On August 21, 2015, Chancellor Noriko Mizuta received an honorary doctoral degree from Hannam University in Daejeon, South Korea.
Chancellor Mizuta receives her honorary doctorate (with President Kim, right)
Josai first formed an academic exchange agreement with Hannam in 2009 and has since engaged in numerous joint activities centered on foreign exchange and international cultural training. Hannam also played against Josai in a December 2012 international soccer friendly commemorating Josai International University’s 20th anniversary. The friendly was held at the newly opened Prince Takamado Memorial Sports Park and was attended by Her Majesty Princess Takamado, who serves as honorary patron of the Japan Football Association (JFA). Chancellor Mizuta was awarded the honorary degree on the basis of her contributions to building Japanese-Korean amnesty through sports, education, and the fostering of young human resources.
Hannam University was founded in April 1956 and will celebrate its 60th anniversary next year. It is a renowned private university located in the central region of South Korea and boasts an enrollment of approximately 13,000.
The ceremony for the honorary doctoral degree was held at the Hannam University auditorium. After receiving the degree from university president Hyungtae Kim, Chancellor Mizuta said, “Hannam University is a close sister school to Josai and is known worldwide for its exceptional program of higher education. It is thus a great honor and joy for me to receive this degree from such a prestigious institution and to be placed alongside the other faculty members of this fine university. With Hannam’s cooperation, I’d like to continue to do my utmost to develop a program of human resource education that can contribute to the elevation of international education, peace in the 21st century, and the construction of Japan-Korea cooperative relations.” Chancellor Mizuta then urged Hannam University students to “visit Japan and Josai International University and to explore the ways of Asia and the world, while working hard toward becoming a global world leader.”
The honorary doctoral degree ceremony was also attended by Masaru Sato, Director of the Public Information and Cultural Center at the Japanese Embassy in Korea, and Daejeon mayor Chun-gi Park. Director Sato also gave a few words by saying, “We have now reached 50 years of normalized relations between Japan and Korea. “With all the sports and education exchange activities organized by the young generation, I have high hopes for the future 50 and 100 years from now.”
Princess Takamado was also awarded an honorary doctoral degree from Hannam University in April 2014.
President Kim addressed the audience next, saying, “Even when diplomatic relations between Korea and Japan are tense, cultural and educational exchange continues to progress. And the relationship of exchange between Hannam and Josai University and Josai International University serves as an excellent model for Korea-Japan amnesty. It is a source of great pride to award doctoral degrees to both Princess Takamado and Chancellor Mizuta.”
Student-athletes from the JIU and Hannam men’s soccer teams who would participate in a friendly that afternoon thronged the auditorium for the event. To close the ceremony, soloist Sin-a Chong gave a stirring vocal performance.
Following the ceremony, a ceremonial tree planting was held in front of Hannam’s sports complex where the soccer friendly was to be held. The trees in question were pines from the island of Ulleungdo, located in the Sea of Japan. President Kim gave a brief address. “There is a saying that, ‘To grow a flower, you must wait a year. To grow a tree, you must wait ten years.’ Even with the falling snow, this pine maintains its splendid green color year round. I hope that our two universities and two nations will take a cue from this tree in maintaining their positive relations.”
Chancellor Mizuta and Vice-President Kurabayashi plant trees with Hannam associates
Inspired by the tree planting for the 2012 international friendly, wherein pines were planted at the Prince Takamado Memorial Sports Park to honor President Kim’s attendance, Chancellor Mizuta said, “The trees planted here today will surely bear witness to the many activities of future generations as they further deepen the relationship between our two universities. Each time I look at the pines planted at Prince Takamado Memorial Sports Park, I think of Hannam University.”
Following the doctoral degree and tree planting ceremonies, the second international friendly between Josai International University and Hannam University took place. The game pitted two strong squads, with Hannam ranked 2nd overall among South Korean men’s college teams and JIU having many of its former players move on to play professionally in the J-league. In addition, with former Japan national team coordinator Tetsuji Koyama as their coach and a 1st place ranking in Chiba prefecture, JIU was looking to elevate its rank in the Kanto region.
Josai International University vice-president Masato Kurabayashi gave a few words before the match. “In our first friendly, attended by Her Highness Princess Takamado, JIU was able to manage a 2-1 victory over Hannam University. Before this match, I received congratulatory words from Princess Takamado, which I conveyed to President Kim,” he said.
Hannam students and faculty, as well as soccer fans from the local community, flocked to the large sporting complex that can seat up to 10,000. The athletes all worked up a good sweat under the day’s blazing heat. JIU struck first with a goal at the 40-minute mark of the first half, but Hannam quickly returned the favor, tying it up right before the halftime whistle. Both teams extended their attack in the second half, but the match ultimately ended in a 1-1 tie.
The match was followed by a farewell diner reception at a Daejeon restaurant. The players and coaches from both teams, in addition to Chancellor Mizuta and President Kim were on hand for the reception. Players from both teams were seated at the same table and, through a Hannam student interpreter, praised one another’s excellent play and chatted informally about student life and other matters, making for a relaxed atmosphere.
Coach Koyama and his players exchanged pennants and other paraphernalia with the Hannam team and pledged to meet again at the next friendly.
|
JIU, Hannam players and |
Heartfelt words of welcome for the international friendly |
On August 24, 2015, an official launching ceremony was held at Pusan’s Dongseo University for Global Access Asia (GAA), a new online education system proposed at the 2014 Asian University President Forum (AUPF) and aimed to address the importance of international education in Asia in the global age.
AUFP members getting together to start the GAA
Chancellor Mizuta commended the online systems’ task force―comprised of Josai International University and four other universities―observing the significance of building a system based on Asian cultural diversity.
In the round table discussion that followed, aiming at a September launch, panel members offered passionate views on modes of quality assurance, ways to enrich GAA, and the potential of international education programs associated with GAA.
Josai International University and Pusan’s Dongseo University are now set to begin production on their second joint cinematic feature!
In March 2013, to commemorate Josai International University’s 20th anniversary, JIU’s Faculty of Media Studies partnered with Dongseo University in producing and screening the feature film Winter Fireworks. The film tenderly depicts a man who evacuates his hometown to Chiba’s Kamogawa after losing his wife and daughter in the Great East Japan Earthquake and forms a relationship with a female Korean exchange student in an attempt to ease one another’s sense of isolation. The production process, which involved adapting a Korean original screenplay to Japanese scenery and customs, proved to be a great experience for students on both sides, as it served as a means of cultural exchange through international coproduction.
With both Josai and Dongseo Universities celebrating their 50th year anniversaries in 2015, they decided to embark on another coproduction to commemorate this landmark. This particular production was agreed upon during a conference between Josai Chancellor Noriko Mizuta and Dongseo Chancellor Dong-soon Park during the former’s visit to the Dongseo campus. Chancellor Mizuta and Chancellor Park envision a production that will even surpass the previous project and contribute to the program of exchange between Josai and Dongseo.
Dongseo University’s Film and Video department, with whom Josai will partner for the production, is located adjacent to the Centum City Cinema Center, the main site of the Pusan International Film Festival and an ideal place to study film. The campus boasts one large 1,140-seat theater and two smaller 100-seat screening rooms, as well as post-production facilities and state of the art equipment.
The campus also houses a museum that displays items from the films of Korean cinema legend Im Kwon-tek.
Pre-production for this second feature will begin in the middle of October of this year, following the conclusion of the Pusan International Film Festival, with plans to finish the scenario by the end of the year and begin shooting next spring. The premise of the film will be set in Kamogawa and depict Japanese-Korean exchange, the scenario will be a collaboration between students from both schools and cinema faculties will act as supervisors of the project. Japanese and Korean students will collaborate on every level of the production including scenario rewrites, preproduction, filming, and post-production. This opportunity to collaborate on a project with people from different cultures and different approaches allows us to consider the importance of international co-productions. We expect that this project will vastly expand students’ worldview and encourage artistic development.
Production is scheduled to wrap by spring or summer 2016, aiming for a premiere screening at Dongseo’s theater during the 2016 Pusan International Film Festival.
