Japanese university plans huge 'manga' library

TOKYO — In a move to promote serious study of Japanese manga, a university in Tokyo plans to open a library with two million comic books, animation drawings, video games and other cartoon industry artifacts.

Tentatively named the Tokyo International Manga Library, it would open by early 2015 on the campus of the private Meiji University, and be available to researchers and fans from Japan and abroad.

"Manga has been taken lightly in the past and there has been no solid archive for serious study," said Susumi Shibao, a library official at the university told AFP by telephone.

"We want to help academic studies on manga as part of Japanese culture."

To give an early taste of its collection, the university will open the Yoshihiro Yonezawa Memorial Library of Manga and Subculture this October 31, featuring the late manga critic's collection of 140,000 comic books.

Some of the books date back to before World War II.

Japan, which grew rich on exporting cars and high-tech goods, has stepped up an official campaign to promote its cultural offerings, from Tokyo city wear to video games and award-winning animation films.

Japanese manga, ranging from classic Astro Boy and the Doraemon robot cat to the latest smash hit Naruto, a tale of a ninja boy, has charmed children and adults worldwide.

The former conservative government of Taro Aso, which was ousted in August elections, had earmarked 11.7 billion yen (128 million dollars) for a museum on Japanese cartoon art and pop culture to be built in Tokyo.

But the plan, part of wider stimulus measures, was axed by the new centre-left government, which criticised the construction as a "state-run manga cafe" that has nothing to do with boosting the economy।

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Asia moves up university league table

US and British universities dominate the top of a league table of universities worldwide published Thursday, but Asian seats of learning are moving up the global rankings.

Harvard remains in top spot in the Times Higher Education (THE) league table, followed by Britain's Cambridge University then Yale in third place, with London's University College and Imperial College in fourth and fifth.

Oxford has slipped one to joint fifth, but the next 10 places are occupied by US universities, most of them Ivy League like Princeton and Columbia, but also including Chicago University.

But Asian universities, while still struggling to break into the top 20, are moving upwards, with numbers in the top 200 growing in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Malaysia.

After the University of Tokyo in 22nd place come the University of Hong Kong in 24th, Japan's Kyoto University in 25th, and the National University of Singapore in 30th.

Philip Altbach of Boston University says the Asian improvement is due to a number of factors.

"These countries have invested heavily in higher education in recent years, and this is reflected in the improved quality in their top institutions," he told the Times education weekly.

"They have also attempted to internationalise their universities by hiring more faculty from overseas... this helps to improve their visibility globally," he added.

Japan has the most top-200-ranked universities at 11, one more than last year, followed by China with six; Hong Kong (up from four to five); South Korea (up from three to four); and Singapore and India, with two each.

Europe's top non-British university is Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology in 20th spot, followed by France's Ecole Normale Superieure in 28th. The top German university is the Technical University of Munich, in 55th.

The top non-US and non-European universities are the Australian National University in 17th place, down one, and Canada's McGill University in 18th position, down two.

The league table, compiled by the THE in collaboration with the QS global career and education network, ranks universities according to a series of criteria including peer review, employers' views and student opinion surveys.

In Britain, Oxford University voiced surprise at the downgrading.

"League table rankings can vary as they often use different methods to measure success," said a spokesman for Oxford, one of the world's oldest universities which has a fierce rivalry with Cambridge.

"But Oxford University's position is surprising given that Oxford... has the highest research income of any UK university and has come first in every national league table," he added.

Here is a ranking of countries with the most universities in the top 200 of the THE/QS league table:

Country Region 2008 2009

United States North America 58 54

United Kingdom Europe 29 29

Canada North America 12 11

Japan Asia 10 11

Netherlands Europe 11 11

Germany Europe 11 10

Australia Australasia 9 9

Switzerland Europe 7 7

China Asia 6 6

Belgium Europe 5 5

Hong Kong Asia 4 5

Sweden Europe 4 5

France Europe 4 4

South Korea Asia 3 4

Denmark Europe 3 3

Israel Asia 3 3

New Zealand Australasia 3 3

India Asia 2 2

Ireland Europe 2 2

Norway Europe 1 2

Russia Europe 1 2

Singapore Asia 2 २

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Kyoto Univ. cafeteria to start providing Islamic food

Kyoto University Co-op said Monday it will start providing food permissible under Islamic law at the university's cafeteria to meet the needs of the increasing number of Muslim students on campus.

The cafeteria will introduce a Halal food corner from Tuesday, avoiding pork and seasonings of pork origin, which Muslims are banned from eating. The new menus include chicken and croquettes made of broad beans, it said.

More than 1,000 Muslims live in the city of Kyoto, many of them said to be Kyoto University students and their families.

The rare introduction is aimed at supporting such Muslim students, whose population is expected to rise under the university's plans to increase the number of foreign students it accepts.

While the co-op said it had problems in arranging a cooking environment to avoid mixing pork and pork-related seasonings with Halal food, it has solved the issue by preparing the food at different hours।

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Tokyo universities set up first national/privately-funded grad school

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) and Waseda University will establish a joint graduate school next spring, school authorities announced Thursday।

The joint institution, which is scheduled to open in April next year, will be Japan's first-ever graduate school to be co-founded by national and private universities।

TUAT and Waseda, which are strong in agricultural science and engineering respectively, hope the school will become a leading institution in the area of health science, such as preventive medicine and food safety।

The school will offer a 3-year Ph।D. course in advanced health science, to be conferred under the name of both universities. A total of 10 seats will be available for the course, which will be taught by nine dedicated professors. Candidates are required to choose the university they would like to apply for, as well as their desired tutor. Up to six applicants will be admitted to TUAT and four to Waseda, all of whom will attend the common program at both universities.

Both universities will offer a 600,000 yen per year scholarship to make up for a 200,000-yen difference in tuition and admission fees in the first year।

"TUAT is strong in biotechnology and drug discovery। Our collaboration will bring about results that we can be proud of," said Waseda president Katsuhiko Shirai. TUAT head Hidefumi Kobatake added: "The fact that Waseda University is affiliated with Tokyo Women's Medical University is also very attractive for us."
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