TECRO & Waseda University Faculty of Social Sciences Sign MOU on Taiwan Research Center Project Phase 2
A memorandum of understanding on the Taiwan Research Center Project Phase 2 was signed at Waseda University on November 27, 2023. It was signed by Mr. Huang Guan-Chao, the director of the Education Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan (TECRO), on behalf of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education in and also on behalf of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and by Prof. Osamu Soda, Dean of Waseda University’s School of Social Science. Prof. Masahiko Gemma, Waseda University’s Vice President for International Affairs, and Ms. Li Kuan-Ying, Secretary of the Education Division at TECRO were among the dignitaries at the signing ceremony.
This MOU consolidates further cooperation with Waseda University, to support Taiwan Studies in Japan. For the next five years, Taiwan’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Foreign Affairs will each provide support for Taiwan-related research in various fields conducted by Waseda University. Waseda University has become an important center for Taiwan-related research in Japan and it looks forward to developing more international academic influence in the world.
The university’s Taiwan Research Center has been one of the pioneers in establishing Taiwanese Studies and has received highly positive comments for its work in this area within and outside Japan. It set up courses open to students across the university who are pursuing a minor in Taiwan Studies which more than a thousand students have already taken. Its Taiwan-related academic activities include monthly research workshops for which both international and domestic scholars working in Taiwan Studies fields are invited to give talks in a symposium. Other universities overseas and/or in Japan take part in co-hosting symposiums, and its Next Generation of Scholars in Taiwanese Studies workshops provide an environment for researchers at PhD candidate level or higher to engage in discussion and debate. In addition, the research center held several academic events during its annual international symposium. Its consistent goal has been to place Japan in a significant position for Taiwan Studies
Dr. Wakabayashi Masahiro. the former director of the Taiwan Research Center, and now an honorary professor at Waseda University and academic advisor at the center, received the 2020 Autumn conferment of the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from the Japanese government for his tireless efforts in bridging academic exchanges between Taiwan and Japan.
Among the researchers at Waseda University who have worked with the Taiwan Research Center, Prof. Asano Toyomi was awarded a 2022 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award in the Sciences and Technology Field, and Dr. Nitta Ryuki and Dr. Tsuruzono Yuki each received the Japan Association of Taiwan Studies Award. Dr. Nitta also received the 2022 Tokyo University Nanbara Shigeru Memorial Edition Publication Award for his PhD thesis titled The Formation of Colonial Taiwan: Transitions in National and Societal Relations from the End of the Qing Dynasty to Japanese Imperial Rule. His thesis received high praise in the academic world.
