision in supporting collaboration. The speech was followed by the CEO of PT Rupa Raya Indonesia represented by Mr. Irzam Sarif, underlining the importance of HR development to support the company’s development.

Picture 1 Japanese Counselling Study Programme Students Conduct Field Study at PT Rupa Raya Indonesia, Semarang

Students then followed an in-depth presentation of the company profile by PT Rupa Raya Indonesia staff. In this session, students were invited to explore the company’s superior products and services, including 3D animation and virtual reality-based innovations.

As a token of appreciation, UGM presented souvenirs to PT Rupa Raya Indonesia, which ended with a group photo session. Furthermore, students had the opportunity to visit the production office of PT Rupa Raya Indonesia. On this tour, they witnessed every process that goes into working on design orders from Japan.

This activity is expected to inspire students to continue learning and innovating, combining the advantages of Japanese language and culture with the creative spirit of Indonesia. With this visit, it is also hoped that students will not only gain new insights, but also be motivated to contribute to the development of the creative industry in the future.

[Public Relation Faculty of Cultural Science UGM, Author: Yulia Agustiani, Editor: Valentina Pramahita Iswari, Translator: Sandya Kirani]

On Friday, September 27, 2024, the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program welcomed guests from PT Rupa Raya and Marumori Company Co., Ltd. Both companies are companies engaged in architectural design of Japanese houses.

PT. Rupa Raya is an Indonesian company founded by Bustanil Yasir in 2022 in Makassar. Although it is an Indonesian company, PT. Rupa Raya is a company that works in the field of Japanese architectural design. Therefore, 100% of the clients of PT Rupa Raya are from Japan. In running the business. PT Rupa Raya cooperates with a company that works in the same field, namely Marumori Company Co., Ltd. Marumori Company acts as an intermediary and ’employer’ for PT Rupa Raya.

PT Rupa Raya, represented by CEO Bustanil Yasir, opened the presentation by introducing the company’s vision and mission to the Japanese Language and Culture lecturers and students present. Then, CEO Bustanil Yasir also explained the flow of work at PT Rupa Raya. Design work is carried out after receiving a house design from Muromari Company. Based on the design, PT Rupa Raya will then produce 2D, 3D, and designs that can be seen using VR (Virtual Reality) technology. On this occasion, PT Rupa Raya also introduced the internship program to the participants.

After the presentation, the activity then continued with a question and answer session about job openings because the arrival of PT. Rupa Raya was also to inform the opening of vacancies that opened on November 1, 2024 related to the opening of their branch in Semarang. After that, various other questions were also asked by the participants. The activity then ended with a group photo.

[Public Relation FIB UGM, Author: Valentina Pramahita Iswari, Editor: Yulia Agustiani]

On Thursday, September 25, 2024, the Japanese Language and Culture study program welcomed guest lecturers from Padjadjaran University. The arrival of the lecturer from Padjadjaran University was related to the implementation of a joint lecture on the topic of Onomatopoeia.

The lecturers from Padjadjaran University, consisting of lecturers from the Sundanese Literature and Japanese Literature study programs, shared their research progress on the topic of Strengthening Understanding of Japanese Onomatopoeia through Website-Based Utilization of Local Wisdom (Sundanese) to students and lecturers of the Japanese Language and Culture study program.

In the project, lecturers from Sundanese Literature and Japanese Literature of Padjadjaran University are trying to develop a dictionary of Japanese onomatopoeia that can be found in Sundanese. The dictionary is still made in Indonesian-Japanese with of course an explanation of the meaning of the onomatopoeia. The existence of the Sundanese equivalent is to facilitate the understanding of the meaning of onomatopoeia for Japanese language learners, in this case Sundanese Japanese language learners. Then, the lecturer from Padjadjaran University also explained their plan to include pictures or visualizations of onomatopoeia in the dictionary to make it easier to understand the meaning of onomatopoeia. This project was carried out with the hope of facilitating the understanding of Japanese onomatopoeia through its equivalent in the local language. The lecturer from Japanese Language and Culture agreed to this because they often encounter cases where students find it easier to find equivalents and understand the meaning of onomatopoeia in the local language than in Indonesian.

At the end of the lecture session, the lecturer of Japanese Language and Culture gave a suggestion to attract Japanese Literature study programs in various universities spread throughout the region in order to increase the variety of equivalents in the local language of each region. In addition, there was an input to create a website so that the public can also participate in the development of the dictionary because it does not rule out the emergence of new onomatopoeias. This activity was then closed with a group photo session.

Author: Valentina Pramahita Iswari

Editor: Yulia Agustiani

Yogyakarta, August 13, 2024 – The Faculty of Humanities of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) successfully held the inaugural lecture for new undergraduate students of the Class of 2024 with the theme “The Role of Humanities in the 21st Century”. The event was held on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, from 08.00 WIB to 11.00 WIB at Soegondo Building, UGM. Facing the number of participants reaching 700 people, this inaugural lecture was held offline at Soegondo Auditorium and online in various classes that had been determined. The division of rooms for this event was as follows:

– Soegondo Auditorium: Students of the Cultural Anthropology, Indonesian Language and Literature, and Tourism Study Programs.

– Soegondo Room 707: Students of the Javanese Language, Literature, and Culture, French Language and Literature, and History programs.

– Soegondo Room 625+627: Students of Korean Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 521+522: Students of the English Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 407+409: Students of the Arabic Literature Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 310: Students of Japanese Language and Culture Study Program.

– Soegondo Room 226+227: Students of the Archaeology Study Program.

The event was attended by Heads of Departments and Heads of Undergraduate Study Programs (S1) and guided by the moderator, Dr. Wulan Tri Astuti, S.S., M.A.. This event certainly presents excellent speakers: Prof. Dr. Fadlil Munawaar Manshur, M.S., Prof. Dr. Bambang Hudayana, M.A., Prof. Dr. Sangidu, M.Hum., and Prof. Dr. Hendrokumoro, M.Hum. The speakers gave in-depth presentations on the contribution and relevance of the humanities in the context of the 21st century, providing valuable insights for the new students to start their academic journey. With high enthusiasm and spirit, new students are expected to absorb knowledge and inspiration from this inaugural lecture to build useful knowledge in the field of humanities.