NEWS

On Friday, September 18, 2026, APU held its September 2026 Graduation Ceremony. A total of 553 students graduated from APU's undergraduate and graduate programs, including 457 international students from 61 countries and regions and 96 domestic students.
Graduates, family members, faculty, and staff gathered at B-con Plaza to celebrate this important milestone and the beginning of a new chapter for the graduates.

At the ceremony, APU President Hiroshi Yoneyama delivered the following message to the graduating class:
“In fifteen years, when you are tired in a large city a long way from here, and you have forgotten almost everything I have said this afternoon, I would like that smell to come back to you — and to bring with it the memory of who you were on the hill at Jumonjibaru, and what you were capable of noticing. You are leaving one of the most ambitious abstractions human beings have built: an international university, where a hundred nationalities agreed to live together on purpose. And the most valuable thing you carry out of it may be something as ordinary as a habit of attention. Be a bridge. Be a beacon. And on the way, notice the small stuff. Congratulations, Class of September 2026.”

--- The full text of the president's message is available here. ---

Representing the undergraduate class of 2026, Ashmi Jha (College of International Management, India), recipient of this year's Ando Momofuku Honor Prize, reflected on her time at APU. “Nothing at APU comes without climbing. Not the campus. Not the language. Not friendship across cultures. And definitely, not the person we hoped to become.” She also encouraged her fellow graduates to define success on their own terms, saying, “Choose carefully what you call success. “A prestigious title is not necessarily success. A high salary is not necessarily success. Perhaps success is simpler. To remain curious when certainty would be easier. To remain kind when power makes kindness optional.”

Representing the graduate class of 2026, Kalpana Ramsharma (Graduate School of Management, Nepal) delivered her address by drawing inspiration from Vincent van Gogh's masterpiece “The Starry Night.”
Reflecting on the diverse perspectives that shape people's lives, she said, “Each person you see carries a rich view of the world. Coloured by our cultures, our experiences, our dreams and our ambitions. We look at the world around us as we hope to shape it.” She concluded her speech with the following message: “As you look at the canvas of your life and the view outside your window, remember that the dream will slowly take form. Just relish the journey of 12 thousand brushstrokes, those small, quiet moments when you slowly become the person who shapes your world.”

Following the ceremony, congratulatory remarks were delivered by Morse Caoagas Flores, an alumnus of the College of Asia Pacific Studies (Class of 2006, Philippines). The ceremony concluded with APU's traditional cap toss. As graduates shouted, “We are APU,” hundreds of red academic caps soared into the air. Filled with smiles and excitement, the graduates took their first steps toward the future.

A recording of the ceremony is available on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3l5BcF81-A