Ladies and gentlemen: I wish to express my greatest pleasure in newly welcoming 257 international students and 573 domestic students to our 2002 Spring Semester Entrance Ceremony today.
　　First and foremost, congratulations to you all for becoming students of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University：APU.
　　On behalf of APU, I wish to extend my heartiest congratulations to all of you.
　　It is also an honor to welcome our distinguished guests, parents and guardians of the students and host family members attending today.
　　I would like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation to the many exceptional people who have contributed to the development of the University.

　　The University is an unique one, because it has raised a banner with its name incorporating the region of 'Asia Pacific'. The background for the concept that includes 'Asia Pacific' in the name of our university is such that we have a clear vision and recognition that the 21st century will be the 'Asia Pacific Age'. It is the Age for the 21st century that has just begun.

What kind of an era is the 'Asia Pacific Age'? When reflecting on the human history, the civilization we enjoy today, can be dated back to about 4000 to 5000 years, originating from four main civilizations. Since then these have flourished with special features in various regions around the globe. Especially for these last several centuries, modern civilizations have seen great developments in Europe and America.

Now that we have advanced into the 21st century, the modern civilizations nurtured in Europe and America since the 15th century, have come to a stage where they are meeting with the long accumulated Asian civilizations in the 'Asia Pacific Region' and thus started the fusion once again. I believe that this means the advent of a new phase in the history of human civilizations, and this new phase is indeed the 'Asia Pacific Age'.

However, the 'Asia Pacific Age' is an era that bears the burden of resolving the many global challenges that have been developed as a result of modern civilizations. As such, the resolution of these global issues is essential for the 'Asia Pacific Age' to be advocated.
The first of such issues is without doubt conservation of the global environment. We are being currently pressed with the challenges of creating a sustainable society for guaranteeing the continuous existence of the human species by controlling the relationships between natural environment, human productive activities, and consumption activities.

Secondly, issues related to the establishment of order for international world peace and guaranteeing of human rights. The 19th and 20th centuries were ages of great progress in scientific technology and industry. However, they unfortunately were centuries that could also be called “ages of war.” In these two centuries, we have experienced numerous big and small wars, where many lives have been lost and human rights threatened. We therefore must make the 21st century "a century for peace" where diverse civilizations and cultures should coexist and interchange. It is an important social mission for APU as an international university, to appeal to the world and aim at realizing its establishment principles of "freedom, peace and humanity", "international mutual understanding" and "creation of the future of the Asia Pacific", for the eradication of terrorism and violence, respect for human life, and the significance for the coexistence of various civilizations and cultures through educational and research activities.


Thirdly, we are pressed with issues related to the new 21st century style management of corporations that balance the conservation of the global environment and economic growth with sustainability. Corporate activities are the most important organizations that run the modern society, and these activities decide the significant elements for the qualities of the global society. The corporations are not only bearers of economic development, but also hold great responsibility for the development of the public wealth such as conservation of global environment and maintenance of peace order. Creation of new corporation management styles for the 21st century is also one of our biggest challenges.

Recognizing the issues developed from the history of human civilization, APU was established for nurturing and cultivating young active global citizens who can bravely confront these challenges.

APU is currently organizing its campus environment in such a way that it will be suitable to concretely face these issues. At the campus, talented young leaders for the 21st century from 64 countries and regions around the world have gathered to work towards the creation of a new intelligence for human beings through fusion of accumulations of the eastern and western civilizations as daily activities.

In this autumn, we plan on holding the "2002 World Student Summit” in APU, which is already, a stage where students have already gathered from around the world. The world students will meet here and discuss about the issues mentioned earlier and transmit messages to the whole world.

One of APU’s biggest characteristics is that the university was established with large-scale public and private cooperation among Oita Prefecture, Beppu City and the Ritsumeikan Trust. Thanks to the close cooperation with the local community and local government, today, the University is making great progress as an international university, which has no precedent in Japan. I would like to once again take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to Governor Mr. Hiramatsu and the citizens of Oita Prefecture and Mayer Mr. Inoue and the citizens of Beppu City

This year is the year when FIFA World Cup Soccer games will be held jointly by Korea and Japan where Oita is one of the hosting venues. During the one week period from June 10 when the games will be held in Oita, APU has designated this period as an “International Volunteer Week” to cooperate for the success of the World Cup.

Finally, in conclusion, I would like to emphasize that 'one has to challenge the future in order to create it.” If it is only being criticized, the future that is sought may never come.
We believed in the Ritsumeikan Trust's vision for the bright future of the world and Asia Pacific in the 21st century. Therefore, we have stood up and challenged it with our own efforts to pioneer the nurturing and training of the necessary human resources. That is the very reason why Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University has been realized today.
To all of us who comprise APU, students, faculty members, and staff members alike, let us not tackle the future passively, but take it as a challenge by creating it. Let us all combine our efforts in meeting the world's expectations for this new type of international university, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
　
Thank you very much for your attention.


※　President Speech delivered at Entrance Ceremony for Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, April 2, 2002.