2016年度春学期入学式が挙行されました

The AIU’s 2016 Spring Matriculation Ceremony took place on April 8. Mr. Norihisa Satake, Governor of Akita Prefecture and many other honorable guests were present at the ceremony to welcome 266 newcomers, including 90 foreign students from 24 countries and regions, to the AIU Community.

President’s Commencement Address
Norihiko SUZUKI, DBA

Congratulations to all of you on your matriculation to Akita International University, and my sincere congratulations to parents, family and friends.
AIU is now welcoming 266 new students in total, which include 164 undergraduate students, 90 international students and 12 graduate students. From its establishment in 2004, AIU began with a new and timely academic philosophy called “international liberal arts.” Through this distinctly holistic and global approach, AIU has worked to help students acquire superior communication skills in English and other languages and provide them with a rich and meaningful education. With a strong commitment to nurture students with practical expertise and specialized knowledge born out of a global perspective, it is our mission to foster individuals who will contribute significantly to the international and local community. We seek students who share our philosophy as follows:

1. Those with a strong desire to learn and a keen awareness of global issues
2. Those with a practical command over other languages, especially English, who can play their part on the international stage, who aspire to gain a well-rounded education
3. And those with an inquisitive mind and a keen interest in various cultures, languages, histories, and societies of the world, as well as in topics related to international relations such as the economy and the environment

Thus, AIU had no hesitation, from the beginning, in stating that it requires a global institutional framework in order to establish itself as a leading university. And successfully, AIU had implemented and carried out its mission faithfully as declared with all members at AIU sharing the vision of its mission.

Ten years later, AIU is now established across the country and overseas as a well-known university offering an international liberal arts education, resulting from the efforts of the first group of students and those thereafter, in creating a firm foundation. Surprisingly, they are still young as many of them are only in their early 30s. Their active roles and success in society after graduation is building up AIU’s recognition.

Students, you are uncut gems which will be polished, and in four years time, or two years for graduate students, you will turn into precious jewels. None of you will know what color or how shiny you will become, but as a result of the polishing, we know that each of you possess great potential and will be a glittering and colorful treasure with characteristic attributes. It is with much pleasure and joy for a university to induct students such as you. Thus, we offer an environment worthy of your efforts with ardent faculty members to help advance your intellectual growth, along with supportive staff members, an unprecedented curriculum which offer all courses in English, a compulsory one-year study abroad experience, a library that is open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, small class sizes for increased dialogue, and compulsory dormitory living for all freshman to promote intercultural experiences. Through various training and experiences, you will develop and mature, but as I said before, it is all up to you on how much you want to benefit from your experiences.

In 2014 AIU was selected as a grant recipient of MEXT’s Top Global University Project, also known as the “Super Global University Project.” In that selection, 37 universities became recipients out of 109.

AIU now aims to implement four long-term projects. The first project is to promote a 24-hour liberal arts education by enhancing dormitory life on campus. Almost 90% of AIU students live on campus. By organizing some of the dormitories around academic, cultural and career-oriented themes, we aim to expand opportunities for students to learn with and from one another. The second project involves aligning the AIU curriculum with top-tier university curricula overseas so that when AIU students study abroad, they are fully prepared for the academic rigors they will encounter. Equally important, through curricular alignment, international students coming to AIU for one year or one semester can receive full credit at their home institutions. Our goal in this project is to implement a world standard curriculum. The third project involves a desire to reform for the betterment of English language education in Japan. The “English Village” feature of this project brings junior and senior high school students to AIU, where they can learn with and from AIU students who are capable of teaching English in English. The second part of this project involves AIU faculty providing “Teachers’ Seminar” for English secondary school teachers. And the fourth SGU project is an international benchmarking project that will allow AIU to measure the academic progress of its students against the progress of students at similar institutions in the West.

Nevertheless, it does not mean that we, all faculty and staff members, are going to merely stand by and watch while you tackle your struggles. Rather, we will commit to helping you grow. You can trust us. Now, take a vow within your heart to develop and challenge yourself during these four years.
Let’s take the first step now.

Speech by Representative of Undergraduate Students
Ibuki KONNO

Hello, President Suzuki, honored guests, faculty staff, and students. I am Ibuki Konno. Congratulations to all you students for getting into AIU. I am honored to be with you today for our entrance ceremony and to be able to give a speech as a representative of the freshmen class on this special day. Thank you. First, please allow me to say a few words to all of our parents on this occasion. Thank you for raising us to this point, and I know I speak for all students who express gratitude from the bottom of our hearts. We are now freshmen at this university because of your love and support.

Before coming here, I went to Akita Technical High School to study Architecture. I did a lot of work there such as sawing wood and designing blueprints for housing. Sometimes I studied as well. Is there anyone else here who went to a technical high school Perhaps no one except for me. Well, why did I enter this university from a technical high school Let me tell a story about my past…■ When I was a junior high school student, I was a student council president and governed a committee representing all the junior high schools in Akita City at that time. On the committee, over and over again, we talked about The Great East Japan Earthquake and what we could do for the victims. After being on that committee, I realized that they lacked housing to live in, and then I decided to go to a technical high school to study about housing construction. At first, I aimed to build houses for earthquake victims, however, after visiting the Philippines – especially Smokey Mountain – at the age of sixteen, my mind changed dramatically.■

The people who live in Smokey Mountain live in a situation where they do not know if tomorrow they will live or die; that is, they are suffering from serious poverty and hunger. After that experience, I decided that I would like to do something to help save lives in the future. I started to be eager to know what is happening around the world and I aimed to enter this university. In high school, after setting this goal for myself, I gave a speech for a contest on international understanding and cooperation. I did this while I was practicing woodworking in order to get a qualification in carpentry — what I had gone to school every day to do. It was very hard and challenging but fortunately I could succeed in both getting the qualification and winning the contest thanks to help from my teachers and friends. I will continue to do my best because of my feelings of gratitude toward them.

In the future, as I said, I would like to help solve the issues of poverty and hunger in the world and I came here to find people who will be my comrades and teachers in helping to tackle such complex problems faced by the world, including here in Akita. Let’s change the world together. In order to realize this dream, at AIU I would like to learn languages and cultures which play a great part in gaining a deeper understanding of people with different backgrounds and values. What is more, we would like to learn to develop our abilities to express ourselves cross-culturally all over the world. We as new students may face problems at AIU because of possible language and culture obstacles for the first time in our lives. However, even if we encounter such situations, we will never give up and we will overcome them together.

At AIU, there is a community of people from all over the world with high hopes for making a difference, by exchanging our ideas and thoughts regardless of our ages and nationalities. In addition, AIU has a unique curriculum for Japan, such as all lectures being implemented in English and special study abroad programs. We can cultivate our character by studying hard and supporting each other. What is more, this is a splendid environment where we can expand our possibilities. This is attractive to me. We are looking forward to a new life and new experiences that begin now. We know there will be difficulties at times, but we look to the future because with hard work, we will reach our goals. As you can see, there are a lot of beautiful fields and forests in Akita, but little sense of hope for the future because of problems such as an aging population, diminishing birthrate and emigration to the cities. But we are here! Students with interesting ideas and talents gather here at AIU. Let’s create something new, bring a renewed sense of hope, and, again, let’s change the world together. I believe we can do it!! It starts today. Thank you.

Speech by Representative of Graduate Students
Shiori SUGIYAMA

I would like to express my gratitude to the President of Akita International University, honored guests, the administration, as well as faculty and staff members at AIU for allowing me to have this significant opportunity to speak with you today. Also, I would like to thank the audience, parents, and in particular the teachers at my university who gave me valuable advice during my educational development. Without their support, I could not have been admitted to Akita International University. My name is Shiori Sugiyama. I’m about to begin my English Language Teaching program in graduate school here at AIU. It is my honor to pursue a new academic life at AIU, and I look forward to new and great challenges. I believe I can speak for all students at AIU when I say that our hearts are filled with many expectations, and I hope AIU is the place from where we as individuals can look forward to approaching our own future goals.

There are two reasons why I chose AIU as my graduate institution. First of all, AIU offers a wide variety of classes in which I can cultivate skills for teaching English effectively with a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge. Although my future goal is to be an English teacher, when I entered university, I did not imagine that I would come to be interested in teaching English. The experience of an exchange program for one year in the United States encouraged me to think about language teaching in Japan. The reason was because the way of teaching a foreign language there is different from the one I have experienced at school in Japan. As a result of studying in California, I realized the way we educate students has a significant effect on learners’ level of attainment in a foreign language. Therefore, I came to be interested in teaching English to Japanese students in a more productive way. In particular, I am interested in effective grammar teaching. I would like to learn how to organize English classes in which teachers can help learners to acquire grammar in communicative situations. As an educator, I wish to foster learners’ practical ability to use and communicate in English in authentic settings.

The second reason I have come to further my education at AIU is that the environment is ideal for me to have chances to interact with people from all over the world. Since students are coming from different nations to study at AIU, this campus provides us with rich opportunities to communicate in English through interacting with people who have different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. The positive attitude toward communication with people around the world by means of the English language is essential to an English teacher. It will provide me and all students here with great prospects for developing our English skills in an environment where English is frequently used. As an educator, I will be able to inform my future students of the joy and importance of communication in English from my own experience.

Finally, I would like to emphasize how confident I feel about starting a graduate school journey at AIU with new classmates, faculty members, and staff. As one of the new students, I believe that I can speak for all of the student body whose visions for life beyond AIU require hard work and dedication: we will make the most of the opportunities here at AIU to attain our own future goals. Thank you AIU for helping us achieve our dreams and everyone here for your kind support.

Congratulatory Address – The Honorable Norihisa SATAKE Governor of Akita Prefecture		Congratulatory Address by Mr. Kenichiro KONDO, Akita prefectural assembly deputy chairman
Celebratory Musical Performance – Visiting Professor Keiko ABE, Violinist and Ms. Yuko KUSUYAMA, Pianist		AIU Kanto Team Performance
New Students