To All Undergraduate and Graduate Students of
Ritsumeikan University

As we begin AY 2026, we would like to share the contemporary challenges we are currently facing and the future we aim to envision from them.

The assumptions of the society surrounding us are undergoing significant changes. In the international community, divisions and conflicts continue, and the order and values that were once taken for granted are no longer self-evident. And in light of this global situation, we must again question what the university’s academic philosophy of “Peace and Democracy” means today and how it can be given concrete form. This also raises the question of how we, as students at Ritsumeikan University, should think and act. At the same time, abnormal weather and natural disasters caused by climate change have already become everyday issues, and they are challenges that cannot be separated from our communities and daily lives. Furthermore, the rapid advancement of digital technologies, including AI, is continuously reshaping the way we learn and work, as well as our very vision of the future at an unprecedented pace. These changes are by no means confined to “events happening in a distant world;” they have the potential to impact each and every one of you in various ways—through your studies, research, student life, and future choices.

How we perceive this era and engage with it is directly connected to the future each student will build and live, and the efforts to envision and realize that future themselves are becoming increasingly important. We are now being called upon to actively consider “how we will engage with society and what kind of value we will create.” The process of revising the Ritsumeikan Charter and the desires set forth in it to be “independent, democratic, fair, open, nonviolent” and “realize world peace” are clues that you can refer to in your own daily learning and dialogue to think about and put into practice what they mean. To encounter people from diverse backgrounds, confront differences in values, and experience decision-making through dialogue. Please think of your student life as such a place of learning.

In these rapidly changing times, the role of education and research at universities is being questioned once again. We believe that universities are not only places for accumulating and passing on knowledge, but also places to confront social issues, ask new questions, and continue to think critically amidst the intersection of diverse perspectives and values. It is our students, who play an important role in this process.

At Ritsumeikan University, we have always viewed our students not merely as participants in a one-way relationship, where one side “teaches” and the other “learns,” in an educational and research setting, but rather as active contributors who, while each assuming different roles and responsibilities, work together to envision and shape the ideal form of the University. In this document, we define “Academy Co-creation” as an approach through which the University advances improvements and reforms in education and research, student life, and student-led extracurricular activities through dialogue and collaboration with students. The relationship with the “Academy Co-creation Activities” advocated and promoted by the Student Union will be discussed again in Chapter 2.

Based on this approach to Academy co-creation, this document serves as a starting point for us to reflect together on the future of Ritsumeikan University and the nature of learning. Regarding the perspectives and directions outlined here, we hope to engage in dialogue with you, the students, to understand where you find common ground and where you feel there are shortcomings or areas of concern, based on your personal experiences and perspectives, so that we can share this understanding ahead of the Plenary Council meeting. We hope this will serve as an opportunity for each of you to reflect on these issues from your own perspective.