On August 8, Okayama University held a closing ceremony to mark the end of the U.S. Department of State's Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program, an intensive program that was conducted from June 16 to August 8 for 25 undergraduate and graduate students selected from across the United States to study Japanese language and culture.　

At the closing ceremony, Executive Director for Academic Affairs, SUGA Seiji gave an opening address, and then President NASU Yasutomo said, "All of you here have met by chance through this program, but there's a deeper connection that brought us together. You are already a part of the Okayama University family. Please do not forget about Okayama University and the people you have met. After that, CLS students from each class shared their experiences, expressing that their Japanese had improved more than they had imagined, that their world had expanded through the SDGs class, and that they were grateful to the Japanese language instructors and program staff.

After congratulatory speeches from the Japanese language instructors and program personnel, everyone watched a surprise video recording of the program's activities over the eight weeks and reflected on their happy memories.

The 8-week program ended with a final address by CLS Executive Director YOKOI Atsufumi, Vice President for Global Engagement.