Vol.9 August 2014
CONTENTSNews .....................................................................1-5

Overseas Offices .................................................................. 7

Research .................................................................. 6

Greetings .............................................................................. 8

News
Academic Exchange Agreement with Amherst College Extended
Doshisha University and Amherst College (Massachusetts, US) extended the academic exchange
agreement for another five years to further promote exchanges in education and research between thetwo institutions.
At the signing ceremony on June 9, 2014, Doshisha President Koji Murata and Amherst President BiddyMartin signed the agreement, attended by representatives from both institutions.
The founder of Doshisha University, Joseph Hardy Neesima, graduated from Amherst College in 1870,
and in doing so became the first Japanese citizen to graduate from an American university.
Amherst College is currently noted as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the US.
A conversation took place between the two presidents after the ceremony, where President Murata
commented on how the spirit of Amherst is alive and well in Doshisha, adding that Doshisha iscommitted to strengthening its liberal arts education. President Martin, meanwhile, talked of Amherst
College's warm feelings toward Neesima and Doshisha University, at the same time highlighting theirimportance to Amherst. Doshisha and Amherst have had a cordial, long-standing relationship for morethan a century. Amherst College will celebrate the 200th anniversary of its foundation in 2021, while
Doshisha will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2025. The talk between the two presidents ensures evencloser ties as well as a more productive relationship in the future.

Great Voyage

11News‘Study in Europe Fair 2014’ held at Doshisha UniversityOn May 18, 2014, the Study in Europe Fair 2014 took place atDoshisha University (Lucent Plaza, Ryoshinkan 1F) for the second
consecutive year. The fair was co-hosted by the Delegation of theEuropean Union to Japan and Doshisha University. (In the Kanto
region, the fair was held at Meiji University on May 16 and 17.)
Forty-three higher education institutions and universities from
more than 10 European countries participated in the fair, withabout 600 students and adults visiting‐about the same number aslast year.
At the fair, representatives from participating institutions were on
hand to answer questions about study abroad programs in Europe,offering those interested detailed information on items such asapplication procedures, scholarships and student life.
Presentations were also given by the institutions, where theaudience listened attentively to the explanations, demonstrating ahigh level of interest in the fair.
The Mayor of Kyoto, Mr. Daisaku Kadokawa, made a greetingspeech at the opening ceremony and was keen to explore thevarious booths.
The Organization for Promotion of International Cooperation iscommitted to actively undertaking this kind of initiative topromote study abroad to Doshisha University students.

‘Japan Education Fair in Turkey 2014’ heldOn February 1, 2014, Doshisha University held the ‘Japan Education
Fair in Turkey 2014’ in the former office of the Consulate-General ofJapan in Istanbul (co-organized by the Consulate-General of Japan in
Istanbul).
The Japan Education Fair in Turkey 2014 was held as part of MEXT’s
Project for University Network for Internationalization (Global 30),
primarily targeting students who wish to study at graduate schools inJapan. Although the fair was held during the winter vacation for Turkish universities, it attracted muchattention and was attended by a total of about 270 people, including more than 200 local students fromTurkey, members of eight Japanese universities (University of Tsukuba, Kyoto University, Kyushu
University, Keio University, Waseda University, Hokkaido University, Rikkyo University and Doshisha
University) which set up a booth at the fair, the Consulate-General of Japan and the news media. Theevent was broadcast on TV news bulletins.
In addition to individual consultations at each university’s booth, there were two special sessions aboutscholarships given by members of the Consulate-General of Japan in Istanbul. Every booth and session
drew many attendees, demonstrating a high level of interest in studying in Japan.
As promoting the admission of well-qualified students from various countries is one of the tasks for theparticipating universities, the success of the fair provided the assurance that students in Turkey have ahigh interest in Japanese education, culture and industries.
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News
Book of Professor Hiroki Tanaka (Faculty of Policy Studies)
Receives the 14th Sato Prize
A book titled ‘Economic Analysis of Policy Competition among Local
Governments in Japan’ (published by Keiso Shobo in August 2013)
written by Professor Hiroki Tanaka (Faculty of Policy Studies) received
the 14th Sato Prize of the Japan Association of Local Public Finance (inthe category of books). The award ceremony took place at the 22nd
National Convention of the Japan Association of Local Public Financeheld at Fukushima University on May 24, 2014.
The Sato Prize was established based on a donation from Susumu Sato,late professor of the University of Tokyo (Faculty of Economics), withthe aim to promote research on financial relations between national andlocal governments, as well as economy and autonomy of local
governments, and also to contribute to fostering young researchers byawarding outstanding books and articles in these fields.
This year, which marks the 14th year since its inception in 2001, two books and two articles wereselected from among those published over the last year through strict examination of the selection
committee based on the recommendation of the members of the society.
Professor Tanaka’s book was highly regarded for demonstrating the systematic research achievementsof the economic analysis of decentralization.

Doshisha Signs Framework Agreement with National Cerebraland Cardiovascular Center
Doshisha University concluded a framework agreement with the National Cerebral and CardiovascularCenter (NCVC; Suita City, Osaka) to promote exchanges in education, research and medicine.
At the signing ceremony held at Kambaikan, Imadegawa Campus on May 20, 2014, NCVC President
Nobuo Hashimoto and Doshisha President Koji Murata signed the agreement, attended byrepresentatives from both institutions.
NCVC is the only national highly specialized medical research center in the Kansai area, and is known
as the top organization for cardiovascular research and treatment in Japan.
Both institutions will engage in collaborative
research in medicine and engineering, which will
form a bridge between Doshisha’s research inscience and engineering (as well as life science),
and NCVC’s research based on high level clinicalexperiences and technologies. The project will beexpanded to include an educational collaboration in
the near future.
While promoting exchanges between researchers
from both institutions, we will design specific plansat the Collaboration Promotion Council which willbe established based on the agreement.

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News
Doshisha’s International Student Team Wins Japan Business Model Competition
The Japan Business Model Competition was held at Microsoft Japan Shinagawa Office in Tokyo onFebruary 22 and 23, 2014. A team of five international students currently enrolled in the Graduate Schoolof Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Life and Medical Sciences, and Doshisha Business
School won first place in the category of undergraduate and graduate students.
The Japan Business Model Competition takes place as a domestic competition of the International
Business Model Competition (IBMC), one of the largest competitions of its kind in the US. The
competition focuses on ‘identifying and precisely defining the assumptions of the new venture, testing
those assumptions in the field, and then pivoting (changing) based on the lessons learned’, which ensuresa high quality competition connecting students to actual new venture opportunities.
The team earned first place for the project, ‘A Business
Model for Bamboo Plaques’. The bamboo plaque is asoundproofing panel made from bamboo fibers. It ishighly regarded for its environmentally friendly andantibacterial properties, as well as for its highpracticality. Team member Mohamed Ali Benabbes
commented that he wanted to commercialize the productin the near future.
The team’s win means it now proceeds to the World
Final which will be held in the US in May.

Welcome Event for New International Students
2014 Spring ‘Open Lounge’
From April 2nd to 4th, the Office of International Students held 2014 spring semester welcome event“Open Lounge” at the International Community Lounge on both Imadegawa and Kyotanabe campuses.
The event was held in a relaxed and friendly manner over tea and snacks. Through presentations andinformal chats with participants, the aim of this event is for new international students to get to know about
Kyoto and Doshisha university by talking with other students, as well as to let them know that theInternational Community Lounge is a place where they can drop by and make new friends.
During the Open Lounge period, a total of 115 students from different countries, including the US, China,Korea, Iran, Vietnam, Philippines, Morocco and so on visited and enjoyed talking with Japanese students,
as well as current international students. Participants socialized by introducing their country andexchanging information about student life, such as, the famous ohana-mi spots in Kyoto, club activities at
Doshisha University and so on. We hope that they will keep in touch and form friendship from this event.

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4NewsWelcome Event for New International Students‘Disaster Prevention Training’
On June 21st, Office of International Students held “Disaster Prevention Training” as a welcome eventfor the new international students. Although the weather forecast was for rain, fortunately, it wasn’t rain
after all. International students: 18 and Japanese students: 3 participated.
First of all, at Kyoto City Disaster Prevention Center, after the orientation, we took part in the simulated
training programs. At “Disaster Education Video Room”, we learned the histories of past disasters suchas earthquakes that happened in Kyoto and their terror were introduced by using Hi-Vision VisualSystem. Next, at “Typhoon Simulation Room”, using the wind-making equipment with a wind speed of
32 meters per second, we experienced the difficulty of doing something in a typhoon. It seemed that theparticipants were barely able to stand. At “Earthquake Simulation Room”, earthquake intensity 4-7(onthe Japanese scale) was simulated, and we learned how to prepare against an earthquake. We were told to
get under the table and hold on to the table leg when the earthquake happened. After the session, there
were a lot of questions from the international students, concerning how to protect ourselves. At “FireFighting Room”, participants shot water and extinguished a picture of fire on a screen. They learned how
to use a fire extinguisher properly. At last at “4D Theatre”, we experienced the simulation when anunderground mall was flooded. And we learned the difficulty of opening the door when the undergroundspace was flooded.
International students learned about natural disasters in Japan and how to protect themselves in anemergency. Also most of the Japanese students had never participated in these simulation program, they
renewed their awareness of significance of preparation for natural disaster.

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5ResearchStart of ‘Clinical Application regarding Cultured Human Corneal Endothelial Cell
Transplantation to Bullous Keratopathy’ Announced
On March 12, 2014, a joint research team comprising members
from Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Doshisha
University Faculty of Life and Medical Sciences, and Shiga
University of Medical Science announced at a press conference thatclinical trials of cultured human corneal endothelial celltransplantation have started at Kyoto Prefectural University ofMedicine. At Doshisha University, a team including Professor
Noriko KOIZUMI and Assistant Professor Naoki OKUMURA(Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Life andMedical Sciences) has been working on this research.
Bullous keratopathy is a pathological condition in which the corneal endothelial cells are damaged or
impaired due to various factors such as surgery and disease, resulting in corneal haze and vision
impairment. Human corneal endothelial cells do not normally regenerate in vivo. This clinical researchaims to recover the corneal transparency of patients with bullous keratopathy by the infusion of corneal
endothelial cells cultured in vitro.
Under the approval of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in March 2013, the treatment wasprovided to three patients between December 2013 and February 2014. The results verified the safety ofthis treatment and good therapeutic efficacy, such as recovery of vision, was achieved. This was the firstclinical trial for cultivated human corneal endothelial cell transplantation in the world, and is expected asa new treatment replacing corneal transplantation.
Doshisha University has been undertaking research on cornea-related regenerative medicine since 2003.
Researchers have established a basic technology for efficiently culturing human corneal endothelial cells,
which had been considered difficult, using ROCK inhibitor, TGF-β inhibitor, and mesenchymal stem cellconditioned medium, etc., and verified the clinical usefulness of the cell infusion therapy using animalmodels. Doshisha University will advance the research by solving various challenges emerging fromclinical trials, and aim to make the therapy available to patients globally.

Kazuki Ono (Graduate School of Culture and Information Science) Receives Best
Paper Award at ICDS 2014 in Spain
From March 23 to 27, 2014, the 8th International Conference on DigitalSociety (ICDS 2014) was held in Barcelona, Spain, organized by theInternational Academy, Research and Industry Association (IARIA).
At the conference, Kazuki Ono (graduated in 2013 from the Graduate
School of Culture and Information Science, former member of MediaInformatics Laboratory) and Associate Professor Kenji Hatano (MediaInformatics Laboratory, Graduate School of Culture and InformationScience) received the Best Paper Award. From among the papers presented
at ICDS 2014, the award was given to researchers who prepared excellent
submission and camera-ready papers, with the quality of the presentation
also taken into account. The selection was made following carefulconsideration by the program committee and the chairperson of ICDS 2014.
In the presentation, Ono and Hatano proposed a method to avoid misguided analysis when analyzing
Japanese syntax with a complicated structure.
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6Overseas Offices
Doshisha University’s overseas offices were established in order to further promote its rapid and effective
internationalization. At our overseas offices, we are implementing mainly public relations activities to increase theprofile of Doshisha University, while at the same time making the most of the characteristics unique to each office. Inaddition, we are undertaking various efforts to recruit overseas students, support our students while they are studying
overseas, and provide on-site support to members of our faculties while they are overseas.

Taipei, Taiwan

Beijing, P. R. China

Address : Doshisha Taiwan Officec/o DSS-CLOVER International Co.
6F-15, No. 57, Chong-Qing S. Rd.
10045 Taipei, Taiwan
Tel: +886-2-2331-1278
Fax: +886-2-2331-1397
Email: ji-int24@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Address : Doshisha Beijing Office
Room #306, Qiushilou Building
Renmin University of China
59 Zhongguancun Street, Haidian District
Beijing, 100872 P.R.China
Tel/Fax: +86-10-6251-5916
Email: ji-int23@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

London, United Kingdom

Shanghai, P.R. China

Address : Doshisha London Officec/o Daiwa Foundation Japan House
13/14 Cornwall Terrace, London
NW1 4QP U.K.
Tel: +44-77-4892-5687
Email: ji-int21@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Address :Doshisha Shanghai Office
Center for Japanese Studies
Fudan University
221 Hantan Road
Shanghai, 200433 P.R.China
Email: ji-int25@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Hanoi, Vietnam

Seoul, Korea

Address : Doshisha-Vietnam Cooperative Office
4F Polymer Centre
D1 Building – Hanoi University of Technology
1st Dai Co Viet Road – Hanoi, Vietnam
Tel: +84-4-3623-1276
Email: ji-int22@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Address : Doshisha Seoul OfficeSeoul YMCA
2 Ga 9, Jongno, Jongno-gu
Seoul, Korea 110753
Tel: +82-2-732-7704
Email: ji-int28@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Istanbul, Turkey
Address : Doshisha Istanbul Officec/o ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL AND
ECONOMIC SOLIDARITY WITH PASIFIC
COUNTRIES
Ahmediye Caddesi No:44/2 34260 Aksaray– Istanbul, TURKEY
Email: ji-int26@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

Great Voyage7Message from Director of International Center“Globalization” is a much more complex phenomenon than is usually thought.
I have often been struck by the difference in what people mean by “globalization.” Some people mean by it
the getting out of more or less narrow confines of one’s own “natural” value system and perspective towarda broader multiculturalist perspective and a greater tolerance of other cultures; some people mean by it aform of homogenization and obliteration, through the imposition of “global standards,” of the uniquefeatures of one’s own “native” environment and culture.
The former seems to be prevalent in academia and the latter in business world, and within academia itself,
the former is more conspicuous in traditional humanities and the latter in social sciences, particularlyeconomics. The “global talents” mean in the former a mental attitude to relativize one’s own culture and to
be open-minded toward other cultures, while the keywords in the latter are “localism” and “sustainability,”
if not “nationalism,” which all resist the hegemony of homogenizing superpower.
The internationalism, one of Doshisha’s three educational principles is to be located equivocally but quite
significantly somewhere in between the two. Doshisha has been determined to educate its students to be
receptively open-minded toward an immense variety of human cultures in the world, and to send out its
graduates thus nurtured as persons able to contribute, according to their “conscience,” to the globalized
world we all find ourselves in now.
For this purpose, I believe our Organization for the Promotion of Global Cooperation as a whole will remain
a vital nodal point where difficult challenges can be met and constructive solutions can be worked out forthis ever-globalizing “brave new world.”
Nobuyoshi Saito
Director
International Center
Dear Partners,
When you read this newsletter (early August),
students in Doshisha will be studying so much fortheir final exams. Once they're finished, they will beenjoying the so anticipated summer vacation!
The Doshisha staff will also take vacations by shift,
but we are already preparing to receive the newstudents who will enroll in this Fall semester.
There are three sections in our Office of International
Students: first is the Section for International
Admissions which handles the entrance examination
for international students and public relations.
The second and third are the Section for International
Students at both Imadegawa and Kyotanabe
campuses, and they are in charge of supporting
currently enrolled students.
For all international students interested in pursuingtheir studies in Japan, Kyoto and Doshisha
University, be at ease as we will embrace you withthe omotenashi (hospitality) spirit.
Warm Regards,
Office of International Students
Great Voyage is published by the International Center at Doshisha University.
Please direct inquiries to:
Office of International Affairs, Doshisha University
Karasuma-Higashi-iru, Imadegawa-dori, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8580 Japan
Tel: +81 (0) 75-251-3260
Fax: +81 (0) 75-251-3057 Email: ji-kksai@mail.doshisha.ac.jp

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