Japan Center for Michigan Universities

The Japan Center for Michigan Universities (ミシガン州立大学連合日本センター, Mishigan shūritsu daigaku rengō Nihon sentaa) (JCMU), a study center operated by a consortium of the 15 public universities in the State of Michigan and the government of Shiga Prefecture in Japan, is located on the shores of Lake Biwa, in the city of Hikone. Founded in 1989, JCMU offers May, summer, semester, and academic-year programs for the study of Japanese language and culture for American college and university students, a substantial number of them from Michigan, and provides English language instruction to serve the needs of the local Japanese population. The US administrative offices of JCMU are located at Michigan State University.

As a part of the continuing sister state relationship between Michigan and Shiga Prefecture, in 1988, an agreement was signed by the governors of Michigan and Shiga Prefecture to form the Japan Center for Michigan Universities. In September 1989, JCMU officially opened in a temporary building, the Cultural and Industrial Exchange Hall of Shiga, in Maibara, Shiga. The following September, construction on the JCMU campus in Hikone, Shiga was completed, and courses resumed there. In October 1998, an agreement was made with nearby Shiga University to provide courses on their campus. Five years later, in 2003, a similar agreement was made with the University of Shiga Prefecture, also in the same city.

The campus is located on the shore of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan, in Hikone, Shiga. It includes an academic building and a dormitory. Attached to the academic building is a Coco's restaurant, an American family-style restaurant chain that is primarily located in California. In the academic building, there are classrooms, a computer lab, a library, conference rooms, a traditional Japanese tatami room, a large hall for functions, and administrative offices. The classrooms feature windows overlooking the lake, the surrounding mountains, nearby Hikone Castle, and a Japanese style garden. The dormitory features apartments for both students and faculty, a fitness room, a computer lab, an entertainment room, and a large lobby.

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