Chancellor Mizuta Awarded Honorary Doctoral Degree from Management and Science University, Malaysia

From January 23 to 31, 2015, a Josai University Educational Corporation delegation led by Chancellor Noriko Mizuta and consisting of Yukihisa Kitamura (Chancellor’s Office Manager), Masumi Ishida (Vice President, Professor in the Faculty of Tourism), Kenji Sugibayashi (Vice President, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Supervisor), Yuka Kawano (Associate Professor, Department of International Exchange Studies), Jordan Smith (Associate Professor in the Faculty of International Humanities), and Romain Duchesnes (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Media Studies) paid a visit to Malaysia and Vietnam.
　 On the 24th, the delegation visited Josai’s sister institution, Management and Science University (MSU), located in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam. Chancellor Mizuta received an honorary doctoral degree from MSU to acknowledge her numerous academic accomplishments as well as her work to elevate the status of women in a ceremony that took place on that day. The honorary degree was conferred to Chancellor Mizuta by Her Majesty, Queen Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajjah Haminah who also serves as MSU Chancellor.
　 During the ceremony, Chancellor Mizuta expressed her joy at receiving the award. “By assembling a humanities department that emphasizes practical skills in finance, management, and tourism as well as a health sciences department centered on health and medicine, MSU shares very similar academic goals to Josai University and Josai International Universities. The MSU-Josai exchange began with the common idea of working together to foster human resources that can assume leadership positions and guide society in not just Malaysia and Japan, but Asia and the world as well. Our student exchange program began in 2012, with 65 Josai students presently studying at MSU. In addition, Josai is currently hosting 34 students from MSU, 12 of whom are studying at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Receiving this honorary degree from MSU is, for me, a tremendous honor and I would like to express my gratitude to everyone involved. Since, from this day forward, I am now a member of MSU, I hope that we can develop our program of exchange even further,” she said.

Josai Invites Former Prime Minister Mahathir to Give Lecture

On January 25, Chancellor Mizuta’s delegation visited the residence of Mahathir bin Mohamad, who served as Malaysia’s Prime Minister for 25 years. As Prime Minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad worked as an ASEAN leader to revitalize the region, instituting the Look East Policy which looked to Japan’s economic growth as a model, and helping the national power of Malaysia grow exponentially.
　 This year marks the 50th year anniversary of Josai’s founding in 1965 by former finance minister Mikio Mizuta. As part of the 50th anniversary festivities, Josai has planned the “Mikio Mizuta Global Lecture Series,” an event aimed at the promotion of global human resource development which invites distinguished speakers from both Japan and abroad who have made significant social and cultural contributions in the late 20th century, to begin in April of 2015. As lecture series chair, Chancellor Mizuta extended an official invitation to Mr. Mahathir, which he accepted.

Josai Forms Exchange Agreements with Four Universities in Vietnam

As the second leg of their trip, the Josai delegation next visited Vietnam. The primary goals of their visit to Vietnam was to establish academic exchange agreements with four different universities and to introduce high school students and other members of the young generation to the appeal of Japan and Josai in an effort to instill the importance of “learning from Japan.”
　 The delegation first traveled to Ho Chi Minh City where they visited the Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport (UT-HCMC), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE), and Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH) before moving to Hanoi where they visited one of Vietnam’s preeminent institutions, Foreign Trade University (FTU).
　 Chancellor Mizuta, on behalf of Josai, signed academic and student exchange agreements with each of the four universities. Members of each university expressed their desires to host Japanese language lecturers and students from Josai as well as to dispatch their own students for study at JU and JIU.

Josai Visits Vietnamese High Schools, Tuoitre Newspaper Corporation

The Josai delegation continued the trip with visits to Vietnamese high schools and Japanese language schools as well as to the Tuoitre Newspaper Corporation. In Ho Chi Minh City, the delegation visited Ngoi Sao High School, Le Quy Don High School, and the Dong Du Japanese Language School and in Hanoi visited six high schools, including Viet Duc High School, Gia Binh First High School, Luong Tai First High School, and Ky Thuat Viat Tri High School, in addition to the Japanese language schools Akira Language Education and the Thang Long College of Technology. In some cases, the delegation met with upwards of 500 students, who listened to the Josai group’s presentation with great interest.

Josai Visits Ambassador Fukada and Consul General Nakajima

During their visit, the Josai delegation also visited Japan’s consular offices. In Ho Chi Minh City, they visited consul general Satoshi Nakajima and in Hanoi ambassador extraordinaire and plenipotentiary Hiroshi Fukada. Ambassador Fukada said, “The number of Vietnamese students studying abroad in Japan has increased rapidly, with more than 8,000 at present. I would like to do my best to facilitate exchange between the young people of Vietnam and Josai.” Also, in Ho Chi Minh City, the newspaper Tuoitre, which boasts the largest circulation in the country, conducted an interview with Chancellor Mizuta.