On May 27th, approved by the Office of Chinese Language Council International, the Osaka College of Confucius Institute was jointly established by College of International Cultural Exchanges, Tongji University and Ritsumeikan University in Japan. The University president Pei Gang sent congratulatory letter and Cai Jianguo, dean of College of International Cultural Exchanges read the letter in the unveiling ceremony. Kawaguchi Kiyofumi, president of Ritsumeikan University and Kunio Hiramatsu, mayor of Osaka addressed at the ceremony. Luo Tianguang, Chinese consul-general in Osaka and Masayuki Nakagawa, professor of Ritsumeikan University gave special lectures respectively. 200 people in Japanese political, business and academic circles attended the meeting. At the beginning, all the representatives present at the meeting stood in silent tribute for the victims in Sichuan earthquake and raised money for disaster relief.
Ritsumeikan University, which was located in Kyoto, was a private university with 100 years’ history. This university was the first one to set up Confucius Institute in Japan and its outstanding achievements were highly praised by Chinese Ministry of Education, the Office of Chinese Language Council International and other international counterparts. Premier Wen Jiabao has paid a visit to the Confucius Institute during his visit in Japan last April. So far, Ritsumeikan University has established four Confucius Institutes and Colleges with Pekin University, Zhejiang University and Tongji University.
