WASEDA USAWaseda University

To all Alumni and Friends in the USA

Aiji Tanaka, Ph.D.

President, Waseda University

It gives me great pleasure to greet you through this letter as the president of Waseda University. Since Waseda was founded in 1882, we have promoted exchange with the United States in various forms. Shigenobu Okuma, the founder of Waseda University, had personal relationships with many visitors from the United States. Before World War II, Kan’ichi Asakawa and Ryusaku Tsunoda, two great scholars who were Waseda alumni, laid the foundation for Japan studies at Yale University and Columbia University. By that time, our baseball team had already competed in the United States.

Waseda’s commitment to exchanges strengthened further after World War II. We began to be actively engaged in exchanges with U.S. universities in the 1960s, and now conduct high-level research and educational exchanges with over 160 universities in the United States. Every year, more than 700 students participate in exchange programs between Waseda and partner universities in the United States.

Since becoming president in 2018, I have strived to ensure that Waseda becomes a university that shines on the global stage and leads the international community. To that end, I hope that all students who study at Waseda hone their skills to “find their own solutions for problems that have no correct answers.” I also hope that they will contribute to society within their own respective fields, wherever that may be in the world. I would like these students to gain “intellectual resilience” and “flexible sensitivity” through their experience at Waseda. I also hope they would go overseas at least once while they are enrolled at Waseda, and observe how other countries see Japan. That experience will not only add to their strengths no matter where they work in the future, but also help them become well-rounded individuals. I believe all of you friends who came to Japan and studied at Waseda understand this fact, especially when you consider how your study abroad experience helped enrich your life.

In order for Waseda to shine on the global stage, we must ensure that universities throughout the world understand our many strengths, including the high caliber of our research. The results of that research must also contribute to our education, attracting excellent students and fostering the next generation of researchers. I believe my responsibility is to create that positive cycle. It is also important for Waseda’s research to transcend each field and become interdisciplinary. We must revitalize our research activities and provide an environment where researchers in various fields can easily collaborate.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 crisis now affecting the international community is also having an immense impact on universities. We have had to completely rethink education, research, and cultural activities that we had always assumed would be conducted in person. There is also an urgent need to support students who are having financial difficulties. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you, friends of Waseda, for the kind support you’ve extended to us. In terms of our basic policy during this crisis, Waseda University has set forth three missions and two principles. As mentioned repeatedly, the three missions are: (1) to protect the health and lives of students and faculty; (2) to provide education in any environment; and (3) to continue research in any condition, regardless of how difficult it may be. The two principles are to “prepare for the greatest amount of damage but minimize its impact” and, based on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to “leave no one behind.” We have also strived to find new possibilities even in these difficult circumstances. This has led to the implementation of new educational models that include both in-person and online teaching, as well as the pursuit of diverse ways of working.

Our work in transforming Waseda into a university that shines on the global stage has only begun. In order for us to continue our efforts, and to attain this goal at a high level, your support is essential. We hope all of you friends appreciate this goal that your second alma mater, Waseda University, has set forth, and ask for your strong support.