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🔴 Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai × The University of Osaka ! 🔵 Students from the School of Foreign Studies and the Department of Foreign Studies, Graduate School of Humanities, gave short speeches at the National Day of Bulgaria
On Sunday, May 18, the Bulgaria National Day was held at the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, where Keiko Takemura, Executive Vice President in charge of Public Relations and Expo 2025, and Sayo Tsutsui, Dean of the School of Foreign Studies, delivered greetings in front of President Rumen Radev and Ambassador Marieta Arabadjieva.
Four students from the School of Foreign Studies and one graduate student from the Department of Foreign Studies, the Graduate School of Humanities, who are studying Bulgarian, gave short speeches in the Bulgarian language, which were met with enthusiastic applause.
The students who gave speeches expressed that they were nervous in front of the president, but it turned out to be an invaluable experience."
Greetings from Executive Vice President Takemura (President Rumen Radev and Ambassador Marieta Arabadjieva, 2nd and 3rd from right, respectively)
Greetings from Prof. Tsutsui, Dean of the School of Foreign Studies
Ai Fukuma (3 rd year, School of Foreign Languages, Burmese major) giving a speech about her interest in Bulgarian history and culture.
Fumiya Tokushige (3rd year, School of Foreign Studies, Russian major) giving a speech about being interviewed by the Bulgarian media on his classes.
Sayaka Ogasawara (3rd year, School of Foreign Studies, Russian major) giving a speech about her aspirations for studying abroad at Sofia University
Ryo Umehara (2nd year, Graduate School of Humanities, Foreign Studies major) giving a speech about his studies at the University of Osaka on Bulgarian language, Old Church Slavonic, and Balkan studies
Naoko Yamada (3rd year, School of Foreign Studies, Russian major) giving a speech about her aspirations for the Sofia University Summer School she will participate in this summer.
The exchange between the Republic of Bulgaria and the University of Osaka began in 2006 with an academic exchange agreement between Osaka University of Foreign Studies and Sofia University (currently called the Inter-Faculty academic exchange agreement between Sofia University and the Graduate School of Humanities, School of Foreign Studies, and Center for Japanese Language and Culture of the University of Osaka).
Since 2022, thanks to a donation from the Bulgarian Embassy, courses in the Bulgarian language and Old Church Slavonic (Old Bulgarian language) have been offered every other year.
Additionally, with the donation of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Sofia University, the University of Osaka started to offer "Balkan Studies," with a total of 280 students submitting essays and earning credits to date.
Such exchanges have led to the participation of our faculty and students in the National Day of Bulgaria at the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
During the ceremony, there was a performance of Bulgarian folk dances, where those present danced together holding hands, creating a lively and amiable moment filled with smiles.
Commemorative photo with those involved in the event
Performance of Bulgarian folk dance in front of the pavilion
All ceremony participants holding hands and dancing in a circle
Click here for information about Expo 2025-related events by the University of Osaka! (link in Japanese)
In addition, we will be sharing various updates, such as preparation progress and on-site reports, on our university's X and Facebook, as well as the UOsaka Expo 2025 Promotion Office (Expo Promotion Office) Facebook and Instagram accounts.
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