On September 13, two representatives from Kansai University, Japan, toured the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus. Mr. Takeshi Nishikawa, Deputy Manager of the Public Relations Division of Kansai University, and Mr. Katsuhiro Nonaka, Deputy Manager of the Human Resources Division in charge of staff recruitment and training, were hosted by Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT), a semi-autonomous institute of technology within Thammasat University, located in Pathum Thani. Kansai University is a private coeducational university located in Suita, Osaka, Japan and in two other locations in suburbs of Osaka.
Kansai University was originally founded as Kansai Law School in the 1880s. Its founders were six members of the Osaka Court of Appeal who had studied with Gustave Émile Boissonade de Fontarabie (1825 –1910) a French legal scholar who wrote much of Japan’s civil code during the Meiji Era. Boissonade de Fontarabie is considered one of the founders of modern Japan’s legal system. Originally invited by the Japanese Ministry of Justice to help draft Japan’s legal codes and renegotiate unequal treaties, Boissonade de Fontarabie lived in Japan for over years, teaching at the Law School of the Ministry of Justice. Apart from his contributions to Japan’s criminal and civil law, he was also an expert in international law. These early international influences remained important in the outlook of Kansai University. His students promoted the rights of the individual and legal processes independent of central governmental control. An independent judiciary and human rights were key concepts that inspired the beginning of Kansai University. Law was seen as an instrument of individual civil rights. Kansai University soon had an academic tradition of encouraging the love of justice and individual freedoms. Currently Kansai University has an enrollment of 27,000 students.
Thammasat University and Kansai University
In June 2018, Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchart, Rector of Thammasat University, welcomed Professor Dr. Atsushi Hamana, President of Kansai University of International Studies (KUIS) to the Thammasat University Rangsit campus. The occasion of the visit was to commemorate a new educational exchange program in which partial scholarships will be offered to students enrolled in the Asian Cooperative Program (ACP), a biennial workshop focusing on safety management. In addition, SIIT announced the opportunity for a scholarship for an Intensive Japanese Language and Culture Course (IJLC) at Kansai University during the summer term. There are other student exchange possibilities for SIIT students at Kansai. Describing its own philosophy of international academic exchange, the Kansai University website states:
Kansai University has always been active in two-way international student exchange through various programs of the Division of International Affairs, undergraduate faculties and graduate schools. As the globalization of universities is becoming necessary today more strongly than ever before, Kansai University remains committed to the development of globally competent human resources armed with a mastery of specialized knowledge, outstanding foreign language proficiency, efficient communication skills, the ability to tackle cross-cultural issues and think and act beyond cultural boundaries, and the ability to understand and adapt to different cultures. Meanwhile, for Japan’s further development in this increasingly globalizing world, it is essential to improve the environment of English language education so as to better assist students in realizing substantial progress in their English language competence. Under the educational reform initiatives presented hereunder, by vigorously promoting the improvement of English language education at Kansai University, we aim to construct at the earliest possible time a mechanism that will enable all students to acquire basic foreign language and communication skills responsive to a globalized society. At the same time, we will promote Intercultural Immersion Initiatives (“Triple-I Initiatives”) to provide Japanese and international students with the opportunity to participate together on and off campus in a range of training and academic programs conducted in English so as to develop their communication skills, empathy, creativity, proactive attitudes, and cross-cultural adaptability.
Presence in Bangkok
To make these goals better known to Thai students, a Kansai University Bangkok Office opened in 2011. It is housed in Chulalongkorn University, promoting study opportunities at Kansai University including Japanese language and cultural studies, conducting academic exchange programs, organizing international symposia, workshops, and other events, among other activities.
Social responsibility
In June, the Japan Times reported that Kansai University will join a group of universities in Japan and accept refugees through a program of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
Kansai University plans to admit one student for the 2019 academic year starting in April. The Refugee Higher Education Program, which was launched in 2007 at Kwansei Gakuin University, has since expanded to seven other private universities in Japan. The schools pay entrance and tuition fees for the students and some universities offer additional scholarship stipends on a monthly basis. The initiative supports individuals who have already been granted refugee or similar special status by the government and are seeking to complete a four-year undergraduate program.
Two years ago, Kansai University also underlined its interest in social responsibility by banning its researchers from applying for Japanese Ministry of Defense grants for projects that could be used for military technologies, to prevent their research from becoming involved in activities against peace and human welfare.
Research accomplishments
Last month, it was announced that Professor Takeshi Ito of Kansai University’s Faculty of Engineering Science had deciphered the antibacterial property of cicada wings. Cicadas are the loudly singing insects that are familiar in Thailand from a traditional toy, once called Ood Ood, because of the cicada-like sound it makes when the toy is played. Professor Ito and his research team found the special mechanism found of cicada wings that makes them naturally kill bacteria, a very valuable and useful property. The official motto of Kansai University is Academic Practicalization and defining how the structure of cicada wings kills bacteria is a highly practical form of academic research indeed. The same structure may be developed for use in kitchens, hospitals, and clinics to kill germs.
Among other research innovations of Kansai University ajarns, in January Textile World announced that Professor Yoshiro Tajitsu of Kansai University’s Faculty of Engineering Science had helped to codevelop with Teijin Frontier Co. Ltd., the Teijin Group’s fiber-product converting company, some new designs. Sensors with stitch designs measuring body motions such as contracting, bending and twisting are included in e-stitch. These fashionable new textiles work with piezoelectricity, or the electric charge that accumulates in certain solid materials such as crystals, certain ceramics, and biological matter in response to applied mechanical stress. Because the e-stitch sensors are soft and flexible, they fit most types of fabric and embroidery patterns. As students at the TU Faculty of Textile Science and Technology know, e-textiles are currently being developed with plans to have materials that react to changes in temperature, humidity, and breathing rhythms of the wearer. E-stitch sensors have already been designed for pet garments and athletic shoes.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)