Introduction to International Cultural Studies In recent years, political and economic relations between Japan and other countries have begun to affect our daily lives. At the same time, the role of international cultural exchanges has become more and more important in getting a reciprocal understanding of each country. To promote their friendly relationship and do a lot for world peace, we need to acquire a way of international thinking, cultivate proper understanding of different cultures and activate mutual exchanges. We can thereby contribute to the flourishing of world cultures. Furthermore, in order to acquire a proper understanding of each culture, we need to unify and make interdisciplinary those sciences which have been split up and divided as they developed. In view of that, we need to take a fresh look at each culture and create a new discipline, and make comparative studies of the cultures to get a comprehensive understanding of them while recognizing their differences and values. We can thereby forge a new approach to the inheritance and creation of cultures. On the basis of a concept of global cultures, the course of International Cultural Studies aims at studying each culture of the world synthetically and through an interdisciplinary approach, grasping their mutual relations and getting a broad view and deep knowledge of problems which the modern world is facing, and fostering talents who have well judgment and activity. We have some classes of comparative culture and a class of international relations as common subjects, by which we intend to give students comprehensive knowledge of cultural settings of the world. The course has four subdivisions, i.e., Japanese Studies, Asian Studies, British-American Studies and European Studies.