Japanese HE Unpacked

SAKAMOTO Noritaka is an Education Coordinator at Hiroshima City University. His career began in administration at a private university in Kyoto, working for over 17 years across various positions including academic affairs, international student admissions, planning, and executive support. He played a key role in launching the Dual Undergraduate Degree Program with the ANU College of Asia and the Pacific and establishing the Faculty of Global Liberal Arts. After working as a researcher at a national university, he now serves as an Education Coordinator at a public university—a role that bridges academic and administrative domains in the ‘third space’ of the Higher Education. His current responsibilities include internal coordination and ensuring alignment between accreditation standards and institutional practices. He attended the AUA Conference in Manchester in 2019.

AKAMATSU Shigetoshi joined Waseda University in 2007 and has been affiliated with the School of International Liberal Studies (SILS) since 2011, specializing in international student admissions and overseas recruitment. In June 2019, he assumed his current position and has also served as an international student recruitment professional at the Center for Japanese Language (CJL) since June 2024. He is a board member of the Japan Association of University Administrative Management (JUAM). His recent publication includes ‘Practices of International Student Admissions at Australian Universities and Implications for Japan’ (Journal of University Admission Research, Vol. 34, pp. 82–89, 2024).

SHIBASAKI Tomomi is a college administrator and plays a role as a chief in academic and administrative affairs.  Her work focuses on coordinating academic affairs committees, typical general administrative duties of academic affairs, checking research expenditures, materials for grant applications and so on. Having 14 years of experience at a national and a private university and now at a college, she is interested in career development.  She completed her Master of Arts degree at Yamagata University with a research theme on the effectiveness of collaborative learning of English language from the case of university staff. She is a member of JUAM and a delegate to the AHEP Annual Conference and Exhibition 2024.

Dr Andrew West is a former University Secretary at the University of Sheffield, where he had a broad remit covering governance alongside a wide range of professional services.   Andrew is a Fellow of AHEP and held the role of Managing Consultant for AHEP Consulting, while the Association’s consultancy service was developed and established.  Andrew is strongly committed to international education and is a former Executive member of the International Association of Student Affairs and Services.   Andrew’s career in higher education spans 35 years.  Now retired, he is a member of the Board of Governors at Leeds Beckett University.