Merry Christmas!!

 It is December 25th. Christmas is an event that is celebrated world-wide. Here in Sendai, trees on Jozenji-Street decorated with lights have been a winter feature for the last two decades. These days, more people enjoy decorating their whole houses as though competing with each other to have the most gorgeous decorations.

Common Christmas cake in Japan

 For good or bad, Christmas is not very much recognized as a holy and religious event in Japan. Therefore, many people take this event as an occasion to truly have fun: while people in Christian countries spend time with family and eat homemade dishes including turkey  on Dec 25, the Japanese (especially the youth) party with close friends, have various drinks, including alcohol, and eat the indispensable Christmas cake.

 Since the winter vacation is for two weeks, not all international students visit their hometown, so they try to plan events where people can share time and food together. The outside is cold, so let’s stay warm and active. Enjoy the holiday season.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Jozenji-Street in Sendai

Photo exhibition for recovery assist

 When the Great East Japan Earthquake happened in March 2011, many volunteers from all over Japan immediately moved to the affected areas to help disaster victims in various ways. They came under the spotlight by performing debris disposal and other labor, and reconstruction could not be conducted without their help.

 People who used to live within 10 km from the nuclear power plant managed to move away from there and are now living as evacuees, but some of them had to leave their lovely pets against their will. On the street, abandoned animals such as cats and dogs wander around and wait for their owners to come back. So a rescue crew for animals is working hard to save pets on the street, and to find their owners.
 The name of the Fukushima-based crew is “Nyander Guard.” Their activities are supported by volunteers and relief aid, and one of their essential jobs is to tell others outside the affected area about their activities and organize fund-raising events. From December 21 to 25, they will hold a photo exhibition of cats that members of the crew documented under the title "Don't forget about us." The situation of animals is easily ignored by the media, so this is a rare chance to know about one of on-going activities for recovery. You can visit the gallery on the 5th floor of the AER Building, just north of Sendai Station. Items for fund-raising will be on sale. 

 Sendai is a major city where you come across events that assist the recovery from the Earthquake.

Ingredients for hometown dishes

 Recently, traditional Japanese food was added to the World Heritage list. Many international students at Tohoku University eventually come to enjoy various Japanese dishes, and try to cook them later. However, it is natural that they miss special foods from their hometowns once in a while. Since there are more than 10,000 foreigners in Sendai (according to the statistics published by the City of Sendai), there are multiple places where you can buy imported items here. You can even buy vegetarian food in Sendai too!

Jupiter

 The first shop we'll introduce is Jupiter, on the first floor of Sendai Station. This is basically a coffee specialty store, but it goes beyond that. The cheese section and sweets area are especially well-stocked, and there are many products imported from Europe. You can also find various dried goods, some of which are originally made by the shop. You can find not just dried fruits such as mango, raisins and tomatoes, but also dried ginger and sour plums.

 The second shop is Satoh Shoukai (Satoh & Co., Ltd. in English, サトー商会 in Japanese). 

 This shop is suitable for halal food eaters, and Muslim students often purchase halal chicken at this shop. It specializes in goods for use by professionals, so all goods come in large portions at low prices. You can find lots of frozen food with a long shelf life there.

Satoh Shokai

 The last shop is KALDI which you can find at two places in Sendai. This is also a coffee specialty shop, but it also has interesting spices, condiments and seasonings necessary for Asian dishes. Indian curry and Chinese dishes can be perfectly cooked if you buy a full set of ingredients there.

 There is a shop with imported items close to University House Sanjo (where 1^st and 2^nd-year students reside), but why don’t you occasionally go out and shop downtown to enjoy a change of pace?

KALDI

Fund-raising by international students for the Philippines

The sight of the aftermath in the Philippines broke our heart. When looking at the images of people suffering after the typhoon, we grieve the fact that countless people suddenly lost everything, and that there is no food, clean water or medicine at all.

In Sendai, international students at Tohoku University decided to make a collective effort for them: they stood on the street and raised money for the Philippines. In fact, various companies and foundations in Sendai are working on raising funds for repairing typhoon damage in the Philippines. Having experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, the Sendai City Office also raised money in November, and sent it through the Japan Red Cross Society. We cannot ignore the disaster victims!

Disaster Drill

On Friday, November 22, Tohoku University held a disaster drill for all people who were on campus that day. At 11:50, the bell rang and an announcement told us that an earthquake happened and that everyone must evacuate the buildings.

When doing so, all staff and professors wore helmets, and escaped quickly in a group. Students did not have helmets, but joined this event and listened to a speech given by Prof. Kimio Hanawa who briefly explained about what to do in the event of a real earthquake.

On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake happened. Since then, many people became aware of disaster-prevention measures. Everyone took this disaster drill not just as practice but as an occasion to realize that disasters really do happen, so preparation is more important than anything.

Everywhere in Japan is prone to earthquakes. There is an English guidebook regarding disaster prevention on the internet, so please check it out!

Day-Trip to Naruko for Autumn Foliage

 The FGL students went to Naruko-kyo Gorge to enjoy the colorful autumn leaves on Saturday November 9th. Naruko-kyo Gorge is in Osaki City, which stretches between the north east and west areas of Miyagi prefecture. As you know, the Japanese love to experience the four seasons, and seeing autumn foliage is one means of doing so.


 
 Before visiting the gorge, we stopped by the Kankaku Museum (感覚ミュージアム). Founded in 2000, this is the first museum in Japan to be themed on the five senses—vision, hearing, smelling, taste and touch. It consists of two spaces, the monologue zone (瞑想空間) and dialogue zone (身体感覚空間). In the monologue zone, you feel various things by varying the lights or immersing your body in a room with an awkward shape. In the dialogue zone, however, you can feel something else by using tools and touching physical materials by yourself. Many of the students were delighted and we could hear them saying "Wow!" and "Ah!" everywhere.



 Then we stopped by Katanuma Lake for lunch. This time, we brought boxed lunches and dined along the lakeside in the sunshine. On the way to this place, students were already able to see autumn foliage. When they arrived at the gorge after lunch, the whole landscape was so beautiful. While enjoying seeing the gorge, the students did not miss the food stalls, which were like those at the university festival. As is obvious, the appetite of some students was even greater than the grandeur of nature. Overall, however, all participants seemed to enjoy the whole schedule, and there was constant laughter and glee among students and professors through the day.

International Festival this weekend!

 This weekend, another festival will be held, but this time, it will be primarily run by international students—the Tohoku University Foreign Students Association (a.k.a. TUFSA). This 28th Tohoku University International Festival will start at 11:00 on Sunday, November 10 at Sanjo Junior High School, which actually sits just next to University House Sanjo (most FGL students live there).
 A big stage will be prepared, and you will be able to see a fashion show of various ethnic costumes, singing and dancing by international students. If you look around, quite a large number of food stalls can be found. They will offer international cuisine, and you will have the opportunity to taste cooking from more than 20 countries.
 Entrance is free. For the food stalls, you can pre-order food tickets for 1,000 JPY from members of TUFSA, or buy them online (currently tickets cost 1,200 JPY).
 This is a great chance to experience many different cultures at once, so why don’t you join us?!? It will be fun!!

Festival at Tohoku University!

 November is a festival season, which means the 65th Tohoku University Festival was held!

 The Kawauchi Campus was filled with so many booths. At each booth, students cooked something special. Here are some shots.

This booth is run by students from Aomori prefecture. Here they cooked and sold Senbei Jiru (せんべい汁), the most famous local dish in Aomori. The ingredients include lots of vegetables (and chicken in some case), but the major one is Senbei—round rice crackers! Except crackers, everything is placed in a huge pot and cooked for a while, and the crackers are added last. Even though they are cooked in hot soup, they do not become too soft.

At this booth, boys tried cooking an Italian dish—risotto.
Original amusing leaflets were put all over their tent,
and the likeness looked similar to both male students.

At the plaza, performers showed their talents on stage.
The Mr. and Ms. Tohoku University contest was held there too.

The cosplayers were in bloom!
These students were selling Chinese-style chicken.

International students did a great job too.
For halal eaters, the Indonesian students showed their strong solidarity. 

They cooked and sold nasi goring for 300JPY.
Egg and shrimp were added to it, and professors stopped by to buy it.

 If you become Tohoku University students in the future, please open up a booth at the University Festival and cook your national food to give us a chance to experience different cultures!

The Miyagi Museum of Art

 In Japan, autumn is expressed with various words: Autumn is the season for good appetite, harvest, reading and so on. Another word that cannot be missed is art. As most students know, the Miyagi Museum of Art (宮城県立美術館) is just in front of Tohoku University's Kawauchi campus. It is one of the largest and most prominent museums in Miyagi prefecture.

 The exhibitions there range from large-scale ones to works by famous artists from the local area. Recently, there was a two-month special exhibition of Marc Chagall, a French artist who used all kinds of means, such as painting, tapestries, ceramic, stage sets, and stained glass, to express himself. One of his amazing works is a painting on the ceiling of the Opera Garnier in Paris. This work was reproduced on the ceiling of a wide room in the museum using an advanced camera.

 The upcoming exhibition is a collection by Toru Sunouchi (洲之内 徹), an art dealer who was active from the 1960s through the 80s. He was also a popular art critic, and there were many fans who appreciated reading his essays in various media. Even though he was a dealer, he did not relinquish works that he felt attached to. There are anecdotes that he sometimes had trouble with customers because of not selling his favorite paintings. The displayed collection at the museum includes the ones he retained this way, so you can enjoy seeing some Japanese modern art.

 Just next to the main building sits “The Sato Churyo Gallery (佐藤忠良記念館).” The sculptor Churyo Sato was born in Miyagi prefecture in 1912. He has been highly acclaimed both inside and outside of Japan. Most of his sculptures are male figures, and some can be found in the museum garden too.
 Since the museum is just across the street, we recommend you stop by for a change of pace!

Seminar on “University Globalization”

On Tuesday, October 22, a seminar will be held to discuss university globalization at Sakura Hall on Katahira Campus. Although the discussion will be mainly on educational circumstances in Japan as compared with other countries, the event will be conducted in English.

Japanese education has been criticized for not nurturing writing capabilities for self-expression. It is often said that many Japanese students studying abroad run into obstacles when intermingling with international students or having to write their first assigned papers—they do not know how to express their own thoughts in words. This is not due to a lack of English proficiency. This issue cannot be overlooked any more. To discuss this situation, seminar participants from various countries, such as England, Germany, Poland, and Singapore, will attend. Most of them are currently residing and working in Japan, and will share stories and ideas from their own countries regarding university globalization. So their opinions should be useful as references, since they will be based on their real transnational experiences. Japanese high school teachers will attend as guests as well.

The event is especially interesting from the perspective of international comparison, so it should be of interest, even to those who are not studying pedagogy. For those who have classes on Katahira, it is worth a look!

University Fair in Russia

Last week, the 6^th university fair in Russia was held. This event was hosted by Tohoku University, and was realized thanks to cooperation from Novosibirsk State University and M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University.

On the rainy day of October 8^th, the fair started in Novosibirsk. There were five participating universities—Chiba University, Hokkaido University, Meiji University, Tokushima University, and us. Our President Prof. Susumu Satomi also participated in it, and gave a speech at its opening ceremony. Although it took place on a weekday, many students came to the event. In addition, many of them have been studying Japanese, and even spoke Japanese well! So it is no wonder they were looking for a faculty of Asian studies to enhance their knowledge of Japan.

FGL 2013 Entrance Ceremony

Today is the first day of the fall semester.
It is the third year for the FGL program, and 17 students from seven countries enrolled in English degree programs this fall. The entrance ceremony was held last week, and professors from all three courses came and met all the students for the first time.

From today, students will have to take about 20 classes every week on physics, biology, mathematics and chemistry in addition to Japanese language, sports and some humanities subjects. The professors are also from various countries. We will eventually do some interviews with them and try to post them on the blog. So please look forward to them!

Getting settled in Sendai

 Welcome to Tohoku University!

On September 20th, new FGL students arrived from eight countries and began a new life in Sendai City. For the majority of them, it is their first time to come to Japan, let alone living here!
But they have no time to be wondering about residence registration, application for National Health Insurance, opening bank accounts and so on. School will start on October 1st, so there is not much time left for preparation.

Notice on “Introductory Seminar Presentation” by FGL students

Madoka Hazemi

On next Friday (9.27), three of our students will participate in an event where they will report the results of their studies. This “Introductory Seminar Presentation” (「基礎ゼミ発表会」) was created to give students opportunities to interact with each other beyond their own departments. The presenters from the FGL Program will be Madoka Hazemi of AMC, and Dewi Setyaningrum and Freeha Khalid of AMB. They prepared for it during summer vacation.

They will discuss what they learned through “Selected topics in cell biology” by Dr. Martin Robert. The title of the presentation by Madoka and Dewi is “Effect Colchicine in Cell Development”, while Freeha’s presentation is “Life in an Eye of Science.” In addition to oral presentations by the three of them, Madoka and Dewi will do a poster session too.
"I hope I can gain new experience through this event," Dewi says.

Anyone can attend this event and listen to the presentations, and top performers will be decided by the attendees’ vote. So please come!!

Freeha Khalid

《Oral Presentation》

Time and Date：September 27, 2013 (Fri)

13:30 to 15:30（expected）

Venue：#B200 at Lecture B building on Kawauchi North Campus

Dewi Setyaningrum

《Poster Session》

Time and Date：September 27, 2013 (Fri)

15:40 to 16:10（expected）

※The poster session will be held after the oral presentation is finished.

Poster Display：September 27, 2013 (Fri), 13:30 to October 4 (Fri) 12:00

Venue: Display space on hallway, 2^nd fl. at Lecture B building on Kawauchi North Campus

Report on the Japan Education Fair in India!

 As though reflecting the social situation, which is filled with feverish energy, the Japan Education Fair in New Delhi and Bengaluru, India, ended on a high note. About 100 people came to Tohoku University’s booth in each city, asking questions about courses, application procedures, and student life in Sendai.

University Fair in India!

This weekend, Tohoku University will join university fairs that will be held at two cities in India.

-New Delhi

Day and Time: September 6^th, Friday 9:00 to 15:00

Place: The Lalit New Delhi (Barakhamba Lane)

Organizer: Ritsumeikan University

-Bangalore

Day and Time: September 7^th, Saturday 10:30 to 16:00

Place: Bishop Cotton Boys’ School (No.15, Residency Rd.)

Organizer: The University of Tokyo

On those days, two staff and a professor from Tohoku University will attend to answer questions from participants. You can talk with people from other Japanese universities, including both national and private universities. So please register your name and bring your friends. Parents are welcomed too!

In Bangalore, a lecture presentation will be given and persons concerned such as university professors, corporate managers and high school teachers, will discuss study abroad in Japan.

If you have any inquiries regarding this event, please contact us.

Events in Sendai at the beginning of Autumn

Although the temperature still gets up to around 30 degrees in the afternoon every day, autumn is beginning to appear for sure. Some people have been wearing long-sleeve clothes since the evenings are becoming cooler these days, and outside events can be seen more often from the end of August.

FGL Summer School 2013, VISIT US!

 Tohoku University’s summer school, “Future Global Leadership Program, Tohoku University Summer School 2013: VISIT US!” was held From August 5 to 7. It was a three-day program for high school teachers and prospective students, and nine high schools from six countries (Indonesia, Pakistan, Poland, Russia, Singapore and Thailand) participated in this event.

The First Ikebana Experience

Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) is one of the essential and authentic Japanese traditions. On a rainy morning, 23 foreign students, visiting Tohoku University for a short program called TUJP, experienced Ikebana for the first time in their lives.

The teacher on that day was Prof. Ying Chen of the Graduate School of Engineering. In the past, Prof. Chen studied Sogetsuryu Ikebana, which is one school of ikebana, in Tokyo. She chose flowers such as lilies and balloon flowers, and branches with small leaves.

The most enjoyable part of Ikebana is to cut some of the branches and arrange the flowers according to your own sense of beauty. The students worked in pairs, and actively discussed how to complete their arrangements. Their cooperation bore fruit.

In the end, the room was decorated with twelve gorgeous flower pots. At the end of the lesson, everyone looked very satisfied and some became kind of sad at not being able to take the flowers back to where they are staying now.

Open Campus on July 30th & 31st!

Tohoku University’s annual Open Campus event will be held on July 30 and 31 this year. Every year during this event, countless high school students come by tour bus. Some people come from far away especially for this occasion. So our university becomes packed.

Many high school students look forward to seeing futuristic machines and experimental tools on Aobayama Campus, and others anticipate trial lectures on Economy and Law on Kawauchi Campus.

At the medical school on Seiryo Campus, you can experience experiments, and campus tours will let you see various laboratories. Then a 10-minute walk from Seiryo Campus will take you to the Department of Agriculture on Amamiya Campus.

The engineering department is even planning to hold a special forum solely for female high school students. Many student activities will be introduced through concerts and demonstrations.

You may be overwhelmed by the number of high school students, but university students looking for suitable graduate schools are warmly welcomed too. Anyone who is ambitious about learning something is invited to join! 

100-year Aniversary of the first women students

Tohoku University is one of seven former imperial universities (other six are Hokkaido, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kyushu), and is proudly famous for being the first Japanese national university to accept female students. This happened in 1913, exactly 100 years ago, so there have been many events on campus to celebrate the hundred-year anniversary. It was truly an unconventional incident at that time. Thereafter, other universities such as the University of Tokyo started to welcome female students within a few years.

The university accepted three students: Ms. Chika Kuroda, Raku Makita and Ume Tange, and their distinguished careers flourished later. Ms. Kuroda became a professor at Ochanomizu University as a physicist. Ms. Tange had a long career contributing to research on vitamins as a Doctor of Agriculture. Ms. Makita became a mathematician, and taught at a teacher’s school for women for a while.

At "book＋cafe BOOOK” on Aobayama Campus, a book fair, from July 8 to August 9, is taking place to commemorate the anniversary. On the corner, various books that are recommended by Tohoku University’s female researchers are displayed. Prof. Mami Tanaka at the School of Engineering chose comic books such as “Space Brothers (宇宙兄弟 in Japanese),” which was adapted as a film during the last year.

Eight out of 22 FGL 1^st year students are female. Whether they will stay in Japan or go back to their home country, we look forward to their future careers. 

One-Day Trip to Kaminoyama and Zao

The best season has come for cherry-picking.This year’s place for that was Kaminoyama in south Yamagata prefecture. This is a hot spring area accessible from Sendai, so FGL students and professors took a day trip there by bus.The place where we went is called “Takahashi Fruits Land”. There were several types of cherries there such as Satonishiki, Benishuhou and Napoleon. All of them were very sweet and delicious, but their textures were all different from each other. Some cherries had a very dark color like purple red. 

University Fair in Kuala Lumpur

Tohoku University participated in the University Fair at Methodist College Kuala Lumpur on June 29^th. 

Power of Music

This week, the rainy season has started in Sendai.

It is hard to find a clear day in June, but when it does happen, you can find events going on during lunch time on campus.

Today, members of Tohoku University’s Gospel circle “GO∞HIP” were singing beautifully under the sun. They are going to have a live concert on June 29^th from 18:00 at LIVE STUDIO RIPPLE.

You can reserve tickets by going to their website.

With their music, any dismalness will be gone for sure!

D-1 Grand Prix at cafeterias of Tohoku University

Have you heard the expression “B-1 Grand Prix” before? If you are interested in cars, you may think I mean F-1 Grand Prix. However, this expression exists, and it refers to food in this case.  The name derives from “B-grade gourmet,” which describes casual, inexpensive and tasty dishes served at restaurants and other eating facilities everywhere in Japan.

The first “B-1 Grand Prix” was held in Aomori in 2006 with the purpose of introducing local dishes from across Japan. This event has become annual now, and has been playing a role in grabbing attention for and revitalizing rather unknown towns that nurtured such dishes.

 Now, if we turn to Tohoku University, you will notice the “D-1 Grand Prix” is taking place. Why D, not B? It is for “Donburi” in Japanese, which means "rice bowl dishes." The university’s co-op carries out this event every year to upgrade their menu by bringing in the students’ ideas. So students can imagine their favorite donburi, write about them on special forms, and put them in boxes placed in cafeterias on each campus. Last year, “工学部焼肉丼,” grilled beef rice bowl from the School of Engineering, got first place.

 There will be prizes for the winners: winners selected on each campus will receive JPY 10,000 on a prepaid card usable at the cafeteria. A JPY 30,000 prepaid card will be given to the best of the winners. With ideas from international students, the menu at the cafeteria could include a fusion of multi-cultural dishes!

Student Circle: @home

Today we’d like to introduce “@home,” one of the student circles at Tohoku University. It was founded 16 years ago with the aim of organizing events for both Japanese and non-Japanese students. We had a chance to talk with a sophomore physics major, Arihiro Kamada, who led the planning and organizationrganize aim of16 years ago aimi of the most recent event, an udon (wheat noodle) making party.

“The number of active members is about 30 people plus new 50 freshmen,” Arihiro says. The members get together every week to discuss the content of events which are carried out every month. This meeting is a good occasion for members to catch up with each other as well. Every event is planned to show interesting Japanese culture to foreign students, and make it a place for international exchange. When asked about which event had the highest number of participants and was enjoyed the most, Arihiro said the “Christmas Party” without hesitation. “At the venue a jazz band played music, and the atmosphere was great, although I was too busy working behind the scenes to enjoy it,” he recalled.

On May 12^th, the udon making party was carried out at Kitayama Shimin Center close to University House Sanjo (the Tohoku University students’ dorm). Out of 20 participants, 10 people were international students. For most of participants, it was the first time to make udon noodles from scratch, and they were very excited to press the dough with their feet, roll out it, and cut it finely to make noodles. The event was much appreciated and the noodles tasted great. They also experienced Origami folding by making flying carps and Japanese helmets (called kabuto) that are characteristic decorations for May in Japan.

When it comes to student circles related to the humanities, some may have the impression that they are less active without much to do compared with sports-related ones. “@home” is, however, always filled with ideas and activities with various people. “All foreign students can be members of @home too,” Arihiro added at the end of our conversation.

Reminder: Just one week left until the FGL application deadline!!

We'd just like to remind all prospective undergraduate FGL applicants that your applications are due by 12:00PM JST, May 31 (Fri), 2013. You can use this website to check the time/date in your region. 

Your application must arrive before the deadline in order for it to be considered. If you need to review the entrance requirements and application instructions, you can find them here.

One last thing: if you have specific questions about application or the screening process, please contact FGL directly. DO NOT leave your questions on our Facebook page. We only check this page about once a week, and the Facebook staff cannot answer specific questions about admissions. Please use the email address for "Application/admission/eligibility questions" on the FGL website Contact page. 

Good luck with your applications!

Early Summer Events in Sendai

In May, there are famous annual events in Sendai. One is the “Sendai International Half Marathon” which was held on May 12.

This year, the number of participants was 12,874. There were four types of race: 2 km, 5 km, and 21.0975 km for both wheelchair users and general runners. The 2 km course was mainly for children and the elderly. 

Just as the title of the event says, there were various runners from all over the world, and the first prize went to Mr. Mekubo Job Mogus from Kenya. Sidney Olympics gold medalist Ms. Naoko Takahashi also participated in the event as a guest runner. The roadside was crowded with cheering people, some of whom were dancing and beating drums on Jozenji Street.

A week later, those dancing people appeared again in central Sendai thanks to the Aoba Festival, another annual event in May. The original one dates back to 1655, but at one point about 40 years ago the festival was cancelled because of transportation conditions. However, it made a comeback in 1985 after more than 10 years of absence. The main features are people dancing suzume odori—"dance of the sparrow" in English—and competition amongst various groups. Some of them are workers from certain companies, and some are neighborhood children, female volunteers and so on.

You will be able to enjoy many events in the City of Sendai as the season gets warmer. There is no way you could miss them!