April 7, 2016

On a fine day in spring in full bloom, the 49th entrance ceremony of Japan University of Economics and the 42th of Fukuoka Kodomo Junior college is held. It is a great pleasure and honor to be in the presence of many guests and guardians despite your crowded schedule. New students and also all of university officials appreciate such a sober and smooth progress of the ceremony. We would like to express the deepest gratitude.

Congratulations on your new start.

The Saijiki (compendium of seasonal words) contains "A north window opens", a season phrase referring to spring. That means a window on the north side, which was closed to keep out cold wind, is opened to let in fresh spring air. We suppose all of you here today have a feeling very refreshed after passing the fiercely competitive entrance examination.

Tsuzuki Education Group commemorates the 60th year anniversary since its establishment this year. The founders of Mr. Yorisuke Tsuzuki who, was an authority in Japanese linguistics and Japanese history, and Mrs. Sadae Tsuzuki, who was appointed as the first and only female president of a prefectural high school in the postwar period, first opened Fukuoka Daiichi High School in 1956. This is the beginning of Tsuzuki Education Group.
Under the school philosophy of "Training for life through development of personality", we have attempted to expand the educational opportunities in the field of medical care, welfare, technology, global education over 60 years, networking with nationwide institutions of child education, elementary education, secondary education, and advanced education with a wide distribution in Sapporo in the north, Saitama, Shibuya, Ochanomizu, Ueno, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Tachikawa, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe, Himeji, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kagoshima across 16 prefectures.

Our international network includes University of Oxford, who is today's guest of honor, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Duquesne University, University of Hawaii in the United States, Ecole de Guerre Economique University in France, Beaconhills College and University of Melbourne in Australia, Dailian University and China Medical University in China, Dongseo University and Kyung Hee University in Korea. We promote the academic exchange, cultural exchange and interchange with international students.

In particular, the number of international students of Japan University of Economics ranks second after Waseda University every year. All campus cities, Fukuoka, Kobe and Shibuya have adopted many foreigners and prospered as international cities since old times. We think the nature of the locality is one of reasons why international students select it as a destination to study abroad.

The location here, Chikushi Dazaifu has been the Asian strategic place of government, foreign diplomacy, defense and education since ancient times, and used to be called "To no Mikado" (government office located far from the capital).

It is well-known as a distinguished academic city with historic attractions including Dazaifu Government Office remains, Mizuki (moat) remains and Gakugyouin (school) remains, Dazaifu Tenmangu (shrine), Kyushu National Museum, the location the Emperor Meiji visited and Futsukaichi hot springs.

This campus site was developed over 50 years ago by the ex-president, Mr. Yasuhisa Tsuzuki who was a historian specializing in the history of the Western world. During his graduate study experience in Brigham Young University in the U.S., he made an inspection on universities of European countries and found that all prestigious universities had a huge campus spaciously equipped with various school buildings and research institutions. Since this impression, the new place for the small campus of Daiichi University of Pharmacy and Daiichi High School started to be sought out on his return to Japan. After 3 years of searching for himself all over the world, the ex-president discovered such a distinguished land in the expanse of grassy Chikushino rice fields.

All nature lasts forever, here I am.

The basis of culture consists in harmony and divine skill.
The young are the resource of the following creations.

January 31, 1967
Founder Yasuhisa Tsuzuki

During the season to visit the Dazaifu Tenmangu (shrine), Futsukaichi turned a quiet town where the Nishitetsu express train on a single track at the time sometimes passed over. However, the fateful discovery of this hill began the history of Tsuzuki Education Group.
Under the school philosophy of "Training for life through development of personality", Tsuzuki Education Group on a nationwide network finds each student's personality at first and promotes its development for a lifetime. The perspective on personality indicates not only an individual personality but also has a broader meaning; a character of hometown, region and the country in the midst of globalization, that enables recognition of identity.

For the past five years in the national crisis caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, a constant stream of news from the media and internet have worldwide reported the calm judgement of victims in the affected area, their orderliness with a sense of public morality and the nationwide cooperative attitude to help them out. People overseas appraised the victim's natural behavior and even described each as seeming like Christ.
When a no-name small factory was forced to close up operation, leading manufacturers around the world lost the supply chain and had no choice but to suspend production. There was no alternative to high-quality made-in-Japan products.
The Great East Japan Earthquake triggered awareness of Japan’s personality, public culture, civilization and identity. We established "Japan Civilization Institute" in Shibuya, Tokyo in summer of last year with a sense of mission that such agency shall be needed to acquaint the young generation, children as leaders of tomorrow and even people worldwide, with Japan's unique civilization.
Inviting Naoki Inose, ex-governor of Tokyo, as the director as well as guests from various quarters, the think tank began in an attempt to verify the past, present and future of Japan from a global perspective and to suggest the new path to the future.

Four key fields are set up based on academic researches of eight universities belonging to Tsuzuki Education Group.

1.Field of thought, aesthetics, philosophy and ethics unique to Japan

Child educational thought of "The child is father of the man" through Japanese spirit, heart, Bushido (the way of the samurai) and Bunbu-ryodo (both literary and martial arts).

2.Field of economics and management unique to Japan

Japan leads the world in the number of long-established companies in business for 100 years, 200 years, 300 years and even 1,000 years, numbers that are far ahead of other countries. Japan is also characterized by business management with a sense of moral known as "Public Interest Capitalism" in which companies seek not only interest for themselves or their own country.

3.Field of medical care unique to Japan

Chinese herbal medicine is perfectly a tailor-made medication corresponding to personal differences. Japanese-style food known for Ishoku-dogen (the idea that the same principles underline a normal diet and medical treatment) is the representative for medicinal cuisine, and highly reputed as a delicious, beautiful and healthy food throughout the world.

4.Field of technology and industry unique to Japan

James Watt's steam engine developed in England has undergone a process of repeated improvement, reformation, innovation and renovation, and then the contemporary Shinkansen, which has developed out of it, contributes to the popularization of safe railway all over the world. Also, various manufacturing technologies including traditional agriculture, fishery and forestry entrenched in local communities involve the craftsmanship sprit, and lead the world in the technical level.