More than five decades after establishing an international exchange program with Seinan Gakuin University in Fukuoka, Japan, SUNY Oneonta students and alumni continue to benefit from the longstanding partnership and time spent abroad.
Since SUNY Oneonta became global education partners with Seinan Gakuin University (SGU) in 1971, dozens of Oneonta students have studied abroad there, and many Japanese students have studied in Oneonta, as well. It is SUNY Oneonta’s longest-running exchange partnership.
“We, at Seinan Gakuin University, remain committed to expanding and developing our exchange program to bring incoming and outgoing students meaningful, life-changing experiences,” Toru Kiyomiya, director of the Center for International Education at Seinan Gakuin University, recently wrote to partners in SUNY Oneonta’s Office of Global Education. “We wish these efforts of international collaboration lead to the world peace.”
“Being there was surreal”
Junior Music Industry major Matthew Viglucci is SUNY Oneonta’s most recent SGU exchange student, having spent the spring 2023 semester in Japan. For Viglucci, who has always loved Japanese culture and media, studying abroad was a dream come true. He appreciated the reliability of Japanese public transit, went to a rock music festival in Tokyo, and was surprised to learn, for such a populated place, how tight-knit the SGU community is.
“Actually being there was surreal – even now, after returning, it doesn’t feel like it actually happened,” he said. “Staying in an international dorm with other international students, experiencing the Japanese culture, learning the language – it was amazing. One of the biggest takeaways was learning how to meet new people and make friends in a completely new place.”
Also completely new to Viglucci? Japanese cuisine, including his favorite dish, sukiyaki – a popular meat-and-vegetable hot pot dish that’s prepared and served right at the table.
“You put it in this stew in front of you and cook it yourself,” he said. “And once the ingredients have been cooked, they give you a raw egg to dip them into as a garnish! It was some of the best food I’ve ever had, and I really miss it.”
Studying at SGU helped Viglucci realize his dream job: to live and work in Japan as a composer for video games. If he chooses to return to Japan, he won’t be the first SUNY Oneonta student whose life trajectory was changed by a study abroad at SGU.
‘Everything started with that one year’
Oneonta alumni Dr. Annie (Rayve) Shibata and Dr. Christopher Chase spent a year together at Seinan Gakuin University, beginning in the fall of 1982. Their time studying abroad inspired them both to live in Japan – Shibata for 16 years, and Chase still today, as a professor at SGU.
“The experience changed my life,” said Chase, who majored in studio art. “I learned to practice mindfulness and meditate in Japan… I was a student at Seinan University for a year, then came home to finish SUNY and graduate. After that I got a job teaching in Kumamoto, Japan, where I met my future wife. We returned to the U.S. together … After graduating from Stanford, I learned of a job opening at Seinan Gakuin. I have been living and teaching full time at Seinan Gakuin since 1993. Our sons were both born here and grew up in Japan. So, everything started with that one year here as an exchange student. … I pass the old apartment that I used to live in as a student every day when I ride my bike home.”
‘Japan changed my life’
Thinking back on her time at SGU, Shibata’s most vivid memories include joining a martial arts club and taking courses in religion and history; meeting and becoming close with a group of other exchange students and spending Christmas together under a full moon at the top of Mount Aso, holding hands singing Silent Night in all different languages; and being advised “not to date the nationals,” which she – and many other students – ignored.
“Japan changed my life,” she said. “I met my husband and lifelong friends and wound up on a completely different path than I had envisioned, but it was perfect. I thought I would go to law school or join the Peace Corps, but after graduating from Oneonta I returned to Japan and started a life there.”
In Japan, Shibata’s path included teaching in numerous colleges and universities, establishing a successful career in Japanese television, and founding the New York English School for communication and cross-cultural training, which she directed for nine years. Since returning to the United States, she works as a cross-cultural consultant and college professor, and offers leadership and communication consulting and coaching. Twice, she served as an expert witness in court cases that involved Japanese cultural challenges.
“Overall, I am a much more flexible person and able to look at things from a lot of different perspectives,” Shibata said, “skills I honed while living in a culture that required a lot of perspective shifting because it was so different from my own.”
