Over a ten-day period in September, Kyoto University hosted the second half of this year’s Kyoto Internship Program, which was organized in partnership with the Ashinaga scholarship foundation. The participants comprised 30 students from some of the world’s top universities – mostly those based in Europe and the United States, such as the University of Oxford and Princeton University – who took part in a hands-on course in Kyoto Studies, working together with Japanese students to learn about the history, culture, and various other aspects of the host city.

The Kyoto Studies Program came about in response to a request by Ashinaga President Yoshiomi Tamai — made during his visit to Kyoto University in January 2014 — that the University assist with his organization’s internship program by providing lectures and having its students involved. The Program was developed as part of Kyoto University’s community involvement initiative, which had been selected as one of the “Center of Community” (COC) projects subsidized by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. In its role as the “Center” of the local community, Kyoto University is focused on pursuing effective and efficient collaboration with local partners to advance the city’s long-term interests, and the Kyoto Studies Program is one example of this commitment.

For the Kyoto Internship Program, Kyoto University provided numerous lectures, with Professor Shigeru Takami, Assistant to the Executive Vice-President, acting as the primary coordinator, a contribution that was in line with one of the important goals of the University’s COC initiative – offering a greater number of learning opportunities that take advantage of Kyoto’s rich historical heritage and other unique features, and contributing to the development of global human resources with a broad education.

The Program also benefited the 10 students participating from Kyoto University, who were able to gain hands-on experience in cross-cultural communication in the form of working with highly talented students from abroad, and experience opportunities to enhance their international skills.

Through such initiatives, Kyoto University aims to help advance its goal of “serving students from an ever greater number of countries and regions” set forth in its 2x by 2020 Initiative launched in 2013.