Recommended by UGM and SEASREP Foundation, UIN Jakarta Hosts Japanese and Philippine Scholars for the Regional Traveling Classroom on Indonesian Islam

JAKARTA, UIN Online News – Positioning itself as the premier global sanctuary for studying Southeast Asian Islamic civilization, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta officially welcomed a multinational cohort of student researchers and senior professors from Japan and the Philippines on Monday, July 20, 2026. Convened under the international flagship initiative Islamic Southeast Asia Traveling Classroom: Islam in Indonesia, the program was joint-organized by the SEASREP Foundation in direct partnership with Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and UIN Jakarta to deliver field-based historical perspectives on Indonesian Islam.

The visiting delegation was received by the Faculty of Letters and Humanities (FAH), leveraging its world-class research concentrations in Islamic history, manuscript studies, and civilizational development.

Extending high commendation to the university's academic ecosystem, Professor Masao Imamura from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Yamagata University, Japan, emphasized that Indonesia represents the definitive global destination for deconstructing contemporary Islamic diversity.

"Indonesia is arguably the most fitting place in the world to study the rich historical layers of Islam," Professor Masao Imamura stated during the academic forum. "Beyond the exceptional hospitality of the Indonesian people, our visit to UIN Jakarta—which was explicitly recommended to us by Universitas Gadjah Mada—has revealed a deeply impressive international atmosphere."

Professor Imamura further expressed delightful surprise at the high level of global literacy among UIN Jakarta students, noting that several local student facilitators demonstrated fluent Japanese language proficiency, seamlessly bridging academic exchanges and comparative cultural dialogues.

Throughout the immersive academic session, the Faculty of Letters and Humanities provided cross-linguistic translation support, specialized historical lectures, and open dialogic spaces exploring interfaith harmony and religious diversity in modern Indonesia.

By actively hosting international scholars from non-Muslim majority nations like Japan and the Philippines, UIN Jakarta reinforces its commitment to globalizing higher education. The multilateral program successfully projects the progressive, peaceful, and intellectually vibrant face of Indonesian Islam directly onto the international academic stage.