News

The Autumn 2025 graduation ceremony for undergraduate students, graduate students and students from the Art and Architecture School was held on Saturday, September 20, at the Waseda Arena on Toyama Campus and was simultaneously broadcast online for all to see. As in previous years, in-person participation was limited to graduating students.

This September, a total of 834 undergraduate students, 1 from the Art and Architecture School, 541 master’s degree students, professional master’s degree students, and 88 doctoral degree students graduated from Waseda (as of September 20, 2025). This made for a grand total of 1,464 students who embarked from Waseda to begin a new chapter of their lives.

During the ceremony, Waseda University President Aiji Tanaka took to the stage to make his address to all graduating students: 

On behalf of Waseda University, it is my great pleasure to congratulate you upon your graduation.  We also extend congratulations to your family, relatives, and friends.  I am sure that this is a moment you have been waiting for while studying here at Waseda.
We considered inviting family members in addition to graduating students to this graduation, but we were concerned that it would be dangerously congested on the road in front of Waseda Arena.  Consequently, we have been inviting only the actual graduating students to this Arena for the last several years.  We hope you will understand our decision.
At the same time, we would like you to know that we are all proud of you, who have completed your study at Waseda, accomplished your own goals, and are graduating today, although many of you had entered Waseda even before the COVID-19 pandemic ended.
Many of you, who are graduating from the undergraduate program today, entered Waseda in September 2021, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing.  Although we gradually resumed in-person classes from the 2021 academic year, there were still considerable restrictions on your student life back then. For example, we were unable to permit student parties until April 2023. In this sense, you experienced a period when you could not fully enjoy campus life. This was true not only for undergraduate students, but also for graduate students and students of the Art and Architecture School.
Thanks to your patience and self-control, no cluster infections occurred in class at Waseda.  I really appreciate your cooperation and self-discipline.
Both you and the entire Waseda community endured hardships due to the pandemic and overcame them together. Yet, precisely because of those challenges, I believe you have emerged stronger and more resilient.
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I have one last piece of advice I would like to give to you, our graduates.  That is, do not be swayed by trends, but rather, find your interest or passion and pursue it.  Trends die out in five years or so, and even if you follow a trend, if it is not something that stirs your curiosity, you will only be able to exert 80 to 90% of your potential.  Devoting yourself to something you find meaningful will allow you to put in your 120%.  It is abundantly clear that an effort made at 120% will have a more successful outcome than an effort made at 80%.  I used to share these words with my zemi students every year, but ever since becoming the president of the university, I have bestowed these words upon all Waseda graduates.
Please have confidence in what you have learned at Waseda, because you have survived the difficult academic environment brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.  You can go out into the world and live well with this confidence.
Even after you graduate, please come back to visit your alma mater.  We are looking forward to welcoming you, who will be evermore brilliantly shining, to an evermore brilliantly shining Waseda.
Congratulations on your graduation!

President Aiji Tanaka’s full address (English translation)

Next, Akira Mandai, Executive Chairman of the Waseda University Alumni Association, delivered a congratulatory address: 

On behalf of the Association, I would like to offer you our congratulations.
To all of you who are graduating today, as well as to your families who have supported you up to the present, congratulations on this accomplishment!
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Now that you have graduated, all of you will automatically become alumni of Waseda University and members of the Alumni Association. Please let me take this opportunity to briefly explain what the Waseda University Alumni Association is about. At Waseda University, we call our graduates “koyu,” and the Waseda University Alumni Association, also referred to as “Koyukai,” is an alumni organization composed of graduates of this university.
The Waseda University Alumni Association was founded in 1885. The predecessor of Waseda University, Tokyo Senmon Gakko, was established in 1882. It produced its first class of 11 graduates in 1884, with a further 67 students graduating in 1885. The Alumni Association was launched on December 13, 1885, at a gathering held at the Fujimiken restaurant in Tokyo’s Kojimachi Ward. The meeting was attended by over 50 university officials and graduates, including Sanae Takata, one of the founders of the Association. Afterwards, Tokyo Senmon Gakko was renamed Waseda University. Since then, we have stood side by side with Waseda University on its long journey, sharing in all its triumphs and difficulties to the present day. Though it began with just several dozen alumni, the Waseda University Alumni Association now boasts 690,000 members, making it one of Japan’s leading alumni organizations. This December will mark its 140th anniversary.
The Alumni Association’s essential purpose is to support Waseda University and the current students who are following in our footsteps, as well as to foster personal connections and friendships among alumni. Currently, the Association is headquartered within the university campus and officially headed by Waseda University President Aiji Tanaka. The affairs of the Association are run largely by a secretariat of approximately 60 people. Every year, we provide 200 to 300 million yen to support Waseda University. A large part of this goes toward scholarships for current students, but various other kinds of financial support are also provided.
There are also around 1,400 Alumni Association chapters, known as “Tomonkai.” These include local chapters around Japan, chapters based on year of graduation and profession, and even overseas chapters. All are actively engaged in activities. Waseda is proud of the power of its 690,000 alumni. In Japan and around the world, Waseda alumni actively contribute to society in a vast range of fields, as entrepreneurs, business leaders, Prime Ministers, local community leaders, politicians, bureaucrats, legal professionals, athletes, writers, artists, doctors, media figures, and more. This diversity of Waseda alumni is a source of inspiration and pride for the university.
~~~
The motto of the Waseda University Alumni Association is “To the world together, toward the future together.” May all of you, who are graduating today, fly out confidently into the world and into the future!
I very much look forward to meeting you all again in five years, when you will be invited to return to the university for the Homecoming Day.
Welcome to the Waseda University Alumni Association! And once again, congratulations on your graduation!

For Executive Chairman Akira Mandai’s full address

*The above quotes are translations based on the original Japanese.  

Graduation Album

Complete Recording of the Sept. 20, 2025 Graduation Ceremony