New links forged with Japan through Vice-Chancellor’s visit

Essex Vice-Chancellor Professor Anthony Forster has visited Japan to establish new partnerships and strengthen existing links between Essex and Japanese higher education institutions.

Professor Forster visited universities in Tokyo and Kobe and also met the British Ambassador to Japan Paul Madden and Matt Burney, Director Japan, British Council.

The trip began with a meeting with British Council representatives where new avenues of research collaboration were discussed between Essex and HEIs in Japan.

After a meeting with the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) the delegation from Essex travelled to Kobe University where Professor Foster met with senior university officials including the President Professor Hiroshi Takeda and signed a new exchange agreement between Kobe and Essex. Both institutions are looking to increase collaborations across disciplines and encourage more students to study across campuses.

Back in Tokyo Professor Forster and the Essex delegation went to the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (TUFS) for a meeting with TUFS President, Professor Hirotaka Tateishi where they discussed increasing collaborations across disciplines and signed an exchange agreement.

At Waseda University in Tokyo, Professor Forster met with President Professor Kaoru Kamata to discuss our successful Essex Summer Schools in social science and data analysis and our prestigious International Visiting Fellows Scheme.

During a visit to the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Professor Forster met Executive Director Dr Takaaki Iwasa to discuss the existing relationship between the two institutions and explore ways to increase cooperation in research interests.

Professor Forster visited the following universities and educational institutes:

• Kobe University
• Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Waseda University
• Japan Student Services Organisation
• Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
• Japan Federation of Bar Associations

During his visit Professor Forster also welcomed more than 100 Japanese alumni to a special reception at the Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo.

The University of Essex has about 1,200 Japanese alumni and currently has more than 100 Japanese students studying at our three campuses.

• See all our photos from the visits to the universities on our Flickr channel.
  
• See all our photos from the first Japan alumni event.