Bhubaneswar: A discussion between the Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu and the vice-chancellor of the Utkal University was held to expand the scope of study of the language among the youngsters in the state.

The ambassador was accompanied by the consul general of Japan in Calcutta, Masayuki Taga.

The dignitaries had a talk with the students, who are taking lessons in Japanese language, at the varsity.

During the meeting, the ambassador cleared his intention to depute native teachers from Japan at the varsity with an aim to train indigenous teachers.

The ambassador said that he had given a proposal to establish a centre of Japanese studies at the varsity to which the Governer has given his approval.

He will give the same proposal to the chief minister too. The consul general also assured continuous support for the promotion of Japanese language in the state. The vice-chancellor and the faculties of Japanese language said that the varsity was already running an elementary-level of the course on its premises. They said that the language was directly related to skill development and employment. The Japanese language education will help academically and would also generate employment for young people.

Japanese language pilot project under department of anthropology has been running for the past three years at the varsity. So far, more than 30 students have completed the eight-week language course.

The varsity also sought the help of the Embassy of Japan in signing an MoU between the varsity and other Japanese universities.

"With the support of the consul general of Japan in Calcutta, several students from our university have visited the country in exchange programmes over the years. It has also opened options for higher studies and research for the students," said Prasanna Kumar Patra, head of department of anthropology, Utkal University and co-ordinator of the project.