Kyoto University of the Arts: Where Traditional and Avant-Garde Merge as One

Today, Japan faces a series of big challenges, such as the aging and shrinking population. The nation’s demographic is anticipated to cause a shortfall of 11 million workers by 2040. To address this situation, the Japanese government has decided to revamp its education system with an ambitious target of attracting 400,000 university students from overseas to Japan. What role can universities play in addressing Japan’s challenges to globalize and address the shortage of labor?

ur university is one of the arts, so my answer would be a little different from a general university. Luckily, the number of students has not been decreasing. Nowadays, Japanese artworks, like animation, illustration, and manga, are widely seen by people all across the world. Overseas students who want to study at our university mainly come from East Asian nations like China, Korea, and Taiwan, and the number of these students has been increasing. Since its inception, the university's mission has been to enable students to develop their artistic abilities, address social issues, and actively engage with society.

Japan as a society has a reputation for being one of the safest countries globally with its modern university facilities and a growing number of English language programs. This aligns perfectly with the country’s strong corporate presence and domestic job market, which is in need of more workers and employees. Additionally, the favorable JPY devaluation has made living in Japan more affordable than ever. From your perspective of a university, what do you believe is the added value of studying in Japan for students?

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for more than 1,000 years until Tokyo became the capital in the 19th century, so it has a long history as a center of various arts and culture. Our students not only learn about the arts from faculty members at the university but also have the rich opportunity to learn from bearers of traditional crafts and performing arts who live in Kyoto, for example. From the perspective of the president of an art university, I can see many advantages students benefit from being in Kyoto.

You mentioned how Japan is a safe country, which means that students can feel comfortable coming here, but there is another side to this story. Japan is prone to many natural disasters, so there can be trepidation on behalf of students.

In 2023, the Kishida administration announced new policies to support the development of universities, including more than 100 grants to universities to help them build or expand their science departments, a key factor in supporting Japanese efforts to enhance its international reputation in science and technology research. How do you expect this increase in government support to affect universities? Can you talk to us about how art contributes to a better society?

Prime Minister Kishida’s proposed support isn’t very relevant to our university since we are an art university rather than a science or technology one. For us, the presence of art in Japan has been increasing over recent years. The Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) held a conference in Tokyo recently, and there was an active discussion about the relationship between culture and peace. Our faculty members attended and provided some insight during the session. Additionally, Hiroshi Senju, the former president of our university who is an artist of Japanese painting, gave a speech that really impressed the audience. There were over 400 participants coming from all over the world, and traditional Japanese performing arts were performed at the reception, which was greatly appreciated by the participants.

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Despite Japan being the world’s fourth largest economy, it currently has a very low percentage of international students in its education system. Currently, it sits at about 5%, which is very low compared to 20% in the UK and 30% in Australia. What key changes must Japanese universities make to attract more foreign students, especially when the government is aiming to attract 400,000 international students in the very near future? What does the government need from universities in order to achieve these goals?

For many universities in Japan, this is a great challenge and requires a change in mindset. When our university was first established, our primary mission was to educate Japanese students, and we needed to think more about how to attract international students. However, as I mentioned earlier, the number of international students has been increasing recently, so we have been making efforts to provide Japanese language education for international students and to improve consultation services for problems in their daily lives.

One of the key criticisms of Japanese universities is that foreign students, at least, need help finding employment after graduation. These concerns are fueled by a lack of university support in navigating Japan’s complex job market, resulting in a relatively low number of foreign workers in Japanese companies. However, this trend has been changing slowly over time as the share of Japanese companies hiring foreign workers has more than doubled over the past five years. What kind of framework do you provide foreign students after graduation to help them find employment in Japan?

Our university has started to provide career support for the increasing number of international students who wish to work for Japanese companies after graduation. Around 10% of the population of Kyoto are university students, and many students work part-time during their studies. There are also companies in the local area that offer internships to students, regardless of nationality. If students are to work these internships, it will be easier for them to be accepted by the wider society. Additionally, part-time work, such as working in a convenience store, helps students assimilate into society effectively.

While large companies with overseas branches may be an exception, many Japanese companies tend to avoid hiring foreigners who have difficulty reading and writing documents in Japanese and communicating in Japanese. Changing the mindset may not be easy, but there are things that can be done. Fortunately, young students are very open.  Our university has begun to support students from overseas to acclimate to the corporate culture during their internship in a variety of ways.

One approach Japanese universities can take in order to increase their international presence is through cross-cultural academic exchanges. We believe that the Kyoto University of Arts (KUA) has 370 foreign students, and you have shown a commitment to finding foreign students by building three overseas offices in Seoul, Taipei, and Shanghai. KUA also collaborates with 40 different institutes across 17 different countries, facilitating student and faculty exchanges, joint international workshops, and research tours. You also helped found the Asian League of Institutes of the Arts (ALIA) to promote arts education, international exchanges, and collaboration. How do international university partnerships and a more diverse student body positively impact student learning and research outcomes in Japanese society as a whole?

When I became president of the university, COVID-19 had just hit, and therefore, we had to shut down almost all real interactions, such as our students visiting foreign universities and hosting foreign students. Now, we are trying to rebuild those relationships. Some data show that Japanese students today are becoming more reluctant to study abroad. However, learning about a different culture by living in it is completely different from the knowledge gained from the internet. The university would like to provide more opportunities for students to experience life in different cultures.

Are you excited about reconnecting or connecting with any new universities or organizations in the near future? If so, which countries or cities are you targeting?

We will continue to focus on exchanges with art universities in Europe and the United States, but now we are more interested in exchanges with East and South Asian universities. In Asian countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, artists have now become very active, and we are interested in the activities of art universities there.

University-industry collaborations (UIC) are crucial for driving innovation, advancing research, and fostering economic growth. KUA has numerous memorandums of understanding (MOU) focusing on interdisciplinary research and innovation. There are many internships for students in Kyoto, where KUA students are afforded the ability to enter into projects and internships with both modern and traditional industries in Kyoto. You also have industry collaborations with many industry-academia projects. From your perspective, what role do partnerships and MOUs play for KUA, and are you currently looking for any new MOUs, both in Japan or overseas?

We do have various MOUs. These MOUs also include various companies and local governments. Despite all of these MOUs, we are always looking to connect with other entities.

Recently, we interviewed a number of universities across Japan, and one thing that was mentioned was that big corporations are now trying to get art students into positions such as those at the Bank of Japan. What do you think art students have to offer big corporations?

It depends on what you studied in college. For example, a student who studied only painting techniques would have a hard time working in a large bank. My point is that not all art students are suited for large companies. On the other hand, art students who have learned communication and collaboration skills to create artwork have the ability to think outside of the box and from the perspective of others, which could be very useful for this type of company.

Imagine that we come back in three years and have this interview all over again. What goals or dreams do you hope to achieve by the time we come back for that new interview?

These past few years have been a high-stress period for students and faculty due to COVID-19. We strengthened the Student Support Center to focus on the mental and physical well-being of our students. We have tried hard to make the University a place where students can feel safe and focus on their studies, and I am sure that three years from now, we will still be working toward that goal as always. The university will help students acquire advanced skills to express their creativity and cultivate the ability to apply these skills in society. When you come back to the university three years from now, if you see more smiles on the students' faces than now, it will mean that our policy was not wrong.

For more information, visit their website at: https://www.kyoto-art.ac.jp/en/