Latest news with #RitsumeikanUniversity
Asahi Shimbun
6 days ago
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
Tohoku University seeks 500 researchers mainly from U.S.
Tohoku University President Teiji Tominaga announced on June 6 that the university will invest 30 billion yen ($209 million) over the next five years to recruit about 500 top researchers in Japan and from abroad. The university aims to attract U.S. researchers affected by President Donald Trump's administration making significant cuts in research spending. Professors at acclaimed universities in the United States earn several times more than professors at Japanese universities, making a large amount of money necessary for recruiting them. Tohoku University in Sendai is the first institution to receive government funding through the Universities for International Research Excellence project. It intends to take advantage of the substantial financial resources. The Universities for International Research Excellence project is a system where the government designates universities to support by providing them with money with the aim of enhancing the country's research capabilities. Designated universities can receive money from the investment profits of a 10 trillion yen government fund for a maximum of 25 years. Currently, Tohoku University is the only designated university for the project. It will receive a total of 15.4 billion yen in fiscal 2025. According to Tohoku University's plan, it will not set a salary cap for researchers. It also aims to strengthen ties with U.S. universities, including plans to establish research labs for quantum technology and semiconductors, conduct joint research and use these labs as a base for recruiting researchers. The university intends to recruit 100 researchers in fiscal 2025, including early-career researchers, by investing 2.2 billion yen. In May, senior officials of the university visited the United States and held information sessions there. This resulted in offering positions to 36 researchers based overseas that included professionals in the United States as well as 25 researchers based in Japan. 'Researchers' social status is higher and they earn better pay overseas than in Japan,' Tominaga said at a news conference on June 6. 'Japanese national universities have historically paid little attention to working conditions for researchers. However, to gain sufficient capabilities to compete globally, we intend to shift our focus to investing in researchers.' Other Japanese universities, such as the University of Osaka and Ritsumeikan University, have also announced plans to accept researchers from U.S. universities affected by the Trump administration's actions. (The article was written by Takahiro Takenouchi and Fumio Masutani.)
The Mainichi
7 days ago
- Business
- The Mainichi
Japan's Ritsumeikan to support university students hit by US visa interview suspension
KYOTO -- The Ritsumeikan Trust based here announced on June 3 that its affiliated universities will accept up to 100 international students and 16 early-career researchers in response to the Donald Trump administration's directive to suspend new student visa interview appointments at U.S. diplomatic missions around the world. With anxiety spreading among students and researchers who plan to enter U.S. universities, the trust decided to offer proactive support, including a total of 530 million yen (roughly $3.6 million) in financial assistance. From the fall semester of the 2025 academic year, international students will be accepted as regular or nonregular students at Ritsumeikan University based in Kyoto and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) based in Beppu, Oita Prefecture. For regular students, an additional entrance exam will be held in September for those with Japanese nationality or valid residence status in Japan. Ritsumeikan University will accept graduate students, while APU will accept undergraduates. Tuition will be reduced or waived, and students will be eligible for scholarship selection. Nonregular students in both graduate and undergraduate programs will be enrolled as course auditors or similar, and their tuition fees will be fully waived. Both regular and nonregular students will be provided with international dormitory or Seminar House rooms as housing support, with dorm fees and related costs waived. Early-career researchers will be accepted at Ritsumeikan University. In all cases, support will also be provided for travel to Japan, including covering travel expenses. Ritsumeikan has informed the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, which has issued a notice to all universities in Japan to consider accepting affected students. The Japan Student Services Organization will serve as the main contact, but at Ritsumeikan University, the Division of International Affairs or Division of Academic Affairs will handle inquiries. The trust stated, "We will continue to respond flexibly and proactively to maintain an international educational and research environment and support the challenges of students and researchers." (Japanese original by Hiroyuki Ota, Kyoto Bureau)
Daily Mail
03-05-2025
- Daily Mail
The best places to eat, stay and love in Kyoto, including a restaurant with a £2.80 lunch special
EAT Local legends Kyoto is the Japan of old: cobbled streets and low-slung wooden machiya houses host to fashion boutiques and ramen joints (for which the culinary scene is famous). Duck down alleys in search of sashimi (above) as well as miso broth, rich and thick, slurped among chain-smoking salarymen. Near Ritsumeikan University is no-frills (and no website) Omurice Hitomi, full of locals eating the £2.80 lunch special: omurice aka egg omelette draped over ketchup-laden fried rice, served with a rich demi-glace sauce alongside delicious miso soup and pickles. Quick bites At Kaiten Sushi Chojiro ( sushi glides by on a conveyor belt. Order tuna akami (lean cuts) and otoro (fatty belly), iridescent mackerel and Hokkaido sea urchin, stacking empty plates until the counter before you resembles a mini Stonehenge. On the go 7-Eleven sells surprisingly good snacks (the egg sandwich was beloved of late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain). McDonald's Teriyaki McBurger (£2.15) is a tasty pork patty in sticky-sweet sauce with a habanero kick. STAY Haute history Sowaka ( doubles from £739, above) is a ryokan, or inn, in a historic building in the geisha district of Gion. Rooms blend traditional charm with touches of modern luxury – the ladies who once frequented this place would probably have appreciated the Dyson hairdryers. Mountainside magic Hotel Seiryu Kyoto Kiyomizu ( doubles from £250) occupies a landmark site: a former elementary school completed in 1933. The building climbs up the side of a mountain, full of original features including wooden beams and arched windows that flood the space with natural light. Rooms (many of them former classrooms) are elegantly minimalist and overlook Kyoto city down below. There's a wet room, stacked with luxury Natura Bissé skincare products, where the deep tub will rinse away your jet lag. Dusk drinks Head up to Hotel Seiryu's K36 rooftop bar for a tot or two of yuzu whisky (£12). The views of Kyoto are breathtaking, especially at sunset. Rail travel The bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo to Kyoto is magnificent, prowling into the station like a giant white cat. It costs £75 for the 513km, two-hour journey – and you won't find coffee spills on your tray table. Go wander From Kyoto's sci-fi city centre it's easy to reach the old side. Visit Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine ( and Kinkaku-ji ( above) for its golden temple and sacred, soul-enriching grounds. Retail therapy Discount superstore Don Quijote ( is a vertical city of retail psychosis – a visual feast – where you're faced with floor after floor of commercial improbability. It has everything, and no class distinction. Think Gucci meets gutter: designer handbags slum it with bulk-buy underwear and towers of instant ramen, while Rolexes share shelf space with row after row of vibrators. With an armful of face creams, a fishing rod and some French champagne, you'll realise you've found the soul of Japan, which has mastered the art of irreconcilable contradictions.
Japan Today
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
It is hard for victims to speak up about sexual assaults in childhood. Making them think, ‘It's useless to file a lawsuit because of the statute of limitations,' is no different from causing secondary
Prof. Katsumi Matsumoto of Ritsumeikan University, an expert on the Civil Code. Victims of childhood sexual violence and lawyers supporting them are calling for the abolition of a time limit on civil lawsuits seeking compensation for harm done in the past. © Yomiuri Shimbun
Asahi Shimbun
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Asahi Shimbun
Chinese student in Japan reflects on journey from AI to real friends
Lin Fangfei hopes to work in Japan and contribute to strengthening business and cultural relations between China and Japan. (Shota Tomonaga) A 22-year-old Chinese exchange student has been awarded the top prize in the 20th annual Japanese language essay contest for Chinese nationals with her candid reflections on her initial struggles in Japan. Lin Fangfei impressed the judges with her writing about her journey toward making a meaningful human connection. When Lin arrived in Japan last spring to study at Ritsumeikan University in Osaka, her closest companion was not a classmate or local friend, but 'Yume-chan' ('Miss Dream')—the name she gave to an artificial intelligence chatbot she used to practice Japanese. She found comfort in chatting with the AI, especially when real conversations with Japanese students felt daunting. However, Lin gradually realized that she was missing a crucial element in communication: empathy. 'I got used to talking to the AI and stopped thinking about how real people feel,' she wrote in her award-winning essay. At the award ceremony held in Tokyo, Lin spoke about timeless human values. 'Even as times change, the importance of people meeting, helping one another and connecting heart-to-heart remains the same,' she said. Born in Jining, Shandong province, in eastern China, Lin was inspired to study Japanese after watching Studio Ghibli films, captivated by the beauty of the landscapes they depicted. She majored in Japanese at her Chinese university before coming to Japan to study business management. Her favorite Japanese word is 'mamoru,' meaning 'to protect.' To Lin, it represents the responsibility of passing on what has been inherited from the past to future generations. This belief was reflected in her undergraduate thesis, which compared silk textile cultures in China and Japan. She praised Japanese museums that let visitors try traditional weaving, seeing such interactive methods as a model for cultural preservation in China. Looking ahead, Lin hopes to work for a Japanese manufacturer, developing products and services that blend Chinese technological innovations with Japan's renowned spirit of hospitality. Despite the challenges posed by political tensions in Sino-Japanese relations, she dreams of fostering collaboration between the two nations. This spring, Lin begins her graduate studies at Ritsumeikan University. With more Japanese friends around her now, her days with Yume-chan are behind her.
