Japan: Tradition, Pop Culture & Everyday Life
Tokyo • Kyoto | 9-Day Faculty-Led Program
Designed for students in media, communication, art, design, cultural studies, Japanese studies, and related fields, this immersive program explores how Japan became one of the world’s most influential centers of visual storytelling and popular culture.
Students experience Tokyo and Kyoto as living classrooms, connecting anime, manga, gaming, digital art, design, and contemporary youth culture with the traditions and aesthetics that continue to shape Japanese creativity. Through neighborhood exploration, museums, hands-on workshops, cultural experiences, and conversations with local experts, students examine how Japan creates, communicates, and exports visual culture to audiences around the world.
An Immersive Exploration of Japanese Media & Visual Culture
What Students Explore
ANIME & MANGA | Examine anime and manga as forms of storytelling, artistic expression, cultural identity, and globally influential media.
MEDIA & CREATIVE INDUSTRIES | Explore how creative ideas move from artists and studios to publishers, brands, merchandise, fans, and global audiences.
VISUAL CULTURE & DESIGN | Investigate how art, fashion, advertising, architecture, digital media, and public space shape Japan’s visual landscape.
TRADITION & CONTEMPORARY CULTURE | Connect contemporary creative expression with Japanese traditions, aesthetics, craftsmanship, rituals, and historic places.
GLOBAL MEDIA & FANDOM | Consider how Japanese media crosses borders and how fandom, translation, technology, and cultural exchange shape its meaning around the world.
9-Day Itinerary
This itinerary shows what a Japan Anime, Media & Visual Culture program could look like. Specific activities, workshops, site visits, and guest speakers will vary based on your dates, group size, academic goals, and local availability.
We’ll work with your faculty and study abroad team to adapt the experience to your course objectives and students. The program can emphasize anime and manga, gaming, media production, visual arts, design, marketing, Japanese studies, or global popular culture, depending on your academic focus.
Activities listed below are examples and subject to availability and confirmation.
A Program, Built to Be Customized
Day 1: Arrival & Introduction to Japan
Arrive in Tokyo and begin exploring the culture behind Japan's global creative influence.
Arrive in Tokyo, meet your EdOdyssey Program Leader, and begin learning to navigate the city. During orientation, students are introduced to Japanese cultural norms, transportation, and everyday life before gathering for a welcome dinner.
Begin considering how history, culture, technology, and everyday life shape the Japan students encounter through media.
Sample Experiences:
Arrival orientation • Neighborhood introduction • Japanese cultural norms • Transportation • Welcome dinner
Day 2 | Tokyo Traditions & Pop Culture
Experience the contrast between historic Tokyo and its global anime and manga scene.
Explore Asakusa and Senso-ji Temple before shifting into contemporary Tokyo. In Akihabara, students investigate anime, manga, gaming, merchandising, arcades, and fan culture while considering how once-niche subcultures evolved into globally influential creative industries.
Sample Experiences:
Asakusa • Senso-ji Temple • Akihabara exploration • Anime & manga culture • Gaming & fandom
Day 3 | Digital Art, Design & Contemporary Tokyo
Explore how technology and design are transforming visual storytelling and the experience of art.
Experience immersive digital art before exploring Tokyo’s contemporary urban landscape. Students consider how digital technologies blur the boundaries between art, entertainment, architecture, and audience participation.
Continue into Shibuya and Harajuku to investigate fashion, advertising, branding, street culture, and the visual language of contemporary Japan.
Sample Experiences:
Immersive digital art • Shibuya • Harajuku • Fashion & youth culture • Urban visual analysis
Day 4 | Behind the Creative Industries
Move from consuming Japanese media to understanding how creative work is produced and shared.
Meet with a local creator, educator, designer, or media professional to explore the people and processes behind Japan’s creative industries. Students examine how ideas become stories and products, and how creative work reaches audiences in Japan and around the world.
Pair this academic engagement with additional exploration of Tokyo’s media and entertainment landscape.
Sample Experiences:
Creative industry guest speaker • Media or design visit • Creative production discussion • Tokyo media districts
Day 5 | Tokyo to Kyoto: Tradition Meets Contemporary Japan
Travel by bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, connecting Japan’s contemporary culture with its traditions.
Arrive in Kyoto and explore the city’s historic streets, temples, architecture, and visual traditions. Visit Nishiki Market to experience everyday food culture while considering how Kyoto balances cultural preservation with contemporary life.
Sample Experiences:
Shinkansen bullet train • Historic Kyoto • Temple visit • Nishiki Market • Traditional aesthetics
Day 6 | Manga as Art, Industry & Culture
Visit the Kyoto International Manga Museum to investigate manga’s development, artistic language, social significance, and relationship to Japanese society.
Pair the museum experience with a hands-on manga workshop, giving students the opportunity to work with professional materials and experience elements of the creative process firsthand.
Sample Experiences:
Kyoto International Manga Museum • Manga history & culture • Manga workshop • Character design • Visual storytelling
Day 7 | Traditional Arts & Visual Storytelling
Explore the artistic traditions and aesthetics that continue to influence Japanese creative expression.
Explore Kyoto’s historic neighborhoods and cultural sites while examining architecture, craftsmanship, symbolism, performance, and visual storytelling. Participate in a traditional cultural experience and consider the connections between Japan’s historic artistic practices and contemporary creative culture.
Sample Experiences:
Kyoto temples & shrines • Gion • Traditional arts • Cultural workshop • Japanese aesthetics
Day 8 | Global Japan: Media, Fandom & Cultural Exchange
Explore what happens when Japanese stories and creative culture cross borders.
Explore contemporary gaming, character culture, and media while examining how anime, manga, and Japanese visual culture are translated, marketed, adapted, and interpreted for audiences around the world.
Students reflect on their own relationships with Japanese media and consider how experiencing Japan firsthand has shaped or challenged their understanding of the culture behind it.
Sample Experiences:
Gaming & character culture • Global fandom • Media localization • Program reflection • Farewell dinner
Day 9 | Departure
Leave Japan with a deeper understanding of its visual culture and global creative influence.
Depart Kyoto for the airport, reflecting on the connections between creativity, tradition, technology, identity, and global media explored throughout the program.
Sample Experiences:
Breakfast • Program reflection • Departure
Make this program your own
Start Here. Then Shape Around Your Course.
This itinerary is a starting point. Customize the academic focus, program length, locations, site visits, workshops, cultural experiences, and guest speakers to align with your course objectives, students, group size, dates, and budget.
Anime & Animation
Production • Storytelling • Character development • Industry perspectives
Manga & Illustration
Manga history • Visual storytelling • Drawing • Publishing
Gaming & Interactive Media
Game culture • Character design • Digital experiences
Media & Communication
Global media flows • Fandom • Localization • Cultural exchange
Art & Design
Digital art • Traditional aesthetics • Fashion • Architecture • Visual communication
Business & Marketing
Branding • Intellectual property • Merchandising • Global creative industries
Japanese Studies
History • Identity • Language • Tradition • Contemporary society
Could this work for your students?
Use this program as your starting point or tell us what you'd change. We'll work with you to align the itinerary with your course objectives, students, preferred dates, group size, and budget.
Have a different academic focus in mind?