August 11th, 2023
The August Open Campus is officially over, with 5,659 people attending during the two-day event.
Mukogawa Women's University held its August Open Campus on August 10 and 11 at the Central Campus, Kamikoshien Campus, and Hamakoshien Campus, with 2,830 groups and 5,659 people visiting over the two days.
The number of visitors over the two days exceeded that of the Open Campus in 2019 before the strike of the pandemic. More than 100 people also gathered for a lecture by an educational YouTube star.
In the departmental programs, mock classes and hands-on activities were held to highlight the distinctiveness of each of the 20 departments. In particular, the Department of History and Culture, which will launch in April 2024, and the Department of English and Global Studies, which will evolve into a dual major system, attracted a great deal of attention, and long queues formed to get to the respective departmental halls.
The Department of History and Culture's exhibit space, where visitors were able to freely hold up actual items such as 6,000-year-old Jomon earthenware, Stone Age arrowheads, and pottery dating back to the 6th century, was a popular attraction. The high school students were surprised and asked, "Are these real?" They seemed to be impressed by the ancient touch of the objects. The Department of English and Global Studies introduced the four-month study abroad program at the U.S. extension campus for both majors with abundant images, encouraging high school students to "take the first step toward studying abroad in a safe and secure environment."
As a "welcome performance" to the participants, the Health and Sports Science Department opened a practice game for the volleyball team in the gymnasium. Using the content associated with that game as a subject, faculty and students introduced the characteristics of the studies in each of the Departments of Health and Sports Science and Sports Management.
The Department of Nursing in the Faculty of Nursing conducted an experiment of pretending to be an elderly person. Using goggles and headphones to simulate a person with a narrow field of vision and impaired hearing, the students experienced the world of the elderly by picking soybeans and azuki beans with their opposite hands and conversing with their friends and parents. A first-year high school student who came with her mother said, "I felt that my field of vision was limited than I had imagined and that I could not perform the movements I wanted." A booth where visitors could try on the pink lab coats that students wear during practical training was also popular, and some visitors took pictures with their friends on their smartphones.
At the School of Music, six high school students participated in a hands-on choral work experience with the university students, and under the guidance of Professor Naoko Okamoto, they sang in unison in the performance hall.
In addition, the Department of Food Creation Science in the Faculty of Food and Nutritional Sciences presented an exhibition of companies that accept interns in the second semester of their junior year. The extensive lineup of approximately 100 companies that accepted students was "visualized" with flyers, products, panels, and other materials.
August 7th, 2023
On August 5th, before the six-month mark since the earthquake that struck southeastern Turkey, "Report on the Survey of the Earthquake-Hit Areas in Southeastern Turkey" was held in the large lecture room of Mukogawa Women's University's Koe Memorial Hall, where about 60 people from the architecture profession, researchers, government officials, disaster prevention volunteers, and the general public listened online and in-person.
The field survey conducted jointly by Mukogawa Women's University's Faculty of Architecture and Kobe City in April was selected as a support project for Hyogo Prefecture's "Turkey Earthquake Recovery and Restoration Support Project." Immediately after returning to Japan, a debriefing session was held for the media at Koshien Kaikan, and the purpose of this year's session was to report more detailed survey results and recommendations derived from them to the general public in order to draw lessons for local disaster prevention.
Professor Shigeyuki Okazaki, Dean of the School of Architecture, explained the long history of exchange between the university and Turkey, including the general exchange agreement signed in 2008 with Bahçeşehir University in Turkey, which has resulted in the exchange of students, mainly from the architecture department, and the 2011 earthquake in Van, Turkey, where the university conducted a survey of the affected area in cooperation with the city of Kobe. The survey was conducted in cooperation with Kobe City after the earthquake that hit Van, Turkey in 2011.
In his survey report, Professor Kazuhiko Yanagisawa, Head of the Department of Architecture, gave an overview of the field survey conducted from April 12th to 20th, showing photographs of the damage in various areas.
This was followed by a report by Professor Hiroyuki Tagawa of the School of Architecture on "Earthquake Strength and Damage Situation" from the perspective of earthquake-resistant structures, Professor Shigeki Torisu on "Specific Forms of Buildings and Damage Situation" from the perspective of structural design, Yukio Tanaka, Director of the Building Guidance Department of the Kobe City Building and Housing Bureau on "Visits by Chiefs of Affected Municipalities and Inspection of Tents and Containerized Hypothesis Houses," and Professor Yanagisawa on "Examples of Damage to Historic Buildings". Professor Yanagisawa reported on "Examples of Damage to Historic Buildings.
August 2nd, 2023
Two students from the School of Music will perform at the 12th Music College Orchestra Festival in Kansai on Saturday, September 16.
Ms. Mayuko Yanagi, majoring in vocal music, will perform Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9 with Chorus" as a soloist (alto), and Ms. Manami Masuda, majoring in orchestral instruments (horn), will perform as a member of the orchestra in Wagner's Die Meistersinga von Nuremberg, followed by the "Prelude to the First Act".
The "Kansai College of Music Orchestra" is a mixed orchestra of eight universities in the Kansai region, and the two were selected after passing an audition. The orchestra will be conducted by visiting professor Tatsuya Shimono of Kyoto City University of Arts.
Comment from Mayuko Yanagi
I was most surprised that I was selected in the audition, but now I am filled with a sense of responsibility as a soloist and excitement about what the Ninth will be like. It has been four years since the chorus was added to the orchestra at the orchestra festival due to the pandemic. I want to sing to the best of my ability in unison with all the performers, while savoring the joy of being able to sing with them.
Comment from Manami Masuda
I am grateful to be able to participate in such a wonderful opportunity while I’m still a student, and I will do my best to perform to everyone by giving it my all.
July 29th. 2023
It has been three years since "Women's Koshien" was established. Mukogawa Women's University will be cheering for the National High School Girls Hardball Tournament again this year.
Mukogawa Women's University has been supporting women's high school baseball as a co-partner of the tournament in the 27th National High School Girls Hardball Tournament, with Kobe Koryo High School and Gifu Daiichi High School winning their semi-final games in Tamba City on July 29, and the final game will be held at Hanshin Koshien Stadium on August 1. Since 2021, when the tournament held its final game at Koshien Stadium for the first time in its history, the University has supported the tournament from the side by sponsoring TV broadcasts and placing advertisements in newspaper specials on women's baseball every year. In the past two years, the newspaper ads have featured a high school girl (modeled by a student) dressed as a batter or pitcher, sending the message, "I wonder what kind of history you will show us" (2021) and "There is no limit to what I can do" (2022).
Filming was done one by one on campus. A third-year student in the Faculty of Arts and Letters is an active baseball player. Holding her gloves high in the air, she made a lighthearted jumping catch in front of the camera. A third-year student in the School of Architecture posed as Ichiro in his work clothes, holding the bat vertically. A fourth-year student in the School of Music played the role of a pitcher in a dark blue dress, and a first-year student in the School of Pharmacy caught the ball in a white lab coat. A third-year student in the Faculty of Education dressed as a catcher wearing a protector and mask. A third-year student from the Faculty of Social Informatics, who had modeled for the event until last year, also participated.
The ad was posted on the national edition of the Asahi Shimbun's morning sports page on July 18 in conjunction with a special feature on the Women's High School Baseball Tournament. In a survey of readers (in the Tokyo metropolitan area) who saw the ad, many favorable comments were received, such as "It is very nice to see students working hard," "It shows versatility and initiative," "It is timely," and "It conveys the appeal of the university."
During the National High School Baseball Championship Tournament, which begins on August 6, this ad will also appear in the "Summer Koshien Asahi Shimbun Special Guide" (200,000 copies), a separate print publication distributed free of charge at seven special racks in the stadium, the Koshien History Museum, the nearest commercial facility "Korowa," and at all participating high schools and their dormitories.
July 25th, 2023
Fourth-year Health and Sports Science student Masuri Arai competed in the women's high dive final at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka City on 19th of June, finishing 11th, earning her the right to represent Japan at next year's Paris Olympics. Ms. Arai finished 6th in the women's synchronized high dive at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and will compete in her second consecutive Olympic Games.
Ms. Arai had advanced to the final after finishing seventh in the semi-finals on 18th of June.
Ms. Arai stated: “I am extremely pleased to have been able to stay in the finals this time and to have earned the right to be given a conditional offer to the Paris Olympics Games. I still have a lot of competition left in this season and I hope to improve my performance.”
July 25th, 2023
Videos of Mukogawa Women's University are currently aired on large digital signage at Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi, Sannomiya and Namba.
A video promoting the Department of History and Culture, which will open in April 2024 in the Faculty of Letters, is being simultaneously screened on large digital signage screens at Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station, in front of Sannomiya Station and in front of the main staircase at Nankai Namba Station from 24 July until 31 July. The Mukogawa Women's University and the establishment of the Department of History and Culture will be promoted in the vicinity of the terminal stations, where the number of high school students is on the rise as the summer holidays approach.
Two videos are being broadcast: 'I will find my own way to the future' (15 seconds), featuring the main visual by MUKOJO ACTION, and 'I will DIVE into the historical world' (15 seconds), an animation featuring a high school girl who loves history. The two videos are linked together and run for 30 seconds at 10-15 minute intervals on the Wide Vision in Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi Station and on the OS Vision in front of Sannomiya Station, while only the MUKOJO ACTION video runs every six minutes on the Twin Vision at Nankai Namba Station.
The OS Vision in front of Sannomiya Station was easily visible from the plaza and the pedestrian crossing from the JR side to the Hankyu direction, and people waiting at traffic lights could be seen watching it. The Galleria Twin Vision in Namba is naturally visible from Nankai Namba Station when riding down the escalator, and is expected to be seen by a large number of people due to its short broadcast cycle.
From 28th of July to the 10th of August, a 15-second video clip, 'I will find my own way to the future', will be shown as a commercial before the film 'How Do You Live' airs at Osaka Station City Cinema, TOHO Cinemas Namba, TOHO Cinemas LaLaport Kadoma and TOHO Cinemas Odaiba, TOHO CINEMAS Otori.
From 5th of July to 4th of August, the missed video service TVer is also distributing the animation video and open campus information of "Watashi wa Historic World ni DIVE suru". More and more people are likely to encounter the visuals of Mukogawa Women's University, at the cinema and on their smartphones.