October 13th, 2023

The 68th Mukogawa Women's University Cultural Festival began on October 13 and will be open to the public for the first time in four years, running until the 15th.

The 68th Mukogawa Women's University Cultural Festival (organized by the Student Committee) began on October 13th. The festival will be held until October 15th under the slogan "Shining Flowers - Flowers of Rich Individuality."

Due to the pandemic, the festival had been canceled or held with restrictions until the past year, but this year, for the first time in four years, it will be open to the public without any admission restrictions.

 On the 13th, a guest talk show by actor Nobuyuki Suzuki, a member of the EXILE theater group, was held in the auditorium on the eve of the festival, and on the 14th, the opening ceremony was held at 9:30 a.m. On the 14th and 15th, the central campus will be the venue for performances by club activities and volunteers, exhibitions on campus, bake sales and kitchen cars, planned events, and outdoor live performances. The main attractions include performances by club activities and volunteers, on-campus exhibitions, bake sales, kitchen carts, special events, and outdoor live performances.

The highlight of the event will be the food booth, which will return for the first time in four years. Specialties such as oden "Ganmo-chan" by the Department of Food Sciences and Nutrition, meat buns "Mantou" by the Department of Dietery Life and Food Sciences of the Junior College will make a comeback. A total of seven food booths are scheduled to open.

October 10th, 2023

Yuko Niwa won a silver medal in the women's taekwondo kata at the 19th Asian Games.

Yuko Niwa, a first-year student of the University's Tae Kwon Do Club (Graduate School of Health and Sport Sciences), won a silver medal in the women's Tae Kwon Do event at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, from September 23rd to October 8th. The women's taekwondo kata was the first Japanese team to make the podium in the event, which was adopted from the last Asian Games held in Jakarta (2018).

 Niwa said, "At the University Games (Olympic Games for university students) in July, I was not satisfied with the results and was extremely frustrated. Following that result, I turned my mind firmly toward the Asian Games this time, and through hard practice, I was able to achieve good results. I am very grateful to my parents and teachers for their support and guidance. The season is still underway, so I will stay strong and continue to do my best."

October 6th, 2023

Professor Joseph Lenti of Eastern Washington University (EWU) gave a public lecture.

The Kusaka-Fosseen Distinguished Professorship Exchange program (*1), which was suspended from FY2020 due to the pandemic, has resumed after four years, and Professor Joseph Lenti of Eastern Washington University (EWU) (*2) gave a public lecture on October 6th in the university's Multimedia Hall.
 
The lecture was entitled "Informal Cities of the World: Historical Antecedents and Contemporary Challenges." He introduced historical background and case studies of slums and the living conditions of the poor in Mexico, Costa Rica, the U.S., and other countries, and also explained the current situation and analysis of poverty-stricken areas and homelessness in Japan.

At the end of the lecture, Professor Lenti said, "I am honored to have been able to lecture at Mukogawa Women's University, which has a wonderful environment, and to have so many people listen to my lecture."

 A student from the Department of Health and Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences in the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences who attended the lecture said, "The lecture was all in English, so it was difficult for me to understand some parts of it. I thought that slums were a foreign phenomenon, but it was interesting to learn that there is a similar phenomenon in the Kansai region. I was impressed by the examples of slum areas overseas where cleanup activities were conducted, streets were cleaned, and public safety was improved," said one student.

 *1... The Kusaka-Fosseen Distinguished Professorship Exchange program is a program established in 1995 through the Kusaka-Fossine International Exchange Professorship Fund, under which the two universities send one faculty member each year to give lectures and conduct joint research.

 *2...Eastern Washington University (EWU) is a state university located in Cheyney, Washington.

October 3rd, 2023

Swimming team participated in the 99th Japan Student Swimming Championships.

The University's swimming team participated in the 99th Japan Student Swimming Championships (All-Japan Intercollegiate Swimming Championships, hosted by the Japan Swimming Federation) held in Koto-ku, Tokyo.

Four swimmers in the individual events and all in the relay events advanced to the B finals (8-16th place finals). Ms. Juri Katayama (freshman, Health and Sports Science) advanced to the A final (1-8th place finals) in the 50m freestyle and finished in 8th place. The captain of the team, Ms. Hinano Kimoto (4th year, Health and Sports Science), advanced to the B final in the 200m Butterfly.

October 3rd, 2023

The Department of Business Administration has begun "Career Design Special Lecture I" a series of lectures on future university life and career development for women, inviting alumni of the university and women working in various fields as guest speakers each time.
 
The lecture is a series of lectures to examine Mukogawa Gakuin's MUKOJO Vision of "empowering women to create a life-long career" through a wide variety of jobs. In this lecture series, four faculty members, including Associate Professor Tomomi Nishiguchi, invite lecturers from their own specialized fields, and a total of 13 guests give lectures.

The September 27th lecture was the first guest lecture by Hiroko Yoneda, Director of the University's Public Relations Office, on the topic of "Public Relations from a Reporter's Perspective." Ms. Yoneda explained the public relations activities of the university, sharing stories from her career as a newspaper reporter and freelance writer. She also talked about her own life events of marriage, childbirth, and nursing care, and the career changes that accompanied them.

The students were intrigued by the story of public relations, which is difficult for them to imagine what the job entails. The students listened intently to Ms. Yoneda's words, such as "It is important to be in touch with what you want to promote with love" and "Aim to be a PR person who never says 'no.'" In reference to the title "A Reporter's Perspective," Ms. Yoneda said, "You have to look at things from a broad perspective and at the same time try to look at both sides of the picture, as if you were zooming in on the details. I put a lot of effort into proofreading to ensure that facts and proper nouns are correct."

 A student who attended the seminar said, "I learned that she is able to do the work she does now because of the skills that Ms. Yoneda acquired as a newspaper reporter. I believe that what I am doing now will also be useful for my future self, and I want to do my best."

Associate Professor Nishiguchi, who is in charge of this lecture, said, "I want students who are uncertain about their future to find who they want to be through their studies at Mukogawa Women's University. I want them to know that they can learn and acquire the necessary skills while they are still at university, and that they can resume their careers even after experiencing life events such as marriage and childbirth. I want them to acquire the strength of a woman who can envision their life in these four years," she said.

A wide variety of professional women, including a freelance architect, a product developer, and a former mayor of Amagasaki City, are scheduled to speak at the upcoming events.

October 2nd, 2023

Fall graduation and graduate school completion ceremonies were held for the 2023 academic year, and 59 students have left the university's nest.

The September 30th, 2023 graduate degree presentation ceremony and university and junior college diploma and degree presentation ceremony were held at the Media Hall of the Kusaka Memorial Multimedia Hall.

 Representatives from the graduate school, university, and junior college received their diplomas from President Kazuyoshi Seguchi.

 President Seguchi said in his ceremonial address, "Congratulations on your graduation. You have worked hard on your studies despite the devastation of the pandemic and tragedies around the world, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you. I hope that you will be proud and confident in your achievement as graduates of Mukogawa Women's University, and that you will be active as front runners in the field of our choosing. I encourage you to take every opportunity to learn and continue to move forward in society."

 After the graduation ceremony, faculty members spoke to the graduates, telling them to "keep up the good work," and graduates shared memories of their student life with each other.

Rina Morishima, who received her degree as a representative student of the Faculty of Education, said, "There was a time when I took a leave of absence due to illness, but thanks to the cooperation of the teachers, I was able to graduate. I hope to make use of what I learned here and do my best in the educational field."