Conference Review
A Different Kind of Conference: A Day on
Intercultural Communication with JII

Stephen Shrader
Notre Dame Seishin Women’s University

The Japan Intercultural Institute (JII) held its annual conference on
October 17, 2010 at Shirayuri College, near Sengawa Station on Tokyo’s
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materials development focusing on intercultural education and skills
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org/Default.aspx?l=1). In addition, JII sponsors events through theyear such as the annual conference, where members can convene todiscuss intercultural issues, network, and have fun together. JII’s 2010
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120, compared to the previous year’s turnout of just over 100. Thismeans the event was smaller in scale than something like the annual
JALT conference; however, this was in no way a drawback. The JII
conference had a very personalized and at-home feeling from the startof the day, and there was plenty to do with over twenty presentations
on the schedule.
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JII 2010, OnCUE Journal, 5(1), pages 44-48

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(Z[OPZ^HZT`ÄYZ[[PTLH[[LUKPUN[OLL]LU[P[^HZ\ZLM\S[VOLHYOPTexplain JII’s goals as an NPO. Perhaps because JII’s members do get
together for activities, the event had a very “at home” feeling to it.
People seemed to know each other yet welcomed me as a newcomer.
I found participants were as eager and receptive as any conference
audience I have seen—a good thing, as I was scheduled to give aworkshop as well.
Presentations, some in English and some in Japanese, wereinteresting to language teachers and intercultural trainers, as well as
those involved in building bridges across cultures in other ways. It’sOHYK[VKLÄUL[OPZM\Y[OLY7LVWSL^VYRPUNPU[OPZÄLSKHYLZVTL[PTLZ
involved in business, but there’s a wide range of things interculturalists
do—some are in health care, others are volunteers who troubleshoot/advise, some are translators/interpreters, some counselors, etc. Others
just come to this kind of thing out of personal interest.
I spent the morning listening to an engaging speaker in Japaneseon English language education for computer science majors. She
asked questions of the audience about our teaching contexts andbackgrounds, and kept our responses in mind as she explained how she
approaches her own students, who did not necessarily feel a need forEnglish. As I have not taught computer science majors, her descriptionof her students’ attitudes and needs allowed me a glimpse into theunfamiliar teaching context of a science-oriented university. This in asense allowed me to encounter another of Japan’s communities andthe perspectives of its students on English study, through her eyes.
This was followed by a presentation from Peter Mizuki, of Nihon
University, on a course about Japanese culture for international students.
He explained how he has his students prepare presentations on Japanesecultural keywords, working with them on their understanding of Japan
while simultaneously building their autonomy. Like the presenter inthe morning, he took audience questions as he presented. I saw this45

Shraderinteractivity in all the sessions I attended at the event. After listening
to his talk, I decided to take a break to focus on my own presentationand eat lunch.
Lunchtime highlighted the one thing that I felt might be a drawback
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were no shops immediately around us. The conference organizers
solved this by providing a bento service.
Following lunch, most participants went to see the plenary speakerand current Chairman of Airbus Japan, Glen Fukushima, speaking on
intercultural skills and globalization. His session went a little overtime,
but the conference was small enough that the afternoon presentations
could all be shifted a few minutes without confusion. The volunteersand organizers were quick in handling this change.
In the afternoon, I attended a presentation in the room where I would
be giving my own workshop. The talk was on some basic concepts
from intercultural communication—mainly leading into a discussion
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for some members of the audience, and hearing the presenter describe
his cultural dimensions framework was interesting enough; however,the speaker stayed on stage answering questions straight through until
it was my time to start. The student volunteers were afraid to force thespeaker to stop (understandably), and I was thankful that one of the JII
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and also rescheduled things so I was able to have the full time for myown session.
When I took the stage, the JII audience was warm, and quick toparticipate in my own session. I spoke on the challenges of preparing
university students for study abroad when they are enrolled in a predeparture English for Academic Purposes course, but they come withunrealistic expectations regarding what coursework abroad will entail.
My workshop allowed participants an opportunity to try some parts ofan activity set developed for working with students on this problem by46

JII 2010, OnCUE Journal, 5(1), pages 44-48

allowing the teacher to become a cultural informant, and the audienceeagerly responded with their own questions and comments. It was very
worthwhile as a presenter to share what I had to say, as the audienceand the JII volunteers were all so participatory and energetic. It isalso worth noting that despite the small size of the conference, I had
a good-sized audience attend; it was larger than some I have had atbigger events.
Unfortunately, with a long trip back to Okayama, I had to leave
once my presentation was done; however, in addition to the otherpresentations on the schedule, there were two events worth noting.
The last session of the day, which I hated having to miss, was by Joseph
Shaules again, talking about deep culture, his term for “the unconscious
conditioning that shapes our thinking and view of the world in hidden^H`Z¹ O[[W!^^^WPJVNSVIHSJVT (Z OL OHZ ILLU PUÅ\LU[PHS PU
intercultural materials development here in Japan—co-authoring thetextbooks Identity and Different Realities, for example—I would havevery much liked to hear his presentation. Finally, in the evening, someof the participants and planners went out for dinner together. The
conference is small enough that this is a very appropriate end to theevent, and very much in tune with what Shaules stated at the start ofthe day, that the conference would have a different feel from othersimilar events, with perhaps less of an academic focus than some otherconferences. I should mention that as I attended the sessions, I neverfelt that myself. Every presentation I attended would have been equally
likely to be on the schedule for the JALT or SIETAR Japan conferences,depending on the topic focus.
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of the goals of JII itself—personal, with a focus on real people andreal interaction. The experience left me wishing I lived closer to Tokyo.
Anyone with an interest in intercultural communication or international
events around Kanto might enjoy getting involved with the group, asJII seems to have events scattered throughout the year. I cannot attend
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Shraderthem, being so far away; however, I will certainly be going again forfuture JII conferences.

References
Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences: Comparing values,
behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2ndLK;OV\ZHUK6HRZ*(!:HNL7\ISPJH[PVUZ0UJ
***Stephen Shrader has taught English in a variety of Japanese contexts
for about 14 years. Life-changing experiences as an exchange student
had a deep impact on him, and his language courses have a strong
intercultural communication focus. He holds an MA TESOL and teaches
at Notre Dame Seishin Women’s University. kanzan@yahoo.com.

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