President Yamagata University (Japan) visits Leiden
President Akio Yuki and his delegation were welcomed to Leiden by Vice-Rector Prof. Rietje van Dam-Mieras, Prof. Ivo Smits, Prof. Kasia Cwiertka and Dr Rogier Busser on Friday 13 May 2011.
About Yamagata University (YU) and the tsunami
Yamagata University, situated in Yamagata City is a major comprehensive national teaching and research university in north-eastern Japan. Yamagata University enrols about 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students at its 13 academic divisions on its 4 college campuses spread throughout the Yamagata region. YU offers programmes in the fields of agriculture, arts and humanities, education, engineering, medicine, natural sciences, nursing, and social sciences.
Yamagata-Leiden partnership
An exchange partnership between Leiden University and Yamagata University has been running for several years. Within this partnership, every year two students from Leiden University's Languages and Cultures of Japan programme study at YU for one year.
In their recent visit this agreement was once again reinforced. YU has shown a keen interest for future research co-operation with Leiden law professionals and the history of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Following a meeting with Jeroen ‘t Hart, Director Student and Educational Affairs, and a tour of the Gravensteen building in Leiden, President Akio Yuki and his delegation left for the Court of Justice in The Hague.
Yamagata University lies close to the region of the recent earthquake and tsunami that resulted in unprecedented damage to the Tohoku region, where Yamagata University is situated. Fortunately, because of its elevated position YU was not seriously affected by these disasters and was able to continue functioning as normal.