Our university and Institut Seni Indonesia (ISI) Yogyakarta entered into an educational and academic exchange agreement. The signing ceremony was held when President Akio Nagao visited Yogyakarta on September 21.Indonesia has three ISI national universities of art, of which Yogyakarta, a leading institution of higher art education in Indonesia with three departments (performing arts, creative arts and recording arts), is the largest. Vocational schools of fine arts, western music and dance established shortly after Indonesia achieved independence were integrated and reorganized in 1984 to become the present day university. The graduate school has also been coming together, and currently all departments have doctoral programs. Some of the 250 or so faculty are graduates of the university, and there are presently around 3,000 students.The Special Region of Yogyakarta, where the university is located, is still governed by a pre-colonial monarchy, who serves as the hereditary governor of the province. The former capital of Java, it has been a central location on which people and goods from all over Indonesia and other islands throughout Southeast Asia have converged since times of old. It is now one of the leading university towns in Indonesia and is populated by many young people from Indonesia and other countries. While preserving traditional Indonesian arts, Yogyakarta also actively seeks out new expressions and techniques. Promoting exchange with this university will deepen understanding with respect to Southeast Asian cultural traditions and open up various possibilities for art education.