This course will introduce some of the basic concepts of intercultural communication, such as ‘self’, ‘identity’, ‘culture’, ‘communication’, ‘space’, ‘time’ ‘language’ in Japanese, in an attempt to deepen the understanding of how these concepts are treated in intercultural communication field in Japanese, comparing and contrasting how they are treated in Western perspective when appropriate. In doing so, the students will familiarize themselves with some of the intercultural communication theories and concepts, academic discourse and terminology in Japanese. We will also be specifically focusing on the intercultural communication issues between US and Japan, the two countries where cultural and social norms are vastly different, reflecting the participants’ own experiences of ‘critical moments’, such as communication breakdowns, misunderstandings, awkward moments, etc., and looking at how some of these intercultural communication concepts play a role in understanding them.