Estonia Study Tour 2022

Who We Are

What does sustainability mean to you? What is the education that we look for to be a member of a sustainable society? With these questions in mind, ten students at Sophia University (Tokyo) embarked on a fieldwork to Estonia in February 2023. This is a platform to share the students' discoveries out of their direct experiences of nature, culture, society, and people of Estonia.

This research project has been facilitated by Professor Hideki Maruyama at Sophia University since 2016.

Letters from Estonia

Maria Ivanova

Tartu Nature House

I really enjoyed talking to the students about so many things: from roles of the females in our societies to technology, nature and street art. The questions students asked about Estonian culture made me think about it from a different perspective. For example one student remarked that in Japan they have one anthem and not so many patriotic songs like in Estonia, which we listened to together during the Estonian Independence Day ceremony.

The students were really brave and active in introducing Japanese culture to approximately 150 people who came to Japanese cultural night. It was very inspiring to see with what knowledge and enthusiasm Sophia University students guided the activities, be it origami or traditional clothing. I could see how local people felt welcome and cared about. Many people stayed longer just to continue conversations and spend some more time in this great atmosphere. I am very grateful for this opportunity to meet the students! I learnt a lot about Japanese culture and society and would love to learn more.