How brave – and how exciting: when the first cohort of the International Business Studies (IBS) programme was asked about their preferred countries for international placements, Japan was right at the top of the list. An ambitious goal that is now being actively pursued as part of the HAW short-term project Globalintern+.
At the end of February 2026, Tatjana Erlewein, Internationalisation Officer at the Faculty of Business Administration, travelled to Tokyo to secure new internship placements for students. For the economic Sinologist, the trip was particularly interesting not only professionally but also from an intercultural perspective. Although she is familiar with Asian economic regions, the unique characteristics of Japan became apparent to her as soon as she arrived at Tokyo Airport.
“In Japan, absolutely nothing is left to chance,” she reports. “In addition to clear signage, there are staff members stationed everywhere to provide travellers with further guidance and ensure that everything runs smoothly.”
During her stay, Tatjana Erlewein held several meetings with potential internship companies in Tokyo. The discussions were promising: new business contacts were established and concrete internship opportunities for students were identified.
She also highlights an important prerequisite: “In many companies – particularly smaller ones – interns are expected to have a basic knowledge of Japanese. I therefore recommend that students interested in an internship in Japan start learning the language early on.”
The newly secured internship opportunities in Japan will be made available to the IBS community on the Learning Campus. Students who are interested or have questions about preparation can contact Tatjana Erlewein, Internationalisation Officer at the Faculty of Business Administration, at any time.
Contact: int-biz@th-rosenheim.de
And the next step in the project is already on the agenda: at the end of June, the project lead, Prof. Dr Carolin Fleischmann, will deepen and further expand the newly established contacts during another visit to Tokyo. Because anyone familiar with the region knows that successful collaborations here arise primarily through continuous relationship-building and personal encounters. The aim of this further visit is therefore to lay the foundations for sustainable partnerships with companies – and thus create even more exciting internship opportunities for future IBS students.
Would you also like to study abroad and enrich your studies with a stay overseas? Then get the info here!
