Master and graduate students of the historical faculty visited Japan and attended lectures by Japanese professors within a unique educational program RJE3 which involves 5 Russian universities and the University of Hokkaido, Japan.

At the University of Hokkaido the students got to know regions of the Hokkaido, the Far East and Eastern Siberia. For 5 days the leading professors delivered lectures in oceanography, climatology, archeology, anthropology, architecture, history and international relations.

Lectures were on a daily basis, every day was devoted to a special topic. Thus, on the first day there were lectures on environment and natural resources of the Hokkaido, the Far East and the Arctic. The second day was dedicated to history and culture of the Hokkaido and the Russian Far East. The lecturers told about the Aynu – indigenous people lived in the north of Japanese archipelago. Wednesday was the day of the Hokkaido architecture and infrastructure. A well-known architect of Sapporo, Professor Setoguchi, guided a city tour and showed the unique architectural monuments.  Lectures on the fourth day were about regional development, international relations and history of Russian-Japanese ties.

The participants were not only to soak up information from different areas but as well to have group discussions in English. Group presentations turned out to be so vivid and interesting that always went beyond study schedule.