虎扑电竞

Tohoku University recently commemorated 120 years of international student exchanges by celebrating the remarkable story of Chinese author Lu Xun who, as Zhou Zhangshou, enrolled in Sendai Medical College in 1904.

He was one of the first foreigners to attend a government-funded institution in Sendai and was an early inspiration for Tohoku University's "open door" policy of accepting talented students regardless of nationality, gender or background.

Later known as the Father of Modern Chinese Literature, Lu Xun shared his fondness for Sendai and Tohoku University in a collection of short stories titled "Professor Fujino," named after his anatomy professor Genkuro Fujino. Professor Fujino famously supported Lu Xun by checking the notes that he took during lectures, and their close relationship is still often cited as an example of warm Sino-Japanese relations.

At a special workshop on Oct 29 - attended by Lu Xun's grandson Zhou Lingfei, his younger brother Zhou Lingyi and sister Zhou Ning, as well as various Chinese guests and officials - Tohoku University President Teiji Tominaga said in a video message that the celebration is not just a retrospective but a forward-looking commitment to international education and mutual understanding.

"The wide-ranging exchanges that we now have with China and many other countries are truly rooted in Lu Xun's arrival in Sendai and his relationship with Genkuro Fujino. That exchange, which transcended nationalities and national borders, embodies the significance of international friendship in academia."

President Tominaga added that as Japan's first University for International 虎扑电竞 Excellence, Tohoku University plans to increase the number of international students and co-curricular programmes "to further foster an educational environment in which students from different backgrounds can grow together and contribute to academic and social development."

In his speech, Kuniaki Sato from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), also underscored the Japanese government's commitment to increasing student mobility and cross-border cooperation.

"In recent years, the rapid progress of globalization and digitalization has made our social and economic activities more borderless than ever before," he said, expressing his hopes that Tohoku University "will further develop as one of the world's leading institutions in education, research and innovation, and show the way for all of us to follow."

The workshop then featured a series of lectures, including a detailed chronology of Lu Xun's time at Sendai Medical College by Professor Satoshi Kato of the Tohoku University Archives; and a look at the growth of Sino-Japanese educational and cultural exchanges by Minister-Counselor Du Kewei of the Chinese Embassy in Japan.

Alumna Tian Dongting - a 2022 recipient of the Professor Fujino Encouragement Award which recognizes outstanding Chinese students at Tohoku University - shared anecdotes of her own experiences as an international student. And Vice President Masahiro Yamaguchi wrapped up the workshop with a presentation on the history and future of academic exchange between Tohoku University and China.

As a wider part of the 120th anniversary celebrations, there was also a ceremony at the Lu Xun Memorial Monument Garden the previous day, attended by about 150 people, including Sendai City Mayor Kazuko Kori and other local officials.

In a brief but touching speech, Zhou said that his grandfather's friendship with Professor Fujino "showed that understanding, respect and affection between people are common values that transcend borders and ethnicities. Let's work together to deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the people of our two countries."

A special exhibition at the Tohoku University Archives titled "Lu Xun's Reading Life" is currently on. The five-week event is a collaboration with the Beijing Lu Xun Museum, and features rarely seen panels and historical materials that showcase Lu Xun's life and work. Records of other significant international students who have studied at Tohoku University over the past 120 years are also on display.