YCCS

YOKOHAMA Creative-City Studies

LEADERSHIP & FACILITATION

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Educational Objectives of YCCS

At YCCS, our first focus is on promoting intensive communication among students with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds who have a deep understanding of and pride in their respective mother tongues and native cultures to instill in those individuals the ability to interact in a multilingual and cross-cultural setting, to analyze data, and to convey information in a way that will enable them to cooperate at a global level, transcending linguistic, cultural, and regional boundaries.

Second, our students work collaboratively in multinational groups and teams. To achieve their expected objectives in the end, they are actively encouraged to utilize their own strong areas and overcome their weak areas while pursuing self-improvement and self-enlightenment. We foster leadership skills and facilitation skills that enable students to respond to various situations and be persistent in carrying out the necessary planning, coordination, public relations, negotiations, execution, and verification, from start to finish.

Third, our objective is to produce global professionals who will steadily acquire grounding in the distinct areas of specialization offered by the five YNU colleges and ultimately will apply those skills and their own individuality to make a contribution to the societal needs and the given environment of the next generation.

Educational Objectives of YCCS

Characteristics of the Curriculum

In keeping with the educational objectives of the program, the YCCS curriculum offers courses and practical trainings that are comprised of the following categories and elements. For the sample list of courses of each category and element, please check here.

Japanese Language and Cultural Perspectives
After joining the YCCS Program, students will fist take these courses, together with those of Global Common Competencies.
Japanese Language
Although YCCS Program does not require all the newcomers to have the Japanese language proficiencies at all, they will take Japanese language and culture courses intensively for their first two years, so that they can interact with local people and communities to contribute for their business and association later in many course projects. Those who are fluent in Japanese can also take General Education courses offered in Japanese and count their credits for Japanese Language.
Cultural Perspectives
These courses help students gain a strong understanding of Japan’s world-famous social skills and hospitality. These will allow students to acquire essential cross-cultural communication skills that will enable them to overcome the obstacles that may occur when dealing with diverse cultures and languages.
NB: Requirements for Japanese Language Proficiencies
Because of the necessity not only for internship and job hunting in Japan but also for taking compulsory courses of the college of Urban Sciences in Japanese, students are expected to pass N2 of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) within the first 3 years if they are from non-Kanji countries, and N1 if they are from Kanji countries or if they had a certificate of N3 or higher at the time of admission. Some students are expected to pass J1+ of the Business Japanese Proficiency Test (BJT) within the first 3 years if they had a certificate of N2 or higher at the time of admission. It should be noted that students normally need to take extra Japanese language courses and study individually for many more hours to pass these tests.
Global Common Competencies
Through these courses, students will have acquired the following three competencies that are needed for future global leaders and global facilitators:
Cross-Cultural Competencies
These courses are designed to provide opportunities for Japanese and international students to participate together in practical intercultural communications for further advancement of communication skills, in Japanese language, English language, and some are in the Arabic language.
ICT and Creative Competencies
These courses are designed to provide students with the basic knowledge and skills in information and communication technologies (ICT), mathematics, securities, logic, and creative frameworks. These skills are essential for creative business and daily living in the world of this century, regardless of the field of jobs and business students will associate themselves with in the future.
Innovative Business Competencies
These courses are designed to provide students with practical knowledge and skills in business planning, analyzing, marketing, pricing, advertisement, and team management as a leading entrepreneur. These skills are essential for innovative competitive business, regardless of the field of work they engage in, to work as a team with limited budgets and time.
Specialized Competencies in Collaboration, Leadership and Facilitation
These courses foster the skills needed to work collaboratively in an international team, the ability to play a leadership role, a sense of responsibility, communication skills, and the ability to train others. Through project-based learning, students process and organize knowledge they have learned in diverse fields, create teaching materials and using them to teach junior classmates, thereby gaining the tremendous practical experience needed to become leaders and facilitators.
Fundamentals of Urban Sciences
These courses are college-wide common courses of the College of Urban Sciences. Series of omnibus-style lectures are given by multiple faculty members in the humanities and sciences to achieve multidisciplinary learning in the area of Urban Sciences.
Major and Minor Studies (Three Areas)
To develop a deeper level of leadership and facilitation skills in the student’s own field of expertise, the YCCS Program features three interdisciplinary areas with specialized courses offered by the five YNU colleges in the field of arts and humanities, social science, and engineering science. Students are required to take courses from all three areas, earning 16 credits or more from their selected major area and 4 credits or more from the other two minor areas each. They can even "double major" if they earn 16 credits or more from two areas respectively.
Urban Cultural Creation (UCC)
In this major, students study different cultures and artistic expressions and attain skills in various media such as literature and arts in urban cities. They also gain the creativity to produce global and innovative forms of art, needed to become a business leader in the urban cultures of tomorrow.
Urban Social Management (USM)
This major comprises the study of the nature of modern economics, enterprises, and societies. Students attain social scientific knowledge, analytical skills, and an understanding of different cultures and different historical experiences, all of which is needed to contribute creatively to solving the multifaceted problems of today’s urban environment.
Urban Creative Technologies (UCT)
In this major, students engage in topics related to the basic sciences and engineering, and those associated with prospective elements of industry and daily life under the concept of livable and sustainable cities. In so doing, they attain a comprehensive understanding of the natural and human forces exerting changes upon the urban environment as well as a comprehensive mastery of high-level ICT and engineering skills.
Graduation Research Project
As the culmination of their four years of studies, students spend a year working on a research project in their field of expertise under the guidance of an academic supervisor from one of the five colleges or the International Student Center. Their final research findings are to be developed into graduation research projects, which they present and defend in their thesis defenses.

Prospective Career Paths

Overview

The YCCS curriculum is intended to train international leaders and facilitators who will blaze new paths in the future. Once students graduate, they can expect a variety of international career options.

NB: YNU supports graduates in their search for a career path by holding seminars and other events to assist in their job-hunting efforts. However, it should be noted that many Japanese companies expect students to have a good command of the Japanese Language and that most of the students need to take extra Japanese language courses and study the language individually for many more hours to reach the required level.

Actual Career Paths of YCCS Alumni

3rd Cohort (graduated in 2019/2020)

  • Japanese: Working for a consulting firm in Japan
  • Vietnamese: Advanced to graduate school in Japan
  • Dutch: Working for an employment agency in Japan
  • German: Preparing to start a business in the supplement industry
  • Turkish: Advanced to graduate school in Belgium
  • American: Working as a self-employed wedding coordinator in the US
  • Japanese: Working for a manufacture company in Japan
  • Korean: Working for a manufacture company in Korea
  • Vietnamese: Working for a life insurance company in Japan

2nd Cohort (graduated in 2018/2019)

  • Canadian: Working as a fitness instructor in Tokyo
  • Vietnamese: Launched a camera studio in Vietnam
  • American: Working for an international law firm in the US
  • Vietnamese: Advanced to a graduate school and became assistant lecturer in Vietnam
  • Indian: Advanced to graduate school in Canada
  • Taiwanese: Launched a manufacturing company in Taiwan
  • American: Working as a freelance songwriter in Japan
  • Chinese: Working for an engineering company in Japan
  • American: Working for an international law firm in Japan

1st Cohort (graduated in 2017/2018/2019)

  • Indonesian: Working for an employment agency in Tokyo
  • Brazilian: Working as a freelance assitant designer in Tokyo
  • Vietnamese: Working for a school of business in Vietnam
  • Russian: Working for a manufacture company in Yokohama
  • Kirghiz: Preparing to go on to graduate school in Kirghiz
  • Norwegian: Working for the Japan Weather Association
YOKOHAMA Creative-City Studies Program
Yokohama National University
E-mail
yccs-admission@ynu.ac.jp