May 1st, 2024

The characters "Patch" and "Migo," designed by Ami Sasai, a fourth-year student in the Itami Seminar of the Department of Environmental Sciences, were produced and launched at the Toyonaka Green Sports Center. The two adorable characters have recently begun appearing at events throughout Toyonaka City. Last year, Ms. Sasai designed a cherry blossom fairy and other characters for an original picture book promoting the charms of Ashiya City, and she is an "expert in character creation."
 
The Itami Laboratory has been supporting the Toyonaka Green Sports Center since 2020 to make it a "plaza where everyone can work as a team and enjoy physical activities together." We decided to create and utilize a new character to extend the center's unique approach to other sports facilities and to expand the enjoyment of physical activity.

Considering local characteristics such as the Kanzaki River that runs nearby, Ms. Sasai attempted to design several "water fairies" based on an arrangement of water droplets, but the design selection process was difficult. Then, she added the enoki tree, the center's symbolic tree, to the motif, incorporating its leaves and berries into the clothes and hood, and asked for opinions at workshops and other events, which were very well received. After repeated adjustments, such as making their cheeks red, two colorful and cute fairies were born.

 "Patch" wears a hood of leaves and is energetic and loves to move around, while "Migo" wears a hood of enoki nuts and is warmhearted and loves to interact with people of all kinds. They were both born in Kanzaki River and make the enoki tree at the Green Sports Center their home. In January this year, they made silhouettes of the characters into ema (traditional Japanese picture horses) and asked visitors to write their wishes on them, or made parts of the characters' faces and played fukuwarai with them. The outline of Patch and Migo's face was painted at the entrance to the center's "Mitsubo-no-Hana" exchange center, which has become a popular photo spot.

April 30th, 2024

The award ceremony for this year's Koe Prized Students' Certificate Award Ceremony was held on 30 April in the Media Hall at the Central Campus, where each of the 50 students (45 university students and 5 junior college students) selected as special students was presented with a letter of commendation and monetary grant by President Kazuyoshi Seguchi.

At the ceremony, President Seguchi said: ‘We have awarded you with these prizes in recognition of your past efforts and our expectations for the future. I hope that you will make a new start with pride as celebrated students. I have high expectations for your success not only in university life but also out in society. I hope that you will further improve yourselves in accordance with the 'MUKOJO Vision' for the 100th anniversary of the institute and the new human resources development policy, 'MUKOGAWA COMPASS'.’ he praised.

On behalf of the celebrated students, Yuki Kato, a third-year student in the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, said: 'Every day I think about the ambiguity and complex questions in literature, and it has become a guidepost for me. I am extremely pleased to see my dedication be acknowledged. I will continue to devote myself to my studies with gratitude to my teachers who taught me the joy of learning and to my family who support me.’

April 23rd, 2024

course entitled “Hiroshima: Challenges of A-bomb Survivors” (15 sessions each in the first and second semesters) has been launched as a general education course, taught by Ms. Miyako Oguni, a graduate of the university who has heard firsthand experiences from A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and is certified as an A-bomb survivor who will pass her experience on to the next generation.

There are currently about 200 A-bomb survivors certified by the City of Hiroshima, but this is the first time a university has offered a course on the subject of A-bomb experience lore. Mukogawa Women's University decided to offer the course in order to provide students with an opportunity to think about war as a “personal matter” at a time when conflicts around the world, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza, Palestine, continue unabated and opportunities to hear from war survivors in Japan are being lost.

 The first class held on April 15 was covered by newspapers and TV stations, indicating the high level of interest in the course. About 100 students attended the class, where Ms. Oguni explained how she became a teacher and introduced the witnesses who shared their A-bomb experiences with the class. Through the course of the class, each student is asked to think about “researching and communicating something close to home,” and to compile a report on the theme of “what should be preserved."

 Ms. Oguni graduated from Mukogawa Women's University with a degree in Japanese Literature. In 2012, she learned that the city of Hiroshima was starting a program to train people to pass on their A-bomb experiences, and applied for the program as one of the first class of students. In 2015, she was commissioned by the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation to serve as a teacher of A-bomb survivors.

April 21st, 2024

The 84th Concert for Peace “Charity Concert for Noto Peninsula, Ukraine and Gaza Strip” (organized by Afghan Concert Committee - Representative Kazuo Sakai, co-organized by Mukogawa Women's University, supported by Hyogo Chorus Union and Women Conductors' Association) was held on April 21 at Koe Memorial Auditorium, Mukogawa Women's University. Twelve groups from elementary, junior high, and high schools in Osaka and Hyogo performed and sang for peace.

Twelve groups from elementary, junior high, and high schools in Osaka and Hyogo participated, ranging from a small chorus of four or five to a brass band performance of up to 80 people. Each group wowed the audience with their own unique style, including dance and hand gestures. From Mukogawa Women's University, the chorus and orchestra clubs of the junior and senior high schools performed, enchanting the audience with musical-style choruses and performances of Disney tunes. The Mukogawa Women's University High School Broadcasting Club also served as emcee for the event.

At the venue, students held donation boxes and appealed for support. The collected donations will be delivered to the areas to be supported through the Japanese Red Cross Society.

April 10th, 2024

Following the Noto Peninsula earthquake that occurred on January 1st, Associate Professor Minako Yoshii of the University's School of Education visited the affected areas in Ishikawa Prefecture in late March to provide assistance with soup kitchens and offer words of adivce to temporary housing residents.

Three months have passed since the Noto Peninsula earthquake occurred on April 1st, and many people are still forced to live under difficult conditions.

Associate Professor Yoshii, who is conducting disaster prevention research on post-disaster life and shelter management, visited Wajima City, Suzu City, and Anamizu Town from March 23rd to 25th, sharing information with researchers and acquaintances who had already been to the disaster areas, together with a graduate student, whose parents live in Anamizu Town.

Associate Professor Yoshii said, "There are still some houses that are left tilted and debris in the affected areas. Water supply has been cut off in many areas, and the victims are forced to live in a difficult environment, making it clear that support for rebuilding their lives is a challenge. We also realized that although volunteers have been coming in little by little, it takes time to get to and from the affected areas due to the lack of transportation, and that activities are not progressing as fast as we would like for it to be."

April 6th, 2024

On the 6th, when the cherry blossoms on campus were in full bloom, the entrance ceremony for the graduate school students of Mukogawa Women's University was held in the Media Hall of the Kusaka Memorial Multimedia Hall. In addition, the entrance ceremony for Mukogawa Junior High school was held in the morning and that for the Senior High school in the afternoon at the Koe Memorial Auditorium.

In FY2024, a total of 145 students newly entered the graduate school, including those in the master's, doctoral, and major programs. Since the graduate school is coeducational, some in the audience were male.

 The entrance ceremony for 134 students from the attached junior high school and 237 students from the attached senior high school took place at the Koe Memorial Auditorium on the university campus. The junior high school and high school have started two courses this year, the SOAR Global Science Course and the SOAR Exploration Course, and the students enrolled this year are the first generation of classes for each course.

The junior high school entrance ceremony opened with a performance by the orchestra club. Principal Shigeto Serada gave the following words in his address: "The two new courses will engage in a full range of exploratory activities. In addition, we will nurture students to be active in international society through overseas training and the acquisition of English proficiency tests, and provide career education appropriate for the centennial era of Japanese life. We encourage students to think and act freely and develop their talents and characteristics by taking advantage of the environment in which they are blessed to have role models of high school and university students around them.”

 The representative student introduced his daily efforts to balance club activities and studies, and said, "The process of striving toward your goals is what makes you grow.” The student representative encouraged the students to "enjoy your studies, club activities, and on-campus events to the fullest, and create many wonderful memories."