A Journey in Pages: Blending Culture, Architecture and Experience in Japan
How a handcrafted travelogue bridged academic theory and cultural immersion.
Emily Berger
The project was designed to make immersive education tangible, personal and lasting, helping students connect what they learn in the classroom to what they were experiencing abroad.
Inspired by Japan’s traditional goshuinchō, temple stamp books used to collect calligraphy and seals, the Kikōchō takes the form of a beautifully structured, accordion-style travelogue. It blends academic rigor with personal reflection and encourages students to navigate both structured coursework and immersive exploration as they travel across Japan.
Before launching the concept, Derek ran the idea past his Japanese colleagues, and the name, coined from the Japanese words “kikō” (travelogue) and “chō” (book or registry), was met with enthusiastic approval. And so, the Kikōchō was born.
Two Worlds, One Journal
What makes the Kikōchō so distinctive is its dual-orientation format, a physical and symbolic fusion of Western and Japanese cultures.
One side, opening left to right, reflects Western academic structure. Students compiled lecture notes, completed assignments and documented academic knowledge gleaned from professors.
Flip the journal to open right to left, and students enter a space for personal reflection and cultural discovery, including temple visits, food explorations, street sketches, mementos, stamps and stories from across Japan.
The shared front cover and absence of a spine reinforce the journal’s deeper message: that academic growth and cultural exploration are not separate experiences, but instead, inseparable parts of the same journey.
A Personal Artifact of Global Perspective
Students were encouraged to use the Kikōchō to document their architectural and cultural journey through Japan, exploring how design reflects deeper social and historical contexts.
Over time, the Kikōchō became a one-of-a-kind artifact: a canvas for growth, curiosity and connection. Many students describe their finished Kikōchō as a handmade, deeply personalized keepsake of their time immersed in another culture that they’ll revisit for years to come.
Presenting her study abroad experience at the Florida Lessons from Abroad Conference, Abirami Srenivasan (‘27) offered a firsthand look at how the Kikōchō shaped her learning. Her reflection highlighted the journal’s ability to turn a study abroad trip into a transformative journey where knowledge, creativity and identity converge.
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A Journey in Pages: Blending Culture, Architecture and Experience in JapanDerek Fisher, associate professor of Simulation Science, Games and Animation, and chair of the Department of Mathematics, developed the Kikōchō Project, a hands-on learning tool for Embry‑Riddle students studying abroad in Japan.
