Why Choose AKP?
engage with a host family
Want to connect with a local community? Practice speaking about your day over a home-cooked meal? Take advantage of the host family experience on your journey!
become a language fanatic
Experienced language instructors provide AKP students with an intensive, fast-paced immersion into written and spoken Japanese, with each semester of the language program providing credit equivalent to two standard semester-long courses at most US institutions. Courses are coordinated to connect you with ideas and themes that you’ll encounter in your elective courses as well as your day-to-day life in Kyoto. Take advantage of your daily contact with native Japanese faculty and staff, and apply what you learned outside the classroom.
grow your understanding
AKP shares our consortium institutions’ dedication to high academic standards and a sound liberal arts education. Our elective courses are taught by a mix of local faculty and some of our consortium institutions’ finest professors, specifically recruited to offer courses that will deepen your understanding of Japan’s long and complex cultural history. As an AKP student, you will enroll in two elective courses per semester, each equivalent to a standard semester-long course at most US institutions.
experience the ancient capital
With its historical and cultural richness, Kyoto is an ideal place to develop a strong sense of Japanese language and culture, and the AKP Center, located at Doshisha University, will serve as a convenient hub from which to explore different paths into the heart of the city. Through careful attention to time management, you will discover many opportunities to participate in the festivals, holidays, and other fun aspects of daily life, as well as visit the museums, temples, and palaces that have been part of the Kyoto landscape for over 1,200 years.
explore new passions
Whether you want to play a taiko drum, learn traditional Japanese dance, or train in the martial art of aikido, AKP will help you make that happen. AKP’s Cultural Activities Grant gives you the resources to explore in depth the sort of Japanese cultural experiences you might never be able to find back in your home country.
F.A.Q.
AKP is open to college juniors and first-semester seniors in good standing at consortium and non-consortium institutions within the US.
Of course! AKP welcomes students from higher education institutions all across the United States. For more information about what it costs to attend AKP as a non-consortium student, visit the Costs and Financial Aid page.
When AKP first began in 1972, most of its students were majoring in Japanese or some sort of East Asian studies field. Nowadays, however, it’s hard to say! Our students come from a wide variety of STEM, humanities, and social science majors, with varying degrees of Japanese language proficiency and familiarity with Japanese culture. While most students were raised in the US, international students currently studying in the US also participate regularly.
If there is one thing that connects AKP students, it’s a shared love and curiosity of Japan!
Students who are accepted into AKP are asked to indicate a preference for either a homestay or apartment housing. Given AKP’s long history as a homestay-only program, we still encourage students to seriously consider homestay housing as a valuable way to get an in-depth understanding of Japanese life and culture!
Japan is a country rich in history and culture, and nowhere is it more evident than in Kyoto. Urban centers, historical monuments, and UNESCO World Heritage sites all coexist in a single city, granting you a firsthand look at how both tradition and modernity shape Japanese culture today. Whether you prefer the suburban quiet or the urban hustle, you’ll be able to find an environment that suits you in Kyoto.