The Symposium for International Students was held on Monday, September 9th during the 2019 JSME annual meeting at Akita University by the JSME International Union (JSME IU).

About 25 participants including international students and other related parties participated. This year, most of the participants engaged in lively discussions in Japanese while having lunch.

First, at around 12:00, the organizer of the symposium and chairperson of the JSME IU Prof. Katsuko Furukawa (University of Tokyo) explained the objective of JSME IU. Then, the program proceeded by Prof. Nozomu Mishima (Akita University) and Prof. Montagne Kevin (The University of Tokyo).

During the keynote speech, Mr. Yoshimi Yodogawa from TDK Corporation introduced the global expansion of TDK Corporation and the expectations of international students. Specifically, after introducing TDK Corporation’s history, product line, company overview, etc., the skills expected from international students based on the fact that the company is now devising for global expansion were introduced. As the skills expected from international students, he said that not only the basic knowledge about the major but also the ability to express one’s own personality is very important.

During the following case studies, three engineers and researcher introduced working in Japanese companies and university, respectively, related to backgrounds of employment, differences in language and culture that they experienced. Prof. Xu Zhao from the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Akita University talked about the way to university professors in Japan. Specifically, the teaching, research, and management skills of university professors, and the abilities required from universities in each aspect were introduced, respectively. Mr. Ductin Le from TDK Corporation talked about various cases that should be considered in the employment experience in Japan, giving examples of acquaintances. Mr. Xiang Sun from Mitsubishi Materials Corporation talked about how he came to Japan and his thoughts on working in Japan. In addition, he introduced in detail how to respond to each culture of people from around the world.

During each lecture, participants enthusiastically exchanged questions and answers. During the keynote speech, questions about the talents of international students wanted by TDK Corporation, and the difference in treatment with Japanese students were asked. Mr. Yoshimi Yodogawa said that TDK Corporation has a very large number of foreign company executives, and they have equal opportunities. During the following case studies, various questions were asked about the special skills required for foreign university professors and the employment situation of international students, and active discussions were lively debated.
Lastly, at around 14:10 Prof. Nozomu Mishima (Akita University) explained the overall impression of the symposium and the importance of globalization, and the symposium was closed on a successful note.

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