Sophia University Luxembourg Office

The office was opened during a ceremony including the Archbishop of Luxembourg, Father Hollerich, the Ambassador of Japan to Luxembourg, Wataru Nishigahiro, and the Presidents of the two universities.

In 2013, Sophia University has been selected by the Japanese government as one of the top universities in Japan and has therefore been included in a group called Global 30 which consists of the best universities in the country. As a Global 30 university, Sophia is supposed to establish an office in Europe and has chosen to do so in Luxembourg. The office at the University of Luxembourg is modest, with one person working on voluntary basis, to start with. In return, Sophia university has kindly invited the top 10 students at the University of Luxembourg during the academic year 2022-2023 to take part in a three-week summer school in Tokyo in the summer of 2023. These students have been selected by the Deans of the three faculties of the University of Luxembourg after the first semester this academic year.

The special relationship between Sophia and Luxembourg goes back to September 1913, when Sophia University was founded in Japan by three Jesuit priests. One of them had Luxembourgish nationality. His name was Father Dahlmann and he stayed on to teach at the university in Tokyo that he had founded. In 2008, an agreement between Sophia University and the University of Luxembourg was signed. The initiative came from the Archbishop of Luxembourg, Father Hollerich, at the time Vice-president at Sophia university. Since then, several young students on bachelor and master level have been exchanged between Sophia University and the University of Luxembourg. Many students in Luxemburg are interested in going to Japan for their mobility semester, and many already know some Japanese and have insight in Japanese culture.