Visit by Prof Yoshio Kawamura, JICA Advisor to Centre for Japanese Studies

Between the 18th and the 25th of November, the Centre for Japanese Studies (CJS) hosted Prof Yoshio Kawamura, special advisor from JICA to CJS. The purpose of Prof Kawamura’s visit was to assist CJS with the finalisation of the first draft of the Centre’s 5-year strategic plan, to conduct interviews to identify potential collaborative avenues for CJS and to attend CJS’s 11th Oversight Committee Meeting.

Some highlights of his visit were as follows:

Meeting with Prof Alex Antonites, Head of Department of Business Management, UP

Possible avenues of research were discussed during this meeting, particularly in the field of entrepreneurship, and its link to small-scale agriculture in low-income areas. Prof Antonites also explained the functions of the Business Incubator on the Hatfield Main Campus and the Mamelodi Campus.

Meeting with Prof Lise Korsten, Professor of Plant Pathology

This was a second meeting between Prof Kawamura and Prof Korsten, who met in Tokyo, Japan at the SAJU Forum in July 2017. They discussed specific areas of possible collaboration including “Food Safety”, “Indigenous Crops and Indigenous Knowledge” and “the Use of Technology in Agriculture”, amongst other things. The empowerment and role of the youth in agriculture was also discussed.

 

Meeting with Prof Charles Machethe Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development and Prof Sheryl Hendricks, Director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-being

Some topics of possible collaboration included “The Use of Technology in Agriculture”, “Marketing in Relation to Farming”, “Better Shelf Life for Food” and “The Use of Solar Power”. CJS was also able to obtain some insight into how the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Well-Being was able to act as a virtual centre, and as a hub for numerous departments involved in various projects.

 

Visit to Mamelodi Business Clinic

This visit included a tour of the Business Clinic and a hearing on what the role of the Business Clinic is. Prof Kawamura was particularly interested in the role that the Business Clinic plays as a part of the surrounding local community.

 

Meeting with Prof Xiaohua Xia, Director of Centre of New Energy Systems

Prof Xia was also an attendant of the SAJU Forum that was hosted in Tokyo in July 2017. CJS is looking to expand its research interests beyond education and the humanities, and this meeting was key in initiating this process.

 

CJS 11th Oversight Committee Meeting

This year was a pivotal year for the Centre, as the first draft of its 5-year strategic report and plan was developed, and also presented to the members of the Oversight Committee. This report and plan outlined the Centre’s goals and objectives going forward, as well as showed the University of Pretoria’s commitment to hosting the Centre for the next 5 years. Prof Kawamura commended the progress that CJS had made in the past year and encouraged further progress.