On Monday, March 10, 2025, a symposium on housing issues for international students was held online. Ehime University established the Coordinator System for International Relations this year, and the Institute for International Relations, faculties, the Institute for Education and Student Support, and the Institute for Advanced Study are working together to promote international relations. The coordinators are in charge of tasks related to the promotion of internationalization of the university, collection of information, planning and holding symposiums, etc. Eleven faculty members have now been appointed. In response to the lack of student dormitories and the burden of finding apartments being raised as issues at the first meeting, this symposium was held with the aim of establishing an effective support system in the future by referring to examples from other universities and real estate agencies, and was attended by faculty and staff involved in accepting international students at Ehime University.
After opening remarks by Kazuhiro Mitsunobu, Director of Institute for International Relations, Deputy Director Manabu Sumida reported on housing-related issues related to the acceptance of international students at Ehime University.
Next, in the “Introduction of Good Practices from Other Universities” session, Hiroshi Sodeyama, Deputy Director of the International Student Division, Academic Affairs Department of Chiba University, introduced housing arrangements for international students through corporate contracts with Leopalace and settlement companies. In the “New Initiatives by Real Estate Companies,” Jun Matsubara, Reina Shimamoto, and Ryo Okamura of Japan Agents, Inc. introduced their efforts to enable foreigners to rent rooms in their native languages, such as through interpretation services, a dedicated inquiry service for foreigners, and a real estate listing information website for foreigners. Each presentation drew many questions from the participants, indicating a high level of interest.
Finally, an information sharing workshop was held, moderated by Deputy Director Sumida. Participants were divided into breakout rooms to share problems and troubles related to accepting, moving in, and living with international students, and to discuss issues and expectations for greatly increasing the number of international students in the future. At the end of the workshop, each group made a presentation to share their opinions and had a meaningful time.
The Institute for International Relations will continue to work with each department to improve the environment for accepting international students.
Introduction of the initiative
＜nternational Relations Office＞