Photo (left to right): Rebecca Gürster, Dr. Masayuki Nakaji, Prof. Lydia Grün, Prof. Markus Bellheim, © HMTM

A partnership between our university and the Gakugei University of Tokyo, the most important university in Japan for pedagogical studies, exists since 2004. This partnership included exchanges among teachers and scientific exchanges. Now the partnership will be further expanded.

On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, Dr. Masayuki Nakaji, Professor of Music Education at Gakugei University, Prof. Lydia Grün, President of HMTM, and Prof. Markus Bellheim, Head of the International Office at HMTM, agreed to increasingly focus on student exchanges in the future. Teacher training students and students of artistic-pedagogical courses from Munich will now have the opportunity to gain experiences in Japan.

Rebecca Gürster will be the first HMTM student to travel to Tokyo and study at Gakugei University in the upcoming winter semester 2023/24. Rebecca Gürster is studying to be a high school teacher at HMTM, majoring in piano. She has already learned Japanese for her exchange. She is particularly looking forward to immersing herself in Japanese culture: "For me, this includes not only musical aspects such as Japanese musical instruments, but also everyday things such as living in an international dormitory. I would like to participate in regular music classes at one of the schools on campus, as I'm particularly interested in how Japan approaches teaching music."

Gakugei University Tokyo was founded in 1949 through the merger of four state schools for teacher education. Since its founding, the university has become a renowned institution in educational training, being named a "Flagship University for Teacher Education" by the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science in 2022.