On April 8 2016, Michèle Robach, the wife of Swedish Ambassador Magnus Robach, spoke about her life experiences as a special guest for a European Café event at Josai University’s Tokyo Kioicho Campus (Chiyoda Ward.) The “European Café” is a new meeting series which aim is to disseminate knowledge about world’s countries’ cultures, history and politics in a casual way.
　 Chancellor Mizuta and around 100 students and professors listened to Mrs. Robach’s presentation with great interest while drinking and eating sweets.

Mrs. Robach studied politics and economics before marrying Mr. Magnus Robach. She has lived in Japan from 1982 to 1986. After working for an investment bank, she went back to university and got a master’s degree in Information and Communication while her husband was working in Belgium.

Her talk encompassed many topics including her discovery of Japan, cultural differences between France and Sweden, food culture, family communication and the balance between public/private lives. She also touched upon issues that women face in Japan stating “if women could come back to work after giving birth, that would give a significant impact on Japanese economy.” During the Q&A panel, she answered students’ questions with humor.