Studying Japanese culture in english

To whom it may concern,

I am a Finnish citizen, I am planning to visit Japan next September/October 2015.

Unfortunately I don�Lt speak japanese, but I would Like to know, if any of You have information about possible centers/institutes which might give lectures of Japanese culture and society etc in english?

Are there short time period courses which are meant for expats, who would like to deepen their knowledge on Japan?

I would be very grateful about the links
I would naturally contact centers directly,

thankyou arigato,

Erja Tuomaala

You might have better luck at non-Japan locations; I mean, people would come to Japan to study the language, study the culture, true, but that is by LIVING the language and the life here. I don't think you'd find much in the form of lectures in English in Japan... you might want to try completely different locations, such as US or in the UK. SOAS in London is one location that comes to mind, and maybe Embassy of Japan in your country or UK or US might have some information on cultural events conducted in respective country in English?

Is a "course" really necessary? There are a ton of books on that topic.

Here are places you can ask to.

Japan National Tourism Organization
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/

Embassies of English speaking countries

Embassy of Finland, if you don't mind Finnish
http://www.finland.or.jp/Public/default.aspx?contentlan=23&culture=ja-...

JETRO
http://www.jetro.go.jp/indexj.html

But since you're going to be here, the best way to learn about Japan is to go out and see the country for yourself. You can take English bus tours or hire a tour guide or even hire a Goodwill guide.

http://www.hatobus.com/

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/travel/guide/guideservice.html