My internship experience at Japan House London

Natasja reflects on her SOAS Summer Internship in the Programming Events team at Japan House London and how it combined her studies in Japanese and History of Art while building her professional confidence.

Through applying to the SOAS internship programme scheme, I had the amazing opportunity to intern as a Programming Events and Research Intern at Japan House London. This was a dream opportunity for me; I actually applied for an internship at Japan House in my first year at SOAS — and I didn’t even make it to the interview stage. In my final year of studying Japanese and History of Art at SOAS, I was delighted to secure this opportunity, which brought together both sides of my degree. 

Japan House is a Japanese organisation located in South Kensington which is closely tied to the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. My internship was in the Programming Events team, and I was tasked with creating an educational worksheet for their website, as well as assisting with events and administration tasks. It was so interesting to see the behind the scenes of the events programme at Japan House because it is so varied, ranging from film screenings to hosting dance workshops and tea demonstrations.

As this was my first experience of a corporate environment, experiencing routine and low-level tasks was a surprisingly useful experience. For example, completing the onboarding HR training, using the CRM, creating risk assessments and learning how to use various platforms like Eventbrite, Customer Voice and Microsoft Dynamics. Sitting in meetings and learning how departments interact with each other was also valuable for observing professional communication and successful teamwork.

I feel more confident in my ability to pick up new skills quickly and adjust from a university environment to a professional setting.

I am very grateful to the programming team, who kindly adapted the tasks based on what skills I wanted to learn. This allowed me to get involved with a wide variety of projects, from introducing on-site events to writing Japanese reports for collaborators. Thanks to this experience, I feel more confident in my ability to pick up new skills quickly and adjust from a university environment to a professional setting.

A true highlight of the internship was the amazing team at Japan House. From the beginning, everyone was very friendly and patient with me, always giving me lots of opportunities to ask questions and get involved with different projects. As I have often been told, and have also experienced, the world of Japanese culture is fairly small and making a few connections goes a long way.

Completing this internship during the summer of my final year really feels like a full-circle moment for me, especially after getting rejected the first time around!

So not only was it fun to work alongside kind and dedicated people with a shared interest in Japan, but it was also very insightful to learn about what careers are possible in this field and make some contacts.

Completing this internship during the summer of my final year really feels like a full-circle moment for me, especially after getting rejected the first time around! It feels like the skills I learnt through my degree and the rejections I faced from applying to other internships and jobs paid off. 

I would highly recommend using the SOAS Careers Service, which offers practice interviews and personal CV and cover letter review, both of which I used when applying to this internship. I would encourage anyone to apply to a summer internship and, if you are not successful the first time, just apply again!

SOAS Summer Internships Programme 

The SOAS Summer Internships Programme offers current Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught students over 30 paid internships across a wide range of sectors, including Arts & Culture, International Development, Sustainability, Human Rights, and Digital & GovTech. Paid at the London Living Wage, roles are available on-site, hybrid, or remote, with full-time (5-week) or part-time (10-week) options, giving SOAS students the chance to gain real-world experience in supportive organisations that reflect their diverse strengths and global perspectives.