Osaka and Groningen universities held a ceremony attended by Japanese Ambassador to the Netherlands Kyoji Komachi to mark the opening of the Osaka institution's first European office.
The event was followed by a two-day symposium Oct. 24 and 25.
"More than 2,000 years ago the first Westerners arrived via the Silk Road to our regions," Osaka University President Hideo Miyahara said in a speech at the inauguration of the building on the Groningen University Campus. "Now we can reach each other in a second via the Internet.
"However, person-to-person contact remains very important. Therefore, we want to promote exchanges of knowledge and students via this project . . . this will lead to excellence on both fronts," he concluded.