Winter... Hokkaido's 2,000 meter-plus Daisetsu Mountains, nicknamed the roof of Hokkaido, and other mountains are covered in deep snow. The whole island becomes a silvery snowscape, and rare animals like the Ezo red fox and Ezo sable frolic in the snow. The Okhotsk Sea is covered with drift ice from the Amur River, and colonies of Steller's sea lions and other sea lions can be seen.

Spring... the snow from the mountains melt and become babbling streams that feed boundless fields, which burst into beautiful greens and colors of blossoming flowers.

Summer... the green fields and forests glisten in the summer sun, while the blue and green colors of Hokkaido's many lakes and swamps become an even deeper hue. There is Lake Mashu, which boasts one of the clearest waters in the world and is often shrouded in fog and mystery. Ezo deer walk amongst the Japanese lark and dwarf stone pine lining lakes as they search for food.

Autumn... the salmon which have traveled oceans afar return and fill the rivers as the fields and mountains begin to turn beautiful hues of burning reds and striking yellows.

The changes of the seasons, unchanged from times past, can still be seen in full glory in Hokkaido.

It was only 140 years ago that Japanese settlers immigrated to this island and began developing the area. Before then, the only people living here were the Ainu, who fished and hunted in this land. The Ainu spirit, in which humankind coexists with nature, has been passed down to the boundless nature that can still be found here.

Toyako Town, where the G8 Summit is going to be held, is blessed with relatively mild weather. It is a town located in south-central Hokkaido also known for its hot springs. It is about a two and a half hour drive to the south from Sapporo, the host of the 1972 Winter Olympics and the capital of Hokkaido. By express train, it is a journey of about an hour and forty minutes.

The Windsor Hotel Toya where the Summit will take place is located on a mountaintop, sandwiched by Lake Toya and the ocean. It commands a view of the mirror-like surface of Lake Toya, a caldera lake, as well as the turquoise blue color of Uchiura Bay that leads to the Pacific. Nearby and overlooking the lake and ocean is Mt. Usu, an active volcano. Toyako is a town that has experienced the eruptions of this volcano, which occurs once every several decades.

The main theme of next year's G8 Summit is global environmental issues. When the leaders actually arrive at this land filled with nature, they will surely understand why Toyako Town and Hokkaido were chosen to host the Summit meeting.

Hokkaido has much more to offer besides its vast natural beauty. The Sapporo Snow Festival, an annual extravaganza of snow statues, and the Yosakoi Soran Festival, in which the streets are filled with energetically dancing youths, both attract more than 2 million people each. There is also the scrumptious seafood available in this treasure box of treats from the Sea of Japan, Pacific Ocean and the Okhotsk Sea. Warm and Cold currents mix here giving it a particularly rich variety of seafood.

You can learn more about the attractiveness of Hokkaido through the seasons at the following websites.

http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/foreign/English.htm
（Hokkaido Official Website）
http://www.pref.hokkaido.lg.jp/portal
（Portal site of Hokkaido"@HOKKAIDO"）

Hokkaido... the site of next year's G8 Summit. Why not take advantage of your stay in Japan and visit Hokkaido this winter?

Here is a report on JAPAN TENT - Exchange of Foreign Students in Ishikawa 2007 that was organized by the JAPAN TENT Steering Committee, with special sponsorship by Hokkoku Shimbun and others. The 7-night 8-day event took place this summer between July 28 and August 4.

During JAPAN TENT, foreign students and research students studying in Japan are invited to Ishikawa Prefecture as the whole prefecture becomes a "friendship tent," or a large forum for exchange. It is an annual event that is held every summer for about a week. This year marked the 20th JAPAN TENT. A total of more than 6,800 foreign students from 147 countries or regions have taken part in JAPAN TENT over the years.

Ishikawa Prefecture is a region blessed with abounding nature. It is located on the Japan Sea coast and is situated roughly around the middle of the major Japanese islands. Its capital, Kanazawa, is a beautiful blend of the old and new where there is wonderful harmony between the castle town zoning designed hundreds of years ago and a modern cityscape. It is a city that strongly retains the beauty of nature and the wonders of traditional culture. Performing arts like No and traditional Japanese music as well as aesthetic arts like tea ceremony and flower arrangement have been handed down through the ages, making it a city where visitors can enjoy an atmosphere that is both graceful and colorful.

On July 28, roughly 350 foreign students from 80 countries and regions arrived in Kanazawa and gathered for the welcoming ceremony. Hidekazu Tobita, chairman of the Kanazawa Association of Corporate Executives and president of Hokkoku Shimbun, gave a keynote speech. The theme was love of one's hometown. He said, "There is no need to over-think what love of one's hometown is. I would simply like you to have a chance to meet and interact with people from other lands, realize how wonderful your hometowns are, and talk about it with each other." He added, with hope, that having the participants do some innocent boasting to each other about their hometowns deepens their love for the hometown, which in turn becomes love of one's country, one of humanity, and leads to world peace.

After the ceremony, the students went to stay at the homes of their host families in Ishikawa Prefecture and had a chance to experience what life in a Japanese home was like. Some of them dressed up in Yukata summer kimono that their host family had prepared for them to go a fireworks display that was held on the first evening.

In the Kanazawa Institute of Traditional Crafts program, participants were able to experience traditional crafts of this region, such as gold leaf craftwork and Temari ball making. It was a fulfilled program that also enabled foreign students to experience things like flower arrangement and Zen meditation at a temple as well as playing Japanese instruments like the Biwa, Koto and Shakuhachi--things that many people would like to try at least once during their stay in Japan.

In the special lecture "Enjoy Nippon!," traditional Japanese comic storyteller Bunchin Katsura used his masterful speaking skills so that the foreign students could enjoy hearing about the world of Rakugo (comic storytelling) the depth of the Japanese language as well as funny misunderstandings. Meanwhile, at the Welcome Ishikawa Tea Ceremony, the students sat in an historical tea room and drank Matcha tea served in tea utensils made through the best of artistic handcraft techniques.

The foreign students, who were staying among various host families in 16 cities and towns in Kanagawa Prefecture, enjoyed interaction with the community where they were staying through such activities as cooking local dishes, making Japanese paper, folding Origami, writing calligraphy, picking grapes and cycling.

Upon their return to Kanazawa, the foreign students and student volunteers looked back on JAPAN TENT 2007 in the Students International Symposium. At the end of the symposium, all those gathered, including the students, host families and other volunteers, adopted the JAPAN TENT Appeal 2007 with its theme, "love of hometown."

That evening, food stalls serving 20 varieties of dishes from 14 countries around the world lined a lit-up square at Kanazawa Castle. It became a forum for fun-filled interchange between the foreign students and residents. Performances by foreign students took place on the stage while everyone took part in Bon Odori dancing. Everyone's energy peaked during this final evening.

Finally, at the Farewell Ceremony that took place on the last day, August 4, the foreign students stood before their host families and spoke various words of appreciation, such as "Thank you, my Ishikawa mother and father" and "This has become the most precious memory for me in Japan."

Posters seeking JAPAN TENT 2008 participants will be sent to universities around Japan in early May next year. We hope that you will be interested in taking part.

Visit the following websites to learn more about JAPAN TENT.

JAPAN TENT official website:
http://www.japantent.com/english.html
NPO JAPAN TENT Network official website:
http://www.japantent.com/npo/english.html

You can find information regarding exchange events taking place at various locales throughout Japan at the following page on the Study in Japan Comprehensive Guide website:
http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/inj/inj01e.html

Photo courtesy the Hokkoku Shimbun

Keiko Saito President NPO Japan Forum for Work Integrated Learning (WIL)

"Career Gateway to Asia" is a program for foreign students from Asian countries. Provided by the Japan Forum for Work Integrated Learning (WIL), the program offers a curriculum to assist Asian foreign students in enhancing their employability at Japanese companies. Our hope is that by working for and building careers at Japanese companies, former foreign students will accumulate experience that will enable them to contribute to the Asian industrial arena, as well as become bridges between their home countries and Japan. By working for a Japanese company after graduation and immersing yourself in the real world of business as a member of a Japanese company, I believe that you will be able to not only build an excellent career but also further your understanding of Japan. It should be a prime opportunity for enhancing mutual understanding with Japanese people.

Those eligible to take part in this program are third-year undergraduate students, first-year master's degree students and second-year doctoral students. By participating, you will take two 90 minute classes (a total of 180 minutes) per week for a total of two years at the university where you are enrolled. The program is currently being carried out at 18 universities (please visit the Career Gateway to Asia website for details). We are currently considering new universities to be added on from next fiscal year as program participants.

The pillar of the program curriculum is the following:

• (1)"Business Japanese Training" to study the Japanese necessary for communication and discussion after joining a Japanese company.
• (2)"Japanese Business Training" to study the Japanese business culture and customs that will be useful to you once you start working in Japan.
• (3)"Internships" that will allow you to experience Japanese companies and industries firsthand.
• (4)"Placement Support" that provide counseling on looking for work as well as job-hunting know-how.

In Japan, the process of searching for work begins the year before graduation. Like Japanese students, foreign students will be going on job interviews or taking employment exams. For this reason, the first year's curriculum focuses on content that will be useful to you in your job-hunting activities.

In the second year, classes will prepare you for the Japanese business scene in a curriculum that organically links training that includes working in small groups to do mock surveys, planning and presentations, as well as Business Japanese and Japanese Business classes that will enable foreign students to exhibit their capabilities once they start working in a Japanese-language environment. Furthermore, internships will be carried out in conjunction with such classroom lectures.

Many of the lecturers are people who have accumulated a wealth of experience in the Japanese business world. Furthermore, they have received special training for this curriculum so that they can not only conduct classes but also offer concrete support for students' job searching activities, such as job-placement counseling.

The curriculum was made possible through the know-how we at NPO WIL accumulated for about 20 years in promoting internships in Japan and with the cooperation of participating universities and companies.

There are many major Japanese corporations that are well known throughout the world. At the same time, there are also innumerable companies which may be small, but manufacture world-class products. There are also the energetic companies like IT venture firms. Regardless of the field, there are many, many companies that have high future potential. And, what is common to all of these companies is that they are all seeking talented foreign students like you.

If you attend one of the 18 universities that are currently participating in this project, please go to the relevant contact point at your university to find out more about taking advantage of this project. If you attend other universities, please contact the secretariat at Career Gateway to Asia.

You can find details about this program and contact information at NPO WIL's Career Gateway to Asia website:
http://www.wil-cga.org/(Only in Japanese)

We look forward to your participation in the Career Gateway to Asia program.