URI Japanese Community

🎉 G.L.A.S. End of Year Celebration Recap! 🎉

What a wonderful evening celebrating our incredible students and our growing community! Thank you to all 52 attendees who joined us on Friday (April 24th) at MSSC for a wonderful celebration filled with joy and pride, with a touch of bittersweetness.

🎓To our graduating seniors: your dedication, growth, and contributions to our language community will be deeply missed. We are so proud of you!

👥Several local alumni returned to celebrate with us—a beautiful testament to the continuity and strength of our community!

A group of current/former students, staff and faculty members within and beyond our program offered the special music gift for our graduates 🎵

A huge thanks to the A&S Dean's Office for their generous event support in making this event possible. Here's to the memories made, the bonds that endure, and the bright futures ahead! 🌟

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Japanese Hae Ree Jun, of URI's Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department, for being awarded the Center's Faculty Research Grant!

Jun wins for her project, "Negotiation of Language, Identity, and Participation: Language Learning through Internships in Japan," which investigates how American students interning in Japan develop language skills, identities, and professional participation through immersive workplace experiences, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork conducted across multiple regions and industries.

Read more here: https://bit.ly/42FSAYs

🎉 Virtual Exchange "Shaberiba" Hits 30 Gatherings!

Since 2020, when in-person exchanges paused due to COVID, our extracurricular Online Japanese/English Conversation Hours ("Shaberiba"), led by Nahoko Collis, has brought together language learners across borders!

This special 30th meeting was attended by:
🗣️ URI students from ALL Japanese levels—yes, even our brave beginners!
✈️ URI students currently studying abroad in Japan - so great to reconnect!
🎓 Niigata University students, including past, current exchange students to URI, and even future exchange students to come!

It's more than just practicing language. It's about discovering different perspectives, uncovering unexpected common interests, sometimes making mistakes in a safe place, and most importantly... making friendship across oceans!

Thank you to all those who have participated so far, around 700 cumulative participants in total from both URI and Japan, as well as our shaberiba counterpart universities, including Niigata, Okayama and Kyoto Prefectural University.

Cheers to 30 gatherings and countless encounters ahead!

✨ Japanese Language Salon Session Recap ✨

Our latest session of Japanese Language Salon featured the Haiku Project, part of the advanced Japanese course (taught by Hae Ree Jun).

Students brought their words to life not only through haiku, but also through beautiful calligraphy (書道), turning each poem into a visual piece of art 🖌️✨ The exhibition was filled with sticker-decorated displays, where students shared the meaning and inspiration behind their work.

From their favorite biases (推し oshi; favorite members of a group) to insider jokes, witty puns, and reflections on nature and the seasons 🌸🍂, even about their beloved pets, their creativity shined through every stroke and syllable. Writing in a foreign language became a space for personal expression, humor, and connection.

URI language student, alum awarded national Critical Language Scholarships KINGSTON, R.I. – April 8, 2026 – A University of Rhode Island junior and a recent URI alum were each awarded prestigious U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships to study new languages overseas in July. Marin Macro, a Providence resident currently majoring in German language and l...

URI students in JPN460 brought their creativity to life with media trailer projects, now proudly featured at Japan Week at Brown University!

From reimagined storylines to dynamic visual storytelling, these trailers showcase not only language skills but also cultural insight and artistic vision. It’s inspiring to see students transform their favorite media into compelling Japanese-language productions.

👏 Huge shoutout to all the students for their hard work and a heartfelt thank you to their families for attending and supporting this special event!

Special thanks to Brown University for providing this wonderful opportunity and platform to share student creativity.

♟️ Play Hard, Learn Well, Enjoy Onigiri 🍙

We had a great turnout at our special Japanese Game Day on April 1st! More than 30 participants from all JPN levels and their friends came together for a day of food, games, and conversation.

🍙 Onigiri Making – 10 lbs of rice disappeared FAST! Participants learned how to make triangle-shaped onigiri (rice ball), which is a comfort food in Japan.

🎯 Game Time – Kendama challenges, Sushi Jenga with chopsticks, and more!
Huge thanks to Hana-san (our international student from Niigata University) for leading a fun, interactive Japanese Food Quiz and sharing all about Niigata Prefecture.

This is what our community is all about: bringing people together through language, culture, and food!

Japanese Game Day meets every Wednesday 4:30-5:30 at the Language Center for the rest of semester! 🎮 See you next time!

🌸 A proud moment for our G.L.A.S community! 🌸

G.L.A.S/Japanese alumna Mya MacNeil ’25 was recently selected as the Rhode Island Cherry Blossom Delegate through the NCSS Cherry Blossom Program —an incredible honor that highlights her passion for cultural exchange 🌸✨

📸 As the delegate, she attended Japan Day at the Rhode Island State House, participating in a special reception with the Consulate-General of Japan in Boston , supported by Senator Linda Ujifusa and Speaker Pro Tempore Brian Patrick Kennedy.

Mya will also be attending The George Washington University this fall, where she has earned a scholarship and will study national security.

Congratulations, Mya! We’re so proud of you and all that lies ahead 💙🐏

URI Japanese program students share Japanese wisdom, camaraderie during Davisville Middle School visit KINGSTON, R.I. – Feb. 26, 2026 – Inside Sandra Makielski’s classroom at Davisville Middle School in North Kingstown, students from the University of Rhode Island immersed themselves as a “Sensei” to the approximately 90 middle school students for the day. Helping the Davisville students wr...

Last week, our beginning Japanese students participated in an exciting Scavenger Hunt at the
Language Center (Swan 301) as part of their “mini class field trip." Guided by our student tutor, students
worked in teams to collect Hiragana letters hidden within four puzzles. By rearranging the letters, they uncovered a secret message from their instructor!

This activity not only introduced our beginning students to the Language Center as a vibrant hangout space for language learners, but also encouraged team building and active learning through a fun and interactive activity!

🎬🇯🇵 Japanese Movie Nights are back this semester!
Join us for cozy screenings, great films, and good company—snacks included🍿✨