Introducing EALAI

The East Asia Liberal Arts Initiative (EALAI) aims to share the University of Tokyo's extensive experience in liberal arts education with partners in other East Asian countries and to promote exchange programs and affiliation with East Asian universities in the field of liberal arts education and academic activities.

From 1999 to 2014, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Liberal Arts jointly hosted an annual forum known as BESETOHA with our prestigious partners, Beijing University, Seoul National University and Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The deans from the four partner universities attended all 16 meetings. Since it was initiated in 2005, EALAI was responsible for the administration of the forum. EALAI participated in the forum’s conferences and workshops which addressed various issues on liberal arts education. In addition, it carried out numerous discussions on how the four universities can cooperate in liberal arts education. Based on these achievements, EALAI is now working on various educational activities with the partner universities and expanding educational and academic exchange programs with other institutions in East Asia.

In the age of globalization, there is a growing demand to strengthen liberal arts education which is in line with East Asian culture and its issues in order to further enhance our mutual understandings within East Asia. Improving the quality of liberal arts education through various activities with our partners will lead us to lay a foundation for knowledge across East Asia. We would greatly appreciate your kind support for our program.