(Starting from the left) President Kajiyama, Mr.Hakoshima, Mr. Masuda, Mr. Furukawa, Ms. Fujii and Vice-President Nakano

On November 27, Kyudai hosted a round-table talk inviting some distinguished alumni who are playing leading roles in the business and political worlds. Mr. Nobuyuki Masuda (Chairman of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.), Mr. Teijiro Furukawa (Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary), Mr. Shin-ichi Hakoshima (President and CEO of Asahi Shimbun) and Ms. Ryuko Fujii (Member of the Information Disclosure Review Board, Cabinet Office) kindly participated this round-table in their busy schedules. The theme was "Expectation for Kyudai's performance in the new era." A report of the talk is published in Kyudai Koho vol. 27. (Japanese only)

Korean Consul General Mr. Cho's Lecture in Kyudai

On December 16, Mr. Cho Seong-yong, Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Fukuoka gave a lecture at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, where the "Korean Visual Culture Today" exhibition was shown. It was held under the joint auspices of the museum and Kyudai, as one of the Kyushu University Asia Understanding Projects. The title of the lecture was "Korea and Japan−A desirable relationship between Korea and Kyushu." Through the lecture given in Japanese, he explained about the Korean National Flag determined in the mid 19th century, the history of the colonial period and independence from Japan, Presidents Park and Kim's politics and relationship with North Korea, and the relationship with Kyushu, Japan. He said, "When we opened the Embassy for the semifinal match of World Cup, about 1,500 people came to watch the game. 400 of them were Japanese people, and I was very glad to see the Japanese people cheering Korean team. I am sure this World Cup brought a sense of affinity between the Korean and the Japanese." He concluded his lecture with the word that "It is a great thing to find points of similarity in different cultures. I hope our exchanges will be promoted also respecting the differences." He was warmly applauded by the hundred-strong audience.

Do you know “Imo-Kyu”?

Fukuoka’s famous confectioner, Gojunimangoku Josuian makes and sells a sweet potato pie called “Imo-Kyu” to cheer up Kyudai. The President and Vice-President of this company are Mr. and Mrs. Mori, who are also alumni of Kyudai. Every year, they donate 1% of the total sales of this pie to be used for students’ extra-curricular activities. The 6th donation was made, and the total amount reached over ￥1,000,000.

“Imo-Kyu” is sold at the University COOP or the company’s retail stores at ￥90 each. Be sure to check out this sweet taste sometime!

Please send us your comments for the improvement of this magazine or if you are interested in writing an article for us, e-mail us at: koho@jimu.kyushu-u.ac.jp