On March 3rd, a symposium was held at Kyushu University Nishijin Plaza on the topic of "The Reception of Legal Concepts and Frictions in the Context of Multicultural Societies." This symposium was part of a research project, which is principally supported by "Kyushu University Interdisciplinary Programs in Education and Projects in Research Development (P&P)."

This research project has been implemented by a group consisting of a core of professors from Kyushu University and Munich University. As globalization expands in modern societies, more and more emphasis is given to the trends in which some countries attempt to keep diversity of cultures at an international level, while others endeavor to realize the dialogue and interaction amongst cohabiting cultures at a national level. Through our jointresearch we propose to investigate what role the law should play in such a context.

The symposium held on the 3rd of March consisted of a series of lectures given by five professors (four from Germany and one from Kyushu University) followed by comments exchanged with academics from Kyushu University and Seinan Gakuin University. The three lectures by Munich Professors were on different areas of the law but they converged on the point of "The Tense Relationship between German National Law and the Growing Influence of EU Law." Furthermore, Professor Chiusi of Saarland University,who obtained her qualifications at Munich University, explored the handling of foreigners, their civil rights and integration in Ancient Rome. Finally Professor Toshiyuki Kono, the representative of the research project, after making a presentation on the Intangible Heritage Convention adopted in 2003 and the currently drafted Convention on Cultural Diversity, concluded the symposium. Each lecture and comment gave rise to active debates among participants.

It is the intention of all parties to endeavor to lay the foundations of a long lasting collaboration in the spirit of this German-Japanese joint-research group work Motivated by the results of our cooperation, we shall pursue our current objective that Kyushu University and Munich University will further develop a joint education project on a new exploratory field. Through this project, we can thus enhance active research that aims at becoming an internationally recognized research core.