Liaison Conference on “Increasing Inbound Exchange Students and their Settling in Japan” held by TUFS

December 12, 2019

On Monday the 11th of November, the “2019 Liaison Conference for Persons in Charge of International Planning at National University Corporations”, an event run by the Tokyo Medical and Dental University and TUFS, was held at Tokyo Garden Palace (Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo). This year’s conference focused on the topic of “Increasing Inbound Exchange Students and their Settling in Japan”, and was attended by around 200 Directors of International Planning, Vice Presidents and faculty members from national universities across Japan.

This conference is held every year with the goals of conducting discussions concerning the international planning of national universities, and promoting the exchange of information with related institutions such as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).

The conference began with an opening address from TUFS Vice President (for International Affairs) MATSUKUMA Jun, which was then followed by an address from Tokyo Medical and Dental University President, YOSHIZAWA Yasuyuki. In the first half of the conference, three presentations were given on this year’s topic, and presentations on the systems implemented at each institution were given (see below).

In the second half of the conference, representatives from two universities presented examples of the initiatives undertaken by their respective institutions, and a panel discussion was held between those who presented earlier in the first half of the conference. Using the latest real-time survey system, a lively exchange of opinions was conducted between speakers and presenters while information on efforts in settling inbound exchange students to Japan at each of the floor universities was compiled in real-time.

Part One
Presentation One: “Current Situation and Initiatives Regarding Policies for Accepting International Students”, Mr. MARUOKA (MEXT)
Presentation Two: “JICA and International Student Projects”, Mr. IWASAKI (Japan International Cooperation Agency)
Presentation Three: “Expectations of University Education from the Perspective of Businesses”, Mr. IKEYAMA (Sony Corporation)
System Presentation One: “Long-term Educational Administrators Program for International Exchange (LEAP)”, Mr. SAITO (MEXT)
System Presentation Two: “Towards Doubling International Students by 2020 and What Happens After”, Ms. NISHIKAWA (PR manager of the government and private sector collaboration study abroad project ‘Tobitate! Ryugaku Japan’)
System Presentation Three: “Accepting New Foreign Personnel: The Establishment of the ‘Specific Skilled Worker’ Visa Category”, Ms. SUGIMOTO (Immigration Services of Japan Tokyo Administration Bureau)

Part Two
Initiative Presentation One: “Towards Domestic Employment and Workplace Settlement of International Students: A Case Study from the MEXT ‘Career Development Program for International Students’, ITSUKI Tomoko (Ehime University)
Initiative Presentation Two: “Towards the Prefectural and Domestic Settlement of International Students in Kumamoto”, IGAZAKI Tomohiko (Kumamoto University)
Panel Discussion