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JICA Chair Special Lecture at the Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology
Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Location: Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology
Main participants: Shinichi Kitaoka, Special Advisor to JICA, Akio Miyajima, Ambassador of Japan to Poland, President of the Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology, and about 200 students with a strong interest in Japan.
JICA Chair Special Lecture at Warsaw University of Economics
Date: Thursday, October 6, 2022
Location: Warsaw University of Economics
Main participants: Shinichi Kitaoka, Special Advisor to JICA, Akio Miyajima, Ambassador of Japan to Poland, Vice President of Warsaw University of Economics, and about 100 students interested in Japan and international politics.
Special Lectures
JICA Special Advisor Shinichi Kitaoka (former JICA President) gave a “JICA Chair Special Lecture” at the Japan Information Technology University in Poland on Wednesday, October 5, 2022, and at the Warsaw University of Economics on Thursday, October 6, 2022, mainly to students from both universities.
From 1989 to 2008, JICA provided cooperation in a wide range of fields, mainly technical cooperation, to contribute to Poland’s transition to a market economy and smooth transition to democracy.
As part of this effort, I gave a lecture entitled “Meiji Restoration: Full-start of Japanese Modernization” at the Polish-Japanese Institute of Information Technology, which was established in 1994. During the Q&A session with the students, we discussed the key turning points for Japan in the great flow from isolation to modernization, and how Japan became the global power it is today. The special lecture and discussion deepened the students’ understanding of how Japan, the first example of a non-Western country to become a developed nation, managed to combine tradition and modernity to create a free, peaceful, and democratic country.
At the Warsaw University of Economics, I gave a lecture titled “Recent developments of Japan’s security and foreign policy” and had a lively discussion with students at the university. The students and I had a lively discussion. During the discussion, the students discussed such topics as the uncertain function of UN and US intervention in the face of Russia’s possible use of nuclear weapons, what kind of international framework should be established to solve the Ukraine problem, and the benefits of Japan’s infrastructure export policy through ODA. The discussions deepened the students’ understanding of Japan’s diplomatic and security initiatives.
These special lectures provided an opportunity for students from both universities to further increase their interest in Japanese history and the experience of modernization and postwar reconstruction, and the event was a great success.
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