This paper is based on an ethnographic study that examined the study abroad experiences of 20 male Japanese students in Vancouver (Canada) from a post-colonial perspective. This perspective allows the researcher to view the Japanese students studying in the West as deeply embedded in a transnational context where global and national ideologies and discourses become interconnected and manifested throughout their experiences. Three key discourses, neocolonialism, "internationalism," and "nihonjinron" (the discussions of Japanese uniqueness), are explored as the relevant themes to the Japanese students' study abroad experience in the West and used as the key analytical concepts for an ethnographic study. Findings demonstrate how the Japanese students make sense of their experiences in the midst of these global and local discourses. Responding to Edward Said's (1995) call for the production of non-coercive and non-hegemonic knowledge through education activities, the paper argues for the possibility of study abroad experience to realize Said's idealism. Contains 15 notes and a 34-item bibliography. An information sheet on the subjects is appended. (Author/BT)