On March 31, 2026, Nagoya University held its ninth Student Reporting Session for the Tokai Tokyo Foundation Global Education Promotion Program. President Naoshi Sugiyama and other executives joined representatives from the Tokai Tokyo Foundation to hear reports from students who had participated in programs at the University of Sheffield, the University of Edinburgh, and St John’s College, University of Cambridge.
The Tokai Tokyo Foundation has supported Nagoya University students in accessing international study opportunities at leading UK institutions. This year’s cohort spanned fields including engineering, medicine, education, economics, and science.
Students described the programs as transformative in ways that extended well beyond language acquisition. One participant noted that full immersion in an English-language environment significantly accelerated their confidence in one-on-one conversation, while also highlighting the challenge of following fast-paced exchanges among native speakers; a gap, they reflected, for which classroom study alone rarely prepares you. Another spoke of accessing research perspectives and policy discussions unavailable through Japanese-language sources, and how that exposure is now shaping their academic and career goals.
Nagoya University students that participated in the program at St John’s College mentioned how they were excited to welcome their Cambridge peers to Nagoya in July 2026 as part of the program’s reciprocal exchange component.
The session opened with remarks from President Sugiyama and closed with comments from Mikio Fujii, chairman and CEO of Tokai Tokyo Securities Co., Ltd. and trustee of the Tokai Tokyo Foundation, who reflected on the value of the partnership and the outcomes demonstrated by this year’s cohort.
