Hiyoshi Communication Lounge Opening Ceremony

A ceremony to officially open the Hiyoshi Communication Lounge (Japanese only) was held during lunchtime on Wednesday, 22 April, 2009. It is located in the basement of the Independence Wing at Hiyoshi Campus and comprises five connected spaces – Hiyoshi House* (a Japanese-style tatami room), Lounge*, Information Space, Student Activity Space* and the Hiyoshi Global Studio*.

At the ceremony, the fifty or so guests were welcomed by President Anzai, Prof. Chiaki Yokoyama, Director of the Keio Research Center for the Liberal Arts and Prof. Kazumi Sakai, Director of the Research Center for Foreign Language Education. Prof. Shinnosuke Obi, Director of the International Center, then led the guests through each of the spaces beginning at Hiyoshi House.

To show the guests how each space could be used, KOSMIC (an International Center student organization) conducted conversation partner activities; Plurilingual Partners (international students belonging to the Research Center for Foreign Language Education) carried out a “Plurilingual Lounge” through plurilingualand pluricultural exchange with Japanese students; the International Center demonstrated study abroad counseling sessions; and Chinese language class students from the Faculty of Letters hosted a video link-up with students from Tsinghua University.

The Hiyoshi Communication Lounge has been established as a result of creative thinking to promote on campus multicultural exchange and to support educational and student activities. These were previously not possible with the existing conventional facilities.

University faculty, administrative staff and students can use single or multiple spaces for classes, extracurricular activities and any other events. They are also available for general use if no reservation exists. We hope that you will try to use the spaces as creatively as possible.

* We may call for suggestions for new names at a later date.