Anthropology Volunteering in Japan

This was absolutely the best internship I could have dreamt of! Robert made this journey unforgettable and offered me the best internship in a local IT company. I had a very intense two months that exposed me to so much learning and coding with Phyton, C++ and Java. THANK YOU for the great work you did!!!

Just finished my 6-Month internship in Tokyo and it was simply amazing. Great people, great food and the lifestyle is a rollercoaster of fun, excitement and adrenaline all the time. They say Tokyo never sleeps and I can approve that 100%! Meiji did a great job in placing me at a great IT startup that helped me developing their European business branch from zero. At the beginning I was like, "Hold on, you want what?" and then I ended up bringing in the first clients after 4 months which sounds like a long time but considering the whole marketing campaign I made together with their designer team it was actually quick. The highlight of my internship was the trading convention the boss took me together to Okinawa, which I will never forget. Now looking back after this great time it is time to get back to my business degree as these people decided to hire me after my studies are done! I can't thank everybody more than enough and I recommend anybody to consider the Meiji experience as it changed my life! Literally!!! I should mention with a grain of salt that we had in the same host company at least 4 other Meiji interns at my time and two of them didn't work well with the working culture and stress in Japan... so before you choose to come to Japan I do recommend to know what you want as Tokyo can become sometimes quite extreme. For me I loved every second and would do it anytime again! Arigatou to Yanagida-shacho for your kind and strict guidance throughout my journey. Can't wait to be back!

I don't know where to start but this IT internship for the past three months was a game-changer for me! I have made so many contacts, developed my Java Script and C++ coding skills to the next level while networking with the local entrepreneurial crowd filled with international IT geeks, locals business man and even a few angel investors, Fukuoka just blew my mind! The best thing about Meiji was how much of a grip and connection they have in Kyushu and really know the whole local companies pretty much. I have hung out with the staff and fellow interns for a couple of dinners and food gatherings and I cannot intensify how much it is important to get out of your comfort zone.

Ever been to a place so amazing you don’t want people to know about it? That’s Fukuoka for me! Before doing this internship I had no idea the place even existed. To be honest I had my eyes set on Tokyo and I was a little worried Fukuoka wouldn't match the hype, but boy was I in for a shock. The place is just… amazing. The people are great, the food is amazing, the city has everything you need, like to the extent I was seriously considering leaving Canada behind forever. I know I sound like one of those corny travel bloggers, but Fukuoka is a real hidden gem. Shout out to Meiji for introducing this place to me because I definitely would’ve never came here otherwise. In addition to being a place of dreams, the internship I did was pretty good too. I will admit sometimes it felt like I had a little too much work, but I guess that’s down to my laziness because an internship should be about work. I definitely still had a lot of time to explore Japan though so I really shouldn't complain. The accommodation was perfect too, something about it felt so wholesome, it was so “natsukashii”. If you’re considering Fukuoka for an internship, all I can say is do it, and just be aware I’m jealous of you because I’d love to do it all again.

I am studying Japanese at uni and learning the Japanese sign language. I have always wanted to live in Japan because I love their culture and how respectful people are. As I am interested in the Japanese sign language as well, I asked Meiji Internships if it would be possible to find my internship in this field, and they found it! I am really thankful for this opportunity. It was an NGO helping children with different types of deafness. I helped organise a fundraising event, went to hospitals to entertain children and many other activities. The children were really cute and they seemed so happy to meet me! It was the best social experience I had in my life, thank you so much for this opportunity.

Tokyo was amazing! My brother did an internship in China, but I wanted to have a different experience, and I had a better feeling with Japan. Even though I don't speak Japanese (or only some basic words), it was not a problem in Tokyo and the company I interned with. My mother was a bit worried because it was my first time going abroad alone, but I really wanted to intern in Asia because the culture is so different and fascinating. It was a good idea to trust Meiji Internship because they helped me with the accommodation, the sim card and so on. They also sent me a newsletter with a list of events, it was really nice. I gained experience and also independence thanks to this internship... amazing!

What a challenge for me to live in such a huge city like Tokyo, but what a memorable experience! I wanted to visit Tokyo anyway, so why not gaining work experience while visiting? I had a great time there, doing my internship in Design. At some point, they needed my help with SNS tasks and a bit of copywriting. I applied in priority for Design, but I said that I was also interested in Marketing, so I was happy to be polyvalent sometimes. As it might help some people: I am a vegetarian, and I thought it would be complicated to eat vege food in Japan, but actually it was not! I cooked my bento for lunch at the sharehouse sometimes, and there are plenty of vege restaurants in Tokyo, even vegan if needed! Or I would eat kitsune udon, yasai tempura... lots of options! Anyway, don't worry if you are a vegetarian, you can do your internship in Tokyo!! Thank you Meiji Internships for this amazing experience! I will remember it my whole life!

Please let me go back in time and do this program again! I have made so many friends in the two months I've been in Sapporo. Hokkaido is such a great place to explore all the natural spots during the weekends and also learn about the mystical culture of the Nordic native people called "Ainu". I met so many super awesome people on my journey and went with them also to the cozy city port of Hakodate on the Southern tip. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I already miss all the people and my fellow colleagues from my company I was working at. Advise: Make sure to check out the sea food market in Sapporo. Mouth watering and fresh sea food wherever you look.