On Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016, the Re-Inventing Japan Project (Russia) – Japan-Russia Higher Education Symposium was held at the Hotel Metropolitan Sendai. Tohoku University was selected to be part of the Re-Inventing Japan Project (Russia) in FY2014, and serves as an organizer among those universities selected as well.
At the beginning of the symposium, Tohoku University President Susumu Satomi gave an opening address, followed by Mr. Hideto Matsumoto, Director, Office for International Planning, Higher Education Policy Planning Division, Higher Education Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), who expressed his hopes for the success of the program.
The keynote address was delivered by Mr. Hiroki Matsuo, Principal Deputy Director, Japan-Russia Economic Affairs Division/Japan-Russia Exchange Programs Division, European Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and gave an interpretation on Japan-Russia relations from a variety of angles, including politics, economics, culture, and youth exchange.
The symposium was based on the theme of “How to create innovative leaders for new Japan-Russia relations”, and in addition to introductions of the universities selected to be part of the program, Tohoku University welcomed representatives from its Russian partner institutions through this program (Moscow State University, Novosibirsk State University, and Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), and they delivered presentations on the status of internationalization and student exchanges between the two countries.
