Notes from the President

Recently, I was invited as a guest to a book publishing event in Tokyo. The book was written by a woman named NAKASONE Yoko, who felt a deep sense of crisis about the over emphasis on entrance examination in Japanese education based on her experiences overseas. After returning to Japan, she created an organization called Mother Quest, which is rapidly increasing the number of mothers engaged in learning activities.
The event was primarily aimed at the mothers of elementary and middle school children, and I was added to the inspirational talk section. The members were Ms. NAKASONE, myself, and Principal YANAGISAWA Yukio from Kaisei Junior and Senior High School.
Many international students may not be aware of this, but with the heavy emphasis on entrance exams in Japan, it is not an overstatement to say that the prestige of a high school can be determined by the number of students they have sent to the University of Tokyo (herein after “U Tokyo”) (Of course, I do not necessarily think that this is a good thing.) Kaisei Academy is a traditional private school which ranks in Japan's top class for the number of students admitted to U Tokyo. According to Principal YANAGISAWA, "only half of the students enter U Tokyo", but that in itself is quite an accomplishment.
I was wondering what would result from the combination of the ultra-prestigious Kaisei combined junior and senior high school and the more distinctive APU, but surprisingly it turned out to be a very interesting discussion.

I fully expected that at a school like Kaisei, the geeks were aiming for U Tokyo and just studying for six years straight from junior high school, but that turned out not to be the case.

"Exam preparation, well that usually starts about ten months before the exams." (YANAGISAWA)
"What?" (IMAMURA)

Yes, it's true. Kaisei is actually an unrestricted environment (of course, it also attracts extremely brilliant students). The students are freely involved in club activities, sporting events, and cultural festivals. A strong emphasis is placed on cultivating curiosity and "vitality".

"The school doesn't push the students to go to U Tokyo at all. We leave the choice of university up to the students. As a result, many do go to U Tokyo, but others enter different universities, and we even have students who become fireworks technicians and dancers." (YANAGISAWA)
"Fireworks technicians....dancers..." (IMAMURA)

It is not the case that we are placing importance on advancing to leading domestic universities such as U Tokyo, which has been the model of cultivating the Japanese elite until now. Principal YANAGISAWA himself is a graduate of Kaisei and U Tokyo and taught as an engineering professor at U Tokyo and Harvard University. Through various experiences, he is closely watching a period of significant change on an unprecedented scale starting with globalization.

"Globalization is often understood as internationalization, but I think that 'expansion' is the most fitting interpretation." (YANAGISAWA)

Of course, it is not about national borders, but an expansion of global connections including all of Japan. That is certainly true.
For my part, I explained APU's unique characteristics using the keyword "mixing". I am not saying that international and domestic students, students and faculty&staff, the university and the town, or the university and corporations are diverse. APU is about the "mixing" of a diverse environment with differing elements to create a new kind of energy and values. To put it another way, the APU community has very few local, commuter students. It is a gathering of out-of-towners who are in an environment that is "away" from home, which I think is a good thing.

Upon hearing that, Principal YANAGISAWA responded,
"Yes! To all the mothers! Even if you send your child to a university in Tokyo where they can commute, please let them leave home. Just renting a four and a half tatami mat room is fine."

Free and global, both Kaisei and APU are heading in the same direction.

* "If You Want to Succeed, Develop the 'Ability to Fail' " by NAKASONE Yoko (Shobunsha)