Notes from the President

Congratulations on your admission to Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. This Fall, we are welcoming 581 new students from Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Japan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Thailand, the United States of America, India, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Denmark, Myanmar, Tonga, Kyrgyzstan, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, Afghanistan, Laos, Tajikistan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Canada, Fiji, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, Bhutan, Botswana, Finland, France, Ghana, Iran, Israel, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland and Uganda, bringing the number of students enrolled at APU to 2,470 international students and 3,125 domestic students, for a total of 5,595 students.

APU is Japan's premier international university. Our students come from 85 countries and regions, and half of our faculty members are foreign nationals hailing from 26 countries and regions. This highly diverse multicultural campus is indispensable for global human resources development. No matter where you come from, the APU campus is an intercultural environment where you will be exposed on a daily basis to students and faculty members with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The common languages on campus are English and Japanese. English has already established itself as the lingua franca of the world, and Japanese, like Chinese, Spanish and French, is an important non-English language with a long history and culture. APU is an international university located in Japan. Nearly 60% of our international students find work in Japan after they graduate, and many advance to Japanese graduate schools. This is why the APU curriculum includes a comprehensive Japanese language element. Most of you have enrolled on an English-basis, so I encourage you to be diligent in your study of Japanese.

APU specializes in social sciences, such as management, sociology and international relations, and our faculty and staff take pride in our position as a university that has a hand in shaping the future of the Asia Pacific. At APU you can discover the ever-changing world in both theory and practice, and you can turn what you learn into an intellectual weapon. Many of our alumni work at the heart of the Japanese economy in major corporations, while others pursue graduate degrees at APU, at other schools in Japan, including the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Osaka University, Waseda University, Keio University and Hitotsubashi University, or at foreign universities such as Yale, Stanford, Manchester and the University of Hong Kong. Whether you pursue a career or go to graduate school upon graduation, APU is the ideal platform for you. 

We live in chaotic times which demand that we develop a global sensibility, learn management in its broadest sense and keep our faith in humanity, which is the bedrock these principles are founded on. Although 68 years have passed since the end of World War II, East Asia is still a long way from achieving a peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding, and remains mired in an antagonistic mindset. Changing this mindset to one of reconciliation and coexistence will require all those involved to share evidence of the facts from their point of view and to seek common ground through dialogue and negotiation. With its top-caliber multicultural environment, APU has defined its mission as promoting mutual understanding in and creating the future shape of the Asia Pacific, so one might say that this university exists for the sake of peaceful coexistence and mutual understanding in the region. According to Peter F. Drucker, management is both a technology and a humanity. In his essay entitled "Management as Social Function and Liberal Art", he states, "management also deals with people, their values, their growth and development—and this makes it a humanity."

I would like to welcome you to APU, a liberal arts university where young future leaders from countries and regions around the world will come to study together, live together, and understand each other’s cultures and ways of life in pursuit of goals common to all humankind. I wish you all every success.