The British Council, the United Kingdom's official organization for cultural, educational and scientific exchange, opened its new, expanded Nagoya center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday.
The new center will house an English-language school and a liaison office to meet the demands of the growing number of students from Japan's Chubu region interested in studying in Britain. "Not only is (the Chubu region) of major importance economically, but it positively encourages international contact, which provides a major impetus for our activities," said Mike Barrett, director of the British Council in Japan.
There are now about 7,000 students attending British Council English classes and an estimated 14,000 Japanese students studying full time at institutions of higher education in Britain.