TUFS Signs a Comprehensive Partnership Agreement with Ota City, Gunma Prefecture

November 25, 2025

On Friday, November 21, 2025, a signing ceremony for a comprehensive partnership agreement between Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Ota City, Gunma Prefecture, was held. Attending from TUFS were President Nobuo Haruna, Executive Vice President Chika Takeda, Specially Appointed Professor Eliseu Pichitelli, and Lecturer Osamu Mizunuma. Attending from Ota City were Mayor Masanobu Hozumi, Vice Mayor Miwako Osawa, and Planning Department Director Tomosei Nakamura.

During the ceremony, President Haruna and Mayor Hozumi delivered remarks. President Haruna introduced the university's 150-year history of foreign language education and noted its recent focus on promoting multicultural coexistence. He stated that, following agreements with Yamagata Prefecture and Izumo City, Shimane Prefecture, this agreement with Ota City also aims for mutual learning and contribution. Mayor Hozumi then explained that approximately 16,000 foreign residents, accounting for about 7% of Ota City's population, live in the city, with Brazilians forming a significant portion. He shared initiatives for multicultural coexistence based on his experience visiting a Brazilian school in the city and participating in the Conference of Cities with Large Foreign Populations held in Okayama, expressing his expectations for this agreement.

Subsequently, President Haruna and Mayor Hozumi signed the cooperation agreement, followed by a press conference.

Concrete initiatives under this agreement will commence with a Portuguese-language play performance by TUFS Portuguese Language Major students in Ota City, scheduled for Saturday, December 6th.