NEWS

On Sunday, May 21, Mr. YAMAMOTO Kozo, the Minister of State for Regional Revitalization and Regulatory Reform, visited APU as part of a tour of regional revitalization initiatives.

The tour began with Vice President IMAMURA Masaharu explaining the "Three 50s" that APU defined at its founding in 2000 (i.e., admit students from at least 50 countries and regions, achieve an international student ratio of 50%, and achieve a non-Japanese faculty member ratio of 50%) and how the university was opened as a large scale public-private cooperative effort among the Ritsumeikan Trust, Oita Prefecture and Beppu City. Next, Minister YAMAMOTO toured the campus and met with a group of APU students. He finished his visit by offering each student some words of encouragement.

Before leaving, Minister YAMAMOTO commented on the outcomes of his visit: "I was very impressed by the international education that the university provides, the international systems it has in place, and its international environment. For universities located in regional areas to thrive, it is essential that they make the most of their unique features. This is what APU is doing, and my visit here was extremely rewarding."