Honolulu and Kaua’i Yamaguchi Kenjinkai Visited YU
On August 29, 2022, 12 members of Honolulu and Kaua’i Yamaguchi Kenjinkai, including Ms. Gail Wakatake, President of Honolulu Yamaguchi Kenjinkai in Hawaii and Ms. Cheryl Shintani, President of Kaua’i Yamaguchi Kenjinkai, visited Yoshida Campus. The delegation visited YU as part of their tour for the signing ceremony of the sister-state relationship between Yamaguchi Prefecture and the State of Hawaii held on August 27, 2022.
In the morning, they had a cultural exchange with pupils at Yamaguchi Elementary School, then moved to Yoshida Campus in the afternoon. At first, Dr. ISHII Yuri, Vice President for International Cooperation, welcomed the delegation, stating, “This is the first official visit from overseas since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is an honor to welcome you all from Hawaii, with which we have a deep historical connection.” After giving greetings, they went on a campus tour. During the time, Ms. YAMAGUCHI Sae, a third-year student in Faculty of Global and Science Studies (FGSS), who studied at the University of Hawaii Kaua’i Community College (KCC) as an exchange student, was in charge of the tour guide. During the tour, we introduced that the founder of “Hawaiian Host,” a famous Hawaii souvenir, was a graduate of the Normal School, the predecessor of the Faculty of Education. They also visited the YU plant factory and University farm.
After the tour, an exchange event was held at the library. In Session 1, Dr. SUGII Manabu, Professor of FGSS, introduced his research on Japanese emigrants to Hawaii. Ms. Shintani talked about the collaboration between Kaua’i Yamaguchi Kenjinkai and YU in Session 2. We have received various support from Kaua’i Yamaguchi Kenjinkai during our students stay at KCC since we concluded a partnership agreement with them in September 2018. After that, students participated in the exchange program between YU and KCC reported on each study abroad experiences. Lastly, two students under the exchange programs at KCC since this August, reported their recent activities online from Hawaii.
We hope this visit will serve as an opportunity for the people of Hawaii to get to know Yamaguchi University. We also expect to build relationships between Hawaii region not only in student exchange but also in various fields and lead to outstanding education and research based on historical ties.
