A Visit from Hitotsubashi University

Each year, students and faculty from Hitotsubashi University (一橋大学) in Tokyo, one of Japan’s most prestigious national universities, visit our faculty as part of an ongoing exchange. Ranked among the top 3% of universities globally, Hitotsubashi fosters a strong academic tradition in the humanities and social sciences.

During their visit, Hitotsubashi students engage in lively discussions and presentations with our third-year Japanologists, covering a diverse range of topics—from gender roles to whale hunting—conducted in both English and Japanese. When time allows, they also share meals at students’ colleges and explore Oxford, with our students acting as guides.

This exchange offers a valuable opportunity for young people from opposite sides of the world to connect, converse, and gain deeper insights into each other’s cultures and perspectives while practising the languages they are studying.

This year’s exchange took place on Monday, 10 February. Below is a report from Lily MacFarlane of Hertford College, reflecting on her experience.

Exchange Event with Hitotsubashi University Students
Lily MacFarlane, 3rd-year Japanologist, Hertford College

On Monday, 10 February, we had the opportunity to engage in discussions with students from Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo. My group—comprising two third-year Japanese students from Oxford and two students from Hitotsubashi—debated the topic of women in managerial positions, comparing the situation in Japan and the UK.

We began by establishing some statistics: in Japan, only 12.5% of executive roles are held by women, compared to approximately 40% in the UK. From there, we explored possible explanations for this stark contrast. We discussed Japan’s traditional cultural influences, including Confucian values and the wartime reinforcement of gender roles encapsulated in the slogan 良妻賢母 (good wife, wise mother). We also examined economic policies of the post-war period, which incentivised single-income households with women as full-time homemakers, as well as the broader impact of Japan’s lifetime employment system and collectivist social structure.

A particularly compelling aspect of our discussion was the Hitotsubashi students’ insights into Japanese feminist history, a topic we have explored through our Modern Japanese Literature course. We debated whether the positive associations between Japan’s high-speed economic growth and the traditional male breadwinner/female homemaker model have contributed to the persistence of these gendered expectations. The Hitotsubashi students shared personal anecdotes, noting how daughters in their families often feel pressured to emulate their mothers’ domestic roles. They also highlighted the way Japan’s collectivist society makes it difficult for individuals to challenge entrenched norms, including workplace gender inequality and the reluctance of men to take on domestic and childcare responsibilities.

An interesting moment arose when two female Hitotsubashi students remarked that they had rarely engaged in discussions about gender, sexism, or inequality prior to this session. By contrast, my Oxford peers and I discuss gender-related issues almost daily—whether analysing a sexist remark, debating the challenges faced by working mothers, or reflecting on household labour divisions within our own families. It was striking to consider how the absence of frequent, open conversations may impact awareness and action on gender-related inequalities in Japan.

After the discussion, we invited some of the Hitotsubashi students to lunch at Hertford College. Since construction work began at the college, I have often dismissed its aesthetic appeal, but seeing our guests’ enthusiasm for the historic surroundings reminded me to appreciate its unique atmosphere. Our meal—a quintessentially British dish of sausage and mashed potatoes—may have been on the stodgier side, but it hopefully provided an authentic culinary experience! Over lunch, we had the chance to exchange stories about our daily lives, hobbies, and hometowns, deepening our understanding of each other’s cultures beyond academic discussion.

I thoroughly enjoyed Monday’s exchange; opportunities to converse in Japanese with native speakers are rare in England, and this event reignited my passion for the language in its living, spoken form. The experience reinforced the importance of cultural and linguistic exchange, and I look forward to future collaborations between Oxford and Hitotsubashi University.