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 On August 25, 2014, 15 graduate students dispatched by APSIA (Association of Professional School of International Affairs) and 5 Graduate School and College of International Relations Ritsumeikan University　(GS Major) students exchanged opinions on the present state of international relations over lunch in a convivial atmosphere at the restaurant, Kyoto Nagomikan. Professor Keiji Nakatsuji, Dean of Graduate School of International Relations, also joined and gave a welcome address.

  The visiting students, selected by leading American universities that are members of APSIA, were able to come to Japan thanks to assistance from The Japan Foundation. They underwent 10 days of training in Japan with the primary aim of studying East Asian international relations and security issues. During that time, the students visited a disaster area in Miyagi Prefecture, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and also Kyoto.

  Although only 5 students from Ritsumeikan participated due to the summer recess, as confirmable from the photo, the visiting students and College/Graduate School of IR students were not easy to differentiate as both groups included a variety of nationalities. At APSIA member universities, including Ritsumeikan, internationalization is progressing, and discussions, including ones on international relations, have advanced beyond being based on simple nationalism into ones predicated on diversity. It was precisely an event that foretells the start of a new generation.

 *APSIA (Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs: an association of universities and graduate schools around the world leading in international relations education and research. Members include top-level schools such as Harvard University and Yale University. The Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, the only official member of APSIA in Japan, is a globally-recognized school leading Japan in international relations education and research.

 *The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (CGP)

The Center for Global Partnership (CGP) was established within the Japan Foundation to promote collaboration between the people of Japan, the United States, and beyond in order to address issues of global concern. “Japan Expert Development in the US” is a program running since 2009 that, as part of efforts to address topics necessary for expansion and development, invites to Japan exceptional students studying international relations at American graduate schools.