Our Faculty of Social Administration has established many productive links over the years with universities in Japan, with many visits by senior staff members and researchers for collaboration and training at major institutions in Japan.

This continued in early 2020 with a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Faculty of Social Administration and Shukutoku University in Chiba Prefecture.

Our first week of the new semester in 2020 saw Professor Koji Yamaguchi, Professor Tatsuru Akimoto and Mr Masaru Takeuchi from Shukutoku University visiting us to exchange knowledge and information on our respective programmes, and to officially sign a formal commitment to further collaboration between our institutions.

On Monday 13 January, Professor Tatsuru Akimoto, Director of the Asian Research Institute for International Social Work at Shukutoku University, gave a presentation on the scholarship they provide every year for their Visiting Researcher Programme (leading to PhD) and International Social Work.

Professor Wanwadee from our Faculty was the first recipient of this scholarship and shared with us her own unique experiences and success on the programme.

The main mission of ARIISW is to learn from, work with, and provide research opportunities and results to colleagues from other countries, to contribute to the advancement of research and education in the field of social work across Asia and the world. The Institute also has a special mission to serve as a hub for resea​rch and education in Buddhist “social work” in Asia. It was established on April 1, 2014, in commemoration of the 50th anniversaries in 2015 of the birth of Shukutoku University and the passing of its founder, Ryoshin Hasegawa, a pioneer of Buddhist “social work” in Japan.

Professor Koji Yamaguchi, Vice President of Shukutoku University also presented his recent research on “Caregiver Support for Prevention of Elderly Abuse”, followed by a lively and stimulating discussion.

On Tuesday 14 January, our Rector, Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchart kindly signed the MoU setting out our intent to forge a stronger relationship with Shukutoku University and closer collaborations in several areas.
We would like to thank the delegation from Shukutoku University for vsiting us and we look forward to many years of fruitful and meaningful collaboration.