The official study abroad program to Japan at Mount Holyoke College is the Associate Kyoto Program (AKP) at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Doshisha University is located in north-central Kyoto (the main campus at Imadegawa). Immediately the south are the forested grounds of the Kyoto Imperial Palace and Park.

The AKP is sponsored by a consortium of American colleges and universities. The sponsoring institutions are: Amherst College, Bates College, Bucknell University, Carlton College, Connecticut College, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Oberlin College, Pomona College, Smith College, Wellesley College, Weslyan University, Whitman College, and Williams College. The Program maintains high academic standards and dedication to a sound liberal education for which its sponsoring institutions are known.

The AKP is a two-semester program and all AKP students live with homestay families in the Kyoto area throughout the duration of the program.

Mount Holyoke students who receive financial aid from Mount Holyoke College continue to do so as participants in the program

visit Joanna's personal AKP account
the AKP homepage
Doshisha University's homepage