Japan: Global Business, Innovation & Culture
Tokyo • Kyoto • Osaka | 10-Day Faculty-Led Program
Designed for students in business, management, entrepreneurship, marketing, international studies, and related fields, this immersive program explores how Japanese organizations balance innovation, global competition, customer experience, and deeply rooted cultural practices.
Traveling through Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka, students experience Japanese business in context. Through company visits, conversations with professionals, neighborhood exploration, cultural experiences, and everyday commerce, students examine how culture influences communication, leadership, branding, service, decision-making, and innovation.
An Immersive Exploration of Business & Innovation in Japan
What Students Explore
GLOBAL BUSINESS | Examine how Japanese companies compete, collaborate, and build brands in an interconnected global economy.
INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP | Explore how established companies, emerging businesses, and entrepreneurs respond to changing technologies, markets, and consumer needs.
BUSINESS CULTURE & COMMUNICATION | Examine how cultural values influence professional etiquette, relationship-building, decision-making, hierarchy, and workplace communication.
BRANDING & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE | Investigate Japan’s distinctive approaches to retail, hospitality, service, product design, and customer experience.
TRADITION & CHANGE | Consider how Japanese organizations balance long-standing practices and cultural identity with modernization, innovation, and global growth.
10-Day Itinerary
This itinerary shows what a Japan Global Business, Innovation & Culture program could look like. Specific company visits, guest speakers, workshops, and university engagements 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 international business, entrepreneurship, marketing, management, hospitality, technology, finance, supply chains, or another course-aligned theme.
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 Japanese business and culture firsthand.
Meet your EdOdyssey Program Leader and participate in an orientation introducing Japan, the program’s academic themes, and the cultural context students will encounter throughout the journey.
Gather for a welcome dinner and consider first impressions of one of the world’s largest economies and consumer markets.
Sample Experiences:
Arrival orientation • Tokyo introduction • Cultural norms • Welcome dinner
Day 2 | Japanese Business Culture & Communication
Build the cultural foundation for doing business in Japan.
Participate in an interactive introduction to Japanese professional culture and etiquette, exploring greetings, business cards, bowing, honorific language, hierarchy, communication styles, and relationship-building.
Apply what you learn during a shared meal before continuing into Tokyo to experience how tradition and modern commerce coexist.
Sample Experiences:
Business etiquette workshop • Professional communication • Japanese dining etiquette • Cultural exploration
Day 3 | Global Business Tokyo
Meet the people and organizations shaping Japan’s role in the global economy.
Visit a Japanese or multinational company and engage with professionals about strategy, management, organizational culture, talent, and operating across markets. Students compare what they observe with business environments they know at home and consider how global organizations adapt to Japanese workplace and consumer culture.
Sample Experiences:
Company visit • Industry professional discussion • Global strategy • Cross-cultural management
Day 4 | Innovation, Brands & Consumer Culture
Use Tokyo as a living laboratory for Japanese brands, consumers, and innovation.
Explore Shibuya and Harajuku to examine retail, branding, customer experience, technology, fashion, and consumer behavior. Meet with a company, entrepreneur, or business professional to explore how organizations identify new opportunities and respond to changing consumer expectations.
Sample Experiences:
Shibuya • Harajuku • Retail & brand analysis • Consumer behavior • Innovation engagement • Customer experience
Day 5 | Tokyo to Kyoto: Tradition & Business Culture
Travel by bullet train to Kyoto and explore the connection between tradition, hospitality, and contemporary business.
Ride the Shinkansen to Kyoto, then participate in a traditional cultural experience such as a tea ceremony. Students examine how hospitality, ritual, quality, attention to detail, and customer experience influence Japanese business culture. Continue into Kyoto to experience how historic traditions coexist with contemporary commerce.
Sample Experiences:
Shinkansen • Kyoto orientation • Tea ceremony • Japanese hospitality • Gion
Day 6 | Craftsmanship, Quality & Brand Heritage
Explore how craftsmanship and tradition shape Japanese business and brand identity.
Meet with a local business, artisan, entrepreneur, or organization to examine Japanese approaches to craftsmanship, quality, specialization, and long-term brand building.
Explore Kyoto’s markets and commercial districts, considering how businesses balance cultural heritage with contemporary and international customers.
Sample Experiences:
Local business engagement • Craftsmanship • Brand heritage • Nishiki Market • Entrepreneurship
Day 7 | Japanese Companies & Global Markets
Explore how Japanese companies balance local identity with global growth.
Visit a company or meet with business professionals to explore management, manufacturing, innovation, marketing, or international expansion. Students consider how Japanese businesses respond to changing demographics, technology, labor markets, and global competition.
Sample Experiences:
Company visit • Management & leadership • Global markets • Business strategy • Professional Q&A
Day 8 | Kyoto to Osaka: Commerce & Entrepreneurship
Travel to Osaka and explore one of Japan’s great commercial cities.
Explore Osaka’s history as a center of trade and commerce, then investigate its distinctive business culture and entrepreneurial energy through a company, startup, university, or local business engagement.
Experience Osaka’s commercial districts and food culture as lenses into branding, customer experience, competition, and local identity.
Sample Experiences:
Osaka orientation • Entrepreneurship • Local business engagement • Commercial districts • Food & consumer culture
Day 9 | Innovation & The Future of Japanese Business
Bring together lessons from Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka to explore what’s next for Japanese business.
Meet with entrepreneurs, business leaders, or innovators to examine emerging opportunities and challenges, from technology and changing demographics to workforce development, sustainability, global competition, and evolving consumer expectations.
Students synthesize their observations from across the program before gathering for a farewell dinner.
Sample Experiences:
Engineering design challenge • Smart-city workshop • Student presentations • Program reflection • Farewell dinner
Day 10 | Departure
Depart Osaka with a deeper understanding of how culture, relationships, innovation, and customer experience shape business in Japan.
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, company visits, university engagements, cultural experiences, and level of EdOdyssey Program Leader support to align with your course objectives, students, group size, dates, and budget.
International Business
Global strategy • Market entry • Cross-cultural management
Management & Leadership
Organizational culture • Communication • Decision-making
Entrepreneurship
Startups • Innovation • Emerging industries • Business development
Marketing & Branding
Consumer behavior • Retail • Brand identity • Customer experience
Hospitality & Service
Omotenashi • Service culture • Tourism • Customer experience
Technology & Innovation
Emerging technology • Digital transformation • Product development
Supply Chain & Operations
Manufacturing • Logistics • Quality • Operational excellence
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?