Kyoto – Down a quiet, narrow street in Kyoto, two dozen American students are absorbed in a Japan experience that is a world apart from the throngs of tourists who descend upon the former capital for matcha lattes and temple photo ops. On a recent Wednesday morning inside a 120-year-old machiya (traditional wooden townhouse), some students are learning how to use the adverbial antonym pair mada and mou with their Japanese teacher. Others are planning out the details of a semester-ending formal dinner.
One student is taking a nap in the tatami room. All are part of the first cohort of Pepperdine University’s new year-round Japan program, which aims to give students from the Malibu, California, institution an immersive experience in Japan while continuing on with their usual areas of study.
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