’Hope during turbulent times’: UCL’s pioneering work with Japan

Bouke de Vries, Dr Michael Spence and His Excellency Hajime Hayashi with other guests at the celebration event - This week, UCL welcomed His Excellency Hajime Hayashi, Ambassador of Japan, for the first time for a special event celebrating the university's varied and impactful work with the country. UCL's President & Provost, Dr Michael Spence, introduced Ambassador Hayashi, who spoke of UCL and Japan's "long and outstanding history" and how the two continue working together to enable recovery from natural disasters. The event in UCL's Japanese Garden, which took place just a few weeks after an earthquake hit north-east Japan, saw  Dutch artist Bouke de Vries introduce his new public artwork, Fragments of Memory. He explained how he was inspired by both the pioneering work of UCL's cross-disciplinary natural hazards research unit, EPICentre, as well as the history of the famous 'Choshu Five'. EPICentre provides a forum for multidisciplinary research into risk from natural hazards and disaster risk reduction, aiming to drastically reduce loss of life, livelihoods and economic loss in natural disasters. The Choshu Five were the first Japanese students to study abroad, coming to UCL nearly 160 years ago. Upon returning to Japan, the young men - including Hirobumi Ito, Japan's first Prime Minister - had a radical, transformative effect on the country's constitution, government, infrastructure and education system.