Notes from the President

Congratulatory Message

Congratulations on your admission to APU. I would like to extend a wholehearted welcome on behalf of everyone at APU. I also would like to extend my heartfelt greetings to the family members of our incoming students. This spring, APU is happy to welcome 1,207 incoming students, bringing the total number of students enrolled at the university to 6,273 of which 2,983 are international students and 3,290 are domestic students. Our international students hail from a total of 108 countries and regions, more than any other university in Japan.. Furthermore, our domestic students hail from every prefecture in Japan. I hope you will make use of our world-class curriculum, which is offered in both Japanese and English, to thoroughly engage in learning with this diverse group of peers. Our highly qualified faculty from more than 25 countries and regions are here to support your curiosity and inquisitiveness.

APU’s most attractive feature is its international campus, where students from around the world learn together, interact with each other, and can become friends. We call the human connections that APU students experience the “Global Learning Community”. This community is located on the top of a hill in Jumonjibaru, at an elevation of 300 meters. You will spend the next few years of your life on this hilltop campus, and this is where you will carve out your future. I hope you enjoy the campus with its stunning view of Beppu Bay, which connects to the Pacific Ocean.

As APU students, you are sure to encounter diverse cultures and values, deepen your knowledge, develop your personalities, and make friendships that will last a lifetime through all aspects of your student life—living in AP House, taking required language and first-year courses, participating in clubs and other extracurricular activities, engaging in specialized studies and research in your respective colleges, interacting with alumni who are active around the world, participating in off-campus study programs in Kyushu, other parts of Japan, and locations around the world, going on study abroad, and more. The people of Beppu City and Oita Prefecture keep a kind, watchful eye over our students, so remember to cherish Beppu as it will become your home away from home.

APU is on the verge of a major transformation. We recently signed cooperation agreements with the Kyushu Institute of Technology, a national university located in Fukuoka Prefecture, and with Iizuka City. APU, whose strength lies in its ability to cultivate global talent in its multinational and multicultural environment, and the Kyushu Institute of Technology, which excels in science fields like ICT and robotics, will collaborate to promote new kinds of education and research. We will also cooperate with the business community in Kyushu and throughout Japan to develop internships for students brought up in APU's global environment, thereby expanding your opportunities for success after graduation. By cooperating with alumni—that is, the students who came before you—who are active around the world, we will accelerate the global career development on our students. With these kinds of new initiatives, APU aims to become a university that can change the world together with you.

The key players at a university are you, the students. The most important job of a university is to support student learning and growth. I hope you will make the most of APU’s resources—the classes, faculty members, extracurricular activities, classrooms, Green Commons, library, and other facilities—to discover a new you. Although you might not be able to imagine it today, I want you to keep trying new things and become people “who possess the power to change the world.” Your growth as APU students starts today.

In closing, I would like to once again extend a hearty welcome to all of you. Be proud that you are APU students and believe in yourselves. I hope you will take care of your health and lead fun yet structured lives on campus. Welcome to APU!

Hiroshi Yoneyama
President
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
April 1, 2024