CAMP ZAMA, Japan – For the final a number of weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Japan Engineer District (USACE JED) has been a bit extra scholarly than standard – maybe partly as a result of District’s participation within the annual U.S. Army Garrison Japan (USAGJ) summer season internship program.
The four-week-long expertise, which launched in 2013 and is now celebrating its tenth yr, introduces Japanese school college students to Soldiers, American civilians, and Japanese personnel, dwelling and dealing on a U.S. army set up. Additionally, it offers them the distinctive alternative to achieve expertise in an American work heart, and additional perception into the cornerstone that’s the United States’ relationship with Japan.
“This a super important program for the Alliance, as our Japanese workers are essential to the successful operation of United States Forces Japan (USFJ) organizations like JED,” mentioned USACE JED Commander, Col. Gary Bonham. “Without our great Japanese teammates, we wouldn’t be able to accomplish our mission – this program enables us to reach out to the next generation of up-and-coming Japanese professionals and show them the opportunities that a career with JED offers.”
Program tips for the internship expertise have college students partaking in job shadowing, English dialog alternatives, displays working towards public talking, designing S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) objectives, and even a ‘capstone’ occasion, the place they may talk about with their work facilities the information they acquired and why the connection between the U.S. and Japan is integral.
JED’s Public Affairs Officer, Charlie Maib, noticed the potential this system may present for each nations by constructing assist and facilitating deeper group relations and sought to convey the District into the fold. Taking the position of JED’s level of contact for the interns, Maib reached out to events and ensured the District would have a spot for the Japanese college students to be taught and develop.
“Because our workforce within JED is highly specialized, with many of our employees being Japanese nationals, USAGJ’s program made the most sense to take advantage of and integrate with,” Maib defined. “Introducing college-age Japanese youth to JED provides us a potential direct route to recruiting technically specialized graduates who can continue to power USACE’s mission in Japan from the tail end of their formal education process and beyond.”
This inaugural participation in this system is simply step one in JED’s foray into internet hosting college-age interns – whereas this yr the District is working along with USAGJ, the hope is to proceed this system by itself, with a full roster of interns roaming the USACE JED headquarters subsequent yr, and finally all JED places all through Japan.
During this iteration of the internship program although, 3 people had been chosen to spend their 4 weeks at JED – all with totally different academic backgrounds, together with a enterprise main, a advertising main, and a mechanical engineering graduate scholar.
For Yuzen Kurokawa, a advertising main attending Nihon University in Tokyo’s Suidobashi district, it was the primary time he’d labored along with American civilians on a army set up. Kurokawa, initially an Ibaraki prefecture native, discovered about this system by a social media influencer promoting a chance to work with Americans.
“I thought it was a really interesting chance to work and speak with Americans,” Kurokawa talked about. “When you’re on a military installation, it feels like [maybe] you’re in America – it’s a good opportunity to see how Americans work together.”
Kurokawa was assigned to work in JED’s Programs and Project Management Division (PPMD), the place he bought a firsthand alternative to see how long-term tasks are managed from “cradle to grave” within the District.
“I got to learn about how projects are laid out, from beginning to end, sometimes lasting longer than a year, and it was amazing to see how many details are included,” Yuzen defined. “Compared to Japanese work culture, [American work centers] seem to be more relaxed whilst being more efficient.”
This transient enterprise inside American work tradition highlights the distinction between the East and West enterprise mentality whereas offering a optimistic studying setting to foster schooling and permitting the visiting interns to additionally imprint their information and experiences on JED.
Rina Koyama, a enterprise main attending Showa Women’s University within the Sangenjaya district of Tokyo, discovered the expression of individuality by work heart decorations to be fascinating, and the way a lot area every worker needed to work – a stark distinction in comparison with a typical Japanese workplace and work tradition.
“For many of the employees at JED, their desks are so wide, and feel like their own private rooms,” Koyama mentioned. “Unlike Japanese offices, I got the feeling that employees here could communicate more easily with each other.”
But the intern’s expertise at JED hasn’t been solely enterprise – working with Americans additionally gave the younger Japanese college students an opportunity to alternate cultures and concepts on a private stage, strengthening the ever-present bonds held between the U.S. and Japan.
“Some of my most favorite moments while I’ve been at JED have been getting to sit down and share lunch with some of the American employees,” talked about Koyama. “I was happy to be able to help and work in an environment as positive as this was.”
With loads of enterprise acumen gained and smiles shared, this yr’s iteration of USAGJ’s summer season internship program seems to bode effectively for JED’s deliberate future enlargement of this system.
“I hope this program continues to grow in the future, we want to do more outreach to prospective Japanese who would be a good fit to work with the JED team and I think this one good way to do it,” mentioned Bonham. “We want to encourage the best and brightest of the upcoming Japanese workforce to consider working with JED, this exposure will help ensure that we can continue to enjoy having a top-notch workforce going forward.”
Source: U.S.Army