Go Forward

International Program

School of Commerce Hour – Exchange Presentation with Students from Korea

On October 27th last, thirty–nine students of finance and insurance from South Korea’s Soon Chun Hyang University who were visiting Japan on a research trip along with two teaching staff were invited to join an exchange presentation along with students from the School of Commerce at the School of Commerce Hour in the Surugadai Campus.

Academics specializing in insurance from both univesities had already built up a strong rapport from attending international academic conferences together and this is the third such exchange to be held, with previous exchanges having occurred in 2003 and 2004. This year’s exchange included students from the seminars of Prof. Yasushi Morimiya and Prof. Mariko Nakabayashi of the School of Commerce, as well students of Prof. Lee Yonmi who are studying about the society and culture of Korea, with an emphasis on law.

Following short speeches from Prof. Katsuhiko Yokoi, the dean of Meiji’s School of Commerce, and Prof. Tark, the dean of Soon Chun Hyang’s School of Economics and Finance, the students from Korea made group presentations based on their research while on their trip to Japan. There was a wide variety of presentations, focusing on everything from differences in service at financial institutions in the two countries to differences in romantic relationships between young people in Japan and South Korea. Following this, Korean exchange students and Japanese students from Prof. Lee’s seminar group, who cooperated on this conference and made a valuable contribution with jobs such as interpreting, made presentations on their activities which included trips to South Korea, etc. After this, students from Prof. Nakabayashi’s seminar group made presentations on Meiji’s School of Commerce and the activities they engage in at the seminar, while students from Prof. Morimiya’s seminar group made a presentation about the job hunting activities of Japanese university students. All of these presentations were carried out in English.

After the conference was concluded there was a dinner party on the 17th floor of Liberty Tower. The students broke down the barriers of their seminar group, year of study and nationality, and along with the teaching staff enjoyed a friendly exchange of different cultures. From 2009 the School of Commerce has been developing Project 105: Breaking down the Frontiers of Commerce, which is promoting the realization of four years of consistent education in several languages, as well as exchanges with partner institutions abroad. This School of Commerce Hour blazed a trail for future similar international exchange projects at the school.