December 14, 2018
On November 28 and 29, Kobe University and Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) co-hosted academic events in Budapest, Hungary with the aim of promoting exchange between our institutions.
Located in Budapest, ELTE is a comprehensive university established in 1635. On November 10, 2016, Kobe University President Hiroshi Takeda visited ELTE and signed an inter-university academic exchange agreement, making ELTE our first partner institution in Hungary.

Before the collaborative events, on November 27 Professor Kiyomitsu Yui (Executive Assistant to the President in Charge of International Collaboration) and Professor Hiroshi Okumura (Dean of the Graduate School of Humanities) visited Prof. Dr. László Borhy (ELTE’s Rector) and Prof. Dr. Imre Hamar (Vice-Rector for International Affairs). During the visit they discussed future exchange between our institutions. The meeting was also attended by Project Associate Professor Masashi Amano (National Museum of Japanese History) who participated in the following collaborative events as a speaker.
On November 28, a jointly-organized academic symposium on Japanese popular culture was held at ELTE’s Faculty of Social Sciences. Representing Kobe University, Professor Yui presented an examination of the spread of Japanese popular culture in Europe and Asia. Academics from ELTE introduced features of Japanese culture and society that can be observed in Japanese animation and Japan’s annual coming-of-age ceremony. The symposium provided an opportunity to introduce Japanese popular culture and Kobe University’s cutting-edge research to ELTE’s students and researchers. The event was also attended by Professor Noriyuki Inoue (Executive Vice President in Charge of International Exchange) and Sanae Tada (Director of the Japan Foundation Budapest), and they met with ELTE researchers to discuss future exchange activities for Kobe University in Hungary.

Following this, on November 29 Kobe University and ELTE’s Faculty of Humanities co-organized an academic workshop on cultural heritage. Professor Okumura from Kobe University and Prof. Dr. Gábor Sonkoly (Dean of ELTE’s Faculty of Humanities) introduced initiatives to preserve cultural heritage in Japan and Hungary. The workshop was attended by Project Associate Professor Amano and Benedek Varga (Director-General of the Hungarian National Museum), who each introduced the role of museums in their respective countries. An active discussion took place about cultural heritage research, including the preservation of cultural heritage in times of disaster. The participants also spoke about creating an education program in this field and collaboration between universities and museums, and all present agreed to establish ongoing international exchange activities.

These collaborative academic events provided a valuable opportunity to expand our exchange activities with ELTE. We look forward to widening the scope of these activities to encompass educational fields such as student exchange.
(International Affairs Planning Division)