First-of-its kind International Student Expo held in Osaka

Companies and organizations came together in Osaka in December for the International Student Expo, a first-of-its-kind event aimed at addressing the needs of international students dealing with the challenges of living and studying in Japan amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. 

Prior to the two-day expo, over 700 people had registered to attend the event held over December 4-5 which saw a total of 41 booths from 36 companies and organizations set up in venue MyDome Osaka in the city’s Chuo Ward, in Japan’s Kansai region.

Expo organizers, the Osaka Global Student Support Association, laid on a program of events and booths providing resources, support and cultural experiences for students divided into zones covering the themes of learning, living, working and fun.   

Content for the expo was planned based on the results of a survey carried out by the Osaka Global Student Support Association, whose secretariat is within the Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau. The survey received responses from around 1,000 international students based in Osaka Prefecture.  

Through the survey respondents detailed the challenges and causes of concern relating to life as an international student in Japan. Finding work and developing careers, along with financial worries and language barriers were among the most common challenges and concerns held by respondents, according to the survey results. 

There are around 53,000 international students in the Kansai region of Japan, with over 24,000 of those studying in Osaka Prefecture, according to survey data. For expo organizers, the Osaka Global Student Support Association, the event was just one of 16 “plans of action” aimed at establishing Osaka as the No. 1 city for international students in Asia by 2030. The plan also builds on Osaka’s status as the top destination in Japan for inbound educational trips, according to the organizers. 

“We identified that international students are often busy moving between school and part time jobs so their opportunities for interaction with each other are limited. Also, many of them haven’t been able to make Japanese friends. It’s a situation that has been exacerbated by the pandemic,” Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau Director of MICE Policy Yoshikazu Tanaka said.

“We decided that, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic, it was important to hold this kind of in-person event in which the students could actually meet one another,” he said.

“I got an email about this event and even though I’ve already secured a job I wanted to come and try to make friends. I was able to make friends with other Chinese people here,” said a Chinese student visiting the expo.

(International Student Expo held at venue MyDome Osaka in the city’s Chuo Ward over Dec 4-5.)

For many of the organizations, companies and students present, the expo provided a rare opportunity for face-to-face communication, perhaps the first time for some of the international students in particular, whose experience of life in Japan outside of the pandemic has likely been limited by social restrictions. 

To help facilitate interactions and support visiting students by giving them guidance around the expo organizers recruited a team of volunteers comprising international and Japanese students who were able to draw from their own experiences studying in the region. 

“(International students) want to get involved in more activities so that they can make friends and relate to one another, because it’s hard if you are alone in Japan,” said Daniel, an expo volunteer from Columbia studying at a design college in Osaka. 

“It’s better to come to places like this and make new friends. Japanese people want to help but I think it can be difficult because if you don’t ask for help, nobody comes to find you.” 

“You have to reach out, right?” said Yiliya, a student from China and another of the volunteers. 

“I think for foreign students there’s always a gap between the cultures. We might want to know more about Japanese culture and make more Japanese friends and make ourselves more comfortable while living in Japan. I think that’s important.”

(International students and other visitors explore booths at the International Student Expo, MyDome Osaka)

To help tackle the challenges of living and studying in Japan, booths showcasing services and avenues of support for international students included those from the fields of real estate and career services, among others. 

At the booth of share house management company Oakhouse Co., Ltd., staff were introducing the company's network of communal houses to students as a solution to the often expensive challenges that can come with renting apartments in Japan.

Oakhouse was also introducing an online event in which participants could get a feel for the share house life by exploring one of the company’s properties digitally recreated while interacting with other online visitors and residents.  

“We are providing opportunities for exchange, holding events each month to enable people to interact and create an environment in which new people can easily make friends,” said a booth representative.

“Our events are also open to nonresidents, so those people who have just come to Japan, like international students, and who might be feeling a little lonely, can come to these events, too.”

Career support company Solver Network Co.,Ltd. was also present at the expo. The company has a background in aiding the career changes of those foreigners in Japan with a high level of Japanese language proficiency. Representatives were also using the expo to introduce their Washoku service which helps foreigners gain entry into Japan’s traditional craft industries, many of which are suffering from labor shortages and depopulation.  

“I came here because I heard that there would be opportunities for international exchange as well as consulting about finding work,” said a student from Hong Kong, currently studying in the city of Kobe. 

“Coming to this event I could get information about a variety of companies and so now I’m thinking about the future and the best way to find work," she said.

Some of the booths at the expo focused on themes of travel and leisure, introducing international students to some of the charms and attractions within easy reach of the Osaka area.  

At a booth introducing the city of Kaga, a city in the central Japan prefecture of Ishikawa famous for its onsen hot springs, visitors could try their hand at decorating plates with kinpaku, “gold leaf.”

“Most of the international students have been in Osaka for a long time and haven’t really been able to travel to other places. This was the situation during the pandemic but with restrictions on travel between prefectures having been lifted people are showing interest in locations such as Kaga,” said one of the booth staff. 

(International Student Expo - clockwise from top left: tuna show & sushi, expo volunteers, tea ceremony, shamisen stage)

With pandemic-related restrictions having also limited opportunities for students to experience Japanese culture, expo organizers put together a program of experiences and demonstrations for visitors which kicked-off with a display of sushi preparation from Osaka-based fish wholesaler Sea Bank. During the demonstration, knife techniques and Japanese food culture were explained to the audience, who then had the chance to enjoy a taste of the sushi that had been prepared in front of them.

(A visitor poses with cosplayers including special guest Hiro-san (far left) at the International Student Expo, MyDome Osaka.)

Through other cultural experiences across the two days, expo visitors got to try their hand at playing the traditional musical instrument shamisen, take part in a samurai and ninja show, and learn about the Japanese tea ceremony from local high school students.  International students could even write and send postcards back home from the booth of Japan Post.   

There was even the chance for students to enjoy an experience beyond the venue walls. With the cooperation of Aqua Metropolis Osaka, an event-only cruise on a kotatsu boat took expo visitors around some of the city’s waterways. Through the cruise visitors could learn about Osaka’s history as an “aqua metropolis” where waterborne transportation fueled the city’s growth during the Meiji era. 

(Visitors to the International Student Expo enjoying the Aqua Metropolis Cruise along a waterway in Osaka.)

Despite any challenges presented by the pandemic and this being a first outing for such an event in Japan, organizers were left encouraged by the response as they look to develop Osaka as an ever more attractive destination for international students.

“To see the people in the booths, across each of the themes, communicating well with the international students, as a first event I think it’s been a great success,” said Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau President Hiroshi Mizohata, who visited the expo on Sunday.

Organizers have already scheduled the next edition of the International Student Expo for July 30-31, 2022 at MyDome Osaka.

“In the future we want to do this multiple times throughout the year and create a model in Osaka which can be used as a template for other regions to follow. In this way we hope to support international students across Japan,” said Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau Director of MICE Policy Yoshikazu Tanaka.

International Student Expo homepage (En)