5th Chile-Japan Academic Forum and 2nd Japan-Latin America Academic Conference

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The 5th Chile-Japan Academic Forum and 2nd Japan-Latin America Academic Conference was held at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Uji Campus, Kyoto University from 29 September to 2 October 2025.

As stated in the Chile-Japan Academic Forum 2025 website, the forum is built on a decade of academic exchanges and research collaboration between the two countries.  This is a biennial forum which brings together researchers and institutions from both countries to strengthen ties and explore joint initiatives across diverse fields of knowledge.

The 5th Chile-Japan Academic Forum 2025 covered the following themes:

 

Each workshop provided a valuable insight on the subject and paved the way to share information and advance discussions toward new collaborative research opportunities.

The workshop no.4 on Social, Cultural and Educational Challenges is organized by the University of Tokyo, as part of the 2nd Japan-Latin America Academic Conference 2025 – https://www.gsi.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/event/6328/.  As a pre-session of this event, they also hosted the 2025 UTokyo LAINAC Research Workshop on Transcontinental Dialogue on Social Movements, Popular Protests, and Contentious Politics in Asia and Latin America.” This workshop will take place over three days, from 27 to 29 September at the Kyoto University, Centennial Hall, Clock Tower, and the Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall.

The 5th Chile-Japan Academic Forum 2025 was organized by leading universities in Chile and in collaboration with two major universities in Japan as follows:

University of Chile (UChile)

Catholic University of Chile (UC)

University of Concepción (UdeC)

University of Tokyo (Tōdai); and

Kyoto University (Kyōdai).

The aim of the forum is to establish an academic platform to promote scientific and research collaboration between both countries.  The Forum is not limited to both countries but is open to other collaborators from universities and research centers with strong regional ties to Asia and Latin America.

The initiation of the Forum stems back to the success of the UTokyo Forum 2013 held in Santiago and Sao Paulo in November 2013 which was the First Chile-Japan Academic Forum.  This was repeated the following year at the University of Tokyo when the forum was held from 6-9 October 20214. Since then, it has been held biannually to foster long-standing research collaboration between the two countries across various research disciplines. Visit about the Forum for further information.

Prior to the opening ceremony, a social gathering was held in a special conference room at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University with various high-profile participants among which were the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Mr. Ricardo Rojas (Republic of Chile), Deputy Director Carlos Ladrix of Applied Research, National Agency for Research and Development (ANID), Rector Rosa Devés, The University of Chile, the University of Tokyo, Institute of Astronomy Director Kotaro Kohno, Executive Vice President Tetsuo Sawaragi of Kyoto University;  Director Tomoharu Hori of the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University; and Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) General Manager Masami Matsumoto.

Most of the above-mentioned dignitaries also participated in the Opening Ceremony of the Forum and covered various topics in relevance to Forum themes in their keynote remarks. The Opening Ceremony was followed by a group photograph and a welcome reception.

Second and third day of the Forum held six workshops at various meeting rooms of the DPRI, Kyoto University.

On the fourth day of the Forum, included panel discussion sessions to discuss the reports from the six workshops and the closing ceremony.

Approximately 150 researchers and graduate students from Japan and Chile participated.

The Forum was not only about the academia.  It also gave an opportunity for the participants to enjoy the cultural aspects of the host country.  The participants visited the Byodoin Temple in Uji, Kyoto; and also used the opportunity to visit EXPO2025 in Osaka.

 

Special Discussion Session at the Director’s Conference Room, Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Japan

 

Group Photo: 5th Chile-Japan Academic Forum; and 2nd Japan-Latin America Academic Forum

@EXPO2025, Chile Pavilion