Tohoku University

This course is designed for international students who have passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test N2 level. It focuses on developing the Japanese language skills necessary for university life through a variety of practice activities, such as speeches, presentations, discussions, and role-playing.

Eligibility: B1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N2 in the JLPT). Ability to read about 750 basic kanji is recommended (equivalent to having completed K300).

By the end of this course, students are expected to:
・Have gained guidance for living a meaningful study abroad life by discussing career development.
・Have improved their Japanese expression skills and build interpersonal relationships.
・Have developed problem-solving skills.

This course is for Upper-intermediate Japanese students to obtain fundamental Japanese listening skills needed for attending university classes and daily life. 

Eligibility: B1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (N2 in the JLPT).
By the end of the course, students are expected to:
- understand lectures and conversations that are complex in terms of both content and language.
- take more effective notes.
- summarize the heard information and discuss the topics with classmates.

This course is intended for beginning students to acquire daily survival level of Japanese comprehension and speaking skills. The course does not cover hiragana or katakana. 

Eligibility: Students who have studied no Japanese. 

The objectives of this course are as follows: A1 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education.

• Understand and correctly use basic greetings and set phrases.
• Speak about things around oneself and interact with others using combinations of simple phrases. 
• Understand simple informative texts and brief passages about familiar topics.

The science of particle physics is to understand our world by studying particles that constitute the universe and their interactions. This course explains the basic concept of the particle physics as well as the Standard model and its related important experiments and results.

The course covers the following topics: 

• Elementary particles and their types and characteristics of interactions
• Properties of nuclei
• Elementary particle detectors and accelerators
• Collider experiments and nuclear structure
• Quark and strong interaction 
• Weak interaction and symmetry breaking
• Standard model and verifications
• Neutrino oscillations

This course teaches yoga asanas (poses) and how their sequences affect one's mind and body. Course participants will also practice sitting quietly without the use  of smartphones or other electronic devices, reflecting on its effects. Additionally, class participants will share traditional therapeutic diets and treatments from their home countries. A report is expected to be submitted during the final week of the class. 

Students acquire listening skills necessary to university life through viewing lectures and videos on a variety of topics. Students will learn to take notes/memos and ask the instructor questions. 

Eligibility: B2 level in the CEFR/JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education (approx. N1 in the JLPT). 

Learning Objectives 

• Understand lectures and conversations that are fairly complex in terms of both content and language. 
• Synthesize audio and written/visual information, and take notes recording important information.
• Explain heard information in their own words using materials and notes as reference. 

The field of Economics has a complex history marked by contradictions. On one hand, it is a history of disagreement and changes, but on the other, it is a persistent effort to address crucial questions facing society. This interplay of discontinuity and continuity has shaped Economics into the theory we study today. By tracing the evolution of the science, one can gain a deeper understanding of its essence and how it has developed into its current form.

By the end of this course, students are expected to have:
- Developed an in-depth understanding of the context of contemporary economic theory.
- Acquired knowledge of the various schools of economic thought.
- Developed an understanding for why economics has changed over time.

This course focuses on the principle of chemical thermodynamic of refining process of metals and specific knowledge of the process for each metal. The course first analyzes the principle of equilibria of chemical reaction of metal processing, and then the refining process of steels, copper, aluminum and other metals to understand their basic procedure and characteristics. The course aims to understand the thermodynamic equilibrium of metal refining process and understand the basic knowledge of various refining process of metals.

This course presents basic concepts and information of plate tectonics and the tectonic history of the Asiatic continent and the Japanese islands, active faults and earthquakes, and volcanoes. The lectures include how past and recent environment influence human livelihood.

The course covers the following topics:
- Introduction of the course
- Basics of Plate tectonics
- Plate margin and Japan island arc
- Rock structure beneath surface
- Geology and natural resources
- History of earth and geological timescale
- Earthquake and active faults
- The Great East Japan earthquake
- Rheology of rocks and subduction zone earthquake cycles
- Volcanoes
- Advancement in geodynamics with space geodesy
- Advancement in geodynamics with InSAR and machine learning

The material world is surrounded by a large number of chemical products manufactured with various types of materials including organic, inorganic and their composite materials. Even in the human body, biological materials are constantly being produced with the help of specialized enzymes and biochemical reactions. This coures provides chemistry-oriented topics concerned with the development of functional materials in various areas of engineering.

This course covers basic aspects of chemical production, with special emphasis on environmentally friendly methodologies for the synthesis of fine chemicals and advanced materials.