Nagasaki University and Nagasaki University Global Alumni Network
Nagasaki University is working to build a global network of our alumni that we have named NUGAN (Nagasaki University Global Alumni Network). We are very happy to be able to connect our alumni from Leiden University with our global alumni network.
An Introduction to the History of International Exchange in Nagasaki
Nagasaki and Nagasaki University have a long history of international exchange and cooperation. In 1569, the Japanese feudal Lord Sumitada Ōmura granted the Portuguese Jesuits permission to use the small fishing town of Nagasaki as a harbor, and from 1571 onwards, the town quickly grew into a vibrant international trading port. From 1636, the Portuguese were accommodated on the artificial island of Dejima, or Deshima in Dutch, off the coast of present-day Nagasaki city, which had been especially constructed for this purpose. The Portuguese remained in Nagasaki until 1639, when they were expelled from Japan after the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion (1637).
Exchange between the Netherlands and Nagasaki began when the Dutch established a trading post in Hirado in 1609. In 1641, the Japanese Tokugawa shogunate, as part of their isolationist foreign policy known as ‘Sakoku’, moved the Dutch trading post to Dejima and this marked the beginning of the relationship between the Netherlands and the city of Nagasaki. From then on, Dejima was the only place in Japan accessible to Westerners for more than 200 years. Dejima became the center of all trade and cultural exchanges between Japan and the West and also played an important role in introducing Western sciences and technology to Japan.
The History of Nagasaki University
The history of Nagasaki University is closely linked to the history of the exchange with the Dutch, as the university traces its roots back to the establishment in 1857 of the ‘School for Medical Education’ 医学伝習所 in the Office of the Shogunal magistrate in Nagasaki, the first institute of modern Western medicine in Japan. It was founded by Dutch Naval Doctor J.L.C. Pompe van Meedervoort, and the foundation makes our School of Medicine the medical faculty with the oldest roots in Japan.
In 1949, after experiencing the devastation by the atomic bombing during World War II, Nagasaki University was established as a national university by merging several educational institutions of different academic disciplines.
Currently, Nagasaki University, affectionately called Chodai 長大 by the people of Nagasaki, comprises 10 faculties, seven graduate schools, two research institutes, and Nagasaki University Hospital, spread across three campuses. Nagasaki University has just over 9,000 students and every year we welcome nearly 500 hundred international students from all continents.
Nagasaki University and Leiden University
In 1987, the deans of the medical faculties of Nagasaki University and Leiden University met for the first time at a lecture organized in honour of the celebrations of the 130th anniversary of Nagasaki University Medical School. After this meeting, the universities began discussions on opportunities for academic cooperation, and in 1989, the first exchange agreement between Leiden University and Nagasaki University was signed between the medical faculties. In 1999, this agreement was upgraded to a “university-wide agreement”, and academic cooperation between both universities continues to this day.
In 1992, Leiden University opened a branch for the Japan Studies Department at Huis ten Bosch-Holland Village, and when Huis ten Bosch branch went bankrupt in 2003, Nagasaki University offered to accept students from the Japan Studies Department.
In 2004, the university welcomed the first group of students in Nagasaki, and this year we celebrate the 20th anniversary of relations between our university and the Japan Studies department. It is therefore particularly fitting that in this very year we can give the go-ahead for the establishment of the Nagasaki University Leiden Alumni Association.
In 2014, Nagasaki University established the School for Global Humanities and Social Sciences which has a small programme for Dutch Studies. As a part of this Dutch Studies programme, students of Nagasaki University spend a year studying in Leiden. While in Nagasaki, and also during their stay in Leiden, many of these students have academic and social exchanges with students of Japan Studies, leading to many wonderful friendships.
Nagasaki University Global Alumni Network and Planetary Health
With medical research institutes in Kenya and Vietnam, Nagasaki University is determined to broaden its horizons to planetary health. In the 21st century, climate change, food crises, biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, poverty, inequality, and pandemics caused by human activities became increasingly difficult issues. These issues are becoming more multilayered and diverse on a global scale, and their impact on human well-being and health is also becoming more apparent. Nagasaki University aims to become a world-class centre of planetary health education and research that contributes to the realisation of planetary health by bringing together and creating knowledge through transdisciplinary means.
One of the ways in which we aim to achieve this is through the expansion of NUGAN. NUGAN is set up as a global community of people from all over the world, connected by their shared experience of studying or working at Nagasaki University. NUGAN’s chapters and ambassadors facilitate communication among Nagasaki University Alumni wherever they may find themselves around the globe. They bring them closer together, provide spaces to reminisce about Nagasaki, and give alumni the opportunity to network and advance in their careers.
We hope that everyone who studied in Nagasaki will apply through the site of the Leidse Alumni Kai, and are looking forward to seeing you here in Nagasaki or in Leiden in person.
Nagasaki University, Office for Global Relations