Mere days into her two-year placement at Samford University, Eri Taguchi was filling up her activities calendar and devising ways to deliver cross-cultural experiences with students. A coordinator with the Japan Outreach Initiative (JOI), she’s excited to be teaming up with SamfordGlobal.
“Japan is kind of famous for anime, movies and food, so I would like to provide more of a 360-degree view,” Taguchi said. “Underneath all those things, there’s culture, history and society. I want to provide that perspective for students.”
Samford is one of 16 current JOI sites, joining universities such as Arizona, Oklahoma and Creighton. Previous exchanges included Wake Forest, Nebraska, Michigan State, Virginia, Mississippi State, West Alabama, Troy and the University of Alabama.
“While SamfordGlobal would like every student to study abroad, this is not always possible. JOI brings cross-cultural experiences to campus,” said Jordan Cummings, assistant director of SamfordGlobal. “It’s a chance to engage with Japanese culture and will hopefully inspire further cross-cultural interest and learning.”
Japanese-owned manufacturers in Alabama have generated billions across the past quarter-century, with Honda, Toyota and Daikin leading the way. One hope is programs such as JOI will foster a new generation of economic ties. Specifically, Taguchi’s cultural affairs experience could assist in networking with Japanese-owned industries in the region.
“As a private Christ-centered institution, we have such a competitive advantage to live into efforts of diversity,” said P.J. Hughes, associate provost for faculty success. “That means multiculturalism, bringing more ambassadors to campus, bringing more students to campus, inculcating the sense of radical hospitality and radical Christian welcome—to really live into that missional calling.”
Taguchi understands the importance of learning about other cultures and the impact it can have on a student. As a 13-year-old from Kumamoto, in southern Japan, she spent a weeklong sister-city exchange trip to Rome, Georgia. The kindness and curiosity of her host family sparked an interest in global relations. It also prompted Taguchi to bridge the language gap: upon returning to her Japanese high school, she sought out the English-speaking teachers.
“Almost every single lunch break, I’d go and talk with them, and that’s when I saw my English starting to pick up,” she said. By the time she attended university in Fukuoka and began working at Abercrombie & Fitch—a company with English-only communications—she became fluent.
She majored in international relations, studied in England for 10 months, and later interned at the U.S. consulate before a bit of happenstance led her to the JOI program. While strolling into the Fukuoka subway with her mother, Taguchi noticed a recruitment poster. “It was right in front of the ticket gate, and I saw that my local JOI event was scheduled for the next day,” she said. “I’m so lucky I noticed it.”
After one semester on campus, Taguchi’s impressions of Samford have been positive.
"A lot of people are really kind, and it’s a really large campus compared to how things are in Japan,” she said. “My role is a cultural ambassador, and I think I can reach out to people and make grassroots cultural exchanges. Even though I know it’s going to end in two years, I hope it’s something that carries on.”
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