A triple major in international studies, Japanese and anthropology at Pacific University, Klaas had always had a deep love for Japan. That passion has anchored her career and life choices in the years since she set forth from Pacific and Forest Grove.
News, Media and Stories | Japanese
2023 rings in the Year of the Rabbit and the Vietnamese Year of the Cat. Join Pacific University's Asian Pacific American Student Union, Chinese Qilin Club, Japan Club, Korea Club, and the Vietnamese Student Association for a celebration of the Lunar New Year on Feb. 9.
Three students placed in this year's regional competition, following on the heels of a grand-prize win in 2021.
A memorial service for Sandra Garcia, a beloved teacher of Japanese, will be held Sept. 11, 2021 at 2 p.m. at the Taylor-Meade Performing Arts Center on Pacific University's Forest Grove Campus. She died March 7, 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown.
In 1876, Pacific University celebrated one of its early commencement ceremonies with a special distinction: Pacific became one of the first universities in the United States to welcome Japanese citizens to its alumni ranks.
Chika Matsumoto '21 received the 2021 Outstanding Contributions to Student Life Award from Pacific University.
Pacific University’s Saya Brown ’21 was honored by the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching in Japanese.
Chika Matsumoto ’21 first started dancing because it’s what her friends were doing. But she never stopped. “It turned out to be a lifelong passion and hobby with me,” she said. “Dance has just been that one thing that stuck with me my entire life.”
As an education major and Japanese minor, Diane Lebowitz '16 has enjoyed making connections with fellow students and local youth with a variety of language and cultural backgrounds through Pacific.