A Change in Cultures : Education: Students express a variety of goals after arriving from Japan to begin studies at Osaka Sangyo University, the U.S. branch of their prep school.

As he wolfed down a tuna salad sandwich Tuesday afternoon, Yoshimitsu Morishita reflected on why he had just traveled 5,500 miles to study English at a former parochial girls’ school in Studio City.

“I want to play at many things, in many places,” the 17-year-old Japanese high school student said with the help of a translator in the cafeteria of his new school. “I want to see Disneyland, Grand Canyon, Universal Studios.”

For Wataru Shirakawa, 17, taking classes in Studio City--the site of the American branch of his boys’ preparatory school in Japan--moves him a tiny step closer to his dream: becoming an offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers. For the more down-to-earth Satoshi Mitsuji, 16, it is an opportunity to get a head start on his future career as a tour guide.

Osaka Sangyo University on Tuesday welcomed the first 45 students to its Los Angeles campus, where they will live, eat and study in buildings that housed Corvallis High School until 1987, when declining enrollment forced its closure.

Morishita, Shirakawa, Mitsuji and their classmates from the international program at Osaka Sangyo high school in Osaka will study English language, history and culture for 10 weeks here at a cost of about $3,500 apiece. A rotating group of high school and college exchange students from the Osaka area will increase in number until the school reaches a maximum enrollment of 120 students.

Education experts here and in Japan say the Studio City school is part of a growing number of Japanese universities that are opening satellite campuses in the United States. The interest in doing so, they said, owes partly to increased status back home, partly to realism about the future.

“In Japan, everybody accepts that it is important that people in the next generation should have the wider perspective of a foreign experience, but still it is not easy for the Japanese to get into the American universities . . . because of the language problem,” said Katsuhide Kusahara, a division director at the Japanese Ministry of Education in Tokyo. “This way it is easier for many more Japanese” to study in the United States.

Osaka Sangyo is a private educational system in the Osaka area that consists of a four-year university, a two-year junior college, two high schools and a dental hygienist college. The system was founded 61 years ago, initially to train engineers, technicians and operators of Japan’s transportation industry. Its enrollment is estimated at 12,000 students.

The bus trip from Los Angeles International Airport to the San Fernando Valley was a first glimpse of America for many of the new students. Things seemed bigger here than in Japan--buildings, freeways, even dogs. But it was not entirely foreign.

“We see a lot of broadcasting about American cities and American customs on television in Japan,” Mitsuji said. “It’s actually sort of the same. . . . Like ‘Miami Vice.’ ”

There were some differences, though. The students had been told to leave their high-necked, military-style uniforms at home, so they chose instead dark suits and white shirts, with the school crest sewn onto the blazer pocket.

“It’s more American, more casual,” said Shozo Yamamato, executive vice president of Osaka Sangyo University in Los Angeles.

Then there was the first lesson in American culture: how to make a Western bed, starting with crisp white sheets and ending with a Southwest-patterned bedspread.

“At home they are using futons, no beds,” Yamamato said.

Initially, Studio City residents had some qualms about the Japanese school’s interest in the property, primarily because of secrecy surrounding the purchase, said Polly Ward, president of the Studio City Residents Assn.

“There was some trepidation because . . . we weren’t told who the buyer was,” Ward said. “We were told that’s how they do things and we said, ‘That isn’t going to work around here because that’s not how we do things.’ ”

But other plans that were proposed at the time for the 3.6-acre property all included construction of condominiums and, after some of the homeowners were flown to Japan to tour the university’s home campus, they began to soften to the idea of preserving the site as a school.

“They really gave us a look at their culture,” Ward said. “They were very, very warm and generous and delightful hosts.”

Yet, such hospitality was not extended to the school’s first students. Their principal from Osaka, Osamu Toda, who had accompanied them on the flight, warned them of the hard work ahead.

“Sit up straight,” he ordered. “You are young people. Despite the long trip, you must sit up straight.”