June 6th 2023
The gymnastics team won the team all-around and Mitsuha Kotani won the individual all-around at the 73rd West Japan Student Gymnastics Championships (West Japan Intercollegiate).
The 73rd West Japan Student Gymnastics Championships (West Japan Intercollegiate) was held at Green Arena Kobe (Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture) from June 2nd to 4th, and the gymnastics team won the Women's Overall Team Championship (score: 244.193). Mitsuha Kotani (2nd year, Health and Sports Science) won the individual all-around (score: 50.232). In the individual events, Kotani and Tsujimae Ayari (3rd year, Health and Sports Science) won first place in the average beam and uneven bars, respectively.
Kiyori Imayoshi, a first-year student in the Health and Sports Science Department, who competed in the individual event, said, "I was nervous at the competition after a year since I tore my anterior cruciate ligament in my senior year of high school. The encouragement from the club members gave me the strength I needed, and I think my floor performance was good. The MWU gymnastics club has good sense of teamwork, so I think I can concentrate on the competition".
Olympian Aiko Sugihara also accompanied the team this time as a coach. She assisted in the competition and gave advice to the athletes. "I was more nervous as a coach than as an athlete," she said. “I tried to give advice to the athletes so that they could relax and enjoy the competition as much as possible. I think I was able to see the results of my practice in this competition. I would like to coach them so that they can overcome their problems in preparation for the All-Japan Intercollegiate Championships."
Hina Onishi, a first-year student of Health and Sports Science, who received assistance from Ms. Sugihara, said, "It was very encouraging to have Ms. Sugihara, who knows the world, give me guidance. Her concrete and precise advice on how to win points was easy to understand and helpful."
The competition will be broadcast on Mukojo TV #14 in July.
June 2nd, 2023
Students watched a pop circus performance and interacted with performers.
On May 27, nine Mukogawa Women’s University students attended the "Pop Circus Nishinomiya" performance held in Nishinomiya City and interacted with the circus troupe's foreign performers.
Pop Circus is a circus troupe that brings together performers from 12 countries around the world. In order to deepen their understanding of multiculturalism, a total of nine students, four from the Department of English Language and Culture, two from the Department of Education, one from the Department of Social Informatics, and two international exchange students, participated in the exchange with the performers.
After viewing the performances, the students interacted with the six performers. They asked questions about how they became circus performers and about their daily lives.
Nana Maeno, Rin Ishii, and Yuna Hirano, third-year students in the Department of English Language and Culture, said they were impressed by the burning passion of the performers, who were all from different cultures and languages, values, living together and working toward the same goal to create a spectacular show.
Risa Manabe, a first-year student in the Department of Social Informatics, said, "I want to become a person who can convey joy and pleasure to others like the circus performers do," Natsuki Yokoyama, a third-year student in the Department of Education, said, "I want to become a teacher who can convey to children the importance of facing challenges," and Shino Murakami said, "It was interesting to see the different characteristics of performances in each country.” Shino Murakami shared her thoughts, "It was interesting to see the different characteristics of the performances in each country.”
International exchange students, Park Seonyeong, a fourth-year student in the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, said, "The circus show was more interesting than I had imagined," and Huang Pin-xi added, "I was glad to have the opportunity to interact with the circus performers.”
Associate Professor Mayumi Tanaka of the Department of English and Global Studies, who led the exchange, said, "This exchange program was a valuable opportunity for the students to learn about communication, cross-cultural understanding, and the importance of continuing to challenge themselves.”
June 1st 2023
The International Center offers "English Plaza Online" where you can take online English conversation lessons with foreign language teachers. 3 students’ maximum per teacher, group lessons are available for beginners. Most students participate alone, so all students are welcome to join at their own convenience.
A third-year student in the Department of Business Administration who made use of English Plaza said, "It was my first time and I was nervous, but the teacher was kind and it was fun." According to an English conversation instructor, "I think it is a great opportunity to speak English not only one-on-one, but also with students from other departments. I hope many people will take full advantage of this opportunity and join English Plaza online.”
May 31st 2023
Brown Rice volunteers participated in the WFP Walk the World Osaka 2023.
The sixth annual "WFP Walk the World Osaka 2023" was held on May 27 at Expo '70 Commemorative Park (Suita City, Osaka Prefecture), with Mukogawa Women’s University Brown Rice volunteers participating as volunteers.
The WFP Walk the World is a charity walk organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to end hunger among children in developing countries.
Brown Rice Volunteers have participated in the event as volunteers to run the event since its inception at the request of the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP). Many of the Brown Rice Volunteers also pay a participation fee to take part in the walk as individuals, and together with the management volunteers, they also contribute to the "School Meals Program" through their participation fees.
Since this year's event was held on a Saturday, some students were unable to participate, but the ones who did, did their best. At the venue, guest speaker Yosihiro Yano, former manager of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, said, "There are children in the world who do not have enough to eat. Let's walk together to deliver school lunches so that as many of these children as possible can study and play sports. He also sent a message of support to the participants, saying, "Next year, we will make the number of participants as good as those in Yokohama!”
The WFP Walk the World Osaka 2023 had 1,452 participants (1,374 adults and 78 elementary school students) and raised 1,123,860 yen (enough for about 37462 school lunches).
May 28th, 2023
Alumni gathered for the Homecoming Day event.
Graduates gathered at their alma mater on May 28th for the annual Homecoming Day, event.The Koto Club welcomed the visiting graduates and faculty members with a welcoming performance, and at 9:30 a.m., the general meeting was held with the board of directors in the Koe Memorial Auditorium.
Following the review of the agenda, students from the Calligraphy Seminar and the Calligraphy Club presented a performance titled "Hana to Mimiru Yume - Saigyo no Uta" (Dreaming with Flowers - Saigyo's Song) to the seniors. Six students from the Calligraphy Seminar and the Calligraphy Club, each dressed in hakama and holding a brush, expressed Saigyo's waka poem in scattered strokes. Seventeen members of the dance club also participated in the calligraphy performance with a creative dance, completing the work with a collaboration of calligraphy and dance, which was met with applause from the audience.
Following the performance, Professor Naoyuki Kageyama, Dean of the Faculty of Letters and Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, gave a lecture titled "The Manyoshu That Struck a Chord in Your Heart." The audience sang the Manyoshu poetry of Otomo Tabito together with the professor, and occasionally laughed as he spoke, making the lecture a joyful experience of communion.
Although the reception was not held last year due to measures still in place post Covid-19, the alumni who attended were able to talk with each other, their teachers, and their alma mater, rekindling friendships.
The Meisho-kai, organized by Mukogawa Gakuin graduates, is an alumni association that was founded in March 1944 at the request of the then graduates of the first Mukogawa High school for girls. The name "Meisho-kai" was chosen by the then president of the school, Mr. Kiichiro Koe, after the "Pine Tree in the Village of Naruo" sung in the school's song.
This year marks the 79th anniversary of the founding of Meisho-kai, and the number of members exceeds 200,000. Every year in May, the association holds an annual event called "Meisho-kai Day," where alumni gather to reconnect.
May 22nd, 2023
MUSC Report (5) Award Ceremony for the end of the spring semester.
On the 19th (February 20, 2023 JST), 126 second-year students of the Department of English Language and Culture who had been studying abroad at the Mukogawa U.S Campus (MUSC) since February completed the spring semester and participated in the award ceremony. About 50 host families who had hosted the students during their stay at the campus also attended the ceremony and witnessed the progress of each of the host families.
At the ceremony, Vice President Akihiro Nakahara began by saying, "Studying hard here, developing your English communication skills, and deepening your understanding of different cultures will be an experience you will never forget." Four students were then presented with this semester's awards.
The President's Award for Academic Excellence was awarded to Ms. Kaho Hayashi. She was nominated by a number of faculty members for her outstanding academic efforts. Miu Arima received the "Takaoka Merit Award" for improving her TOEIC score by 320 points, and Kaaya Watanabe received the "Fosseen Ambassadorship Award" for contributing to international exchange through her volunteer activities at the JCC (Japanese Culture Center). The Tsutakawa Outstanding Service Award was presented to Kano Tomura for her outstanding efforts in her student life.
The certificates were handed to each student individually by Vice President Nakahara. When all students received their certificates, there was a round of applause and cheers, and host families and staff praised the students with a standing ovation. Momoka Fukuda, representing the graduating students, said, "I worked hard, encouraged by the teacher's words, that it was okay to make mistakes I want to make use of what I learned here and challenge myself further when I go back to Japan," she said in English.
The students shared their memories with their host families over a meal and performed a choir song they had practiced in English to express their gratitude. They said goodbye with handshakes and hugs, and promised to meet again.