In October, 2001, The University of Tokushima established internal funding for the International Student Support Center. Then, in April, 2002, in accordance with ministerial ordinance from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the establishment of the International Student Center was approved, enabling our university to provide foreign students with a successful and practical Japanese language education program, as well as close support and guidance for students’ schoolwork, research, and accommodation for daily life. Currently, we are working to expand our support for Japanese students studying abroad.

The operations of guiding and assisting overseas students are deeply and mutually connected with the exchange between researchers. For this reason, strengthening of this partnership is an important issue for our university. By October, 1997, four to five years before the establishment of the International Student Center, the Ad-hoc Committee for International Students, a subordinate committee under the International Exchange Committee, had already proposed the idea for establishing “The Center for the Promotion of International Exchange” for the purpose of centrally managing international exchange operations for The University of Tokushima. Even after the establishment of the International Student Center, our university sought out a permanent facility dedicated to improving operations for collection and exchange of information in regards to the promotion of international exchange. With the International Center as a base, we devised a plan for developing a new center characteristic to The University of Tokushima. Thus, in April, 2005 the Steering Committee of International Affairs wrote up the University of Tokushima Internationalization Policy, and within that policy proposed the establishment of The International Center. This same committee developmentally reorganized the International Student Center and moved the plans forward for establishing the International Center, finally resulting in the inception of the International Center. Likewise, The University of Tokushima has arranged the system to enhance internationalization as a whole.

At the University of Tokushima’s International Center, we are continuing to offer the previous services of the International Student Center under the Education and Support Division, which handles the duties for accepting incoming foreign students and offering them Japanese language education, guidance and support. In addition to these services, we have established the International Exchange Division, which carries out the promotion of international expansion at our university. Moreover, we take cooperating teaching staff from various departments as needed, and through mutually beneficial cooperation, plan out the promotion of the internationalization of the various departments as well the internationalization of the University of Tokushima as a whole. Since the inception of the International Center, the entire teaching staff is more vigorously resolved than ever to serve the university and the local community. On behalf of the International Center, I humbly ask our dear friends from both within and outside the university to kindly grant us your increased support.









University of Tokushima
International Center, Director
Kazuo Hosoi, Ph.D.