The Summer Courses in Japanese, which began on July 4 (Fri.) and lasted for 6 weeks, ended on August 15 (Fri.), and a send-off party was held on the same day.

Approximately 90 people from 14 countries and regions around the world, including second-time participants who had attended a course 7 years ago or last year, participated in this year's summer course. During the 6-week course, while living in dormitories on campus or doing homestays, they improved their Japanese language ability and deepened their understanding of Japanese culture through intensive Japanese language instruction and various programs.

The following words were heard from the participants who were chatting with their friends at the send-off party: "Before participating in the summer course, I could not imagine myself talking in Japanese with Japanese people, but I'm happy that I can talk like this now." and "I'm happy that I can now speak Japanese, and I'm nearly as happy that I now have friends around the world." In addition, there were comments such as "Learning kanji was the most difficult." and "I've learned kanji, but I'm afraid I'll forget them right away after I return to my home country."

The call for participants for next year's summer course is scheduled to commence in December 2014 online at http://subsite.icu.ac.jp/scj/scj/home.html.