As part of the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s long-term vision of Look East, the governments of Malaysia and Japan are in talks on the establishment of a Japanese university campus in Malaysia. While the Japanese government amended the law in 2005 to allow universities to establish campuses abroad; no university has established any campuses abroad thus far.
Therefore, with the privately-owned University of Ritsumeikan expressing its interest and the Japanese government being supportive of the initiative. If the plan has been set in stone, it will be the first Japanese university to venture outside of Japan.
The history of Ritsumeikan dates to 1869 when Prince Kinmochi Saionji, an eminent international statesman of modern Japan, founded “Ritsumeikan” as a private academy on the site of the Kyoto Imperial Place. Today, Ritsumeikan University offers a wide range of courses in advanced studies at its Kinugasa Campus in Kyoto and Biwako-Kusatsu Campus (BKC) in Shiga.
Dr Mahathir had not only expressed his admiration towards the teamwork and sense of responsibility by the Japanese. At one time, Malaysia had sent thousands of students to tertiary institutions in Japan, under Dr Mahathir’s administration from 1981 to 2003 as well.
On a separate issue, Dr Mahathir has also been conferred an honorary doctorate by Ritsumeikan APU for his contributions as the honorary adviser of the university since 2001.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review