Kobe University Newsletter "Kaze"

Vol. 04
April 2018

RESEARCH
Field-based international law scholar heads to Antarctica!
STUDENT FEATURE
International victory for Offshore Sailing ClubCOMMUNITY IMPACT
A bridge between Japan’s mountain villages and the world

Kobe insights

Campus wildlife andmascot Shindai Uribo
Kobe University’s main campus area Rokkodai islocated at the foot of the Rokko mountains,surrounded by greenery. This area is home to many
wildlife, including Japanese wild boar (inoshishi).
Wild boar are nocturnal and rarely approachhumans, but sometimes they can be seen in the earlymorning or twilight, particularly around the higher
areas of the campus – between the trees next to the
Faculty and Graduate School of Law, or near theentrance to the Graduate School of Human
Development and Environment. If you’re lucky you
may even see baby wild boar – a lot smaller than theadults, with distinctive stripes on their backs.
These wild boar piglets (known as uribo inJapanese) have been the unofficial symbol of Kobe
University for many years, and the Rokkodai areaeven has “Uribo Road”, a raised wooden-board
platform that connects the campuses. You cansometimes see uribo in the undergrowth alongside
this platform.

Shindai Uribo outside JAIMS, Hawaii (home to the
Honolulu Office of Kobe University)

In this issue...
SPOTLIGHT
3 Fast-growing university ventures will change Kobe and JapanRESEARCH AT KOBE
6 Field-based international law scholar heads to Antarctica!
9 Prepared for the worst: Research Center for Urban Safety and Security
EDUCATION
10 Learn about Japanese technology in English
11 International voices

Uribo Road at Rokkodai 2nd Campus
The Uribo are also the inspiration for Kobe
University’s mascot character, “Shindai Uribo” (orUribo for short). Its name includes the shortened
version of Kobe University in Japanese ( 神大, pronounced “Shindai”), and its design first appeared on
the student portal site “Uribo portal”. It became theofficial mascot in autumn 2017, and now Shindai
Uribo can be found on web pages, brochures andflyers throughout the university, not to mention in
the campus stores. Kobe University students andstaff have designed a collection of Uribo stamps for
the Japanese chat application LINE.
Shindai Uribo speaks in Kobe dialect, and in
keeping with the cosmopolitan image of Kobe, its
hobbies include fashion and making sweets. You canfollow Uribo’s adventures on the Kobe University
Instagram (see page 20).
A final note: remember that while the mascot
character might be cute and cuddly, don’t try toapproach or feed any of the wild uribo you might see
around campus. Their parents are probably close by!

COMMUNITY IMPACT
13 A bridge between Japan’s mountain villages and the world
INTERNATIONAL SPECIAL FEATURE
15 Asian alliances for a better future
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
17 Conferral Ceremonies of Doctor Honoris Causa, 8th Kobe University Brussels
European Centre Symposium, Bilateral Kobe-Kiel Workshop
18 China Office relocation and 10th anniversary of Alumni Association in Beijing,
Japan-China University President’ s Conference, The Second Honolulu Office ofKobe University Symposium
STUDENT FEATURE
19. International victory for Offshore Sailing Club, Meet the Student PR Ambassadors

Why “Kaze”?
There are two main concepts behind the title “Kaze”, meaning“wind”. Firstly, Kobe University’s goal to innovate, creating a windof change. Secondly, our location at the foot of Mt Rokkō, an area
known for the invigorating wind of Rokkō-oroshi that blows downfrom the mountain range.
The calligraphy on the cover of “Kaze” was created by Professor
Emeritus UOZUMI Kazuaki, a researcher of calligraphy at Kobe
University.

SOCIAL MEDIA
20 Social MediaFACT SHEET
21 Fact SheetContact us: intl-relations@office.kobe-u.ac.jp (International Affairs Planning Division)Do other universities have similar Professor KONDO Akihiko and otherinitiatives?
science professors, I heard manytimes that even though we have lots ofProf. Yamamoto: Some universities research seeds, the commercialization
create venture capital, but STE Co., process doesn’t go smoothly. So I
Ltd. doesn’t provide capital to invest invited Professor Yamamoto and wein established businesses - it madeaschemeforfunctions as a seed accelerator that is commercialization.
involved in the company from squareone. I think this is the only initiative How does STE Co., Ltd support the 3of its kind in Japan.
companies?
Japanese universities are carryingout impressive research and Prof. Yamamoto: For BioPalettedevelopment, but it’s very rare to find Co., Ltd. we helped them get funding
people within the institutions who see from a large American venture capitalthe connection from research to fund. For Synplogen Co., Ltd. webusiness. I think it’s easier to innovate consolidated intellectual property
when you have people like Professor rights from the state and large
Kutsuna and myself involved, who chemical manufacturers, and the next
have been involved in business step is large-scale financing. For
venture strategy and finance.
ViSpot Co., Ltd. we matched themwith Sunstar Inc. in a capital andYou started 3 companies in 18 business alliance that has become amonths. That’s fast.
joint venture. Our support is different
for each company based on theProf. Kutsuna: We already had contents of the science andresearch results gestating from technology.
professors at Kobe University, so wewere able to develop them quickly. Training in-house andWe’ve been preparing to open thisindependent entrepreneurs
Graduate School for two years. In
meetings with department Dean at doctoral level
Prof. Yamamoto: We’ll carry oncommercializing existing research
results, but the true aim of STE Co.,
Ltd. is creating businesses from newresearch. Our doctoral course opensfrom spring 2018. This course will
include students with experience inthe working world, in research anddevelopment. Before graduating, each
student must submit both a scientificdoctoral thesis and a business plan in
the form of a report on theirinnovation and strategy research.

SPOTLIGHT“Fast-growing university ventures
will change Kobe and Japan”
The Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovationand Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Co., Ltd03

To commercialize university
research and give back to society,
Kobe University started an
initiative that oversees thebusiness creation process fromeducationtosupporting
university
start-ups.
The
Graduate School of Science,
Technology and Innovation(opened in April 2016) incollaboration with Science andTechnology EntrepreneurshipCo., Ltd (STE Co., Ltd.) has
established 3 business ventures injust 18 months. From spring
2018, the same Graduate School
opens a doctoral course. But why
are these university ventures

necessary? We asked board
directors
andprofessors
YAMAMOTO Kazuhiko and
KUTSUNA Kenji about thesignificance of this initiative.

University research as theseeds for innovation
Why did you start a company as well
as a new Graduate School?
Prof. Yamamoto: At our Graduate
School we don’t just wantscience-oriented students to work inresearch and development. We aim toequip them with the skills to link theirresults to social and economic values– in other words, to innovate.
But it’s difficult to fully support thebusiness side using university
organizations. So we created STE Co.,
Ltd. to support our start-ups, and we
set up a fund to invest in thesebusinesses (General incorporated
association Kobe University Scienceand Technology Entrepreneurship
Fund). Now we have a system in placethat nurtures our university ventures.
In the future, I hope we can recoverpart of the ventures’ value in
dividends and capital gains, andinvest this in the University and new
research and development.

interviewee 1

YAMAMOTO Kazuhiko

Professor at the Graduate School of
Science, Technology and Innovation
Professor at the Graduate School ofBusiness Administration(jointly-held post)
Board Director of Science andTechnology Entrepreneurship Co., Ltd.

interviewee 2
KUTSUNA Kenji

Vice Dean of the Graduate School of
Science, Technology and Innovation
Professor at the Graduate School ofBusiness Administration(jointly-held post)
Board Director of Science andTechnology Entrepreneurship Co., Ltd.

commercialization. This is our new
experiment.
Prof. Kutsuna: The doctoral
program can accommodate 10
students. Our master’s course has a
40 student capacity, and a normalbalance for this would be 4 or 5
doctoral students, but we doubled thisnumber.
How will you provide guidance forthe business plans?

What do you mean by people withexperience in work and R&D?
Prof. Yamamoto: There are 6 fulltime professors acting as supervisors,
Prof. Yamamoto: For example, including me, and we will organize an
people who want to become in-house advisory board of specialists inentrepreneurs – they have been sent finance, intellectual property rights
here from their company and will and business strategy will provide
return there after graduation. Or guidance to supplement ourpeople who have left their companies supervision. We’ll start with about 10
tobecomeindependent members, mainly from outside theentrepreneurs. We’ll train both University.
groups into R&D experts with theskills to commercialize.
The doctoral program means that
we’ll be able to support the wholeprocess from seed discovery to04

Business ventures for Prof. Kutsuna: I feel the same way. Do you have plans for a 4th venture?
My dream is that a business venture
rapid global innovation
What is your current goal?
Prof. Yamamoto: We want tomake rapidly-growing businessventures at Kobe University “business ventures for rapid global
innovation”.
Withoutthesebusinesses, Japan’s GDP won’t grow.
For example, in the USA the rapid
growth of Stanford University’s
Kikai Caldera
business
ventures triggered the
2nd observation voyage crewformation of Silicon Valley, which
now leads the world in IT innovation.
The huge success of business venturesfrom San Diego University made San
Diego one of the largest bioclusters.
Both started with explosive growth ofuniversity ventures. I want to createbusinesses like this, and contribute to
the development of the Kobe area.

built on research from Kobe
University professors will achieve
global success, and one of my aims is
to make Kobe University the mainbase in Japan for education, researchand practice in science, technology
and entrepreneurship.

Prof. Yamamoto: The other day,representatives from two global
venture capital firms paid us a visit(ARCH Venture Partners and EightRoads Ventures Japan). They werevery interested in Kobe University’s
initiatives and the business ventures
supported by STE Co., Ltd., and theysaid they would consider us in theirnext funding period. The fact that our
initiative has created an opportunity
for foreign investors to notice Kobe is
one positive result.

BioPalette Co., Ltd.

Synplogen Co., Ltd.

Head office: Nada district, Kobe
Capital: 200,819,800 yen
Established: February 21, 2017
Representative Director: MURASE Shoko(Professor KONDO Akihiko, Professor
NISHIDA Keiji, and STE Co., Ltd. CEOMIYAKE Hideaki participate as directors)

Head office: Nada district, Kobe
Capital: 10,000,000 yen
Established: February 21, 2017
Representative director: MURASE Shoko(Professor KONDO Akihiko, Project
Associate Professor TSUGE Kenji, andSTE Co., Ltd. CEO MIYAKE Hideaki
participate as directors)

Seed technology
Research results from Graduate School of
Innovation Professor NISHIDA Keiji andProfessor KONDO Akihiko
About the company
Based on genome editing technology that
does not slice DNA, the company aims todevelop in the medical, pharmaceutical,
agricultural and microorganism fields. In
addition to building a strong base inintellectual property strategy, they arelooking at the potential of in-housedevelopment and alliances with othercompanies (joint development and selling
licenses) in plans to develop globally.

Research at Kobe

Prof. Yamamoto: Yes. Next year
we aim to establish another company
and we’re preparing for that at the
moment. But it’s on quite a large
scale, so we are talking to Dean Kondo
about narrowing the framework.
Finally, what are the conditions for abusiness to become a businessventure for rapid global innovation?

Prof. Yamamoto: One of our aims
is a listed market value of over 10,000
million yen.

Research at Kobe
ViSpot Co., Ltd.

Head office: Chuo district, Kobe
Capital: 40,000,000 yen (50% from Kobe
University professors, STE Co., Ltd. etc.
and 50% from Sunstar Inc.)
Established: September 29, 2017
Representative director: MORISADA Eito
(Board Chairman) KOTANI Tomoko(President). (Professor YAMAMOTO
Kazuhiko, Project Professor UCHIDA
Seed technology
Kazuhisa, and Project Professor LEE In
Research results from Graduate School of eui participate as directors)
Innovation Project Associate Professor
TSUGE Kenji and Professor KONDO Company vision
Akihiko
To contribute to sustainable growth anddevelopment of the biopharmaceutical
About the company
industry through the practical application
With the creation of long-chain DNA as its of research results that support thecore technology, the company aims to development of biopharmaceuticals.
develop in bioindustry, medicine andmicroorganism research through (1) About the company
contracts for creation of long-chain DNA The company will contribute to(~50kb), (2) contracts in breeding biopharmaceutical development in Japan
microorganisms using long-chain DNA by providing a virus clearance
creation technology and (3) consultations examination. This includes test design,
about long-chain DNA design.
creation and submission, a service
reporting the test contents, results, lab
equipment management and virus
measurement, and third-party quality
assurance.

Field-based internationallaw scholar heads to Antarctica

Professor SHIBATA Akiho describesinternational law as “a tool toestablish and strengthen cooperation
between nations and to solve
disputes arising in a global society”.
From November 2016 to March 2017,
he visited the Antarctic to examine
how the Antarctic Treaty isimplemented in practice. A scholar ofinternational law carrying out
fieldwork with an Antarctic research
expedition team is unprecedented.
Professor Shibata calls his method“field-based
internationallaw
studies”. As Director of the Polar
Cooperation Research Centre, he is
now expanding his fieldwork to the
Arctic.

Diplomaticnegotiationand the Antarctica as fields
forinternationallaw
studies
Why are the field-based studies
necessary for Antarctic Treaty
research?
Prof. Shibata: I started to examine
the Antarctic Treaty about 25 years

05

ago. The Antarctic is a landmass, so
according to usual international law,
it would not be strange for it to beunder territorial sovereignty of somenations. In fact, seven countries havemade territorial claims, but these arebeing “shelved” by the Antarctic
Treaty, which at the same time
guarantees continuing international
cooperation and the freedom to carryout scientific investigations in the
Antarctica. The Antarctic Treaty is so
fascinating.
I started to analyze how the
Antarctic Treaty and its related
instruments have been created andoperationalized, but I couldn’t gethold of any documents. This isbecause agreements between nations
are the results of diplomaticnegotiations based on confidential
documents. While I was searching for
those documents in various places,
including the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, I found out that I could accessthe documents if I attended theAntarctic
TreatyConsultative
Meetings (ATCMs), where treaty
parties discuss the implementation of
the Treaty. So I have attended themeetings since 2002 as a member of
the Japanese delegation.

06

“Natural scientists collect plant samples in the field,
and I collect documents from treaty negotiations.”
Prof. Shibata: One reason is a special trait of the
Antarctic: the potential results from scientific activities
there are extremely beneficial for humankind. Under
the Treaty, the territorial claims are neither negated
nor recognized. The Antarctic Treaty is based on anagreement that these claims will not be invoked for thesake of global interests in the Antarctic, including themerits of scientific activities there. The Antarctic Treaty
was concluded at the height of the Cold War in 1959,
but despite military-motivated politics, they were able
to agree on the freedom of scientific activities and thepeaceful use of Antarctica. It is amazing that this has
been maintained for more than half a century.

interviewee: SHIBATA Akiho

Professor, Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies(International Law), Director of the Polar Cooperation Research Centre

You were there at the diplomatic negotiations.
Prof. Shibata: Yes. Treaties are a result of diplomaticnegotiations, so if you attend the negotiations, you canunderstand how international laws are created andimplemented. Natural science researchers collect plant
samples in the field, and I collect documents fromtreaty negotiations. That’s how I started my field-based
research.
I participated in the meetings for about ten years, andhad opportunities to speak to scientists doing researchin the Antarctic. They told me, “Unless you visit theAntarctic yourself, you won’t know how internationallaw functions there, or whether it is useful”, and thatpiqued my interest. They wanted me to see the Showa
Station [in Antarctica]. For that I had to join theJapanese Antarctic Research Expedition team, butthere was no precedent for a social scientist taking part.
I was able to revise the Antarctic Research Expedition
Plan to include humanities and social sciences in theJapanese research, and finally I could go.
What were the results of your field survey?
Prof. Shibata: I’m in the middle of writing a bookabout them. I may also have a chance to publish papers
about my survey as a legal scholar, and speak atinternational conferences as a representative of theJapanese government.

International
tourismlaw

andAntarctic

Why did all parties agree to shelve their territorial
claims?

You’ve also identified the value of the Antarctic as a
tourist destination
Prof. Shibata: The Antarctic environment, withscenery untouched by human civilization, is extremely
attractive. About 50,000 people visit the Antarctic
every year even now, and during my trip there I felt that
we couldn’t suppress the human motivation to see such
attractive places. Some say there should not be any
money-making activities in the Antarctic, including
tourism. But if you regulate tourism because it’scommercial, what about Japanese fishing activities in
the Antarctic? It’s a tricky issue.
I think that while tourism itself should be permitted,
balanced rules are necessary to protect the Antarctic
environment and our scientific activities. Japan’s
Showa Station is not included in sightseeing courses
yet, but if tourism expands across the whole region
visitors will probably go there. Before that happens weneed to establish appropriate rules that will addressenvironmental protection and emergency rescue
measures as well. Having been there myself, I have asense of the Showa Station’s isolated geographicalconditions, and the sensitivities of allowing tourists toenter such a locality. I think this enables me tocontribute to establishing international laws that suitthe location.

The role of international law in a
delicate region“Commercial use” is also referred to in bioprospecting
issues.
Prof. Shibata: Bioprospecting is searching for
genetic resources in organisms that can be used forcommercial purposes such as making pharmaceuticalproducts. Unique genetic material tends to be found in
extreme environments, including polar regions. Today,
there is already an international law stipulating thatwhen a company in country A finds a useful genetic

The Polar Cooperation Research Centre (PCRC) hosts international researchers,some of them Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellows, fromuniversities in Finland, Norway, Spain and China. They are all attracted to the
PCRC’s unique research on Arctic international legal and policy issues. The
seminars, attended by those international researchers, have tremendous impact
on the students studying international law at the Graduate School ofInternational Cooperation Studies.

resource in country B and benefits
from it, country A must share such
benefits with the country of origin,
namely country B.
However, in the Antarctic theterritorial issue makes this systemcomplicated. For example, Japan’s
Showa Station is in an area claimed
by Norway. If Japanese researchers
take genetic material back andJapanese companies make a profit
from it, can Norway claim a sharefrom Japan? Norway may argue: “Weagree with freedom for scientificactivities in our claimed territory, but
not for commercial activities”. It isdifficult to implement a legal systemin the Antarctic based on a claim
arising from the “territory” wheresuch genetic material is found.
Some say we should start
regulating bioprospecting activities,
but it is a complex legal operation to
draw a line between scientific andcommercial aims. Personally, I thinkthat the objective criteria for drawingthat line is openness – in otherwords, if one can exchange
information regarding one’s activities
in a detailed and timely fashion as
required under the Antarctic Treaty,
those activities can be consideredscientific with no confidential trade
secret.
It’s a very delicate field, isn’t it?
Prof. Shibata: The Antarctic Treaty
can be vulnerable because of its
territorial ambiguities, but all thenations involved work together toprotect this fragile base. This is very
important – if this collapses,
everything will be jeopardized.

07

International law plays an important for different issues: scientificpart in this kind of delicate situation. cooperation, ocean use, fishingactivities, etc. There are different
Does the Arctic need an countries involved for each of thoseissues. For example, the Agreement“Arctic Treaty”?
on Enhancing International Arctic
Will you be conducting Arctic Scientific Cooperation only involves
research at the Polar Cooperation eight countries with Arctic territories,
but Japan and China can join the
Research Centre?
fishing treaty for the Arctic Ocean.
Prof. Shibata: It was mainly The players are different, so I think aestablished to do research on Arctic systematic development of functional
legal and policy issues. While the treaties is more effective than having
Antarctic is a landmass surrounded one core agreement.
I also attended the negotiations forby ocean, the Arctic is an ocean
surrounded by land, which includes, the Agreement on Enhancing
ArcticScientificfor example, parts of Russian and International
Cooperation.
Participatingin these
Canadian territories. The land in the
Arcticdiplomatic
meetings
gives
me a
Arctic region belongs to the eight
betterinsight
into
theparticularities
Arctic states, whereas the Arctic
Ocean is governed by the Law of the of the Antarctic Treaty meetings.
Sea. So there is no Arctic Treaty.
After establishing the Centre and You’re field-based in the Arctic
starting research, I realized that the research too. How interested are
Arctic has the same traits as the students in this field?
Antarctic, so we should encourage
scientific activities in this region also. Prof. Shibata: Quite a few students
When I visited the Antarctic, it express an interest, but both theoccurred to me that we should also Antarctic and the Arctic are very far
recognize the Arctic as a special for them [wry laughter]. I talk about
interesting
field-based
region in international law. I want to howbuild upon my Antarctic Treaty international law studies can be toresearch and look at international deepen students’ interest. I would
laws that take account of the special like to pass on to young, promisinginternational law scholars mytraits of the Arctic.
experience and the voluminous
Are you envisaging an “Arctic documents I collected from the field.
Treaty”?
Editor’s note: This article can alsoProf. Shibata: I don’t think we be found on the Research at Kobe
need one. Rather than making a website under “Spotlight”:
treatythat
comprehensively
regulates the entire region, I think it’s http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/researchbetter to establish separate treaties _at_kobe_en/index.html

08

EDUCATION

Learn about Japanese Technology in English
Global Master’s Program in Engineering

Since academic year 2017, the Graduate School ofEngineering has offered an English-taught Master’s
Program for international students. Classes are provided
in English for each field including Architecture, Civil
Engineering, Electric and Electronic Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical Science andEngineering, enabling students to earn a Master’s
Degree in all departments.

Prepared for the worst
Research Center for Urban Safety and Security
In January 1995 the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake
devastated the city of Kobe and the surrounding area.
47 students and staff at Kobe University lost their lives.
Just over one year later, in May 1996, Kobe University
established the Research Center for Urban Safety andSecurity (RCUSS). The Center’s mission is “to realize asafe and secure society, contributing to the creation ofvibrant urban areas through comprehensive education and research on the necessary methodologies andframeworks”.
Located in a quake-hit city, Kobe University isacutely aware of the need for comprehensive research
to ensure safety in urban areas. The Center’s researchdeals with a broad spectrum of disasters, from earthquake risk assessment to infectious diseases anddisaster emergency medicine. The Center’s researchgroups work with faculties in Kobe University, national
and international organizations.
The Center consists of three internal departments
and a Cooperative Department that collaborates withresearchers in medicine and health science, humanities, sociology, and international areas.
The Risk Assessment Department assesses theresilience of urban living environments in the face ofdisasters such as earthquakes, tsunami and extreme
weather. They study the mechanisms for earthquakes
and tsunami, and model the safety of the ground webuild on.
The Risk Management Department focuses onlessening the impact of disasters – this includes
emergency responses, short and long-term plans forrecovery and reconstruction, and fire safety
management. The department looks at infrastructure,such as highways and houses, as well as emergency
procedures in the case of earthquake, fire or tsunami.
They work in Japan and in developing countries.
Raising awareness is also an important part ofsafety, and the Risk Communication Department aims
to improve the systems for monitoring disaster
information. This includes emerging infections,healthcare for disaster relief workers, and09

water-related risks such as flooding. The department
handles disaster information for people with andwithout disabilities.
The Research Center also collaborates with faculties
and graduate schools across multiple disciplines in the
Cooperative Department. In medical and healthsciences fields, the Center works with experts to train
and mobilize emergency medical professionals, and intraining community-based emergency personnel. They
study the mental and physical impact of disasters,
particularly on vulnerable people such as children, theelderly, and persons with disabilities. They provide
assistance to meet the practical health needs ofdisaster victims.
In the humanities and social sciences, the Centerholds experimental workshops to help recovery inareas hit by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
These workshops include volunteer students, and look
for alternative methods to empower residents andensure sustainable development. Research groups also
explore the social responses to disasters within Japan.
A significant part of the Center’s work is focused oninternational projects: sharing information andworking with developing countries to promote disasterrisk reduction overseas. The Asia Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Research Group focuses
specifically on Asian countries, which are the mostfrequently hit by natural disasters in the world. This
group works with the Japan International Cooperation
Agency (JICA) and the Asian Disaster Reduction
Center/ International Recovery Platform.
As part of the University’s mission to give back tosociety, the Center also collaborates with Kobe City tohold open seminars on the third Saturday of every
month. These free events are attended by local
residents, government and company employees as well
as students and professors from the University. There
have been more than 230 seminars to date.
RCUSS homepage:
http://www.rcuss.kobe-u.ac.jp/English/index-e.html

All lectures in the Graduate School of Engineering are
categorized A to D as follows:
A: All contents are provided in English. Professors who
provide Category A classes may accept international
students for supervising in English.
B: Textbooks and/or board writing are prepared in
English. Lecture language is Japanese.
C: Textbooks and/or board writing are prepared inJapanese/English. Lecture language is Japanese.
D: All contents are provided in Japanese.
More than 80% of lectures are categorized A or B,

The Graduate School of Engineering campus
enabling many international students to enjoy theirstudies in English. Professors who provide lectures
categorized A may also offer academic supervision in
English for research activities.
The Graduate School of Engineering is the largest
graduate school in Kobe University consisting of about
150 research staff. The School offers education andresearch ranging from fundamental science and liberalarts to innovative engineering for the development of
human resources. Kobe University is among the top
1.3% of the best universities in the world and was placed
among top universities by 15 subjects in the QS World
University Rankings 2017, including top 201-250 in
Chemical Engineering and top 251-300 in MechanicalEngineering. The Graduate School of Engineering is also
home to the Center for Membrane and Film Technology,
which aims to produce solutions for environmental andenergy issues and become an international hub for
membrane engineering technology.
Engineering is the one of the most attractive fields forinternational students who want to study cutting-edge
technology in Japan. This course also enables us toaccept more exchange students from our partner
universities.

“It is our great pleasure to welcome
you to the Graduate School ofEngineering. We assure you an
excellent atmosphere not only forlearning state-of-the art engineering
but also for spending good daily life.”- Professor TOMIYAMA Akio
Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering

From 2018, the Graduate School is also hosting an
English-taught summer school for students from ourpartner institutions

10

International
voicesApproximately 1,200 international
students from countries aroundthe world are currently studying
at Kobe University. In this corner,
ourinternational
students
introduce their native countries
and offer some insights on
studying abroad in Japan.

Q

What did you do before
you came to Kobe
University?

After I graduated from the Facultyof Business and Administration at
the University of Bucharest, I
joined a travel company, and forabout a year I provided support for
visitors coming from Asia to
Europe and I was a tour guide fora short time. Around that time I
successfully applied for a Japanese
government scholarship forinternational students, and I cameto Kobe University.

Q

Why did you choose Kobe
University?

I’ve been interested in Japan since
I saw a Japanese animation on
television in middle school. At first
I didn’t know what language they
were speaking, but I liked how itsounded, and I wanted to learn it.
I started studying Japaneseseriously from high school, anddecided that I wanted to come to

Teodorescu Alina Cristina
1st year Master’s student at the Graduate
School of Business Administration
Originally from Romania, she came to Kobe
University in April 2015 as a research
student. In April 2017 she enrolled as a
student of the SESAMI Program, an entirely
English-taught graduate degree. She is avegan.

Romania
Located in Eastern Europe, Romania is arepublic bordering the Black Sea. The capitalis Bucharest, and the country has apopulation of roughly 19.7 million. In thecenter of the country lie the Carpathian
Mountains, and it is split into the four
regions of Transylvania, Wallachia,
Moldavia, and Dobruja.

Japan one day.
In order to go to a Japanese
university as a research student, I
had to choose a research topic andfind a professor who wouldsupervise me. I looked at a lot of
universities but I couldn’t findanyone. I happened to know a
Japanese teacher in Osaka, andwhen I talked to that teacher, heintroduced me to a professor at
Kobe University. The professor
who became my supervisor had
also worked in Romania, which
was a curious coincidence.

Q

The first thing I was surprised byis that everyone here makes
detailed plans quite far in advance.
In Romania if you say to a friend“Let’s hang out the day after
tomorrow” they can usually hangout, but in Japan if you don’t ask
two or three weeks in advance,
they will already have made plans.
I was surprised that people have toplan so far ahead, but now I’m thesame – I’ve started planning myschedule far in advance too[laughs].

A country with abundant nature

Q

What are you researchingat the moment?

I’m interested in foreigners who
set up companies and do businessin Japan. I want to study how theysucceeded and managed toovercome difficult issues such as
visas. I will start the research inearnest later this year. At the
moment I’m interviewing thepeople who run those sorts ofbusinesses.

Enjoying sports andvegetarian lifestyle in Japan
Romania is a country where many beautiful old buildings
from the Middle Ages can be seen, from Peles Castle, thesummer retreat of the royal family, to Bran Castle, known as
Dracula’s castle. The country is full of natural beauty, and thewine is very famous. We spoke to Romanian citizen Alina
about her experiences at Kobe University.

are

Were you surprised byany of the differences
between Romania andJapan?

Q

Inside Dracula’s Castle

Q

What do you normally dowhen you’re not studying?

Since I came to Japan, I began
going to the gym. It’s been fun,and it made me want to get more
involved with the sports andfitness world, so recently I started
part-time work at a gym too. Right
now I’m just in charge ofreception, but when my training
finishes I can become an
instructor. I’d like to try thatchallenge.
I also enjoy traveling. Recently I
went to Tottori prefecture. I
visited the Tottori sand dunes,
went to the very steep Eshima
Ohashi Bridge, and Mizuki

Mushroom stew and polenta

Shigeru Road. I have a friend in
Gifu prefecture, so I went toShirakawa-go [a village withtraditional thatched roof houses]
in summer and winter.

Q

How is Japanese fooddifferent from your homecountry?

I became a vegetarian after I cameto Japan, so personally my dietchanged a lot. I was looking up
different ways to diet when I
discovered vegetarianism andveganism. At first I wasn’t very
motivated, but I learned fromdocumentaries about the effectthat eating animal products has on
animals, the environment and ourhealth, and my understanding
changed. I want to follow a stricter
diet and go vegan but that’s
difficult in Japan, so I’m avegetarian who rarely eats
products containing milk andeggs. I have other internationalQ

How has Kobe University
been for you so far?

It’s a really good study
environment for students. There
are lots of computers and study
spaces that students can use freely,
and Wi-Fi on campus. There aresmall gardens where you can relax
in peace and quiet, and I like thebeautiful scenery too.

Q

What are your dreams forthe future?

I want to work in Japan after I
graduate. I don’t know exactly
what I want to do yet, but I’minterested in becoming a gym
instructor, so maybe I’ll follow thepath of sports for a while. If there’s
an opportunity, I’m also interested
in establishing my own business.
I’d like vegetarianism andveganism to become morewidespread in Japan, so maybe I’ll
start a restaurant.

Bună ziua!
Hello in RomanianRasnov Citadel

11

student
friends
who
vegetarians and vegans too.

Making wine at home

View of Mt Rokko from Tsurukabuto 1st Campus

Entrance to a winery

Romania is a country of wine

12




COMMUNITY IMPACTAGLOC International Agriculture Circle

A bridge between Japan’s
mountain villages and the world
The Kobe University Faculty of Agriculture offers a class called“Introduction to Practical Agriculture” as part of a collaborative
project with local organizations. Under the guidance of farmers
working with Sasayama city in Hyogo prefecture, students
spend a year identifying different issues and approaches toagriculture. AGLOC started from this class. It is now an
outstanding agriculture volunteer circle: in both 2016 and 2017it was a finalist for the “University Students’ Award In Foods,
Agriculture, Fishery and Forestry” organized by Japan’s
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Why did you decide to while the demands of the global foodindustry increase. By working withlaunch AGLOC?

international students to connect
farming villages with the world, I hope
Abe: Participating in “Introduction to
AGLOC Headto be able to contribute to Japanese
Practical Agriculture” made me
ABE Daiki
agriculture, even just a little.
wonder if we could help out in the
3rd year, Faculty of Agriculture,
Okano district of Sasayama.
Department of Bioresource Science
Tokutomi: AGLOC is mainly students
International students at Kobe
from the Faculty of Agriculture, but
University wanted to join in withmany students from other departments
agricultural activities too, so I started
participate too, such as the Faculty of ongoing basis. I’m always making new
a volunteer circle that included
Economics. Thinking about Sasayama discoveries in AGLOC. For example,
international students. Our mission isfrom an economics perspective is fun. in Japan the cultivation methods are“connecting local and global”.
passed on through detailed written
Japanese agriculture is stagnating, andrecords. In Thailand agricultural
it is seen as an industry in decline, What sort of activities are technology is rarely recorded in such
you involved in?
detail, so farmers have to study
everything themselves from square
Abe: The main one is agriculture one. There are very few agricultural
volunteering. Right now we are schools too. These sorts of differences
working with about 16 farming are interesting.
households in the Okano district, andwe help them with farm work once a Tokutomi: In the past year and a halflots of international students havemonth.
joined us - 81 people from 22 countries.
Tokutomi: In Sasayama we often help
with growing mountain yams Abe: We’re also developing special(yamaimo) or beans. We are involved products using Sasayama’s traditionalin everything, from ploughing the field vegetable, the mountain yam.
to harvesting. In the past year and a
International student
half I have done agriculture Tokutomi: Mountain yams are hardfrom Thailand.
to grow, and every year less people
volunteering about 20 times.
Nickname: Bureemu
grow them as they don’t provide
Anantawittayanon Bureemu: In my home country of enough income. We want to give more
Sukritta
Thailand it’s mainly adults who value to these crops, so we decided to
1st year, Faculty of Agriculture,
support agriculture, and there are lots develop special products.
Department of Agricultural Engineeringof one-off support initiatives so it’s very
and Socio-Economics
rare for students to participate on an

13





Local residents have high expectations

Abe: One of these products is karukan(a sweet cake) made from mountainyams, called ChoKobe. We developed
it in collaboration with the Kobe
University Sasayama Field Station,
which is involved in solving issues inagricultural regions. A local Japanese
confectionary store made the cakes,
and they sell them in-store. In the
future I hope we can distribute themfurther afield.
Tokutomi: We also made mountainyam pancakes. We developed a recipe
based on ideas from international
students, and distributed a recipe
pamphlet to every household in the
Okano district. At first we had amountain yam pancake stall at local
events, and gradually more and more
people told us “I want to make them”.
Now local people have started to makethem at festivals.

What’s the driving force
behind your activities?
Abe: We are aiming for three things:
local to global, global to local, andmutual exchange between local andglobal. As part of our “local to global”
activities we go on study trips to foreigncountries during the low season. So far
we’ve visited Vietnam and Taiwan andlearned about the differences between
their methods and Japanese farming.
We use this information in our
agriculture support initiatives.

Cultural exchange through agriculture Exchange with local children

residents. We’re creating opportunities
for exchange between these groups,
like welcome camps, exchange parties
with local elementary schools, andjoining local festivals.
Abe: Not all the farmers welcomed theinternational students to start with.
That’s why over the past year and a half
we’ve been creating opportunities forexchange, so that everyone canunderstand our activities based on a
deeper understanding of othercultures. Recently I’ve seen more
farmers participating in these
activities.
Tokutomi: More farmers are
studying English and engaging with
the international students too.
Abe: The Kobe University Center forInternational Education organizes
trips for international students to learn
more about Japan, so we act as guides
for their visits to Sasayama. We also
use a matching app to guide foreign
visitors in Kyoto. Eventually we wantto link these activities to attracting
inbound visitors to Sasayama. As formutual exchange between local andglobal, we aim to use our agriculture
volunteer activities to encourageinternational students to visit
Sasayama regularly and tell people
overseas about this region. Bureemu
has made videos about Sasayama in
English, and she shares them online.

AGLOC Secretary

TOKUTOMI Shusuke
3rd year, Faculty of Human Development,
Department of Human Development andEnvironment

What are your plans for the
future?
Abe: Our activities are based on theidea of “connecting local with global”,
so I want to be able to leave evidenceof a positive contribution to local
farmers. Developing special products
and spreading the word are key. Oncethese are on track, I think they will leadto new initiatives.
Bureemu: What about introducing
special products to visitors fromoverseas? If we have them taste thefood, film their reactions and post it
online, I think it would be a popular
video.

Tokutomi: Good idea! I hope more
Tokutomi: For “global to local”, first Bureemu: I want more people to international students join us with
we strengthen the ties between know about what we’re doing and join great suggestions like Bureemu.
international students and local us. We haven’t used videos in our PR
yet, so I thought it would be an
Abe: We are not professional
interesting experiment.
agriculture volunteers, but I think that
we can still use our perspective as
Tokutomi: We submitted one video
students to contribute to local areas.
to the Sasayama Film Contest. We’ll
We may not make huge profits, but I
show the world Sasayama as seen
want to find fun ways to help out. So
through Bureemu’s eyes.
if you are interested in agriculture, youwant to develop specialty goods, or you
Abe: International students getting sowant to meet international students …
interested in Sasayama and agriculture
for whatever reason, if you’rethat they start making videos is one
interested in AGLOC’s activities, comepositive result of our activities.
and join us!
A running total of 81 international students
from 22 countries have participated14

International special feature

Asian alliances for a better future
A word with the experts
interviewees (from left to right)

HUANG Lin (Vice-Director of Asian Academic Collaboration, Professor at the Graduate School of Business
Administration) KIMURA Kan (Director of Asian Academic Collaboration, Professor at the Graduate Schoolof International Cooperation Studies), LUO Zhi-wei (Director of the Kobe University China Office, Professor
at the Graduate School of System Informatics)
As the director of the China Office, I
would like to strongly encourage Kobe
University researchers to use theChina Office as a platform for theiracademic activities.

Kobe University has a long history ofpartnership with Asia and our activities havebeen expanding drastically for a decade, spurredby the establishment of two Asian offices in
China and Vietnam. We interviewed Professor
Kan Kimura (Director of Asian Academic
Collaboration), Professor Lin Huang(Vice-Director of Asian Academic Collaboration)
and Professor Zhi-wei Luo (Director of the Kobe
University China Office) to tell us how Kobe
University initiates collaboration with Asia andtheir perspectives on the future.
Close Partnership with Asia
Prof. Kimura: Kobe University’s collaboration with Asia
started on a researcher basis with China and Korea andhas grown to include ASEAN countries. I expect ourcollaboration will further expand to southern and western
Asia. One unique point is that among the ASEAN countries
Kobe University has many partner institutions in Vietnam,
where our liaison base is located. I must also mention ourlong history of collaboration with Indonesia in infectious
diseases research, including the creation of a joint
collaboration base at Airlangga University. We are now at
the stage where we have two tasks: to deepen collaboration
with strategic partners and to develop new partnerships,

15

for example with India, a giant among developing
countries.
Prof. Huang: As the first step of our activities, we mustgo back to 2003 when the office in Beijing was establishedby the Graduate School of Business Administration. It was
initially supported by the 21st Century COE program, oneof the research funding programs of the Japan Society for
the Promotion of Science [JSPS]. Kobe University was thefirst national university in Japan to establish a liaison
office in China and it made the headlines on national news
programs. In 2008, the China Office was reorganized asan ‘official’ liaison office of Kobe University when support
from the COE program ended. The Office’s presence has
contributed to Kobe University’s high reputation in China,
ensuring our active participation in ‘Study in Japan’ fairs
and academic symposia in China.

Liaison Office initiatives
Prof. Luo: On December 18, 2017, the China Office was
relocated to the Beijing Center for Japanese Studies of Beijing
Foreign Studies University, one of our strategic partners in
China. The Beijing Center for Japanese Studies wasestablished under an agreement between the JapanFoundation and the Ministry of Education (MOE) of theGovernment of the People's Republic of China to promote
Japanese studies, including Japanese technology. We expect
the office to promote collaboration with China not only inthe social sciences and humanities but also the naturalsciences.

Prof. Kimura: Mobility is quite
active in Asia, and Japanese
universities have a high reputation in
the region. We can welcome talented
researchers and students. The
Japanese government has many
initiatives to contribute to thedevelopment of Asian countries andwe can apply for collaboration withgovernment support.
I should also emphasize that thealumni networks of 13 countries in Asia
play a key role in our international
activities. One special point of ouralumni networks is that the network isalso open to Japanese alumni who livein the country. The networks have beenused not only for meetings to reuniteand share memories but also foracademic and business networking in
the area. I hope the alumni networks
will continue to expand across borders.

Prof. Kimura: The replacement of
the China Office doesn’t mean a literal‘replacement’ but means we have got
a new counterpart in China. Throughthe office, using our network with
Beijing Foreign Studies University, we
can expand international collaboration
with other Chinese universities andshare information about trends inhigher education and research in
China. Our Liaison Office in Vietnam
located within Foreign Trade
University at Hanoi can be utilized in
the same way. As a specialist in Koreanstudies, I myself will now take theinitiative collaborating with several
strategic partner universities in Korea
to build another academic base.
Prof. Huang: Using the alumni
networks, Kobe University Global Link
Forum (KUGL), now the Kobe
Why Asia?
University Academic Research andProf. Luo: Asian countries’ economic Education Forum (KUAREF) has beenand social situation has advanced held annually as an Asia-focused
drastically in recent years. We are now academic symposium for international
research collaboration.
facing the same societal challenges,
including ageing societies. We believethat research collaboration can Future perspectives
contribute to solving those issues, andwe’ll also be approaching them from Prof. Luo: Kobe University has strong
similar cultural backgrounds.
links with research organizations andregional communities including thesuper computer system and medical
industries in the Kobe bay area. Kobe
University has a high reputation fordisaster research and entrepreneurshipand we have started international joint
research based on these disciplines. I
hope that more interdisciplinary
research will be created in these fields
to link them to other areas.
Prof. Kimura: Talking about student
mobility, we can say that visiting
students enjoy their studies in Kobe
University’s multicultural surroundings, created during the long historyof Kobe as an international harbor city.
In order to send many students abroad,
Oceania, which is a popular destination
among Kobe University students, isalso our target to strengthen
partnerships including student
exchange and short term programs.
Prof. Huang: Forward-looking
initiatives for internationalization
should also be our strong point forpartnership with Asia. As in the caseof the China Office, Kobe University
has always been one step ahead ofother Japanese universities forinternational activities. We will strive
for university internationalization in
the same way to contribute to a better
future.

Kobe University Academic Research and Education Forum (KUAREF) Indonesia, 201616

International Collaboration

Opening ceremony for relocated China Office and 10th anniversary celebration of
Kobe University Alumni Association in Beijing

EuropeConferral Ceremonies of Doctor Honoris Causa

Dr. Pöttering receives Doctor Honoris Causa
On October 16 at Kobe University, His Excellency Dr.
Hans-Gert Pöttering received a Doctor Honoris Causa from
Kobe University. Dr. Pöttering was awarded the degree inrecognition of his achievements during his time as Presidentof the European Parliament, as well as his considerable
contribution to education and research at Kobe University
through the activities of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung.
Following the degree conferral, Dr. Pöttering gave amemorial speech titled “Challenges for the European Union
in a World of Insecurity”. The speech dealt with issues theEuropean Union is facing in this period of global instability
such as immigration and refugee crises, and he emphasizedthat in these times, it is even more vital that the EU upholds
its founding vision and principles.
On November 24 at the Dancing House in Prague, theCzech Republic, Prof. Jiří Drahoš received a Doctor Honoris
Causa from Kobe University. Prof. Drahoš was awarded thedegree in recognition of his contributions to international
research partnerships between Japan and the Czech Republic,
as well as his substantial support for our relations with Europe
as a member of the Kobe University Advisory Board.
In 2015, Kobe University established the Overseas Advisory
Board to utilize the valuable connections nurtured throughour international activities. We invited experts who
contributed to Kobe University’s academic activities fromacademic and governmental sectors, including Prof Drahoš.
From 2017, we also welcomed Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering as a
new member.

Prof. Drahoš receives Doctor Honoris Causa

Sciences-” took place in Brussels, Belgium on November 21.
The symposium was held in collaboration with Vrije
Universiteit Brussel (VUB), where the Brussels European
Office is located. Over 90 people attended the symposium,including Japanese and European officials, researchers,
students and business representatives.
The four breakout sessions were organixed under thethemes of 1)Higher Education, 2)Biotechnology, 3)Migration
and Community Building, and 4)Healthy and Active Ageing.
Japanese and European researchers presented the latest
results of cutting-edge research and discussed future
opportunities for collaboration. The sessions included
presentations from the Mission of Japan to the European
Union and European Commission to share the views ofpolicymakers.

Bilateral Kobe-Kiel Workshop
On September 18, Kobe University held the Bilateral
Kobe-Kiel Workshop at Kiel University in Germany. Kobe
University and Kiel University concluded an inter-university
academic partnership on May 12, 2016, and we are actively
involved in research exchange in the natural and social

17

On December 18, the opening ceremony for the relocatedChina Office was held at the office’s new location at Beijing
Foreign Studies University. A signing ceremony took place
for a Memorandum of Understanding between the Kobe
University Center for Asian Academic Collaboration and the
Beijing Center for Japanese Studies, reconfirming both sides’
intentions to strengthen our collaboration. President
TAKEDA Hiroshi and Professor PENG Long, President of
Beijing Foreign Studies University shared perspectives oncollaboration in the meeting after the ceremony. They
expressed their plans to expand collaboration from Japanesestudies to social sciences as well as joint educational
programs.
On December 17, the day before the ceremony, over 30
members of the Kobe University Alumni Association in China
were joined from Kobe University by President TAKEDA,
Executive Vice President INOUE Noriyuki and other faculty
and staff in a grand celebration for the 10th anniversary of
the Kobe University Alumni Association in China.

Outside the new China OfficeKeynote Speech at the 10th Japan-China University Presidents’ Conference

8th Kobe University Brussels European Centre Symposium
The 8th Kobe University Brussels European Centre
Symposium “EU-Japan Initiative for Excellence- Strategic
Research Partnership in Medicine, Biotechnology and Social

Asia

sciences. This workshop aimed to initiate and expand
international joint research between our universities.
Researchers from both institutions presented cutting-edge
findings in the two breakout sessions on nanoscience andinternational relations.

From October 19 to October 21 the 10th Japan-China
University Presidents’ Conference was held at Northeastern
University in Shenyang, China. This conference has been
held every two years in Japan and China since 2000,
providing a forum for university presidents from China andJapan to gather and discuss their common agenda.
President TAKEDA Hiroshi delivered a keynote speech
titled “Internationalization of Japanese universities – fromthe perspective of exchange with Chinese universities”
representing about 20 universities and organizations.
President TAKEDA expressed his expectations for further

collaboration in research and education between Japan and
China, introducing Kobe University’s initiatives forinternationalization and integrated research between social
and natural sciences.
The Japan-China Student Forum was held in parallel with
the Presidents’ Conference and attended by about 40
Japanese and Chinese students including a Master’s student
from the Kobe University Graduate School of Business
Administration. Lively discussions took place to shareknowledge about innovation, including artificial intelligenceand entrepreneurship.

Americas
The Second Honolulu Office of Kobe University Symposium

On February 5, the 2nd Honolulu Office of Kobe University(HOKU) Symposium “Intra-Pacific Collaboration for
Advanced Academic Research on Transborderness ofJapanese People, Culture, and Thoughts” was held at Hawaii
Imin International Conference Center. The symposium aims
to promote dialogue and exchange between Japan, theAmericas, and other Pacific Rim countries, and offers an

ideal opportunity to present new findings and exchange ideas
in Japanese philosophy, culture, history, literature, andperforming arts from a Pacific perspective. HOKU wasestablished in July 2016 as our first liaison office in Americas
and the symposium was HOKU’s annual biggest event,gathering more than 15 researchers from Kobe, Hawaii andother regions from United States.
After the symposium, on February 6, Kobe University held
the first Americas Advisory Board meeting at HOKU. The
meeting was attended by two board members: Professor
Shuji Nakamura (2014 Nobel Prize Recipient in Physics andProfessor of Graduate School of Engineering, Santa Barbara,
University of California) and Professor Liang-Shih Fan(Graduate School of Engineering, Ohio State University) sent
his comments on the presentation materials. The board
members discussed various research collaboration activities
including University Hospital activities.

18

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Social MediaInternational victory for Offshore Sailing Club
Kobe University’s Offshore Sailing Club took
first prize in the Student Yachting World Cup
2017. This is the first win for a team from Japan,
a remarkable accomplishment against strong
competition from Europe.
The team was made up of nine students fromthe Faculty of Maritime Sciences and one fromthe Faculty of Agriculture. They competed withteams from Ireland, Scotland, England, Norway,
Switzerland, Canada and Indonesia.
The event took place from October 16 - 22 in
the Frioul archipelago (Marseille, France).
Although the 16 races were spread across sevendays, an average day saw the teams participate
in between four and six races. The Kobe
University team gradually improved theirposition, climbing to first in the final rankings.
England and Scotland took 2nd and 3rd place.
(The last day of races was unfortunately
cancelled due to high winds.)
Every evening the teams gathered to holdparties. The Kobe University team introduced
sake and organized a Japanese food stall. The
Offshore Sailing Team have made history as thefirst Japanese team to win this award, and welook forward to their continued success.

Kobe University is on social media! Like, share and follow us at the accounts below.

Discover the University on film

In January 2018, we released a new short ﬁlm introducing Kobe University from a student perspective.
Watch it here: https://youtu.be/YvFVDP4gUxQ

KobeU_Global

Meet the Student PR Ambassadors
Who better to introduce Kobe University than ourcurrent students? In summer 2017, we launched theStudent PR Ambassadors - a group of volunteers whotell the world about Kobe University in English. Their
activities include interviews, creating articles and social
media posts, and leading campus tours for overseas
visitors.
So far the ambassadors have led campus tours fordelegations from France, Hungary, Vietnam, and theUnited States. One member commented “The more I
lead campus tours, the more I like Kobe University”.
They have also helped design an English-language
campus tour map for visitors, including a guide to Kobecity.

Collaborating with staff from the International
Exchange Planning Division and the Communications
Division, these students experience a different side ofuniversity life, and make global connections. The teamhave interviewed international students, members of
the Kobe University Brussels European Office, andformer President of the European Parliament His
Excellency Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering when he visited
Kobe University to receive a Doctor Honoris Causa.
The Student PR Ambassadors are accepting new
applications from April 2018, and of course
international students are welcome to apply. Contact
the International Affairs Planning Division for details.

Kobe University
GlobalKobe UniversityrCampus tou

Kobe University!
W
E
N
Kobe University
Kobe University Ta

nabata Festival

19

Interview with Dr. Pöttering

Feedback is always welcome. Let us know what you think about our English website with a 3-minutequestionnaire here: http://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/about_us/q.html

20