NISHOGAKUSHA UNIVERSITY
My name is Susumu Sato, and as of April 1, 2024, I have been appointed president of Nishogakusha University. Assuming responsibility for the administration of the university in the next four years, I would like to offer a few words of greeting.
My research field is the history of Japanese politics and diplomacy in the modern and contemporary era, and I mainly seek to clarify the reality of Japan's postwar diplomacy in Asia. This year marks 157 years since the Meiji Restoration, and 147 years since the founding of our university in 1877. Throughout this long period of time, both our university and Japan have experienced many things and have faced many difficulties. On the other hand, structural problems, such as Japan's declining birthrate and aging population, as well as global warming, present us with an extremely great challenge.
Our university's education focuses on PBL, or project-based learning, which tackles "open-ended issues," and on classes that enhance data analysis skills, through which we are committed to fostering human resources who can think independently and open up the future from their own unique perspectives. In the future world, current occupations will disappear due to the impact of advances in AI and other factors, and as a result, we will be forced to provide answers to challenges we have never experienced before in our own lives, in the companies and other organizations we belong to, and in the broader framework of Japan and the world. Our country has faced great challenges in the past, but it was the first non-Western nation to join the ranks of the great powers in the Meiji era (1868 to 1912), was the first to quickly recover from the extremely severe damage of its defeat in World War II, and has also achieved miraculously rapid economic growth. Although the Japanese people seem to be lacking in confidence today, we have taken on these world-first challenges as stated above and have achieved impressive results, becoming a model for other countries to follow. These accomplishments have been made possible by the enterprising young people of each generation.
Our founding philosophy is "fostering individuals that contribute to society by gaining the ability to think and act by themselves." The abilities and human resources required in each era have changed, but the ability to see the world with one's own eyes, grasp the essential issues, and think of solutions with one's own mind, as well as the spirit to actually change the world based on these ideas have been and will continue to be essential. We, the faculty members and staff, are united in our commitment to support our students so that they will leave for the world with these abilities.
Susumu Sato
President of Nishogakusha University