Law Student Experience - semester abroad in Japan

Konnichiwa!

My name is Laura Hiekkanen, I am originally from Finland and half Hungarian. I have always wanted to go to Japan, and studying there as an exchange student felt like the perfect way to experience Japanese culture. I was really excited to learn more about the traditions, the people, and everyday life. Another reason I chose Japan was the food culture — I knew Japanese food was delicious, and I really wanted to try authentic sushi. Living in Japan gave me the chance to enjoy the food and so much more.

At Akita International University, I took International Business Law, Japanese Constitutional Law, Forced Migration, and International Cooperation and Development. The university is a liberal arts school, so there were a lot of interesting courses to choose from. Since it’s an international university, almost all classes were in English, and the students spoke really good English too, so it was easy to make friends. My favorite course was Forced Migration because we talked a lot about the challenges refugees face, which is a topic I find really important and fascinating.

Living on campus made it easy to meet people and spend time together. Me and my friends would gather in the community spaces to hang out, play games, and talk about our week. Akita is a bit far from big cities, but there’s a bus to the city center, and we would often go on weekends to shop and explore, and enjoy amazing Japanese food. Even though Akita felt a bit remote, it had its charm, and I loved the slower pace of life there.

One of my first and favorite memories was going with my friends to the Omagari firework festival. I had never seen fireworks like that before—they were absolutely incredible. It was part of a big event where different regions of Japan compete against each other in fireworks displays, and the show in Akita is one of Japan’s biggest firework events. The colors, the music, and the energy of the crowd made it an unforgettable experience. Watching the sky light up with my friends is something I’ll always cherish.

Traveling around Japan was one of my favourite things to do on my exchange. Since I was already in Japan, I wanted to see as much as possible. I went to Tokyo six times because I loved it so much—it’s such a big and exciting city, and every time I visited, I discovered something new. I went to see Sapporo and I was with two of my friends and I just simply had so much fun. I also went to Osaka and Kyoto twice and wished I could have spent more time there. The shrines and temples were so beautiful, and the nature in Japan, especially during autumn, was breathtaking. The vibrant colors of the autumn leaves are something I’ll never forget.

One of the most unique parts of my exchange was living in the Criminal Justice Theme House. It was a special dorm where everyone shared an interest in criminal justice. We had to apply and write a motivation letter to be accepted. There were 12 of us, and each of us had our own dorm. We had weekly meetings where we talked about different topics in criminal justice. In addition, all of us did a presentation for the other housemates about a topic you were interested in. I gave a presentation about human trafficking in Europe. We also visited Akita Prison, which was really interesting, and had fun events like international dinners, Christmas parties, Pinata party, and we even went ice skating together.

The best part of my exchange was the people. I made friends from all over the world, and even though we all came from different backgrounds, we became really close. Being so far from home made us like a little family, and I’ll never forget the memories we made together. I can’t pick just one memory that represents my time in Japan, but traveling around the country with my friends and experiencing everything together for the first time was extremely fun. I’m so happy I decided to go on exchange. It was scary at first, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I learned so much, met amazing people, and got to experience a culture I’ve always admired. If I had the chance, I would do it all over again.

Arigato!