NSYSU signs MOU on local revitalization and international exchange with Nayoro City Mayor in Japan
(Provided by Si Wan College) NSYSU continues to expand international ties despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Dean of Si Wan College of NSYSU, Dun-Hou Tsai and Takeshi Kato – Mayor of Nayoro City in Hokkaido, Japan, signed an MOU online on local revitalization and international exchange. It was the first time a public university in Taiwan tied an alliance with a local government in Japan. In the future, both parties will promote cultural exchange and the local revitalization through practical educational courses and events to cultivate talents with knowledge of both Japan and Taiwan. NSYSU hopes to become a think tank for Nayoro city by participating in local revitalization of Japan, while Nayoro will promote NSYSU among high school students as the next study destination, making it become an important hub of professionals with ties to Taiwan.
The Si Wan College and Nayoro city started collaborating in the second semester of the academic year 2019-2020, organizing a service-learning volunteering program in Japan. Assistant Professor Yi-Shin Wu of the Si Wan College led a group of 20 students of different departments and institutes to Nayoro, Japan, for a 12-day course which included students’ participation in important annual events of the community, such as assisting the organization of a toy exhibition, cooking mochi in Unganyama Takashiken Temple, and participating in the snow festival, while learning about the rigorous and meticulous working culture in Japan, and nurturing their service spirit. Besides participating in the local community events in Japan, NSYSU students also gave lectures about the Taiwanese culture, promoted the tea-drinking culture in Taiwan, and showed how to make bubble tea, highly appraised by the attending residents. In addition, NSYSU students taught English at local high schools, promoted Kaohsiung City, and engaged in cultural exchange with Japanese students and teachers, bringing in the warmth of southern Taiwan to the snowy and cold Hokkaido island. Because this collaboration was highly appreciated by both NSYSU students and Nayoro residents, both parties decided to plan further courses.
However, in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hokkaido became the first prefecture in Japan to announce a state of emergency in Japan, and soon after, the shortage of masks and other anti-epidemic supplies. NSYSU students have thus decided to repay the hospitality they experienced in Nayoro: they raised funds, contacted manufacturers and, with the help of the Si Wan College, donated 500 pairs of gloves and 25 protective suits to Nayoro City Council of Social Welfare (NCCSW). The donated supplies were used by the care center of NCCSW for home visits and daycare service.
Although these were just modest supplies, representatives of Nayoro city expressed their gratitude to the students in an online ceremony on the 10th of June this year (2020). NCCSW President Hitoshi Sakata, Vice Chairman Hideki Higashino and Secretary-General Shigeyuki Ohgiya of Nayoro Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association thanked five student representatives, acknowledging the importance of Nayoro’s relations with NSYSU. In this simple but solemn and warm ceremony, both parties expressed their hope to fight the epidemic as soon as possible.
To keep in contact despite the pandemic, the Si Wan College and Nayoro city are jointly planning online courses, including courses such as introduction to Japanese culture and local culture collection and application for the NSYSU students and high school pupils of Nayoro city to attend via video conference. The course will cover the topics of religious festivals and culture to expand students’ knowledge on Taiwan and Japan.
Dean of Si Wan College Dun-Hou Tsai mentioned that by signing the MOU on international exchange with Nayoro City Mayor, he hopes to contribute to the promotion of Taiwan-Japan relations in the new era. In the future, both parties will launch practical courses and events for NSYSU to become a think tank in Nayoro and further contribute to the city’s local revitalization. On the other hand, both parties are planning a visit of high school and university students from Nayoro to the USR project area in Si Wan College before the summer holidays for an experimental learning camp, learn about Taiwanese culture and knowledge; this can be used as an opportunity to further promote NSYSU as a future study destination for high school graduates. The collaboration aims at cultivating talents with knowledge about Taiwan and attracting at least one student from Nayoro every year to pursue studies at NSYSU.
The Mayor of Nayoro Takeshi Kato said that winters in Nayoro can be as cold as -30°C, which can be quite an experience for Taiwanese students. He is honored to offer a learning experience to NSYSU students and teachers and hopes that the youth of Nayoro will be able to study at NSYSU. Chairman of Nayoro Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association Michiaki Nakajima expressed his acknowledgment for NSYSU students’ performance in service learning and gratitude for the donation of anti-pandemic supplies. During the MOU signing ceremony he said that although for now it is impossible to exchange face-to-face, he hopes that through online events both parties can develop a deeper connection.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
The Si Wan College and Nayoro city started collaborating in the second semester of the academic year 2019-2020, organizing a service-learning volunteering program in Japan. Assistant Professor Yi-Shin Wu of the Si Wan College led a group of 20 students of different departments and institutes to Nayoro, Japan, for a 12-day course which included students’ participation in important annual events of the community, such as assisting the organization of a toy exhibition, cooking mochi in Unganyama Takashiken Temple, and participating in the snow festival, while learning about the rigorous and meticulous working culture in Japan, and nurturing their service spirit. Besides participating in the local community events in Japan, NSYSU students also gave lectures about the Taiwanese culture, promoted the tea-drinking culture in Taiwan, and showed how to make bubble tea, highly appraised by the attending residents. In addition, NSYSU students taught English at local high schools, promoted Kaohsiung City, and engaged in cultural exchange with Japanese students and teachers, bringing in the warmth of southern Taiwan to the snowy and cold Hokkaido island. Because this collaboration was highly appreciated by both NSYSU students and Nayoro residents, both parties decided to plan further courses.
However, in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hokkaido became the first prefecture in Japan to announce a state of emergency in Japan, and soon after, the shortage of masks and other anti-epidemic supplies. NSYSU students have thus decided to repay the hospitality they experienced in Nayoro: they raised funds, contacted manufacturers and, with the help of the Si Wan College, donated 500 pairs of gloves and 25 protective suits to Nayoro City Council of Social Welfare (NCCSW). The donated supplies were used by the care center of NCCSW for home visits and daycare service.
Although these were just modest supplies, representatives of Nayoro city expressed their gratitude to the students in an online ceremony on the 10th of June this year (2020). NCCSW President Hitoshi Sakata, Vice Chairman Hideki Higashino and Secretary-General Shigeyuki Ohgiya of Nayoro Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association thanked five student representatives, acknowledging the importance of Nayoro’s relations with NSYSU. In this simple but solemn and warm ceremony, both parties expressed their hope to fight the epidemic as soon as possible.
To keep in contact despite the pandemic, the Si Wan College and Nayoro city are jointly planning online courses, including courses such as introduction to Japanese culture and local culture collection and application for the NSYSU students and high school pupils of Nayoro city to attend via video conference. The course will cover the topics of religious festivals and culture to expand students’ knowledge on Taiwan and Japan.
Dean of Si Wan College Dun-Hou Tsai mentioned that by signing the MOU on international exchange with Nayoro City Mayor, he hopes to contribute to the promotion of Taiwan-Japan relations in the new era. In the future, both parties will launch practical courses and events for NSYSU to become a think tank in Nayoro and further contribute to the city’s local revitalization. On the other hand, both parties are planning a visit of high school and university students from Nayoro to the USR project area in Si Wan College before the summer holidays for an experimental learning camp, learn about Taiwanese culture and knowledge; this can be used as an opportunity to further promote NSYSU as a future study destination for high school graduates. The collaboration aims at cultivating talents with knowledge about Taiwan and attracting at least one student from Nayoro every year to pursue studies at NSYSU.
The Mayor of Nayoro Takeshi Kato said that winters in Nayoro can be as cold as -30°C, which can be quite an experience for Taiwanese students. He is honored to offer a learning experience to NSYSU students and teachers and hopes that the youth of Nayoro will be able to study at NSYSU. Chairman of Nayoro Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association Michiaki Nakajima expressed his acknowledgment for NSYSU students’ performance in service learning and gratitude for the donation of anti-pandemic supplies. During the MOU signing ceremony he said that although for now it is impossible to exchange face-to-face, he hopes that through online events both parties can develop a deeper connection.
(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
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