Exchange between the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Students

May 26, 2017

In order to commemorate the 60 ^th anniversary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Poland and Japan (1957), an exhibition was held at TUFS in joint sponsorship with the Polish Embassy and Polish Cultural Institute in Tokyo. To mark the opening of the event, on Friday 19 ^th May 2017 an opening ceremony was held in the presence of Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Witold Waszczykowski, who is visiting Japan, in the Galleria on the first floor of the Research and Lecture Building where the exhibit is being held. At the ceremony, following greetings, Dr. Waszczykowski and Vice President Kayoko Hayashi cut the tape to the exhibit, which Dr. Waszczykowski and company then viewed.

Following the ceremony, a cultural exchange took place between Dr. Waszczykowski and the students studying Polish at the university. At the exchange meeting, after an explanation of the history of Polish education at TUFS given by Associate Prof. Morita Koji, two student representatives for Polish studies at the School of Language and Culture Studies (Kawamoto Yumeko, 4 ^th year and Okuro Kazuya, 2 ^nd year) gave speeches in Polish on the tile of "Polish and Me". Afterwards, Dr. Waszczykowski gave a speech to the students, before presenting the university with the gift of 'A Practical Dictionary of Modern Polish' (50 Volumes), which is very valuable in Japan.

After switching venues, Dr. Waszczykowski gave a lecture to the students entitled "Polish-Japanese history of friendship, solidarity and cultural fascination �D as a foundation for the future relations". Many students, including those of subjects other than Polish, attended the lecture and listened with enthusiasm.

The commemorative exhibit for 60 ^th anniversary of the restoration of Japanese-Polish diplomatic relations will be open in the Galleria on the first floor of the Research and Lecture Building until Wednesday 25 ^th May. The exhibit contains 50 display boards with photographs and descriptions relating to the cultural, economic and academic exchange between the two countries since diplomatic relations were first established around 100 years ago.