Kyoto University Asian Studies Unit held the East Asia Junior Workshop in Kyoto. Eleven students from National Taiwan University, and eight from Seoul National University, both of which are our partner universities, came to Japan to take part, along with six students from Kyoto University. They took part in student workshops where presentations were given in English, and also went on fieldwork visits to deepen their understanding of Kyoto and Japan. The Junior Workshop is recognized as a class with credits at both Kyoto University and National Taiwan University. This is a new experiment in international collaborative classes among multiple universities overseas, something almost unheard-of in Japan until now.
The fieldwork started off from the Bank of Yanagihara Memorial Museum, a bank established by the former outcast people to empower themselves, and then everyone walked up to Higashi-Kujo, an area of residents with Korean origins, while listening to stories from local residents. The students visited facilities for the elderly, where they could see a range of services such as a nursing home, a special nursing home for frail elders, and day service facilities, and considered issues regarding the Long-Term Care Insurance system in Japan, a system that has already started in Korea and is being discussed in Taiwan. They also visited the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle, and the Heian Shrine, learning about the dual rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate and the Emperor in the Edo period, and the transition to the modern emperor system. This fieldwork, which Kyoto University students planned and carried out as guides, was not only illuminating for the students from other universities as "an opportunity to see another side of the society which you would never see on a usual tourist visit," but also a chance for the Kyoto students to realize that they should have deeper knowledge about the history of their own city.
At a special session on the theme "After Fukushima," lectures were given by the poet and editor NAKAMURA Jun, who fled from Tokyo to Kyoto with her child, and a scientist from the Louis Pasteur Center for Medical Research, UNO Kazuko, as well as Tymur Sandrovych, who experienced the Chernobyl Disaster as a child and is currently studying for a doctorate at the Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University. Nuclear power generation is a major issue in Taiwan and Korea as well, and the number of perceptive questions reconfirmed the depth of the students' interest in the topic.
The students' presentations, filling the last two days, provided insights from the younger generation and some results of an ongoing analysis of shared social issues in East Asian societies such as health issues, social movements, globalization, sexuality, and so on, and featured an active exchange of opinions.
After the event-filled five-day program, the students from the three universities were completely relaxed together and enjoyed a lively party that went on until late at night. The next workshop is scheduled to be held in Seoul.
 Students passionately debating research themes |  Students visiting Heian Shrine |
 All participating students were presented with Certificates of Participation by Professor OCHIAI Emiko, Graduate School of Letters and Director of Asian Studies Unit |  All the participating students assembled for a group photograph |
Related link
- Kyoto University Asian Studies Unit
http://www.kuasu.cpier.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english/