Do you study Japanese? Ca’ Foscari can introduce you to 190 businesses

Recently, a cooperation agreement  between the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Italy (CCIGI) has been signed.
The primary objective of this agreement is to increase potential jobs and internships for students and alumni at Ca’ Foscari in Japanese companies in Italy or Italian businesses that work with Japan.
The 190 members of CCIGI can now access the data bank of curricula for students or graduates for the purpose of employment or internships in their own businesses, thus facilitating access to a large number of positions that, to this day, are often filled with Japanese-language graduates of other universities close to corporate locations. The agreement coordinator is Dr. Marcella Mariotti.

Students enrolled in the Japanese curriculum in the Department of  Asian and North African Studies at Ca’ Foscari are highly competent in terms of linguistics and culture, skills which they acquire thanks to excellent education along with having the possibility to spend time in Japan during their studies at university. "The students of this particular course of study can speak and write in Japanese very well, and they also know our culture, customs and traditions" – this is the opinion of Takeshi Yamanaka, President of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Italy. With this agreement, more and more Japanese companies in Italy are now aware of the excellence of Ca’ Foscari and its students.

The long history of Japanese studies at Ca’ Foscari, which began on November 30th 1873 with a solemn ceremony at the former Royal Business School, seems now to ‘return to the future'. 
“The regular courses of study that combine theory and practice, forming traders, economics teachers, and specialists of 'consular section' went hand in hand with the study of western and eastern foreign languages, as Luzzati [co-founder of the Royal Business School of Venice] believed that ‘to know ourselves and to improve ourselves, the study of modern languages is a necessary skill, as these are the languages which speak for the modern businesses of the world’.”(A. Boscaro, Annali di Ca’ Foscari, 2007).

Today, Ca’ Foscari receives almost 500 applications per year from high school graduates interested in Japanese language courses. The 315 freshmen, selected according to a planned selection process, can enjoy access to the Internship & Placement Office, committed to following students on their journey to the working world.

Michele Bugliesi, Rector of the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice: "The agreement with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Italy is a new opportunity for our students to gain experience in major Italian and Japanese companies. Many of our  graduates  are already working successfully in Japan. The growing commitment of Ca’ Foscari University towards the study of world languages and cultures is enriched through interdisciplinary training and opportunities for international internships and placements. These are some of the features that characterize the  educational experience and quality of teaching found at Ca’ Foscari."
In this way, the commitment of the University, together with the excellence of the students themselves in Japanese (among the most numerous in Europe to achieve the highest level in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test), has been recognized by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Italy, thanks to Takeshi Yamanaka and his advisers Hideo Minato, Tatsuya Ichikawa, Tomohiko Morozumi, Takeshi Shimojo, Hiroto Kobayashi, who by virtue of this agreement are willing to support our students in search of work.

The synergy between Ca’ Foscari’s academic world and the business world has already enabled various graduates to find work. Together with the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, principal promoter of this agreement, it is hoped that more and more Ca’ Foscari graduates enrolled in Japan studies can put their linguistic and cultural skills to good use in Japanese companies. As stated by Takeshi Yamanaka: "The Japanese management will thus be able to communicate more easily with the Italian team, for business negotiations and internal communications. This is certainly an asset for a company ".