The ieiMedia Kyoto Project is a unique collaboration between the Institute for Education in International Media (ieiMedia) and Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS), bringing together students from the United States and Japan in a shared, immersive journalism experience. By combining ieiMedia’s expertise in experiential, multimedia reporting with KUFS’s commitment to global education and cross-cultural communication, the program creates opportunities that neither institution could provide alone.
Working side by side, American student journalists and Japanese student interpreters and translators learn from one another while producing stories about Kyoto, one of the world’s most historically and culturally significant cities. Participants report across cultures, develop multimedia storytelling skills and gain firsthand experience navigating the challenges and rewards of international journalism.
More than a study abroad program or a reporting workshop, the ieiMedia Kyoto Project is a true educational partnership. It fosters collaboration, mutual understanding and lasting professional relationships while preparing students to tell compelling stories in an increasingly interconnected world.
Ten students from seven American schools — California State University Chico, Cornell University, San Francisco State University, Santa Rosa Junior College, UMass Lowell, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Western Kentucky University — participated in the program from early June to early July 2026. Nearly 30 KUFS students participated as translator/interpreters and cultural ambassadors in the program.
The American students are mentored by veteran journalists and journalism educators, while the Japanese students are trained to be interpreters by KUFS professors through the university’s Community Interpreter Training Programme.
For more than two decades, ieiMedia has taken groups of student journalists abroad, where they build relationships with local community leaders and residents to get behind the postcard facades presented to most tourists. For more information about ieiMedia’s study-abroad programs, go to ieiMedia.com. The Kyoto Project will be offered again in 2027. Details will be announced soon on the organization’s website.
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Website designed by Laird Harrison
Header photo by Ben Lyle
