Thesis advisor: Philip G. Altbach / The purpose of this study is to examine the reasons why Japanese visiting scholars visited the United States, their activities and experiences during their visits, their challenges and support for their transition, and personal and contextual factors that affected their transition in different stages. Although short-term international scholar mobility has recently increased, there are few studies on the population of international visiting scholars. In addition, while there is an overall increase in the number of international scholars, the number of Japanese scholars is decreasing. This qualitative study explores the Japanese visiting scholars' experiences of transition by drawing upon Schlossberg's adult transition model (e.g., Anderson, Goodman, and Schlossberg, 2011). The findings show that the purpose of visit and activities during the visits varied by individuals, although most activities were individual and professional ones, such as conducting research, networking, and teaching. While the first-time visiting scholars engaged in English practice and observation of cultural differences, the scholars with family members reported social experiences through their children's schools. Several scholars worked on institutional relations during their visits. The challenges that the visiting scholars faced varied by the timing during their transition. Common challenges included finding opportunities at their home institutions, finding the host universities, setting up life in a new community, finding opportunities for interactions, and dealing with language and cultural issues. The expected challenges after their returning to home were mainly related to institutional arrangements and societal differences. The factors that influenced their transition included the arrangements at home and host institutions, academic fields, past American academic experiences, existing networks with Japanese and American colleagues, and their personalities. Recommendations are provided for American and Japanese universities, individual visiting scholars, and the Japanese government. As for implications from this study, since the Japanese visiting scholars mostly relied on their personal connections and previous experiences for transitions, in order to utilize international visiting scholars for short-term brain circulation, institutional and governmental support and policy arrangements need to be structured as a part of the initiative for the internationalization of higher education. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.