Komaru Transportation Company together with Hiroshima University Lithuanian Center and VMU Center for Asian Studies is organizing the Sixth traditional Japanese Language Speech Contest. Students of the Japanese Language in Lithuania are welcome to participate. Traditionally, the organizers are going to surprise participants with special prizes.

The topic of the contest is “transportation” in its broad meaning, including traffic, travels etc. Speeches must be original and created by participants. Speeches will be evaluated by a special committee that will take into consideration its grammar, fluency, expressions, content and answers to questions.

The registration is open until September 11 (Monday), 2023. In order to register fill out an online application. After registering the participants will receive a link to submit their speeches in written form (until September 30, 2023).

If you have additional questions, please contact CAS senior coordinator Ms. Kayako Takagi via email.

For more information please refer to a detailed description (In Lithuanian and Japanese).

The Centre for Asian Studies hosted the 36th Nihongo Kyoiku Renraku Kaigi (Liaison Conference of Japanese Language Education) on August 24th and 25th. This conference was created in 1988 to facilitate information exchange among local Japanese language teachers in Eastern Europe.

Originally planned to take place in Kaunas in 2020, it was postponed due to COVID-19. However, this summer, the conference was finally able to take place (more…)

We would like to invite all interested in culture and languages of East Asia to listen to the public defense of students’ final thesis.

Bachelor thesis defense of East Asian Cultures and Languages will take place on June 5-6, from 9:00 at Putvinskio str. 23, room 310.

We invite scholars of various academic fields of humanities and social science to submit proposals to an academic conference “Challenging relations with(in) East Asia” which will be held at Vytautas Magnus University (VMU, Kaunas, Lithuania) on November 3–4, 2023.

East Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world that is attracting global attention. As home to 1.6 billion people and almost a third of the world’s GDP, East Asia is often associated with growth, ambition, and innovation. As a result, East Asian countries have been establishing numerous bilateral and multilateral ties which created a complex network of governance of various spheres, ranging from economy to environmental protection. On the other hand, the region is not only a place of emerging opportunities, but also a hotspot of numerous risks and challenges. Tensions between North and South Korea, animosities among the neighboring countries due to historical legacies, display of military power in the Taiwan Strait – all this makes the international community very worried about the possible escalation and the negative impact it could cause to the whole world. It reveals that international relations both with and within East Asia can be challenging in numerous ways. (more…)

The Centre for Asian Studies (CAS) at Vytautas Magnus University together with the students’ clubs “Hallyu”, “Hashi” and “Wu Wei” invite Kaunas residents and city’s guests to the VMU Asian Week 2023. This year the event will take place on April 24-28 in venues of VMU and other public places in Kaunas.

VMU Asian Week is a one week-long cycle of events dedicated to East Asian cultures – Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese. It is done through the presentation of specific aspects of culture, arts and cuisine. CAS social partners in Lithuania and abroad actively participated in the organization of this event. This year, in cooperation with the Cinema Centre “Romuva”, we invite you to watch famous films by Asian directors in the evenings during the Asia Week. You can purchase the tickets at the cinema “Romuva” or online here.

Here you can download the program of the Asian Week (PDF).

Our partners: (more…)

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January 21-27 during a visit to Japan, VMU Asian Studies Center employees Arvydas and Simona Kumpiai visited Gifu university, KUIS (Kanda University of International Studies, Chiba) which are partner institutions of VMU, the Museum of the Port of Humanity in Tsuruga and also met with the Ambassador of Lithuania in Japan dr. Aurelijus Zykas.

During the visit to Gifu University (January 23) plans for future cooperation were discussed. Moreover, VMU lecturer Kayako Takagi gave a presentation for the university community members interested in Lithuania. (more…)

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The 5^th Conference of Baltic Alliance of Asian Studies (BAAS) took place in the Tallinn University (Estonia) on September 23-25, 2022. This conference takes place every two years in a different Baltic country and aims to bring together scholars from various fields studying different regions of Asia. This time the topic of the conference was “Asia in Transition / Tradition as the Source of Change”.

In the period of 3 days 18 panels took place, during which scholars from different fields made presentations and shared their insights. Among them 5 presentations were made by the staff members of VMU Centre for Asian Studies. Next BAAS Conference will be organized by the University of Latvia in Riga in the Spring of 2024.

For more information on BAAS check here

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It is time for all who are interested in East Asian cultures, languages, economics, politics and more to come together for what has become an annual student research conference, organised by the VMU East Asia Cultures and Languages students.
This conference is a great opportunity to share your knowledge, work and research with colleagues in the field, to try and improve your public speaking skills, to gain experience and to listen to presentations by like-minded people. (more…)

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Are you interested in politics of Japan? Maybe you are interested in economy of China? Maybe you are fascinated in Korean art and traditions? It does not matter in which field you are interested in, as long as it is related to East Asia we have a very interesting proposition to you. (more…)

VMU Department of International Relations informs about ongoing studies exchange and internship contests as well as “Erasmus Days’21” which are going to take place on February 17th, 18th, and 19th, during which students will be able to learn more about exchange opportunities. (more…)

Beijing Normal University entrusts the European Federation of Overseas Chinese and Chinese Associations to recruit 100 candidates for MBA and MPA studies (conducted fully in English) from all over the world. Appropriate students are welcome to sign up. (more…)

Applications for scholarships for studies in China in 2021-2022 are open. Persons who are nationals of Lithuania, EU or persons from the third countries having the right to live in Lithuania are welcome to apply.

Applications may be submitted by representatives of various fields of Lithuanian science and studies institutions/ representatives of science fields – Bachelor, Masters and PhD students. (more…)

The Government of Japan has announced a competition for financing studies in Japan according to Japonology study program. Estimated studies duration one year from October 2021.

Those who wish to apply for the scholarship must be BA students (from second course), have sufficient knowledge of Japanese language and a good study results. (more…)

During 20 years, Japanese students and people, who are interested in Japan have become friends. Whose, who were interested in Japanese culture and language could learn something more than it’s written on the internet. Also, they could improve their speaking skills. Bridge connects two shores, so students from Japan could learn more about Lithuanian culture, traditions, improve their English and Lithuanian speaking skills, participate in trips to different places organized by club members and presentation in schools. (more…)

This year the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan (MEXT) offers citizens of Lithuania 4 scholarship programs for studies in Japan from 2021:
Undergraduate Students ( starting April, 2021).
Research Students (starting October, 2021)
Specialized Training College Students (starting April, 2021).
College of Technology Students (starting April, 2021). (more…)