PUHI — Plans are already underway to host a team of students in March, said Tracy Hirano of the Kaua‘i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training. A formal Memorandum of Agreement between the Toyama National College of Technology
PUHI — Plans are already underway to host a team of students in March, said Tracy Hirano of the Kaua‘i Community College Office of Continuing Education and Training.
A formal Memorandum of Agreement between the Toyama National College of Technology and the Kaua‘i Community College was signed Monday morning.
Dr. Yoshinori Naruse, vice president of the TNCT, and several of the college’s staff members arrived over the weekend and have lost little time getting acquainted with the KCC campus, having spent some time in Dennis Chun’s Hawaiian Studies classroom prior to the signing.
“We took them surfing over the weekend, and Sunday night, we had a cookout at the hotel they’re staying at,” Chun said.
Brian Yamamoto, the International Studies coordinator at KCC, said the MOA is for five years and is based on a foundation of mutual trust to promote exchanges of students, faculty and staff for the purpose of progress in maritime technology, both modern and ancient, oceanography, language and culture.
Hirano said while here, the TNCT contingent that includes Hiroshi Mikami, head of the Maritime Technology Department, and Tomoki Oku, associate professor in the Maritime Technology Department, have a schedule of stops through the state where they will become more acquainted with celestial navigation techniques used by the ancient Hawaiians. This includes a stop on O‘ahu where they are scheduled to inspect the Hokule‘a.
During the meeting, one of the guests noted that Oku was on one of the Hokule‘a crews on its sail.
“We already have exchange programs in the liberal arts and nursing,” Hirano said. “To move into this technology field is a big step for KCC, and it’s heartwarming to see that ancient celestial navigation techniques used by the ancient Hawaiians are being discovered.”
Hirano said when the Toyama students get here in March, they will be on an intensive two-week tour with Chun, learning not only about celestial navigation, but also the Hawaiian culture.
Naruse, in a conversation with Cox prior to the formal signing, said the Toyama college has about 900 students spread out across two campuses in the Toyama Prefecture.
“Japan, poor in its natural resources, should give priority to establishment of a state on the basis of creative industrial technology, that is to say, to the promotion of science and technology to build up intellectual assets,” said Hisashi Miyashita, president of TNCT in his Web site message.
Naruse said the college accepts students from as young as 15 years old for a five-year program leading to a bachelor’s degree.
