Entrance Ceremony for New International Students

2011/10/13
Tohoku University has started to offer undergraduate degree courses all taught in English. All students enrolled in these courses have safely arrived at Sendai at the end of September. They are from Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Germany, India, China, the United States and Sri Lanka. On September 30 (Fri), there was an orientation for these new students to start their new life in Sendai, and on October 3 (Mon), we held an Entrance Ceremony.

Executive Vice President Yoshiaki Nemoto (on the left) congratulated the students on their enrollment at Tohoku University. He then introduced the message from President Inoue: "We are faced with various complex and difficult issues, such as climate change due to global warming, destruction of the natural environment, medical problems, energy issues, food shortages, and poverty. The reality of the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, 2011 made everyone connected with academic research keenly aware that as specialists we cannot just dismiss our obligations by saying an event was "unforeseeable." Rather it is our responsibility to provide answers that overcome irrationality and apply ourselves with even greater determination."

Our university has accepted 17 students for the undergraduate degree courses all taught in English. Executive Vice President Nemoto encouraged the students to actively make friends from various nationality background along with Japanese students.

Professor Chen (on the right), who was the MC of the ceremony, mentioned that Sendai is getting chilly every day, warmly encouraging the students to take care of themselves not to catch the cold.

Some students came alone, others with parents, and one common factor which all students had were that they were filled with hope and enthusiasm of the next four years to come at Tohoku University.

 

Amamiya Campus

2011/09/13

We would like to introduce you to Amamiya Campus, which is where the Graduate School/Faculty of Agriculture is located. This student will be navigating for us today during our trip around the campus. He is from China and is in his senior year. He is studying marine biology in university.

Amamiya Campus is currently located near the central part of Sendai City. But it will be moved up to Aobayama Campus in the near future. Despite the urban location, the campus is filled with green and the study environment for the students is quite nice.

The pictures below are of the library (left) and the cafeteria (middle), along with buildings housing various laboratory and lecture rooms (right). 

  

There are also facilities, such as a gym and outdoor track where teachers and students enjoy playing sports. Our navigator is no exception: he belongs to a badminton club and plays 2-3 times a week at the Amamiya Campus gym. Some teachers also belong to this club. He says there is no wall between teachers and students here. All members enjoy playing badminton together.

Later, he took us to the laboratory where his professors have their offices. This is where he spends most of his time studying and starting to prepare for his graduation thesis. 

  


This is a picture of him with a professor who is helping him with his thesis (left), his desk (middle) and his study materials (right). 

  


He mentioned how happy he is to be surrounded by considerate teaching staff and students. He also introduced us to an English class. It is conducted by his professor, whose English skills are excellent. The class is held every Wednesday for 90 minutes (although it is currently on summer vacation, and will restart from next semester). This class is designed to encourage students to use English and get used to using it.

This student came to Japan after the earthquake in March. It was a big decision for him to come to Tohoku University under such circumstances. However, he said that his professor (above) contacted him frequently by email after the earthquake. This helped relieve his worries. His parents respected his decision to come. Now that he is here, he is closely connected with his friends, seniors and teachers, studying every day to improve his Japanese skills and starting his graduation thesis.

Tohoku University's Judo Club

2011/07/22

We would like to introduce you to Tohoku University's Judo Club today.

Judo means "The Gentle Way." It is a Japanese martial art derived from jujutsu. (Source:http://nd.edu/~judo/whatisjudo.htm) If you do an image search for Judo, you will find quite a lot of examples. Judo is one of the various sports clubs and cultural clubs that Tohoku University provides.

The pictures below show judo practice. The Judo Club holds practice 6 times a week for approximately 3 hours. Due to their devoted practice, they have gotten remarkable results at national university judo competitions. Here are some pictures from Randori (free practice), which is the "primary way of practicing and perfecting judo techniques. In randori, two players spar with each other as they might in an actual match." (Source: http://www.nd.edu/~judo/randori.htm ) 
  
In the right picture above, you can see two pairs practicing newaza. Newaza are grappling techniques that employ holding, chokes, sleeper holds and joint submission techniques. During newaza, neither combatant stands. (Source:http://www.gws.ne.jp/home/demo2/indexe.html ) 

There are both male and female members in the Judo Club. Women's Judo is quite popular in Japan.
  

Below is a picture of an international student who is a member of the Judo Club (the girl in the middle). She comes from Liaoning Province, China. Many students, both from Japan and abroad, join club activities to train themselves in non-academic fields and network with other students at Tohoku University.




Last but not least, here is a message from the members of the Judo Club: 


"About four months have passed from the earthquake on 3.11. 
When the earthquake happened, we stayed in Kyoto to participate in judo games. 
We couldn't return to Sendai for a few weeks. 
Now, thanks for your great help, we can live in Sendai and practice judo again. 
We really appreciate your help. 
Thank you."

Click here for the Tohoku University Judo Club top page.

Kawauchi Campus

2011/07/11

Today, three students will introduce the cafeteria at Kawauchi Campus. Two of the students are from Vietnam (pictured below,in middle and at right) and one is from Japan (at left below).
 
Our cafeteria has several sections. There is a noodle bar, a bakery with bread and bagels, and a pay-by-weight buffet. All three students decided to eat at the buffet today.
 
The students from Vietnam told us that there is a dish in Vietnam called "đỗ đen (do-den)" similar to the Japanese dish called "oshiruko." You can see the male student scooping it up in the above right picture. It is made of shiratama dango (boiled, chewy rice-flour dumplings) and sweet red-bean sauce. The cafeteria sets a high standard on the quality of each dish, plans various healthy menus, and maintains a reasonable price. For this reason, many staff and students use it.

The Japanese student is in the 2nd year of her doctoral degree. She tutored the female Vietnamese student. At Tohoku University a tutor is assigned to assist each international student regarding miscellaneous matters in daily life, administrative procedures, cultural differences and so forth. Working closely with a tutor is a great way to get used to life in Japan and make new friends whom you can trust.

This international student experienced the earthquake in Sendai on March 11, 2011. She said that she learned a lot of precious lessons through the disaster period. It gave her many deep impressions and unforgettable memories. She went back to Vietnam after the earthquake, but now she is back in Sendai and continues to study at Tohoku University.

Cross-cultural Education Class

2011/06/20

These pictures were taken at the Cross-cultural Education class. This class is taken by both Japanese and international students. The class is divided into small groups to conduct projects that are beneficial to the community.
 
All projects must be related to internationalization and contribute to the community. One group (above right), for example, is planning to provide free international food in an area which has not fully recovered from the earthquake. T-shirts with the message "jiā yóu (hang in there)" were donated for the project, and the group decided to wear them when they go out to distribute the international food. Another group is making a promotional video of Sendai city to be used to promote the city, show that life here has returned to its pre-earthquake state, and to spotlight the many entertaining events that are being lined up. A professional film crew was invited to give a lecture on how to make a film, and this group is now filming various places and events in Sendai.

Aobayama Campus

2011/06/10

Aobayama Campus is the second largest campus followed by Kawauchi campus. It is located on the west from Sendai Station and is about 20-minute bus ride from the station to the Engineering and Science Departments.
Here are some pictures from the engineering class. It is a class to enhance English skills in the field of engineering, and it was taught all in English. There were approximately 20 students taking this class, and all of them showed strong interest in the class.
 

These are a couple of pictures from the Mechanical Engineering department.
 

The following pictures are from the outside of "Aoba-syokudo (Aoba cafeteria)". It has been renewed recently and they offer delicious dishes at reasonable price.
 

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2011/06/02

Tohoku University has Engineering and Science Departments at Aobayama Campus. Amongst 5 campuses, this campus took the longest time to recover. Despite the damage, however, the campus is functioning again, and lectures which are held on this campus will be introduced in the next blog.
 

Many international students live at student dormitory, and Tohoku University has two which they use: Tohoku University International House and University House Sanjo. Most of them come to school by bicycle, and there are also campus buses which they can use to transport from one campus to another including these dormitories.

University House Sanjo was opened in April 2007 and is composed of apartment units shared by 8 international and Japanese students who have their own rooms and share a common room and kitchen. The views from the rooms are magnificent. There is a Tanabata festival with firework show in August every year, and the fireworks can be seen from some of these rooms.
 
  

Tohoku University International House was opened in November, 1983 (the facility was expanded in 1989 and 1994) as a dormitory for foreign students and foreign researchers who engage in education and research. It was one of the university facilities where there was very few damage of the earthquake.
 
 

The pictures above were taken on May 19, the day after the date of the newspaper in the picture.

Campus Life Resumes

2011/05/23

Tohoku University has started offering lectures and the students are back at the university. All students in the International Program for Liberal Arts (IPLA), an one-year exchange program in the fields of Economics, Management, Education and Literature, returned from their home countries to finish the program, and students from other various departments are also returning from their countries and prefectures as well.
The pictures below are from Kawauchi Campus at Tohoku University. You can see many students enjoying campus life: the students in the pictures are recruiting new students to join club activities in front of the student lounge and cafeteria during a break between their lectures.
 
 

Sendai Station is also crowded with people going to work and school.

The radiation is a worry for us as well, but the radiation dosage in Miyagi prefecture is far below the danger level for human beings. Miyagi prefecture frequently announces the level of radiation in the tap water, milk, fishery products and vegetables. All levels measured by the experts show that they meet safety standards and therefore are harmless to health. For further information, please click here.