2025 Central Japan Railway Internship

Northeast Maglev is excited to announce the continuation of the once-in-a-lifetime internship opportunity for Baltimore-Washington area college students to experience Japan from inside the company that introduced the world to high-speed trains: Central Japan Railway (JR Central). This year, two students will be selected to spend two weeks in Tokyo, Japan learning about JR Central’s various business aspects and Japanese culture.

Northeast Maglev is a 100% US-owned company, headquartered in Maryland, and committed to promoting the deployment of the revolutionary SCMAGLEV to the Northeast Corridor, the most congested transportation region in the country. JR Central is a publicly traded, private train operator in Japan, and is the owner and operator of the SCMAGLEV system in Japan. Though JR Central will not operate the SCMAGLEV system in the US, it does provide vital technical advice to help advance the deployment of the SCMAGLEV system in the US. JR Central operates the Tokaido Shinkansen “bullet train” between Tokyo and Osaka, the safest and most traveled high-speed rail line in the world. This operation carries over 150 million people with an annual average delay of 1 minute per operational train.

WHO

Central Japan Railway has invited 2 students from the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. region, to join their Summer Internship Program in 2025.

WHEN

• June 10 – 13 and June 17 – 20 (Virtual – evening sessions)
• July 14 – 18 (Baltimore, MD.)
• July 22 – August 1 (Tokyo, Japan)
• August 4 – 8 (Baltimore, MD.)
• Applications due Friday, March 7, 2025

WHERE

• Tokyo, Japan
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Virtual

WHAT

• An estimated 40 hours per week during in-person internship portions

Primary Internship Duties

Interns will get an overview of the JR Central business, rotating through the various departments throughout the program. There will be students from several U.S. universities participating in this program. The program includes the following components:

• Lectures: To understand company overview and several departments (Marketing Division, Personnel Department, Affiliated Business Promotion Division, JR Central Subsidiaries, etc.).
• Site visits: To observe major company facilities including subsidiary and other companies (Shinkansen driver cabin, General Control Center, Workshop, train manufacturers, affiliated hotels etc.).
• Practical case study at stations: To experience company’s actual front-line services.
• Projects: Some projects will be assigned based on intern interests and company needs (past examples include marketing plans to English speaking clients for JR hotels
  and regression analysis of bullet train ridership vs. domestic air travel).
• Reports: Each weekend, a report must be submitted to the International Department of JR Central (sentiments about training, suggestions to the company, etc.).
• Final presentation: A final presentation will be held to summarize the internship program and present on project(s).
• Marketing and Promotion: Interns will provide creative materials to the Northeast Maglev marketing department to bolster promotion of the internship opportunity.

Qualifications

• Openness to other cultures and ways of doing things
• Continuing student (returning to campus or graduating abroad with department approval)
• Willingness to adapt to the international work environment
• Good interpersonal skills to work well with others in different cultures and languages
• Interest in the region & culture of internship location
• Organizational, time management, and problem-solving skills
• Interest in transportation/high speed rail and international business
• Have a specific topic you wish to research during internship period
• Planning to make use of this experience and build a career in the U.S.
• Junior and Senior undergrad or pursuing a master’s degree
• Any field, but have an interest in relevant topics such as engineering, business, economics, etc.
• GPA of 3.0 or above is desirable

Compensation

This is considered an UNPAID internship; however, JR Central and Northeast Maglev will provide:

• Housing and group function meals while in Japan
• Weekday transportation while in Japan for work purposes
• A local Japanese insurance plan
• Economy Class airfare
• A stipend of USD $1000 to cover ancillary expenses
• Parking expenses while working in the Baltimore office

Application Requirements

• Resume
• Cover Letter
• Student record (unofficial transcripts will be accepted)
• A no more than 500-word essay describing why you are interested in the program and how you could apply the knowledge to your post-graduation professions/plans
• Valid passport that is current through the duration of the internship
• Scan of passport photo page (upon acceptance)

 Applications due Friday, March 7, 2025

• Late applications will not be considered.
• Application packages with missing required documents will not be considered. Please double check your application package before submitting.