Notes from the President

APU is located in Kyushu, a beautiful island in southern Japan that is considered the source of Japanese culture. Kyushu took center stage in the age of Japanese mythology, Oita was the first place in Japan to receive western medicine and music in the 16th century, and Beppu is a world-renowned hot spring resort city. The volume of hot spring water that bubbles up from beneath the city is second only to that of Yellowstone National Park in the United States, but Beppu can be considered the number one urban hot spring resort in the world. Twelve years have passed since APU's founding in 2000. Beppu is now known throughout the world not just as an urban hot spring resort, but also as the home of APU, Japan's premier international university, and the site of an annual month-long music festival organized by the world-renowned pianist Martha Argerich.

The APU campus is safe, having avoided the aftereffects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11th, 2011 and subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant incident. Japan, which overcame myriad difficulties in the wake of last year's disaster, is now on the road to recovery. While Japan is an island nation whose territory covers a rather wide swath of ocean, the actual archipelago is long and narrow with Kyushu at its south. Despite being a quake-prone nation, the national government has issued no forecasts for large earthquakes in the region of northern Kyushu. In addition, radiation levels are low and stable. As you know, we are surrounded by natural radiation, including that which originates from the soil, buildings, and cosmic rays, but there are also artificial sources of radiation such as nuclear tests and nuclear power plant accidents. Therefore, a region's radiation levels are a comprehensive measure of radiation emanating from all of these sources. The levels in Oita Prefecture are among the lowest in Japan, and are lower than most other major cities in the world.

In closing, I ask that you begin creating your futures here at APU, a safe campus in the welcoming urban hot spring resort of Beppu, which is situated in the history-rich prefecture of Oita on the island of Kyushu, the source of Japanese culture. I believe you will face a completely new world in four years when you graduate, so please take advantage of APU's multicultural campus to mold yourself into a self-directed and independent learner. I pray for your success.