• Universities

Kushiro Public University of Economics (KPU) is a public university in the city of Kushiro on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, established in 1987 by local government as a community-oriented university.There are about 1,400 students across two bachelor-level degrees. It includes faculties specialising in economics and business, as well as a liberal arts department. It therefore also attracts students from many other areas in Japan.The university offers foreign exchange students a Japanese course in Kanji, vocabulary, grammar, reading and writing; and a Japanese Conversation Course in speaking skills and Japanese culture.The Research Center for Regional Economics aims to be a think tank for the region, organising and conducting research at the request of the private sector, administrative organisations, public corporations, universities and other institutions.Since 1991, the university has had an Agreement for Affiliation and Exchange with two universities in British Columbia, Canada: Simon Fraser University and Capilano University. KPU sends three students annually on a grant to Capilano University, where they stay in homestay families and take English language courses.Facilities include a language laboratory which is equipped for satellite broadcasting; a 1,815 square metre gymnasium with tennis, basketball, volleyball, badminton, handball and a variety of new indoor sports; and a smaller gymnasium for traditional Japanese martial arts such as karate, judo and kendo. The library has over 170,000 books and about 2,300 magazines and journals.Kushiro in an industrial city with a major fishing and cargo port and is known for its pulp and paper production and food industry.