• About Kyoto Student Public Relations Department
• What is Kotokare?
• workshop
• Kotokale High School Student Project
• Recruitment of Public Relations Department Staff
• Contact us

About Kyoto Student Public Relations Department (Project Overview)

　As competition among universities is expected to intensify further due to the long-term decline in the 18-year-old population, it is necessary to actively communicate the appeal of Kyoto as a "university town and student city" to junior high and high school students who will become university students in the future.
Therefore, as a new collaborative initiative, the University Consortium Kyoto and Kyoto City have established the "Kyoto Student Public Relations Department" to convey to junior and senior high school students nationwide the "real charm of Kyoto" that university students studying in Kyoto experience while living their student lives.
The Kyoto Student Public Relations Department will disseminate the appeal of university life in Kyoto that students planned, interviewed, and created articles on the dedicated website "Kotokare", SNS, events, etc.

Support System

What is Kotokare?

Media introducing the real lifestyles of university students in Kyoto
"Kotokare" is a website that distributes various contents planned, interviewed, and created by the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department, and was opened on October 1, 2015.
＜URL＞https://kotocollege.jp/ 

Kotokare's Policy

　Based on the name idea devised by the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department members at the workshop, the decision was made by a vote of the members.
The name is an abbreviation of "College in the Ancient Capital" and expresses the uniqueness of Kyoto and the school, while making it easy for junior high and high school students to remember and become familiar.
Under the supervision of a professional designer, the student communications staff also created the following logo.

The vertical and horizontal lines represent the paths that various students are walking, and express that by interacting with them in various ways, one circle = community and connect.
It also includes the characteristic of the city of Kyoto, the "grid eye" of the streets, which are perpendicular to the north-south and east-west.

Check out SNS!

The Kyoto Student Public Relations Department also disseminates information on SNS! We provide behind-the-scenes stories of interviews, daily activity reports, and the latest information. Please also follow up with the PR staff Karen Koto!
＜Twitter＞ https://twitter.com/gakusei_kyoto
＜Facebook＞ https://www.facebook.com/gakuseikyoto
＜Instagram＞ https://instagram.com/gakusei_kyoto

workshop

The Kyoto Student Public Relations Department conducts training aimed at improving the skills of PR staff.

Workshop 1

Outline of the event

Theme:

Learn the "reality" of public media from NHK Kyoto Broadcasting Station, which celebrates its 90th anniversary

Date:

Thursday, September 1, 2022 18:00~21:00【Finished】

Place:

NHK Kyoto Broadcasting Station 8K Plaza

Eligibility:

Kyoto Student Public Relations Officer
Current students attending universities, graduate schools, and junior colleges in Kyoto Prefecture

Instructor:

NHK Kyoto Broadcasting Station
Content Center (Announcement, Program Production, Reporting, Technology) Staff of the Corporate Management Planning Center (Organization)

Event Report

　On Thursday, September 1, NHK Kyoto Broadcasting Station 8K Plaza held a face-to-face training session for the first time in three years.
First, we visited the storage room and production room of the photographic equipment. The participants were very interested in the production site, which is not usually seen. During the studio tour, the announcer explained the camera movements and how to read the manuscript. Through the experience of reading news scripts, participants realized the difficulty of conveying correct information in a limited amount of time.
In the second half, the station staff took the stage and held a roundtable discussion on their careers, including the work they are currently involved in and the reasons why they wanted to work for NHK.
Participants commented, "I had a lot in common with the Public Relations Department" and "I was able to learn about the other side of the media," and it was an opportunity to feel close to the world of media from the perspective of job hunting.

Workshop 2

Outline of the event

Theme:

Approaching the appeal of local web media reporting methods and writers

Date:

Tuesday, September 27, 2022 19:00~21:00【Finished】

Place:

Campus Plaza Kyoto 5F Seminar Rooms 2 and 3

Eligibility:

Kyoto Student Public Relations Officer
Current students attending universities, graduate schools, and junior colleges in Kyoto Prefecture

Instructor:

Saeri Wakabayashi

< Profile> Based in Kyoto,
he works as a writer in the Kansai region.
He has written many articles for various web media such as "Kyoto Migration Plan" and "Shigatoko".
He has been active as a Japanese instructor for 15 years, and is the author of the "Preparation for Japanese Proficiency Test for the Time being" series, a collection of questions for learners Japanese.

Event Report

　On Tuesday, September 27, a workshop was held to improve article writing skills.
The lecturer, Saeri Wakabayashi, talked about what you need to know as a writer, such as what you need to prepare and prepare for an interview.
I was also able to learn about the interview techniques that I learned based on my own experiences and failures, such as "If the interview is too long, it will be difficult to summarize" and "You can listen to a deeper story by asking, "Does that mean 00?"
In the second half, the two students worked in pairs to listen to each other's stories and summarize them in short sentences. By showing each other the sentences you have written, you can gain new realizations, such as "Maybe the nuances are a little different?"
It was a fruitful time for the participants, as they learned not only their attitudes as listeners but also how to be creative when communicating to others.

Kotokale High School Student Project

The "Kotokare High School Student Project" is a project born from the desire of Kyoto Student Public Relations Department members to provide high school students who are unable to work satisfactorily due to the coronavirus pandemic with a place where they can plan something and get a sense of accomplishment, and to provide them with opportunities to think about their career path through interviews and exchanges with university students.

High school students and members
of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department met for the first time on Saturday, October 22 * Masks are removed only when taking pictures.

Outline of the event

■Date and time
Coverage Date: Saturday, October 22, 2022, 13:00~17:00 Achievement report meeting: Saturday, November 19, 2022, 13:00~17:00 ■Venue: Campus Plaza Kyoto ■Recruitment target and number of people
About 10

first- and second-year high school students attending Kyoto
Municipal High School (if there are many applicants, they will be selected by lottery)
■Participation fee: Free
Participants will interview Kyoto university students and circles together with members of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department, write articles for publication on the website "Kotokare", and present what they have learned from the interview at the results report meeting.

The interviewees and interviewees for fiscal 2022 are as follows.
・Ritsumeikan University Course, Faculty of Industrial Sociology, Ms.
Y ・Doshisha University Course, Doshisha Consumer Cooperative Student Committee
・Kyoto University Course: Kyoto University Magic Circle KUMA)

Kota Nakatani, a first-year student at Kyoto Municipal Horikawa High School, and Kanon Watanabe, a second-year student at Kyoto Municipal Saikyo High School, who applied for this project, participated in the Kyoto University Course.

Participants heading to the interview destination

October 22 (Sat)

On Saturday, October 22, high school students and members of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department gathered at Campus Plaza Kyoto.
After everyone introduced themselves, two high school students participated in the Kyoto University Course and took the Kyoto City Bus to the university. In the car, a member of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department took the lead in talking about questions about high school studies and university life, and deepening exchanges.
In addition, on this day of the Jidai Festival, I was able to experience the atmosphere of "Kyoto different from usual" in the procession that I saw through the window of the bus.

When I arrived at Kyoto University, I finally started my interview. Mr. Nakatani asks questions to the members of the Kyoto University Illusionist Research Group at a good pace, and Mr. Watanabe expands the topic from the answers and asks new questions. While meeting for the first time, we proceeded with the interview with a lively cooperative play.

During the interview.

He performed magic in a special way.

November 19 (Sat) Achievement report meeting

Mr. Watanabe reports using PowerPoint.

On Saturday, November 19, about one month after the interview, the participants gathered at Campus Plaza Kyoto. Each of the three courses shared what kind of stories they heard and what they felt through the interviews.

Mr. Watanabe was surprised to hear the introduction and talk of the Kyoto University Magic Circle (Kyoto University Magic Circle KUMA), and summarized the photos of the day on PowerPoint and reported on it.
Even in high school, Watanabe creates materials in PowerPoint. They were not afraid to report at the debriefing session surrounded by university students and secretariat staff.
The Kyoto Student Public Relations Department members were amazed by the advanced technique of drawing participants into the talk, sometimes with jokes, and the high quality of the materials. In addition, Mr. Watanabe expressed his gratitude many times, saying, "Thank you very much for this opportunity."
Ms. Nakatani commented, "I deepened my understanding of the university" and "I enjoyed the work of summarizing the knowledge I gained from the interview in the form of an article."

In addition, there were reports from the Ritsumeikan University Course and the Doshisha University Course that we realized only because we interviewed them from the student's perspective, and we were able to share the new appeal of the three universities.

A moment of tension as you flip through the "shaved head" cards.

After the presentation, we played card games and chatted. The worries that high school students currently have about studying and taking entrance exams are all about "I understand, there was such a time" for university students who have experienced it earlier. Although the time between the two high school students was limited, by working with university students, they seemed to be able to feel the image of university life and the reality of becoming university students.

The "Kotokale High School Student Project" was the first challenge for students to be responsible for everything from planning to operation as part of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department. The project members commented, "It was difficult, but I was happy that the high school students participated," and "I would like to make use of this experience to come up with a better plan," and it was an opportunity for us to grow as a student organization.

Please click here for an article written by Mr. Watanabe, Ms. Nakatani, and a member of the Kyoto Student Public Relations Department.
A high school student from Kyoto interviewed the Kyoto University Illusionist Research Society!

Recruitment of Public Relations Department Staff

The Kyoto Student Public Relations Department is looking for members to work with us!
Kotokare, a website planned, operated, and managed by students attending universities in Kyoto, will convey the appeal of university life in Kyoto to junior high and high school students nationwide. Our mission is to make junior high and high school students want to attend a university in Kyoto.
University students in Kyoto, why don't you demonstrate your ideas, passion, and teamwork as the initiators of this project?

If you would like to join or visit the club, please contact us from the link below.

Admission Requirements

•Undergraduate, undergraduate, and graduate students belonging to member schools of the Consortium of Universities Kyoto (*Regardless of grade) 【Click here for a list of member schools】
•Those who can participate in activities at bases in Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto City (* Transportation expenses will not be paid)
•Unless there is a compelling reason, those who can participate in activities at least once a month

We are waiting for such students!

Contact information

University Consortium Kyoto, Kyoto Student Public Relations Department Office
TEL 075-353-9130 FAX 075-353-9101
〒600-8216 Campus Plaza Kyoto
Shiokoji, Nishinotoin-dori, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto ※Reception hours: Tuesday ~ Saturday 9:00~17:00 (excluding year-end and New Year holidays)