Sayonara Sensei

The Department of the Far East has been working closely with the Japan Foundation for the Development of International Relations for more than 20 years, promoting the Japanese language and culture throughout the world. The Japanese Foundation was established in 1972 as a special organization under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and since that time it has been the core of cultural exchange, which Japan carries out with the countries of the world community.

Since 1995, more than 10 Japanese-language specialists have been sent to the Department of the Far East by the Japanese Foundation. The main goal of these specialists is to provide the maximum possible assistance in raising the professional level of local Japanese language teachers and improving the quality of teaching aids, and organizing cultural and educational activities in Kazakhstan. In addition to the assistance of native speakers, the Japanese Foundation provides teaching manuals, textbooks, dictionaries and audio-visual materials that are necessary for the educational process. For the period from 1995 to 2019 (23 years), KazNU received over 2 million yen for educational materials from the Foundation.

Teachers of the Department of the Far East each year undergo training courses in the Center of the Japan Foundation (Urawa, Japan).

Since 2013, with the support of the Sakura Network, a branch of the Japan Foundation, teachers of the Japanese language have been carrying out vocational guidance in various regions of Kazakhstan.

Currently, the delegated professor and specialist of the Japanese Foundation Onishi Yumi are actively assisting and supporting the promotion of Japanese language and culture in Kazakhstan. She has been working at the Department of the Far East from 2016 to the present. Thanks to the work of the professor, KazNU was able to conclude contracts with such prominent institutions as the University of Sofia (Tokyo), Bunkyo Gakuin University (Tokyo), Kouchi University (Koouchi), and the University of Foreign Languages of Kobe (Kobe).

In addition to assisting in negotiations with Japanese universities, Ms. Onishi Yumi organizes major events in the field of Japanese culture, and the development of Japanese language in Kazakhstan. General educational workshops on origami, tea ceremony, calligraphy were held for students. Every week the Japanese Studies Division of the Department of the Far East hold the «Conversational Japanese Language Club» under the direction of Onishi Yumi. Since March 2019, Onishi Yumi, Foundation’s specialist, will complete her activity at the Department. She is the last specialist delegated to KazNU by Japan Foundation.

In this regard, at the Academic Council of the University, the Rector of Al-Farabi KazNU presented letter of gratitude to Specialist of Japan Foundation Ms. Onishi Yumi.

Department of the Far East