BANGALORE: Diplomatic relations between India and Japan received a further boost on Monday, with the University of Tokyo (Todai in Japanese) opening its first India office in the city, which was inaugurated by Infosys mentor N R Narayana Murthy.
Speaking to reporters here, Vice-President of the university Prof Akihiko Tanaka said that the office will have two primary roles - to create awareness on education opportunities in Japan and increase the number of applications by Indian students to not just Tokyo, but other universities.
“We have many premier education institutions in Japan and are focused on attracting Indian students to look at Japan as an education destination. India is important for us in terms of academic partnership,” said Prof Tanaka.
Giving a picture of the composition of students currently enrolled in the university, he said that there are 30,000 students, with 3,000 international students from over 30 countries and 35 students from India.
“The university will take care of any academic problems of students, including learning Japanese language. The international students who enroll at the university will hold citizenship of Japan till they are students,” he said, adding that the courses would be in English.
N R Narayana Murthy, who is also a member of the President’s Council at the university, said, “Both Japan and Tokyo university are leaders in innovation. It is a safe place for learning, with the university ranked 7th in the world.” Murthy added, “There are many Japanese nationals from Todai working with Infosys here. Looking at their performance, I can say that the university is par excellence.” The fee structure at Tokyo university is relatively lower than Western universities, with a 2-year masters programme costing approximately US $16,000.