International Plaza, which consists of Interaction Plaza and Communication Plaza, has successfully completed its task this semester. This plaza is intended to give students more opportunities to practice English or interact with exchange students. Along with over 500 participants in total throughout this academic year, International Plaza made students much more active for language studies or cultural exchanges.
Ms. Aden, who was in charge of Interaction Plaza, is happy with their growth and hopes that they will keep up their English skills.

The current president of Mukogawa Women's University, Kazuyoshi Seguchi has been reappointed as our president. His next term will be from April 1st 2019 to March 31st 2023.
Prof. Seguchi's professional background is as follows;

April 2015
Vice-President
Mukogawa Women’s University
Hyogo, Japan

April 2008
Dean of Human Environmental Sciences
Mukogawa Women’s University
Hyogo, Japan

April 2005
Chair of Human Environmental Sciences
Mukogawa Women’s University
Hyogo, Japan

April 1992
Professor
Mukogawa Women’s University
Hyogo, Japan

April 1975
Lecturer
Mukogawa Women’s University
Hyogo, Japan

March 1974
Ph.D. in Science (Organic Chemistry)
Kyoto University
Kyoto, Japan

"The Multi-Cultural Exchanges in Japanese Language" was held on January 5th by Japanese Language and Literature Department with guests from 22 countries invited. The guests were young diplomats and government employees of each country who currently participate in training session in Japanese-Language Institute, Kansai from last September. 44 students including those who took units about Japanese cultures or Japanese language research and exchange students who are currently studying Japanese at MWU participated to the event.
The event started with introducing each others and soon got fun with playing Japanese traditional games. The guests performed their significantly fluent Japanese skills despite of their short term studies and also impressive communication skills by introducing their countries and cultures with their photos.
The event was concluded with a speech given by Mr. Olivier, a Haitian diplomat, both in English and Japanese. He showed a deep appreciation for the hospitality he felt from MWU students.

The President and four students from Bahçeşehir High School in Turkey made an official visit to our chancellor's office on December 28th. They participated in campus tour on both our high school and university.
The main purpose of their visit was to strengthen the connection between us based on the educational cooperation we contracted.
Bahçeşehir University and Mukogawa Women's University has been affiliated each other and every year our students participate in short term program to study architecture in Bahçeşehir University.

Japanese Presentation is held by 8 exchange students who are currently studying in MWU.
As a part of their class, they researched about topics they had chosen for their presentation by themselves and made slides all in Japanese. Their 10 to 15 minute long presentation included comparison between Japan and their own countries which inspired others to discuss about it actively. Their fluent Japanese told us that their language ability has dramatically improved through their study in MWU.

A pair of students from English Department won the second place of The 12th Annual Morita Cup and The Mainichi Cup Pair Presentation Contest on Japanese Culture held on December 15th this year at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Hitomi Matsui (left) and Satomi Honda (right)received Mainichi Cup as a prize as a pair. Along with the theme "Japanese culture shared by provinces, this 12th annual gathered applicants from the whole country and the 10 candidates in pair chosen among them joined the main contest, each giving a 10 minute long presentation in English.
Matsui & Honda chose the topic "Banquet on the River", which is one of the Japanese cultural banquet styles held on traditional houseboats, and sought factors which enabled the culture to have been passed for more than 100 years. They pretended to be a logic oriented scientist and an intuition oriented university students, who held a scientific and humorous debate on the topic. Their unique style of presentation attracted the audiences and was highly evaluated.
Matsui commented "I wanted to take on challenge before my coming graduation. I want descendants not to fear challenging and to make their university life fruitful." "Unlike the Hong Kong Cup I won last year, I could pair with Ms. Matsui, which was also hard but also fun too. I learned a lot through the pair work. I would like to express deep appreciation to Mr. Shimizu, friends and those who supported us." added Honda in her interview.