2025/7/22

On Monday, July 14, a delegation from the University of Coimbra (UC) including Vice President João Nuno Calvão da Silva made a courtesy visit to Chair of the Board of Governors Toshiro Kita at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies (KUFS).

Ever since the two universities signed an exchange agreement in 1993, numerous students from KUFS have gone to study at UC, and both institutions have enjoyed close-knit exchanges over the years.

The visitors were welcomed by Mr. Kita along with KUFS President Takahiro Ono, Honorary Professor Ikunori Sumida, Division of International Affairs Director Atsuhito Kurozumi, and faculty and students from the Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies.

Mr. Kita started things off by delivering a greeting to all in attendance, after which Mr. Da Silva expressed his gratitude for the long friendship between the two universities along with his hopes for a furthering of that relationship in the future. Several students in attendance from the Department of Brazilian and Portuguese Studies were scheduled to depart to study abroad at UC shortly, and they proactively engaged in conversations in Portuguese with the visitors.

Following this friendly meeting, the visitors took a tour of the University Library. The UC facilities themselves are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and their library is one of the world's most beautiful.

At KUFS, the University Library houses a large number of valuable Portuguese texts, a fact on which UC Director of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities Albano Figueiredo commented: "KUFS boasts an impressive collection of literature, including works by Fernão Mendes Pinto, Luís de Camões and Gil Vicente among its collection—all of whom are featured in our courses at UC. Some of your materials, including the handwritten correspondences by Luís Fróis, are so rare that we do not have anything comparable at our own library! This is a truly important collection of Portuguese literature." The UC guests were so enamored by the library that they stayed beyond the allotted time for the tour.

Their visit helped to deepen the bonds between KUFS and UC.

Back