Kokugakuin University, Shibuya Campus

Kokugakuin University’s parent institution Koten Kokyusho, was established in 1882, and Kokugakuin was officially certified as a university in 1920, making it one of the first private institutions in Japan to receive such certification. Kokugakuin University has five faculties (the Faculty of Letters, Faculty of Shinto Studies, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Economics, and Faculty of Human Development) with 13 departments, and three graduate schools (the Graduate School of Letters, Graduate School of Law, and Graduate School of Economics), as well as two research and development organizations. With the trend toward increasing globalization, at Kokugakuin University we believe that in order for people to understand other cultures they first need to gain a proper understanding of their own culture. To achieve our aim of fostering graduates able to perform on the world stage, we use research and education to deepen students understanding of Japan while at the same deepening their understanding of the world.

To mark Kokugakuin University’s 130th anniversary on November 4, 2012, we drafted and published our mid-term plan, the third “21st Century Research and Education Plan”. In the plan we placed emphasis on further development of the unique characteristics of our university and on clarifying these characteristics in order to increase the general public’s awareness of them. The basic policy outlined in the plan is to achieve harmony in the following three respects: harmony between tradition and creativity, between individuality and coexistence, and between regional characteristics and globalism. To underpin this harmonization, we outlined in the plan the enhancement of the following “five foundations”: Education, research, human development, international exchange, and facilities/equipment. In the plan we also outlined how to facilitate this by realizing the following visions for the future of our university: “Drawing on the university’s founding principle to pursue unique approaches to education and research”, “nurturing individuals capable of taking on core roles in Japanese society and capable of making significant contributions in this age of globalization”, and “establishing and consolidating the Kokugakuin brand”.

Kokugakuin University has 3 considerations:

• To deepen awareness of “time.”

Learn the past in order to think about the future. As in the expression, “Visit the old, learn the new,” there are many hints for us on the path forward in the events of the past, and the wisdom of our predecessors who overcame them.

• To deepen awareness of “space.”

Japan is a place where the world’s largest metropolitan area embracing about 37 million people and genkai-shuraku (villages experiencing serious depopulation and aging of population), which face difficulties even in maintaining the functions of communities) coexist. Meanwhile, we can’t ignore the fact that new social segregations and cultural frictions have emerged as people, things, and information circulate on a global scale. Please don’t overlook what is happening there now. There is no solution for problems without your involvement.

• To deepen awareness of “people.”

Giving one example, while relationships are said to have become shallow, the number of people using SNSs to be connected with others continues to increase. We cannot live only for ourselves. We shall value our individuality, but at the same time, we must face the difficulties of living together with “others.”