THE 7TH

WINTERSCHOOLREPORT
DECEMBER
6–22,2023

Overview of the 7th Winter School
Objectives:
In April 2019, Gifu University launched international Joint Degree Programs (JDP) with both Indian Institute ofTechnology, Guwahati (IITG) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). The Winter School is designed to provide
opportunities to students from those institutions who are considering graduate studies a better understanding ofGifu University and Japan. The theme of this year’s Winter School is "Studying science of Japanese tradition." Theparticipants visited Japanese companies, interacted with Japanese students, engaged in research activities, andexperienced Japanese culture. Gifu University hopes that the participants will serve as bridges between IITG/UKM
and Gifu University, and play a role in fostering mutual understanding for years to come.

Number of Participants:
6 students from IITG (2 males and 4 females; 3 undergraduate and 3 master’s)
2 students from UKM (2 females; 2 master’s)Contents:
Opening Ceremony
Gathering with Gifu University Students
A Courtesy Visit to President
Joint Degree Symposium and Booth Exhibition
Japanese Classes
Laboratory Experiences
Japanese Culture Experience (Gagaku)
Tokyo Excursion
Off-Campus Lecture in Tajimi City
Gathering with High School Students of Gifu City
Accomplishment Reports and Closing Ceremony
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Opening Ceremony
December 6 (Wed.)
Opening ceremony was held in Learning Commons 1A and 1B, General Education Building. After an opening
speech by Dr. KAMBARA Shinji, Vice President (International Affairs, Information and (Deputy in Charge for)
Evaluation), the participants introduced themselves and enjoyed communicating with other participants, relevant
professors, and tutor students.

Gathering with Gifu University Students
December 6 (Wed.)
Gathering with Gifu University students was held in Teaching Staff Office of GU-GLOCAL. Winter Schoolparticipants met Gifu University JDP students, Spring School Program 2024 participants, and Collaborative Video
Making Program (CVMP) 2023 participants and enjoyed talking with each other.
Spring School Program and CVMP are exchange activities with Gifu University, IITG and UKM students. This
gathering helped all participants get to know each other.

JDP

Spring Program

Collaborative Video
Making Program3

A Courtesy Visit to President
December 8 (Fri.)
The participants visited the Office of the President and held talks with President of Gifu University. They talked
about their motivations and determination to make their studies at Gifu University to be most productive andfulfilling.

Joint Degree Symposium and Booth Exhibition
December 8 (Fri.)
Joint Degree (JD) Symposium 2023 on "Regional revitalization through collaboration between industry, government,
and academia centered on joint degrees" was held in the Auditorium of Gifu University with a Zoom Webinar. The
participants joined the symposium with translation system that translated Japanese in to English on the laptop
from the Auditorium. After the symposium, they visited the Booth Exhibition that related with JD Symposium. They
checked around some booths and asked questions.

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Japanese Classes
December 11 (Mon.) and December 12 (Tue.)
Japanese language lessons were offered to the participants by the Center for Japanese Language and Culture.
They learned basic Japanese language over a total of five-hour class sessions.

Laboratory Experiences
December 11 (Mon.) and December 12 (Tue.)
This experience was set up for the participants to learn more about the soil and ceramics of Japan.
In the first part of the Laboratory Experience, participants took the lecture on the overview of earthen and ceramicwares. In the second part, participants learned about the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and the Energy
Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDX) at the Instrumental Analysis Center on campus and experienced theanalysis with SEM and EDX. They also had a short lecture and experienced the operation of Nuclear MagneticResonance (NMR).

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December 18 (Mon.) and December 19 (Tue.)
This experience was set up for the participants to learn more about the Japanese food and science.
In the first part of the Laboratory Experiences, participants took the lecture on the overview of koji (malted rice)
and joined the laboratory tour. In the second part, participants made koji (malted rice) and tasted Amazake (sweetsake, non-alcoholic).

Japanese Culture Experience (Gagaku)
December 13 (Wed.)
Japanese Culture Experience (Gagaku, Japanese old court music) was held in Washitsu (Japanese style room)in the Center for Japanese Language and Culture.
The participants took part in the event with Gifu University Japanese Language and Culture Studies Course
students. They enjoyed the beautiful Japanese traditional culture. In the first part of the event were a concert anda lecture about the history of Gagaku. In the second part, students had chances to try the instruments andcostumes.

6Tokyo Excursion
December 14 (Thu.) – December 15 (Fri.)This excursion was set up for the participants to learn more about
Japanese industry and companies. Prior to the excursion, the participants
took a special lecture about Japanese industry and companies on
December 13 (Wed.).
During the Tokyo Excursion, the participants had the chance to visit amajor research institute, company and government organization in Aichi,
Kanagawa, and Tokyo. They took a tour of the Japan Fine Ceramics
Center (Aichi), Morinaga & Co., Ltd. (Kanagawa), Sinfonia Technology
Co., Ltd. (Tokyo), and JETRO Headquarters (Tokyo). We would like toexpress our appreciation to all the staff of the companies and JETRO for
offering a warm welcome to the participants.

Off-Campus Lecture in Tajimi City
December 20 (Wed.)
This Off-Campus Lecture was set up for the participants to learn more about Mino ceramic ware, which is one of
the famous local industries in Gifu. The participants visited the Mino Ceramic Art Museum, Tajimi (Gifu) andlearned about the Mino ware. They also had a chance to experience a tea ceremony with using Mino ware. Participants
later visited the Kokeigama (potter of Mino ware). After the facility tour, participants tried the pottery making.

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Gathering with High School Students of Gifu City
December 21 (Thu.)
Gathering with Kano High School students was held in General Education Building. Winter School participants and 37
high school students made 7 groups for a group discussion. In the first part of the event, they had a lecture about glocal
initiatives of Gifu University from Dr. EBIHARA Akio, Associate Director of the Organization for Promotion ofGlocalization, Gifu University. In the second part of the event, they had a brief lecture on UKM and studying abroad
to Japan from JDP students from UKM. Finally, the high school students gave their presentation to the participants,
and after that, all students enjoyed talking with each other. This gathering helped all participants get to know eachother and learn about cultural differences.

Accomplishment Reports and Closing Ceremony
December 22 (Fri.)On the final day of Winter School 2023, Accomplishment Reports session washeld in Learning Commons 1A and 1B, General Education Building. Dr.
YOSHIDA Kazuhiro, President of Gifu University, relevant professors, andstudents joined this session. The participants gave their poster presentation
about the activities in Winter School. In just two-week school activities, theparticipants had made a lot of progress and looked confident of theirachievements. President Yoshida gave small gifts to the top three students.
At the Closing Ceremony, Dr. KAMBARA awarded the Certificate ofCompletion to each participant. The participants, professors and students hada hard time to say goodbye to one another and are hoping to be reunited
again. The 7th Winter School Program marked another successful milestone
in the history of Winter School Programs.

8Questionnaire to Participants of Winter School 2023
1. Satisfaction with the 7th Winter School
5.0

a. Opening Ceremony on Dec 6

4.5

b. Gathering with GU Students on Dec 6

c. A Courtesy Visit to President on Dec 8

5.0

d. Joint Degree Symposium andBooth Exhibition on Dec 8

4.88
4.63

e. Japanese Classes on Dec 11 and 12
f. Laboratory Experiences at Instrumental
Analysis Center on Dec 11 and 12

5.0

g. Pre-Study of Company Research on Dec 13

5.0
4.38

h. Japanese Culture Experience (Gagaku) on Dec 13

i. Tokyo Excursion on Dec 14 and 15

5.0

j. Laboratory Experiences at Gifu Prefecture ResearchInstitute for Food Sciences on Dec 18 and 19

4.75

k. Off-Campus Lecture in Tajimi City on Dec 20

5.0l. Gathering with High School Studentsof Gifu City on Dec 21

5.0

m. Accomplishment Reports andClosing Ceremony on Dec 22

5.00

1

2

3

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2. Comments from Participants
Very good, please give more opportunities to participate.
It was organized, all information was given and was very resourceful.
We are really thankful to the students and all the professors who were involved in the Winter School. We
enjoyed the complete stay, and loved the hospitability offered by you. Thank you, once again!
I enjoyed the Winter School very much. It indeed is a very good initiative for cross cultural exchange andexploration of future possibilities be it job or further studies.
Winter School was one of the best experiences of my life. I brought a lot of memories. The knowledge that wereceived was phenomenal and the people of Japan are very very nice and helpful people.
9Memories

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International General Affairs Office
Gifu University Organization for Promotion of Glocalization
1-1 Yanagido, Gifu City, Gifu, JAPAN