Chairman Yoji Sato of One Asia Foundation (OAF) visited Communication University of China (CUC) last Thursday, he gave a lecture for the Asian Community course he funded and attended the award ceremony for the students.
Jiang Xufan (R),vice chairman of CUC University Council meets with OAF Chairman Yoji Sato at CUC on July 5,2018. [Photo by Hu Zhenchao]
Professor Jiang Xufan, vice chairman of CUC University Council met with Yoji Sato before the lecture. On behalf of CUC, professor Jiang Xufan extended his warm welcome to Yoji Sato and introduced the recent development of CUC and its cooperation with Japanese education institutions. Jiang said that CUC attaches great significance to international cooperation and expressed CUC’s gratitude for all the effort OAF and Yoji Sato have done for CUC and Asia. Yoji Sato explained the purpose of One Asia Foundation to build a main force consisting of college students that keeps world under peace in the following two or three decades. He stressed that college students are the backbone of the future society, and hoped that through the series of international lectures, students can improve their intercultural understanding and communication ability, to promote world peace and stability.
Liang Yan, director of CUC International Exchange and Cooperation Department, Pang liang, director of CUC Development Planning Department, Wang Jingzhi, leader of the subsidized Asian Community course in CUC, Chairman’s son Junpei Sato, and Secretary General Hidekazu Nishizuka were also present on the occasion.
Delegates from One Asia Foundation pose for photos with the CUC group at CUC on July 5,2018.[Photo by Hu Zhenchao]
"After a long time of doing business, I started to ponder on ‘Life’. I came to realize that I could use rest of my life to spend time with college students in the world to build a greater future that I have imagined and I believe it will exist. And it’s never tedious to talk to the youngsters." Yoji Sato said.
One Asia Foundation, founded in 2009, is a nonprofit organization that aims at promoting the world peace and more Asian exchanging developments, contributing to the establishment of Asian Community in the future. One of the most profound achievements that OAF has made and is still endeavoring to make better is the Asian Community lectures. The lecture program has been conducted in more than three hundred higher educational institutions from 33 countries and regions and OAF is planning to extend it to 15 more countries and regions on 514 universities in total. Last year, CUC associate professor Wang Jingzhi successfully applied for the subsidized Asian Community course from OAF with the theme of Media Art Education and Asian Community Construction. This year it is the first time the Asian Community course came to CUC campus led by 15 well-known professors from home and abroad such as Dr Joon-Kon Chung and Giray Fidan to give lectures. A total of 127 students took it as a public elective. 
OAF Chairman Yoji Sato gives the lecture. [Photo by Hu Zhenchao]
Asian Community lectures include the four modules of media education, Chinese characters and culture, opera and international cultural communication, economics and trade. All the students wrote down their thoughts after every class and brought their discussion beyond the topic and the class. Also, related to the Asian Community course, student presentations and a symposium have been held. The students gave their presentations on many topics that interests them from the lectures. The symposium focused on the theme of Media Art Education and Asian Community Construction, in which more than 20 academics from six universities attended it. Chen Yihui, student from the class who majored in international journalism said Asian Community lectures interests her more than any other public elective she has taken before. She was particularly interested in the class Joël Bellassen gave themed on cross culture communication. She thought it has struck a responsive chord in her heart due to her own exchange experience.
OAF Chairman Yoji Sato and all the participants took a group photo after the lecture. [Photo by Huang Zhe]
Last Thursday it was the last lecture of the Asian Community course for this term in CUC. Yoji Sato gave the lecture himself themed On Human Beings. He talked about the formation of “The Self” and the “Socialization process” of a human being and then extended the discussion with students to what is human beyond body and mind.
Apart from subsidizing the lectures, OAF also awards scholarship for students who have showed their incomparable excellence during this course. Yoji Sato said, “The Scholarship was aimed at impressing students with what they have learned from this course and therefore help them in their future road.”
OAF Chairman Yoji Sato gives scholarship to the students [Photo by Hu Zhenchao]
After the lecture finished, Yoji Sato together with associate professor Wang Jingzhi awarded Chen Yihui and other 19 students out of 127 with scholarship and certificates. Hu Jinli, one of the students who received the secondary award expressed the scholarship can encourage students to study harder than usual. “At least you will feel you have the motive to learn this course well, and this is the only course I took that award students with scholarship that only focuses on the course itself. I believe I’ll always remember it and always look back on what I have learned and what I have thought I will endeavor to achieve.”
Editor: Cao Wanchen, Arshad Bhatti
