Jieun Pyun, the Director for Asia at Yale’s Office of International Affairs, traveled to Japan last month to build new connections and strengthen existing relationships between Yale and partners in Japan.

During her inaugural trip to the country in this role, Pyun met with officials from the University of Tokyo (Todai). The discussion centered primarily around the near 150-year long history between Yale and Todai, as well as the continuation of collaboration between the two. Both universities are founding members of the International Alliance of Research Universities, and the Todai-Yale Initiative for Japanese Studies and Related Humanities and Social Sciences was established in 2007, promoting further academic exchange between the two institutions.

Pyun also visited with officials from Waseda University, which, along with Todai, partners with Yale in academic exchange through the Yale Summer Session and the Fox International Fellowship. Waseda is also the only Japanese university to participate in Yale’s Visiting International Student Program, an exchange program inviting students to live at Yale and take classes for up to a full academic year. In 2007, Waseda established the Asakawa Senior Fellowship Program, commemorating the history of Waseda alumnus and longtime Yale professor Kan’ichi Asakawa, promoting collaboration between the two universities by providing Yale scholars with opportunities to teach and research at Waseda.

Other universities Pyun met with included Keio University and Hitotsubashi University, to explore the prospect of further relationships between the two universities and Yale. 

During her trip, she also joined with Yale President Peter Salovey for his visit to Tokyo, where he met with university administration from Todai and Waseda, alumni from the Yale Club of Japan, and officials from the Japanese government.

As the cooperation between Yale and partners in Japan grows, Pyun hopes to continue her work in fostering new relationships and strengthening current collaboration. She states, “Yale’s connections with Japan are as old as the foreign relations of the two countries. This relationship between Yale and Japan has exemplified the spirit of cooperation, and I look forward to advancing our collaborations well into the future.”

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To learn more about President Salovey’s trip to Japan, read the full article.

To learn more about the Yale Visiting International Student Program, visit the site.