Chairperson Kunihiko Ukifune gave a presentation titled “The Jikei Group: Contributing to Professional Education in Asia” at the Vietnam-Japan Education Cooperation Forum, sponsored by the Nihon Keizai Shimbun and took place at the Imperial Hotel Tokyo on May 24.

 

The forum was held to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam and was attended by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Nguyễn Thiện Nhân and Japanese Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Teru Fukui as well as representatives from universities from both countries. Deputy Prime Minister Nhân stated that Vietnam and Japan have developed good relations and that Japan is Vietnam’s largest investor country and most important partner. He went on to introduce the Vietnamese Government’s adoption of Japanese language education as foreign language education in elementary and junior high schools as well as other topics.

 

Following Deputy Prime Minister Nhân’s speech, Vice-Minister of Education and Training ???? ???? ???? and Vice-Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Fukui each delivered keynote presentations on the possibilities for cooperation in the field of education. Chairperson Ukifune then led off the presentations from Japanese education institutions with a 20-minute lecture.

 

 

Ukifune began with a general overview of the Jikei Group and then introduced the participants in an easy-to-understand manner to the efforts of professional training colleges spanning a broad range of educational fields including car design, graphic design, manga, anime, games, prosthetics and orthotics, clinical engineering, robotics, IT, beauty, music, and ecology using pictures of students working on projects and student works. Deputy Prime Minister Nhân and members of the Vietnamese government looked up and listened intently as Chairperson Ukifune also spoke about many topics including various international education programs in addition to specialized education.

 

 

Toward the end of the presentation, Chairperson Ukifune introduced 2 international students from Vietnam who graduated from Nagoya College of Communication Arts and Tokyo College of Welfare this March and began working in April in Japan. He also introduced Vietnamese international students studying at Toyo Language School who said that they “want to become a bridge between Japan and Vietnam.” Following this powerful message, Chairperson Ukifune wrapped up his presentation saying “We want to contribute to professional education in Asia as a social enterprise which enhances the values of each and every student.”

 

The speakers from Ritsumeikan University and Waseda University who gave presentations after Chairperson Ukifune as well as the participants from national universities across Japan all voiced surprise at the sheer scale of the Jikei Group, the scope of the group’s educational fields, the thoroughly pragmatic specialized education, the over 1000 international students, and the Jikei Group’s international education network spanning 5 continents.

 

Representatives from the Japanese and Vietnam governments and participants from Japanese universities and corporate leaders attended a lunch networking event after the forum. When Deputy Prime Minister Nhân and Chairperson Ukifune took to the stage for commemorative photographs, Deputy Prime Minister Nhân commented to Chairperson Ukifune that he found his lecture very stimulating and informative.”