Kyoto University Open Campus 2015 concludes successfully (6–8 August 2015)

Under the theme "Intellect, Dreams, and Future You Will Succeed", Kyoto University Open Campus 2015 attracted participation by a large number of high/junior high school students and their parents/guardians, despite the extreme temperature.

An opening session was held each day in the Clock Tower Centennial Hall, facilitated by Professor Takeshi Komagome of the Graduate School of Education, chair of the Open Campus executive committee. On Day 1 and Day 2, the sessions started with a lecture entitled "To Those Who Aspire to Be Kyoto University Students" delivered by President Juichi Yamagiwa. On Day 3, Professor Shinzaburo Ito, Dean of the Graduate School of Engineering, delivered the opening lecture, with which all three audiences became highly engaged. Next, the Kyoto University Cheerleading Party excited the audience with their powerful presentation, which included choreographed movements, music performance, and cheer yells with occasional touches of humor. This was followed by "Message from the KU Students", in which students from the Faculty of Law and the Graduate School of Engineering took the stage to recount how they had prepared for the university entrance exams and what their lives on- and off-campus were like.

Faculty-specific information sessions to impart a better understanding of the Kyoto University undergraduate experience were held by the following faculties: Integrated Human Studies, Letters, Medicine, and Pharmaceutical Sciences on 6 August; Education, Law, Economics, Science, and Agriculture on 7 August; and Engineering on 8 August. In each session, following a welcome address by the dean of the host faculty, specific programs were offered. These included a briefing session, a trial class, hands-on activities, and tours of some laboratories. Participants showed lively interest in all of these activities.

In addition, a variety of programs took place across the Yoshida Campus, including campus tours, an exchange session with KU students, consultation and information-providing services, lectures by KU teaching staff, and student presentations by the university's official clubs and circles. Every one of these programs, together with tours of the Kyoto University Library, Kyoto University Museum, and the Exhibition Hall of the Clock Tower Centennial Hall, was packed with participants, reflecting the excellent turnout over the whole course of Open Campus 2015.

Open Campus events, generally, have taken on increasing significance for prospective students as they set about choosing which university to enter. There is a strong expectation that many of those who participated in this year's KU Open Campus will be even more highly motivated to become KU students as a result of seeing and experiencing the university's attractions and unique features'.