2026/6/16

On Monday, June 15, the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS) University Museum of International Cultures held an opening ceremony for a pre-event anticipating the upcoming 80th anniversary of KUFS' founding, titled "University as a Museum: The Treasures of KUFS."
Approximately 40 KUFS-affiliated personnel attended, including President, Chancellor and Chair of the Board of Governors Toshiro Kita, Governor Toyoko Morita, and KUFS Vice President and Museum Director Naoki Kondo.

Speaking on behalf of the organizers, Mr. Kita opened the ceremony with some words of gratitude: "Next year, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of KUFS' founding, and this exhibition serves as a pre-event for that important milestone. I am exceedingly proud that we are able to display such an impressive collection, gathered over the University's 80-year history by predecessors such as celebrated founders Ichiro and Shizuko Morita."

Ms. Toyoko Morita followed up by expressing her high expectations for the event: "Our predecessors collected and brought back valuable documentary materials, rare artifacts, and priceless works for our library every time they went abroad. It is my sincere hope that everyone at KUFS—particularly our students—as well as outside visitors can enjoy these valuable treasures of our University."

These greetings were followed by a ribbon cutting, after which all in attendance erupted in excited applause, creating a splendid scene for the opening ceremony. Following the ceremony, a special viewing of exhibition items was held, with all in attendance showing great interest and expressing admiration for the various collections on display.

The centerpiece of the exhibition was KUFS' renowned collection of 33 extremely valuable art pieces, shown together all at once for this special event. People were particularly drawn to a practice piece for the relief work Me to Me Komyunikeshon (“Eye-to-Eye Communication”) by Taro Okamoto, discovered only recently on the University grounds. This proved fascinating as a reference for the final version of this same work, which is exhibited on the first floor of Building No. 9, and attracted the attention of visitors. The exhibition also included an impressive array of art by great masters such as Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall, as well as works by giants of modern and early-modern Japanese painting such as Tomioka Tessai, Kiyokata Kaburaki, Insho Domoto and Tsuguharu Fujita, providing visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to personally experience art history on campus.

In addition to the abovementioned showings, KUFS plans gallery talks, on-campus art tours and other related events. We hope that students, teachers, and visitors from throughout the local community will join us!

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