2024/4/26

On Thursday, April 18, President Ana Fernandes of Camões - Instituto da Cooperação e da Língua , I.P. (“Camões I.P. ”), along with Ambassador Vítor Sereno and First Secretary Tiago Maurício from the Embassy of Portugal in Japan, visited Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) to attend a signing ceremony for an agreement establishing the Luís Fróis Academic Seminar, and also regarding the All Japan Student Portuguese Speech Contest which is held at KUFS every year.

Camões I.P. is a cultural promotion organization operated by the Portuguese national government with the goal of strengthening international recognition of the Portuguese language and Portuguese culture. This organization collaborates with educational institutions in other countries around the world to establish academic seminars. Camões I.P. has agreed to establish the Luís Fróis Academic Seminar at KUFS, and to finalize the agreement, Ms. Fernandes attended a signing ceremony together with Mr. Sereno and KUFS President Takahiro Ono.

The seminar itself is intended to promote the international spread of the Portuguese language in Japan. It has already been established in 23 key countries around the world, and this latest agreement marks its first establishment in Japan. Luís Fróis, whose name is featured in the seminar title, was a 16th-century Jesuit missionary in Japan during the Sengoku (Warring States) Period who met with prominent leaders such as Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Mr. Fróis also wrote the História de Japam ("History of Japan"), which is an account of Japan's Sengoku Period from the perspective of a foreigner and a highly valued source of information for researchers on this period of Japanese history. KUFS has pursued many studies on and related to Mr. Fróis and his works over the years. In fact, late Honorary Professors Kiichi Matsuda and Momota Kawasaki completed the first Japanese translation of História de Japam in 12 volumes (published by CHUOKORON-SHINSHA INC.).

Through the Luís Fróis Academic Seminar, KUFS students and staff will research the life of Mr. Fróis and his works, translate contemporary Portuguese literature into Japanese, promote Portuguese language learning, hold seminar sessions and conferences in cooperation with the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Tokyo , and pursue other such cultural activities.

On the day of the agreement signing, teaching staff from the Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies, as well as current students who won prizes at the All Japan Student Portuguese Speech Contest last November, and persons with experience studying or working in Portugal attended the ceremony and met with the visiting dignitaries.

The signing ceremony was featured prominently in the Portuguese newspaper Diário de Notícias.

Quioto recebe a primeira cátedra em Estudos Portugueses no Japão

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