APU Story
The Birth of Japan’s “Global Cooperative” University

Foreword
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) opened its doors in 2000, a year that also
marked the centennial of the Ritsumeikan Academy’s founding. Styled as Japan’s first
truly international university, APU is now preparing to celebrate its own tenthanniversary.
A total of 2,815 international students from some 87 different countries and regions
currently study at APU alongside 3,153 domestic students (as of November 1, 2008).
The concept underpinning the university’s establishment was the global recruitment ofstudents to enable the creation of a multi-cultural campus. This vision of students fromall corners of the globe coming together to learn under an equally cosmopolitan
academic staff body, supported by a dedicated team of administrative personnel, is one
that we at Ritsumeikan have dubbed the “global cooperative” campus concept.
The first steps toward the establishment of APU were taken back in 1994. It wasaround that time that awareness grew within Ritsumeikan of the need for Japanese
universities

to

begin

engagingmoregenuinely

with

the

challengesofinternationalization. It was clear that the Asia Pacific region would play a pivotal role in
the global community of the 21st century, and we recognized the need for universities tobecome capable of educating young people to function effectively at an international
level in order to support their region’s burgeoning global role.
This book is a record of what took place between those first steps in 1994 and theofficial opening of APU in 2000, and of the experiences of the university’s first students
as they struggled to surmount many difficulties and sought to convert the APU ideal
into something tangible. The book chronicles the evolution of a vision into a concept
and the development of that concept into a definite blueprint, as those involved
struggled to address the myriad problems emerging along the way. It also describes thewholehearted efforts of the Ritsumeikan community: both the robust direction provided
by the Academy’s leaders, and the collaborative energy generated by the faculty andadministrative staff. Above all, however, it is the story of each and every student whochose to enroll in APU and take on the grand challenge of turning dreams into reality.
The book also documents the collaboration and assistance furnished by the people ofOita Prefecture and Beppu City, and by countless others both within Japan and beyond.

1Its publication is an expression of gratitude to all the individuals, governmental organs,
universities, schools, private companies and other organizations that lent their support tothe creation of APU.
As mentioned above, students from 87 different countries and regions come together
at the APU campus to engage in study, research and extracurricular activities.
Interaction within this student body was realized initially through sports, dance andother channels that do not require a common language; now, it is expanding toencompass many fields including academic and cultural pursuits and community
engagement. Differences in customs, ways of thinking and, by extension, culture itself,
generate both tension and intellectual stimulation; this in turn spawns new endeavors.
APU’s academic community is distinguished from other Japanese universities by its
multicultural, multilingual character. Leaders from all walks of life and from all over
Asia gave their endorsement to the APU project, seeing that this was the kind ofuniversity that the 21st century would surely need. They joined the ranks of the APU
Advisory Committee, Academic Advisors and other support organizations, and many
have come to the campus to deliver public lectures and seminars and talk to theuniversity’s students directly. Paramount among the many forms of assistance furnishedby these individuals was the job placement support and financial aid that enabled us towelcome students from nations where economic conditions are vastly different fromthose in Japan. This assistance was instrumental to the birth of APU.
Even after graduating from APU, both domestic and international students still talk of“coming home to Beppu”: Beppu and Oita are like adopted homelands for our alumni.
Through collaboration with the local community and wider society, a university canensure that its students not only learn in the classroom but also become involved in life
off campus, thereby acquiring important practical life skills. At APU, the processes ofinternationalization and community engagement go hand in hand. Another important
theme running through the APU story, therefore, concerns the university’s relationships
with Oita Prefecture and Beppu City, and how students are involved in and supportedby the local community.
All the different issues surrounding the establishment of APU, some of which I havetouched on above, are brought together in this volume and presented not as history in
the regular sense, but as a narrative or “story”. The subtitle is of course taken from the2

“global cooperative” ideal mentioned earlier, but the task of compiling and editing thematerial herein has made us all more aware of the fact that the university’s creation wasin itself a “global cooperative” undertaking, made possible thanks to the collaborationand support of countless individuals. At the same time, this book is a re-affirmation of
our resolve to develop APU further, as a university that is attuned to the region in which
it is located and prepared to take more bold steps forward in its second decade.

3

Preface to the English Language Education
This book is an English-language rendition of the Japanese work titled Ritsumeikan
ajia taiheiyō daigaku tanjyō monogatari: sekai kyōgaku no daigaku zukuri, firstpublished in April 2009. It goes without saying that the original work was written for a
Japan-literate audience, not only Ritsumeikan Academy affiliates and higher education
practitioners, but the wider Japanese public and Japan specialists overseas. Like APU
itself, this work is the product of a country with an unusually high degree of cultural
homogeneity, and a university system that has been notoriously averse to any kind ofreform – particularly internationalization. For international readers of this Englishlanguage version, the depictions of international innovation and cross-culturalinteraction are likely to elicit responses considerably different from those felt by thereaders of the original work. The English editorial team has, however, sought topreserve the original tone and perspective, conscious of the fact that altering these
attributes to suit “international” tastes would diminish the value of the book as ahistorical document. This book is not only a record of one of the most interestingdevelopments in Japanese higher education in recent times; it is documentary evidenceof many of the beliefs and outlooks, aspirations and anxieties behind Japan’s
engagement with the wider world in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Different versions of the APU story abound, as do individuals with some claim toauthorship of this story. Until now, however, the story has never been told in aconcerted manner by the people at the center of it within Ritsumeikan. We sincerely
hope that readers will enjoy this volume as a window on the Ritsumeikan Academy, as
an important case study on internationalization and regional development in Japan, andas persuasive evidence of the value of international education in Japan – andeverywhere.

April 2011English Editorial Team4

<INDEX>
Foreword .................................................................................................................................1
Chapter 1 Shaping the Dream ................................................................................................5
The 1990s Vision .................................................................................................................5
At the vanguard of internationalization .........................................................................5
The questionnaire from Oita...........................................................................................8
Impressing Hiramatsu at BKC .....................................................................................10
Announcing the launch of a new university..................................................................12
The Vision Takes Shape ....................................................................................................13
Jūmonjibaru, Castle in the Sky.....................................................................................13
Asia Pacific Studies .......................................................................................................15
Setting up an Advisory Committee...................................................................................17“A university for the world, for Japan, and for humanity” .........................................17
The role of Gaishi Hiraiwa............................................................................................19
A global lineup of Academic Advisors ..........................................................................21
The beach that farewelled the Tenshō Youth Mission to Europe ................................22
Chapter 2 Challenges Abound..............................................................................................24
Preparations fall into place ...........................................................................................24
Recruit those students!......................................................................................................25
The onset of the Asian Financial Crisis ........................................................................25
New institutional partnerships......................................................................................27
Grilled by the Ministry..................................................................................................28“We’re so glad to see you!” An appreciative welcome for the international students 29“Come up the Myōban way”: Attracting Japanese students . . . and their parents ....30
The dual-language education system................................................................................30
An educational first in Japan........................................................................................30

APU’s dual-language system: Made in Singapore?......................................................32
A multi-cultural campus ...............................................................................................34
Academic program development: Groping in the dark...................................................34
Designing the undergraduate colleges ..........................................................................34
The “glasswork” of subject timetabling........................................................................35
Grades questioned repeatedly by persistent international students ............................37
Inter-cultural exchange in the classroom: “Understanding the Asia Pacific” seminarclasses.............................................................................................................................38
Different country, different lecturing style...................................................................40
Japanese audiences overwhelmed by international student performances in “language
weeks”............................................................................................................................42
Reflections on teaching and learning infrastructure ....................................................43
Different cultures of apology.........................................................................................43
A year of rumors ...........................................................................................................44
APU House, the international dormitory......................................................................45
Employment for graduates: No margin for error ........................................................46
The opening ceremony and centennial celebrations.....................................................46
Chapter 3 Promoting APU Locally . . . and Globally...........................................................48
Student recruitment: A global undertaking .....................................................................48
Establishing offices outside Japan ................................................................................48
An uphill struggle for the Office of Korea........................................................................49
Conquering disbelief .....................................................................................................49
Discussing prospects for high school education in the Asia Pacific era .......................51
The wave of internationalization in Korea’s high schools............................................51
China: Transcending differences......................................................................................53
Recruiting students is the state’s responsibility............................................................53
Evolving partnerships ...................................................................................................54

The network expands ....................................................................................................55
Indonesia: Successful networking.....................................................................................56
Starting from scratch ....................................................................................................56
Scholarships: the ultimate stumbling block..................................................................57
Thailand: High hopes for APU .........................................................................................58
Setting up office at home ...............................................................................................58
The genesis of student recruitment in India .....................................................................60
Dr. Verma, a true Japanophile .....................................................................................60
The students arrive ...........................................................................................................61
New arrivals from around the globe .............................................................................61
The Beppu Office ..............................................................................................................62
The first task: Finding an office location......................................................................62
Ritsumeikan University students lend their support....................................................63
The Presentation from APU..........................................................................................64
Finding accommodation................................................................................................65
Campus construction work: A triumph of engineering ...................................................66
No soil wasted ................................................................................................................66
Exhaustive environmental measures ............................................................................67
Chapter 4 The World to APU, APU to the World ...............................................................69
AP House, a cultural melting pot......................................................................................69
The midnight welcoming party .....................................................................................69
New cultures, new surprises..........................................................................................71
The “flower festival” incident .......................................................................................73
APU-style intensive learning.............................................................................................74
Studying for their lives ..................................................................................................74
Pioneers of the Accelerated Program ...............................................................................75

A trailblazer’s ordeal ....................................................................................................75
Making his own history .................................................................................................77
First steps to global citizenship .........................................................................................77
Preparing for a global society .......................................................................................77
Launching a new apparel brand in Vietnam................................................................79
A future in academic research ......................................................................................79
Graduation ceremonies for the President and Vice-President.........................................80
A certificate from the students......................................................................................80
Chapter 5 True Stories: APU Campus Life .........................................................................83
Pioneering club activities ..................................................................................................83
The pitch-black tuba .....................................................................................................83
International students and “Wadaiko” ........................................................................84
The trials and tribulations of the Campus Festival ......................................................85
Held back by the foreign players’ quota: From soccer practice in a park to an
overseas tour..................................................................................................................86
The broadcasting club...................................................................................................88
Ko-Ko-Korea.................................................................................................................89“We can do it!”..............................................................................................................89
Establishing the APU Clubs Association ......................................................................90
Events galore .....................................................................................................................92
The World Students’ Summit .......................................................................................92
The World History Textbook Exhibition......................................................................93
One’s 1 and the World Students’ Summit ....................................................................95
The International Exchange Sports Event ...................................................................96
The Cafeteria: Nourishing a cosmopolitan food culture ..................................................99
International exchange begins for Co-op staff .............................................................99

The bread debacle .........................................................................................................99
Teaching Japanese manners .......................................................................................101
Chapter 6 Engaging the Community on all Fronts ............................................................102
Reaching out beyond the campus ...................................................................................102
Overnight in a samurai residence ...............................................................................102
A top-class infectious disease response program............................................................104
A committee grown out of residents’ information sessions ........................................104
The JC Members who bluffed their way through Cambodia ........................................104
Introducing APU to Cambodians ...............................................................................104
Kamegawa, an unlikely multi-cultural community........................................................105“Enjoy English Conversation”....................................................................................105
Cross-Culture Seminars..............................................................................................106
FIFA World Cup 2002: Nakatsue Village in the limelight.............................................107
The tragic death of Ketchecmen .................................................................................107“Coming home” to Oita ..................................................................................................108
Soaking up the hot springs ..........................................................................................108
Communication skills..................................................................................................108
A community engagement networking university......................................................109
Beppu’s “APU-ist” citizens have their say .....................................................................110
By Tanaka Shun’ichi (host family) .............................................................................110
By Chikuhama Nao and Ōkubo Satoru (Former employees of Beppu City Hall Waste
Disposal Department)..................................................................................................111
By Satake Ken’ichi (former Food and Beverage Manager, Kijima Kōrakuen Hotel).....................................................................................................................................111
By Ajimu Hisanori (Yamaguchi Corpo, Kamenoi Driving School) ...........................112
Kondō Kenichi and Kondō Yoshiwa (“Ponytail” Hairdressing Salon) .....................113
Bharti Ahuja (APU graduate; now owner of an Indian restaurant in Beppu)..........114

The joy of hosting students .............................................................................................114
Wanted: Host families .................................................................................................114
Chapter 7 Onward, APU ....................................................................................................117
President Monte Cassim speaks......................................................................................117
AP House: A multicultural and educational community ...........................................118
APU: A university where students are serious about their studies ............................118
The next leap forward for APU ..................................................................................119
Inheriting the APU “DNA” .........................................................................................120
Postscript.............................................................................................................................121
Declaration on the Occasion of the Opening of APU .....................................................122
From the World to APU (International student numbers and countries/regions oforigin) ..............................................................................................................................123
List of Advisory Committee members at the time APU opened. ...................................130

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Shaping the DreamThe “twin towers”: APU’s most familiar landmark viewed from the main entrance.
Late one night in January 2009. A shared room in the AP House dormitory. A Japanese
student and an international student.
The Japanese student is working on a presentation to give in class the next day.
“Hey, could you give me a hand with this English?” she asks.
The international student, who has been working on an essay, comes over to take a look.
“Perfect!” she laughs.
“Thanks. When I give my presentation tomorrow there’s sure to be plenty of discussion,and criticism. I want to be able to hold my own. When it’s over, let’s go and eat someethnic food at the cafeteria.”
This would seem like a bizarre scene to many people in Japan. But at APU, it isperfectly normal.
For the students gathered here from 87 different countries and regions around theworld, the vision sketched by Ritsumeikan in the 1990s has finally given birth to thereality of multicultural life.

The 1990s Vision
At the vanguard of internationalization
The start of a new decade in 1990 marked the beginning of a period of momentous
change. The early years of this decade were also those in which the university students
of today were born. In Japan, the prospect of an ongoing decline in birthrates and a
rapidly ageing society loomed large. Confronted with the certainty of a fall in the
population of 18-year-olds (the university entrance age in Japan), universities
throughout the country were under pressure to make major changes. Almost all the5Chapter 1

universities in the “college town” of Kyoto joined forces in 1994 to launch theConsortium of Universities in Kyoto (initially called the Kyoto University Center) andinstitute a system of reciprocal course credit.
Dramatic shifts were taking place across the globe. The long-standing Cold War
regime, centered on the dual powers of the United States and the Soviet Union, camecrashing down together with the Berlin Wall in 1990 and the collapse of the Soviet
Union the following year. The world map was being re-drawn. In Asia, too, atransformation was underway. Asian nations were experiencing remarkable economic
growth, and the Chinese economy made its first genuine appearances on international
markets. Japanese consumers witnessed “price-busting” as markets were flooded withgoods from countries where labor was cheap.
Meanwhile, the Japanese economy had lost momentum, and soon found itself on thethreshold of a long period of zero growth. Japan in the 1980s had been acclaimed for its
international competitiveness, and the country was surging forward on the back ofmanufacturing export growth underpinned by science and technology. The 1990s,
however, brought the collapse of this “bubble,” and the economy was ravaged by thestorms of financial globalization. This was the start of an era of anguish anddisorientation as Japan sailed further and further off course.
In was in this era that the seeds were sown for what would later become Ritsumeikan
Asia Pacific University (APU). In 1991, with the support of The Asahi Shimbun
Company, Ritsumeikan organized an International Academic Symposium, at which it
presented a Declaration of Global Citizenship. The keynote address by the Chancellorof Ritsumeikan at the time, Ōminami Masateru, advocated the creation of “an institutionof global standing; an ideal university” underpinned by internationalization, a deeper
engagement with information technology, the pursuit of humanistic principles and thepromotion of accessibility and openness. From this point on, the question of what would
constitute an “ideal university” became a regular topic of debate at the Board ofTrustees and other meetings throughout the Ritsumeikan organization.
Thus, by 1994, there was a common feeling within the Ritsumeikan Academy that the
future was not something that could be relied upon: it would require carefulconsideration and active molding. 1994 was the year in which discussion on
Ritsumeikan’s centennial project was initiated.
“You can’t come up with a grand vision for a centennial project if you’re worried
about how much it’s going to cost. I want you to forget the question of money for the
moment and concentrate on drawing up a proposal.” These were the orders given by
Kawamoto Hachirō, then Ritsumeikan’s Senior Executive Trustee (Chairman from
November 1995; now Advisor). Kawamoto’s words expressed the idea that thecentennial must be more than a mere ceremony: the expectation was for an initiative ona grand scale, an accomplishment that people would look back on with awe andappreciation as they celebrated Ritsumeikan’s bicentennial one century later.
The task of formulating the “grand vision” of which Kawamoto spoke was entrusted
to a group of faculty and administrative staff members mainly in their 40s and 50s. The
New Ritsumeikan Academy Planning Committee for the 21st Century was formed in
May 1994 to undertake wide-ranging and exhaustive discussion around the issue ofwhat shape Ritsumeikan should take in the 21st century. The Committee became a6Chapter 1

forum for open, animated and sometimes heated debate over different visions andscenarios. This debate was fueled by the spirit of dynamic reform that had driven
Ritsumeikan throughout the 1980s. The question was how to convert this dynamism
into concrete plans for the next century.
Universities are no different from companies, or indeed nation-states, in that as soon
as they fall into a fixed pattern of operation they begin to decline. It is vital to retain acertain reformist energy, demanding constant re-assessment and renovation of one’s
own work. “Never stand still, never be satisfied” is the maxim here.
Many members of the 21st Century Committee acknowledged the importance ofinternationalization, and it was agreed that the internationalization process should becentered on the concept of “the Asia Pacific era.” APEC (the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum) had been launched in 1989, and as Ritsumeikan began to explore
ideas for a new university in 1994, the city of Osaka was preparing to host the APEC
Leaders’ Summit. The Asia Pacific region was the subject of much attention in Japan.
“The 21st century will be the Asian era. With its vast wealth of untapped resources, its
diverse cultures and large populations, Asia will be the next major global powerhouse.
Japan must commit itself to the cultivation of human resources – both leaders andspecialists – for the region encompassing not only Asia but also the Pacific.” This is thekind of shared awareness that grew out of the assortment of opinions canvassed in the
21st Century Committee. In the next century, Ritsumeikan needed to move forward withgenuine internationalization and work to become a hub for the development of the Asia
Pacific region.
But what exactly did “genuine internationalization” signify in the university context?
Within the Committee there was already a deep-seated awareness of the problematic
relationship between Japan and international students. Doubts were expressed over theextent to which Japan as a nation was involved in the cultivation of skilled personnel fordeveloping countries. Some Japanese professors were pursuing academic exchange
initiatives with partners overseas, some Japanese students were studying abroad on a
one-off basis, and a few international students were coming to Japan to study too; but
how much was the higher education sector in Japan, a highly developed nation, reallycontributing to education and training at a global level? This was of the Committee’smajor misgivings about the Japanese university system. The other concerned the extent
to which Japanese students themselves were actually able to access interculturalexperiences. Students born in multi-ethnic societies such as the U.S. and Australia, forexample, grow up surrounded by different cultures. Where Japanese firms setting up
operations overseas fail in their efforts to blend in, American companies seem to be able
to merge naturally with the local culture and people. The reason seems to lie in the
difference between Japan and those countries that are home to a diversity of cultures.
Citizens of such countries are conditioned from a young age to deal with conflict arisingfrom diversity, and this conditioning stands them in good stead when it comes tointernational engagement. Ritsumeikan’s idea was to provide Japanese students with theopportunity to study alongside an equal number of non-Japanese students, and thereby
equip them with the skills to succeed on the international stage without even having toleave Japan. This notion formed the basis for the multi-cultural environment we see at
APU today.

7Chapter 1

Ritsumeikan University itself had been working assiduously to boost its intake of
non-Japanese students. But such students could not be recruited in large numbers fromwithin Japan. People interested in Japan tended to enroll initially in Japanese language
schools, learn Japanese, and then go on to enter universities. The pool of candidates foradmission was thus limited, and international student populations at Japanese
universities remained low. The national government had been advancing a plan torecruit 100,000 international students to Japan, but the actual figure, even including
exchange students in addition to enrollments in regular degree programs, was little morethan 30,000. Without a major effort to recruit students directly from overseas, theinternationalization of Japanese universities was not likely to go anywhere.
Acknowledgment of this state of affairs generated many different suggestions within
the 21st Century Committee. One academic who had spent time at an American
university pointed out that campuses in the U.S. tend to be open 24 hours a day, withstudents completely absorbed in their studies. Japan too, it was suggested, needed tocreate a university where students actually study in earnest, and the best way to achieve
this was through a major intake of international students: cultural diversity would
provide the stimulus essential to the cultivation of true creativity. Other professors madeproposals for a curriculum centered on the concept of “Asia Pacific Studies.” A total of
140 academic staff members were involved in the development of plans for the new
university, either as Committee members, advisors, or respondents to a survey
implemented by the Committee. Ultimately the Committee functioned not only as thedriving force for the creation of the Ritsumeikan Academy’s 21st century vision, butalso as a venue for priming the next generation of leaders for the Academy.
The questionnaire from Oita
There was one other important development that added fuel to the debate heating up
within the 21st Century Committee. This was the Oita Prefectural Government’s
announcement of its plan to establish a new university. Just as Ritsumeikan wasembarking on its own process of formulating a new 21st-century campus concept, aquestionnaire arrived from Oita.
The core question asked of Ritsumeikan was: “Does your organization have any plans
to move an existing faculty or university to, or to establish a new operation in, adifferent prefecture?”
The prefecture of Oita is located on the island of Kyushu more than 400 kilometers
southwest of Ritsumeikan’s headquarters in Kyoto. At the time, Oita was experiencing a
degree of nationwide celebrity, thanks to the “One Village One Product” model ofcommunity development advocated by the Prefectural Governor Hiramatsu Morihiko.
Governor Hiramatsu, since retired, recalls the circumstances behind the university
questionnaire as follows:
In the 21st century, Japan’s rural and regional areas would be faced withdepopulation and rapidly ageing communities. Oita prefecture was no
exception. The best way to make more young people settle in theprefecture was to get a university campus built here. I decided that Oita’s
wonderful natural environment would be the perfect setting for a8

Chapter 1

university of around 3,000 to 4,000 students. So I got Mr. Mizohata
Hiroshi, Planning Development Supervising Director, to draw up aquestionnaire and send it out to universities all over Japan.
This Mizohata Hiroshi is now President Mizohata of the Oita Football Club, home of
the J League soccer team Oita Trinita. “We started to explore options for attracting
universities to Oita around 1990,” Mizohata recalls. “Most people in the prefectural
government office at the time thought it would be impossible to persuade any university
to set up operations here.” But by 1994, they had got as far as sending out thequestionnaire mentioned above.
Several universities responded to the questionnaire, indicating their intention to move,or set up new operations, outside their current prefecture. One of these was Ritsumeikan.
A month after submitting its response, Ritsumeikan decided to take the initiative andpay a visit to Oita. Representing Ritsumeikan on that visit were Senior Executive
Trustee Kawamoto, and an Executive Trustee of the time, Kōga Mitsuhide. “Ourcounterparts in Oita must have thought that we were pretty serious, traveling all thatway to visit them,” Kawamoto recalls. Governor Hiramatsu ordered Secretary-General
Mizohata to show his guests around Beppu City and the Kusu region.
Governor Hiramatsu explained his approach thus:
Since becoming Governor in 1979, I have built on my previous career inthe Ministry of International Trade and Industry to attract companies like
Canon, Sony and NEC to set up high-tech manufacturing arms in areas
adjacent to the airport and major ports. But for inland areas and districts
not suited to industrial development, my plan is to get a university to set
up operations. This would encourage young people to live there long-term,
and revitalize the local community in general. Oita City [the major urban
center and capital of the prefecture] is already home to national
institutions such as Oita University and Oita Medical College [nowmerged], private colleges, and major corporate operations in the coastal
industrial zone. So my preference is for the university to be locatedsomewhere away from these existing centers of activity – somewhere witha good natural environment.
Senior Executive Trustee Kawamoto was quietly surprised at Hiramatsu’s drive andenthusiasm:
In a way, a university is a rather insular community. People tend not to be
conscious of things like the reputation of Prefectural Governors. To behonest, I myself knew hardly anything about Governor Hiramatsu’s
famous One Village One Product movement.
Offering his guests a glass of Oita’s famous barley shōchū (distilled liquor) with aslice of the local specialty Kabosu lime, Hiramatsu recounted some of his experienceswith the One Village One Product (OVOP) movement. He told how he had personallytaken samples of his prefecture’s shōchū to high-class restaurants in Tokyo, the kindthat would never have served such a beverage before. This strategy paid off to such an
extent that Oita overtook other prefectures in Kyushu and grabbed the major share of
the shōchū market. Beyond Japan, the OVOP concept had found resonance in nations
troubled by urban-rural income disparity, where leaders were searching desperately for

9Chapter 1

ways to free rural communities from the shackles of poverty. Dignitaries such as the
Mayor of Shanghai, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir from Malaysia, and President
Ramos of the Philippines all came to Oita to visit OVOP sites in person. Hiramatsu
himself had made many overseas visits in response to invitations from the President of
the Republic of Korea, the Shanghai Mayor and other Southeast Asian leaders,preaching his OVOP model to rural governors, women’s associations and other local
players. To the representatives from Ritsumeikan, Hiramatsu’s detailed account of thelively program of inter-regional international exchange in his prefecture was an
astonishing revelation.
Impressing Hiramatsu at BKC
Two months later, in April 1994, it was the turn of Governor Hiramatsu andSecretary-General Mizohata to visit the Kinugasa Campus of Ritsumeikan University it
Kita-ku, Kyoto. Mizohata recalls that the purpose of this visit was to deliver apresentation on Oita Prefecture. On arrival, Hiramatsu and Mizohata were greeted by
not only Kawamoto and Executive Trustee Kōga, but Ritsumeikan’s ChancellorŌminami and Deputy Chancellor Sakamoto Kazuichi (later to become APU’s first
President). This kind of delegation, however, was nothing new to Ritsumeikan. The
Academy was often approached by local government bodies keen to discuss thepossibility of Ritsumeikan setting up a campus in their area.
The Oita delegation sought to communicate their prefecture’s unusually high degreeof international consciousness. Mizohata recalls delivering an impassioned hour-longpresentation:
We talked about Oita’s record in inter-regional exchange withcounterparts in Central and Southeast Asia, and how we believed thatclose, friendly interaction between individuals and communities would
help build genuine world peace. We explained that human resource
development was a major policy theme for the Oita Prefectural
Government, and that we wanted to create a truly open and cosmopolitan
university that could serve Japan and the other nations of Asia. We told
them how we hoped that Ritsumeikan would bring its experience inuniversity management to join us in this project.
Governor Hiramatsu then drove the point home, using this outline of Oita’s ventures
to support his contention that even in a region far removed from Japan’s political andeconomic heart in Tokyo, it was possible to become active on the world stage and makean impact on other nations. Indeed, he suggested, it was possible to achieve things that
could never be done in Tokyo. The key to internationalization lay not in ideals andrhetoric, but in the practical capacity to take the initiative and break new ground.
Hiramatsu’s words seemed calculated to inspire those in charge of Ritsumeikan’s
centennial project to press forward with the establishment of a new university.
At the conclusion of this presentation, the Ritsumeikan representatives stated theirposition. They explained that Ritsumeikan had recently opened a new Biwako-Kusatsu
Campus (BKC) and just completed the expansion and relocation of its College of10Chapter 1

Science and Engineering to that campus. If it was to get involved in the establishment of
a new university, it would need to be a very novel university – a type that had neverbefore been tried in Japan. Otherwise, they said, it would be impossible to muster theenergy within Ritsumeikan required to carry the project through to completion.
Governor Hiramatsu responded without hesitation: “Well then, what kind ofuniversity do you have in mind?”
The Ritsumeikan officials explained their concept as follows. The national education
ministry had a plan to attract 100,000 international students to Japan, but to date had
only succeeded in attracting half that number. Even in the most internationalized
universities, international students only accounted for around 10% of the total student
population, at the most. A university where 50% the students were non-Japanese – now
that really would be one-of-a-kind in Japan.
“I see, I see . . .” As he often did when particularly impressed, Hiramatsu stiffened his
jaw and nodded copiously.
The next day, Hiramatsu and Mizohata were taken on a tour of Ritsumeikan’s new
campus, BKC. Hiramatsu had hit the mark with his presentation, but now it was his turnto be inspired.
It was around 9 o’clock at the main entrance to the campus. We watched
the line of students riding their bikes in on their way to morning classes.
The surrounding district had been transformed into a college town, andthere was a tangible energy to it. If we were able to build a university
somewhere in Oita and attract young people like this, it would give thelocal community a new lease on life. This, I decided, was the sort ofuniversity we needed.
The other thing that struck me about BKC was the display of cultural
artifacts unearthed from an ancient ruin discovered in the course of initialearthworks on the campus site. Preserving historical relics like that surely
helps strengthen community and campus identity. I was deeply impressedby how much consideration Ritsumeikan had given to the human element
when planning this new campus.
From this point Ritsumeikan and the Oita Prefectural Government began to discuss
the actual form that the new university would take. The Prefectural Government
pledged its full support to the project. In practice, this meant that it and other local
governmental bodies would provide the land and a portion of costs for construction of
the campus. Above all, it was Governor Hiramatsu’s passion and drive that impressed
the personnel at Ritsumeikan. There was something about him that gave everyone thesense that he was deadly serious about carrying this project through to fruition. This,
then, was the birth of what became known as a “large-scale public-private
collaboration” between Ritsumeikan and Oita.

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Announcing the launch of a new university
The newborn public-private collaboration greatly enhanced Ritsumeikan’s prospectsof establishing an entirely new university, and made it possible to explore new
dimensions to the ideas for internationalization that had already been raised. Discussion
within Ritsumeikan reached new levels of intensity. The 21st Century Committee’s final
report, titled “The Ritsumeikan Academy in the 21st Century,” was pulled together with
unprecedented swiftness. Presented to the Ritsumeikan’s Executive Board of Trustees in
October 1994, the report outlined a grand vision for “Ritsumeikan to celebrate its 100th
anniversary with the creation of Japan’s first truly international university.”
The establishment of a new university was a massive undertaking, and Ritsumeikan
was well aware of the need to tread cautiously in the initial stages. It is likely that the
Oita Prefectural Government also took great care to ensure that they had chosen theright partner in Ritsumeikan. Those charged with pushing the project forward maderepeated trips from Oita to Kyoto, as their counterparts did in the opposite direction.
Chancellor Ōminami paid a visit to Oita and hit it off with Governor Hiramatsu
immediately, lending fresh impetus to the project. The parties gradually began to findthemselves on firm ground.
In December 1994, Governor Hiramatsu was invited to give a special lecture to
Ritsumeikan staff and students at the Igaku-kan No.1 Hall on the Kinugasa Campus in
Kyoto. Hiramatsu remembers delivering a spirited address: “I knew that theestablishment of the new university depended on unanimous support from
Ritsumeikan’s Faculty Councils. So I certainly put my heart into it.”In the days leading up to the lecture, the Igaku-kan building was adorned with a large
banner reading “Special Lecture: The Oita Prefectural Governor is Coming to
Ritsumeikan!” It wasn’t very often that banners were allowed on university buildings,
and people all over the campus began to wonder what was going on between
Ritsumeikan and Oita. Hiramatsu later wrote: “Ritsumeikan has traditionally been proudof its anti-establishment spirit, so to be greeted with a banner proclaiming gleefully that
‘The Oita Prefectural Governor is Coming’ – well, that was really something.”1
In April 1995, a document titled “Draft basic plan for establishment of a new
university through large-scale public-private cooperation” was officially tabled at a
meeting of the Ritsumeikan Board of Trustees, and in June of the same year,
Ritsumeikan launched a Committee for Actualization of the New University Plan. The
concept was starting to take shape.
Meanwhile, Governor Hiramatsu had received a letter from the Philippines. Its
content came as a surprise even to the seasoned eyes of Oita’s “local yet global”
Governor. Hiramatsu had been chosen to receive the Government Service Prize in the
Ramon Magsaysay Award, sometimes described as “the Nobel Prize of Asia.” Afterattending the awards ceremony in Manila on August 31, 1995, Hiramatsu met with his
1

From Gurōkaru chiji hiramatsu morihiko: sono hassō to jissen [Hiramatsu Morihiko, the Glocal
Governor: His ideas and practice], Nishinippon Shimbunsha, 2004.

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Chapter 1

old acquaintance President Ramos at the Malacanang Palace and held a press
conference. It was here that Hiramatsu announced his intention to use the money
presented to him by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, additional to the Awarditself, to help build a new international university for the Asia Pacific region in Oita.
Speaking later, Kawamoto offered the following justifications for Ritsumeikan’s
decision to choose Oita as the site for its new university.
Build an international university way out in Oita, Kyushu? It was enoughto make you think twice. Anybody with common sense would tell you thata campus like that just wouldn’t attract students. There certainly weren’t
many universities or local governments in Japan that were prepared tolook beyond this “common sense” approach. Most didn’t have enoughexperience in putting new initiatives into practice. But the Oita Prefectural
Government was an exception, as shown by its work to spread the One
Village One Product philosophy around the world. Likewise, Ritsumeikan
had been doing things which other universities wouldn’t attempt, such as
setting up affiliated high schools and opening a campus like BKC. Bothorganizations had a record of embracing reform and positive change. This
was not a simple meeting of minds. It was a mutual recognition of theexperiences of both anguish and fulfillment that come from working
wholeheartedly on a new project. This was what inspired ourorganizations to come together.
Ritsumeikan and Oita Prefectural Government were alike in that they had bothcommitted their full organizational energies to the tasks of reform and improvement.
They were confident that these experiences would serve them well in the new university
project.

The Vision Takes Shape
Jūmonjibaru, Castle in the Sky
The APU campus sits on top of Jūmonjibaru, a hill high above the center of Beppu
City and overlooking the sea. It was the second batch of APU students that began torefer to this location as “the Castle in the Sky.” But this “castle” was not always
destined to be home to the new campus. Several other sites were canvassed before
Jūmonjibaru was chosen, including some in Yufuin, on the Tsukahara Plateau, and in
the town of Hiji. Over time, however, it became clear that the most fitting location
would be the city of Beppu, a self-proclaimed “International Tourism and Hot Spring
Culture City.”At the end of June 1995, just two months after he had been elected, the Mayor of
Beppu City Inoue Nobuyuki was asked to attend a meeting with Governor Hiramatsu.
At the meeting Hiramatsu bluntly informed Inoue that he wanted to build aninternational university in Beppu, and that he needed the city authorities to donate theland for the campus site. Before entering politics, Inoue had worked for many years as a

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Chapter 1

teacher at Beppu Commercial High School, so he was keenly interested in educational
issues and was already thinking about possibilities of attracting a new university to hiscity. He was aware of several cases in which local governments had invested in tourist
developments, only to be left high and dry with massive debts: if Beppu was to embark
on a large-scale development project, Inoue figured, it should be something like a
museum or an art gallery or a university – something that would serve the local
community well in the long term. After some thought, he agreed to Hiramatsu’s request.
He called in his Deputy Mayor and the head of the Planning Division, instructing themto put the full resources of City Hall behind the project. Inoue went on to visit BKC in
person, and his Deputy made numerous trips to Ritsumeikan headquarters.
Just two months had elapsed since Hiramatsu announced his idea for an international
university at the press conference after the Ramon Magsaysay Awards.
The most pressing task was to decide exactly where in Beppu the new campus would
be situated. Mayor Inoue recalls:
I asked the Ritsumeikan people what their preferred site would be. Senior
Executive Trustee Kawamoto’s initial response surprised me. He asked
whether we could use the local golf club as a site. But many of the clubmembers had membership rights that could not be disturbed. Next, heasked about a park in the center of town. Again we had to answer no –half of the park’s land was on lease from the national government.
Eventually they asked us to suggest something. We came up with threecandidates: one was a 198-hectare site in the hills further inland from themain town, another was the 48-hectare piece of land on Jūmonjibaru, andthe third was a privately-owned estate of 148.5 hectares, located behind
Mt. Takasaki.
After conducting many inspections, it was time to make a tentative decision.
Kawamoto had liked the Jūmonjibaru site from the moment he saw it.
I thought it would be fitting to have an international university somewhere
overlooking the sea. Students who come from far away could contemplate
the sea and how it connects Japan to their homelands. Of course there aresome countries with no sea, like those surrounded by the Himalayan
mountains, for example. But the sea is still a universal symbol ofconnectedness. Looking out over the sea reminds you of home. When you
think of home, you think of your mother. And when you’re thinking ofyour mother, you work harder – it’s human nature! Everyone turns to theirmother in times of trouble. That’s how deeply ingrained a mother’s love is.
The Jūmonjibaru site, with its fine ocean views, emerged as the preferred candidate.
Then, on September 25, 1995, Ritsumeikan, Oita Prefectural Government and Beppu
City Government held joint press conferences in Oita and Kyoto to announce their plan
to establish Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.
“That was when things began to get rough,” recalls Mayor Inoue. Members of the
opposition party in the Beppu City Assembly complained bitterly: to them, it was a“unilateral decision to part with 42 hectares of public land, made by the Mayor without
any prior notification”; they pointed out “contempt for process by not even consulting
the City Assembly about the commitment of 4.2 billion yen in public funds”; they14

Chapter 1

claimed that “earthworks on Jūmonjibaru would be detrimental to Beppu’s supply of hot
spring water”; they highlighted the fact that “Jūmonjibaru is a treasure trove of
indigenous flora.” At the City Assembly’s September session, more than 20 out of the
33 delegates posed questions about the APU project.
Inoue was unyielding, putting his case as follows:
Academic institutions are a little like shrines and temples – their value
grows over time. That much is clear from history. And it is especially trueof an international university. The young people who come to study at thisinstitution will carry memories of their time in Beppu with them for life.
Whether they return to their home countries or go on to work somewhere
else, they will be fine ambassadors for our city’s tourist industry. Thesedays, it seems that fewer and fewer people know Beppu. As a tourist
destination, we’re in real danger of falling off the map. I am certain that
this university will become known as the greatest thing to happen to
Beppu this decade, in the next twenty years – maybe in the whole of the
21st century.
The uproar in the City Assembly stirred up a hotbed of rumor and malicious gossip
within the Beppu community. Initiatives were put into place to defuse this charged
atmosphere and make the community aware of what APU really had to offer.
Gatherings such as the 21st Century Beppu Discussion Forum were organized, and an
Alliance for the Establishment of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (led by Fuzuki
Tomonaga, then head of the Beppu Chamber of Commerce and Industry) was set up
with the aim of contributing to the achievement of higher cultural and educational
standards in Beppu, as well as to the city’s industrial and economic progress.

Global citizenship fostered here: APU’s Classroom Building

Asia Pacific Studies
Kazuichi Sakamoto, the inaugural President of APU, has the following to say about
APU’s core academic concept.

15Chapter 1

The idea of Asia Pacific Studies was borne out of our need to provide asolid disciplinary context for the educational activity that would take placeat the new university. The concept of the “Asia Pacific Era” wasuppermost in our minds when developing the idea for APU itself – so it
became our responsibility to bring the people of the Asia Pacific region
together at the university and work to create this new era. When it came
down to integrating research around this theme into a single academic
concept, “Asia Pacific Studies” sprang to mind.
There will probably be those who question our approach, pointing to thehuge volumes of research already being undertaken into the Asia Pacificregion. But the novelty of APU’s concept of Asia Pacific Studies lies increating a field of academic endeavor led by the residents of this region
themselves. Existing research on the Asia Pacific region in Japan tends toinvolve Japanese researchers only: some would even suggest that theseresearchers are inclined to rely on sources that reach Japan via North
America and Europe, rather than engaging directly with their region of
study. In contrast, APU would bring together scholars from within the
Asia Pacific in order to develop new academic approaches that would aid
the development of the region.
I believe that this new scholarly tradition will contribute to the creation ofa better Asia Pacific region in the 21st century. It’s what I call “Asia
Pacific Studies by and for the Asia Pacific region.”
Governor Hiramatsu offers his own perspective on Asia Pacific Studies:
Chancellor Ōminami talked about building a “School of Excellence,” a
hub for the creation of advanced scholarly knowledge. He also said thatthe university’s mission would be to develop the field of “Asia PacificStudies.” I had always been interested in regional studies, and particularly
how the EU model of political and economic integration may be applied toAsia. Unlike Europe, which could build on the shared historical traditionof Christianity, there is no single religion common throughout the Asian
region. So, what kind of academic approaches could be applied to theissue of bringing the diverse cultures and peoples of Asia together into asingle cultural circle? Through my experiences of local diplomacy
throughout Asia, I had developed my own ideas about the study of Asia or
the Asia Pacific. I even wrote somewhere that after quitting my job as
Governor, I planned to get admitted to APU’s graduate school and earn adoctoral degree myself. Anyway, several people who used to work inbodies like the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and theInstitute of Developing Economies have now taken up academic posts at
APU, and are actually pursuing research on One Village One Productmovements in regions outside Japan, looking at how these movements
manifest regional and cultural characteristics.

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Chapter 1

The multicultural classroom

Setting up an Advisory Committee“A university for the world, for Japan, and for humanity”
In 1995, in the midst of the sensation caused by the public announcement of the new
university plans, particularly within the community of Beppu, Ritsumeikan started out
on two major tasks: recruiting international students, and soliciting financial support
from the corporate sector. The cornerstone for the latter task was to be the establishmentof an Advisory Committee (AC) as the primary public face of support for APU. Japan’s
first truly international university, with 50:50 ratio of Japanese to international students,
could not hope to succeed without Japanese companies providing financial backing,support for the university’s academic activities, and assistance with job placement for
graduates.
At the time, it was said that there were around 500,000 international
students in the United States, and that most would have a pro-US outlook
by the time they went home. In contrast, I was told, Japan had just 50,000,
and most of them took anti-Japanese sentiments home with them. Thisbothered me. Why was nothing being done about it? We had to turn thisproblem around at our new university. We needed at least 80% of ourinternational students to go home with a positive outlook on Japan.
This comment from Senior Executive Trustee Kawamoto expresses APU’s mission
well. The concept was for internationalization on a grand scale, a scale that should
really be addressed by the national government. When asking company heads to join the
AC, Ritsumeikan representatives would explain how it was patent that the Asia Pacificregion, with its vast untapped resources, high population and diverse wealth of cultural
traditions, would become the powerhouse of the global economy in the 21st century. The
most important task facing the region itself, they would argue, was the cultivation ofhuman resources with globally-recognized attributes. It was Japan’s duty to bring out
the latent potential in the Asia Pacific region; doing this would also be for Japan’s own
sake, and to the benefit of Japanese companies.

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Kawamoto recalls:
Everyone involved in the project was totally convinced that they were
doing something for the world, for Japan, and for its companies. Thissense of mission meant that they had no reservations about asking formoney or other forms of support. Having a strong sense of mission is the
key to successful perseverance.
Ritsumeikan explained to company representatives that providing a scholarship for asingle student would cost 2.5 million yen per year, or a total of 10 million over four
years of undergraduate study. This would not be a long-term commitment: they were
only asking for support for two full graduation cycles or eight years in total.
Ritsumeikan’s fund-raising drive came, however, just as the Asian Financial Crisis was
beginning to hit – and starting to send shockwaves through Japan. Kawamoto was surethat under these conditions, conventional corporate approaches would lead only to aseries of polite rejections. So he delivered some unique instructions to his charges:
Don’t go in the front entrance, whatever you do. We’re desperate here,
right? If the company offices are on the eighth floor of the building, OK,
climb up, break the windowpane and get in that way. If the CEO’s up on
the top floor, burst in through the roof.
Having ordered his own staff out on these clandestine operations, Kawamoto madehis way to Oita to ask Hiramatsu to introduce some acquaintances from his days at the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry. Hiramatsu responded by paying a visit to
the JETRO head Hatayama Noboru, which led to Kawamoto being introduced to the
Presidents of firms such as the Kyushu, Chubu and Okinawa electric power companies.
As the list of contacts grew, there were suggestions that it was time to launch a moreformal organization. The AC was to be peopled by the heads of Japan’s leading
companies, so it was only natural that it should be headed by the Honorary Chairman of
Nippon Keidanren, the Japan Business Federation. At the time, this post was held byHiraiwa Gaishi, who was already in his late seventies. Ritsumeikan’s first foray yieldeda firm refusal from Hiraiwa, who said “I’m already making preparations to resign fromall my public posts by the time I turn 80. Your purpose is most admirable, but please do
not ask me to play a part.”
What was to be done? Kawamoto was afraid that without Hiraiwa’s assent, the AC
would not grow into the kind of organization that he had envisaged. Eventually,
Kawamoto resolved to get hold of a detailed curriculum vitae on Hiraiwa and start
making some investigations of this.
“Born in Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, 1914 . . . Graduated from the Universityof Tokyo . . . Chairman of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, 7th Chairman of Nippon
Keidanren . . .” In among these well-known aspects of Hiraiwa’s CV was one line thatcaught Kawamoto’s attention. “Former pupil of Yasuoka Masahiro.” That was it. A
scholar of the neo-Confucianist philosophy of Wang Yangming, Yasuoka Masahiro
counted many prominent Japanese politicians and businessmen among his followers.
Kawamoto happened to know another of Yasuoka’s star pupils, Arai Masaaki, who at
the time was the Honorary Chairman of the Sumitomo Life Insurance Company. He
paid a visit to Arai and put his case as follows: “This is the kind of role that should
really be taken by the Prime Minister of Japan. So what we need here is a ‘Prime

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Chapter 1

Minister’ of Japan’s private sector. Hiraiwa Gaishi is the only person we know of who
fits that description.”
Kawamoto’s entreaty won Arai over, and he telephoned Hiraiwa on the spot. Facedwith a request from a more senior fellow pupil of the Yasuoka school, Hiraiwa had nochoice but to accede. “It looks like the answer is yes,” said Arai as he replaced thetelephone receiver with a smile of relief.
Governor Hiramatsu recalls that initially, inquiries were made about the possibility ofreceiving financial assistance from the national government:
We approached the Education Ministry informally and asked if it might bepossible use Japan’s ODA [Official Development Assistance] to fundscholarships for outstanding international students. But we were told that
ODA is for the purposes of building roads, ports and other infrastructure
in developing regions of Asia, Africa and so on, and for establishing
services such as schools and hospitals directly in those regions. Each
Ministry is allocated a specific sum, and not one penny can be reallocatedfor a different purpose. They said that most of the ODA funds allocated totheir Ministry were applied to scholarships for international students atnational universities: none had ever been used for private institutions inregional areas. We even put in a request to one politician, but the response
was that it would be “very difficult” to expand the quota of international
student recipients of ODA scholarships. So at that stage, we decided upon
the idea of soliciting scholarship funds from private sector businesses
sympathetic to the concept behind the new university. Both Kawamotoand I agreed that the Honorary Chairman of Nippon Keidanren, Hiraiwa
Gaishi, would be ideally suited to head this operation.

General Assembly for the Establishment of the AC,
held at the Hotel Okura (Tokyo) in May 1996.

The role of Gaishi Hiraiwa
Hiraiwa’s appointment to the AC Honorary Committee fueled further expansion AC
membership scale nationwide. (A current AC membership list is included at the end of19

Chapter 1

this volume.) On May 23, 1996, a General Assembly for the Establishment of the APU
Advisory Committee was held at the Hotel Okura in Tokyo. With Governor
Hiramatsu’s help, several other key individuals had been enlisted to join the AC by thistime, such as former Bank of Japan Governor Mieno Yasushi, Canon’s CEO Mitarai
Fujio, Toshiba’s President Satō Fumio and Japan IBM Chairman Shīna Takeo.2 Thus
the five Honorary Committee members, five Ambassador members and 64 regular
Committee members recruited to the AC presented a distinguished lineup at theorganization’s May 23 launch. In his new-found role as Honorary Committee member,
Gaishi Hiraiwa greeted the assembly with the following words:
The Fulbright Program provided scholarships for many young Japanese
students to attend university in the United States in the period following
World War Two. It is widely known that the individuals who received
these scholarships returned to Japan to lead our country’s post-war
rebuilding effort, assuming prominence in both government and thebusiness world. When seen in the light of this history, the initiative taken
by a private institution and local government to establish a university herein Japan where half the students are from overseas – surely the type of
project that should be undertaken by our national government – is of truly
great significance. If there is no chance of scholarship funds being madeavailable through ODA, I sincerely hope that you as members of thebusiness community will be prepared to provide the necessary assistance.
Several attendees actively expressed their support for Hiraiwa’s proposition. One, theformer administrative vice-minister for education Mr. Kida Hiroshi, stated that “it willtake time for Japan’s universities to internationalize, but the decision to establish thisuniversity is an excellent one, and I hope that you will take a long-term view toproviding support for it.” Representatives from both Ritsumeikan and Oita Prefectural
Government were genuinely grateful for this response, and privately relieved.
In the current financial climate, donations could simply be diverted to an endowment
and expected to earn interest. Scholarships would need to be paid for out of capitalfunds, year by year. AC members embraced the task of fundraising in many forms, notonly procuring donations from their own companies but even approaching the heads oftheir major banking partners to ask for contributions. At the same time the AC itself
continued to grow, adding to its membership several former heads of state, foreign
Ambassadors to Japan and other dignitaries from all walks of life. Eventually, a total of
252 members had been recruited, and a total of 4.1 billion yen, made up mainly ofcontributions from AC member organizations, had been amassed. Chairman of Kyushu
Electric Power Co., Ōno Shigeru, was particularly taken by the fact that the university
was to be located in Beppu, Kyushu, rather than a major metropolis such as Tokyo or
Osaka: he pledged a huge donation to the scholarship fund, commenting that he felt
“honored that such a university will be built right here in Kyushu.” Even after APU’s
opening, Kyushu Electric Power continued to provide support for the university in many2

Note: All positions and job titles mentioned in this section are those held by the parties at the time inquestion (May 1996).

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Chapter 1

forms, including sponsorship of instructors for classes on campus and provision of
student internship opportunities.
In the APU Progress Report published in Spring 2000, the Honorary Chairman of
Asahi Beer, Higuchi Hirotarō, wrote:
This is probably the first time that a supporting body of this scale has everbeen created for a single university. The extent of the assistance furnished
for Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is an expression of support for the
new vision of higher education in the 21st century that this university
represents. This fund could truly be called a “modern-day Fulbright
Program.”
A global lineup of Academic Advisors
Working alongside the AC members were APU’s Academic Advisors, the“benefactors of academic world” who added their names in endorsement and support of
the university’s core concept.
The first APU President Sakamoto Kazuichi explains the makeup of this group as
follows.
We have two winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics, Dr. Amartya Sen
and the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Lawrence Klein. Dr. Nambu
Yōichirō also joined soon after receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics in2008. Asian Nobel laureates have been represented from an early stage by
the winner of the prize in Chemistry, Lee Yuan Tseh from Taiwan’s
Academia Sinica.
The renowned management expert Peter Drucker, who sadly passed awayin 2005, was also extremely interested in APU and one of our most ardent
supporters. It was Dr. Drucker’s personal policy not to collectorganizational affiliations, and for that reason he was never officiallyappointed as an Academic Advisor. Unusually, however, he did express adesire to provide a personal message in support of APU, and I wasfortunate enough to visit his home to receive this message. Dr. Ezra Vogel,
author of Japan as Number One, also had a strong interest in APU andeven took the trouble of visiting our campus.
Within Japan, members of the journalistic profession expressed particularinterest in APU, and the current Editor-in-Chief of the Asahi Shimbun
newspaper, Funabashi Yōichi, has been a supporter of our university sincewell before its opening. Terashima Jitsurō, the Chairman of the Japan
Research Institute and President and CEO of the Mitsui Global Strategic
Studies Institute, has long held APU in high regard and is now involved inmoves to establish an APU-type institution for the research community, tobe called API (Asia Pacific Institute). The respected journalist Chikushi
Tetsuya, a Visiting Professor at Ritsumeikan University, also offered us
assistance in many forms.

21

Chapter 1

The beach that farewelled the Tenshō Youth Mission to Europe
Former Governor Hiramatsu brings guests from around the world to tour the APU
campus. As his guests are enjoying the fine views over the sea, Hiramatsu is sure to tellthem: “Look over there, can you see the beach in Oita City? The first ever Japanese
students to study abroad set out from that beach.”Ōtomo Sōrin, a feudal lord in Japan’s medieval period who had long pursued an
active program of foreign trade through his domain, was one of the sponsors of a youth
mission dispatched from Japan to Rome in 1582 AD. It is said that the two youths
sponsored by Ōtomo departed from this beach in Oita. Ōtomo himself is well known inJapan thanks partly to Japanese Catholic author Endō Shūsaku’s novel Ō no Banka [TheDirge of the King], a dramatized version of which appeared on NHK television.
Hiramatsu explains:
It was the late Endō Shūsaku who made me aware that Japan’s first everstudy abroad students had departed from this beach on Beppu Bay. If heknew that an international university now stands overlooking that samebay, welcoming students to Japan from around the world, Endō would
probably say that there was some kind of divine guidance at work here.
“Common sense” suggested that it was an impossibility, but the concept for aninternational university was steadily taking shape. This was especially remarkableconsidering the timing of the move for the Ritsumeikan Academy. In early 1994,
Ritsumeikan personnel were just catching their breath after the flurry of activity
surrounding the huge BKC project and the expansion and relocation of the Faculty of
Science and Engineering. Yet they were able to take on this new challenge without
missing a beat.
Kawamoto compares the situation within Ritsumeikan to the challenges of mountainclimbing:
Under the Academy’s third long-term plan we had succeeded in opening a
College of International Relations and relocating our affiliated high school
to a different campus. These successes gave us the energy to commit to
Ritsumeikan’s largest project ever in the fourth long-term plan: theopening of BKC. This was a difficult project, and at many stages along theway we all thought “we’re never doing something like this again.” But it’s
like when you’re climbing a high mountain. Somewhere along the way
you reach your limit, but it’s too late to go back, so you just have to press
on. At times like that you tell yourself you’ll never climb anothermountain. But when you’ve finally dragged yourself up to the peak andare gazing down at the sea of clouds below, you suddenly feel refreshedand cheerful again. You realize that you would never have felt this way if
you hadn’t made it this far. And after a couple of months, you’re off
climbing another mountain.
It’s just the same in any major project. The more effort, privation andhardship involved, the greater your sense of fulfillment will be. And it isthat sense of fulfillment that inspires you to take on the next challenge.
This wasn’t just my personal sentiment, it was how everyone in22Chapter 1

Ritsumeikan felt. At that time our organization was full of energy
generated by the sense of achievement and fulfillment that comes frommaking a difficult project into a success.

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Chapter 2

Chapter 2
Challenges Abound

APU students gathered from around the globe
An APU lecturer greeted his class one day by saying: “It’s my birthday today – and I’mturning 24!”
If the class had been full of regular Japanese university students, this joke would havebeen greeted with either indifference or ridicule. The APU classroom, however, erupted
in laughter.
The lecturer was joking about turning 24, but it really was his birthday.
His students rushed to congratulate him, shaking hands and patting him on the back.
Then they began to sing “Happy Birthday To You.”
Moved by this 150-strong chorus in his honor, the lecturer clenched his teeth, thinking:“If I cry now, I’ll never live it down.”
All that time spent by the Ritsumeikan staff in recruiting students for the new university
finally seems worthwhile.
Now we turn to see how the new university finally took shape.

Preparations fall into place
A New University Establishment Committee was launched in June 1996, and in
October of the same year “Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University” was officially chosen
as the new institution’s name. The following January the university’s top leadershipteam was finalized, with Ritsumeikan’s Deputy Chancellor Sakamoto Kazuichi
appointed President, to be joined by a Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs(Jidō Yūji) and a Vice President for General and Financial Affairs (Itō Akira). An
Office for Establishment was opened in April of 1997, and work began on giving the
new university a definite form.
24

Chapter 2

All academic and administrative staff members of the Office for Establishment
worked together in the same single-floor premises. President Sakamoto’s office was set
up in a room separated from the main office area by a single doorway, through which
staff members would pass with considerable regularly in response to Sakamoto’s
signature call of “do you have a moment?”
Sakamoto was always among the first to arrive at work, and was fond of taking an
early-morning stroll around the office. Anyone who had made the mistake of leavingwith a half-finished document laid out on their desk could expect to be summoned witha “do you have a moment?” as soon as they walked in the door in the morning. Thus thework of the Office for Establishment proceeded, with lines of communication fully open
and all staff members able to devote themselves completely to the task at hand without
concern for rank or position.

Recruit those students!
The onset of the Asian Financial Crisis
What was behind the extraordinary realization of this new university concept, onethat had so widely been labeled “impossible by anyone’s standards”? It is clear that one
decisive factor was the sheer volume of zeal and passion generated as all those involved
gave 120% to the project. Kawamoto puts it thus:
I’m fairly certain that APU would never have succeeded if we had built it
somewhere like Osaka or Tokyo. There would have been a stronger
feeling of security, a sense that the project could somehow get off theground without such a prodigious effort. Our staff would never have got
so fired up about it. But here we were with a site in Kyushu – we could
not afford any slip-ups, so everyone gave their absolute best. It seems tome that this is a fairly typical pattern in new projects. In fact, it’s a great
illustration of the principle that even if conditions are tough in objective
terms, things can still get done if everyone involved is fully committed.
The “fully committed” staff of the Ritsumeikan Academy were embarking on two
major initiatives. The first was the procurement of scholarship funds, starting with therecruitment of an Advisory Committee (AC) as described earlier. The second was therecruitment of 400 international students. 3 The basic objective of 400 international
enrollments each year – from at least 50 different countries and regions – had alreadybeen set: now it was time to make sure that this target was reached.
In 1995 and 1996 delegations were formed to make advance inquiries withgovernments, educational institutions, companies, private international exchange

3

APU calls its overseas students kokusai gakusei or “international students” rather than the morecommonly-used ryūgakusei, often translated as “foreign students” or “overseas students.”

25

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foundations and other organizations outside Japan, particularly in the Asian region.
Once the basic plans for APU’s establishment were in place, Ritsumeikan enlisted the
support of the Japan Foundation, JETRO, local Japanese Chambers of Commerce,
Ritsumeikan alumni and many others in their efforts to promote APU overseas.
However, in the summer of 1997, the devaluation of the Thai currency sparked a grave
financial crisis that spread through all the markets of East Asia. This turn of events,
while underlining the crucial need for a university such as APU in the coming century,
spawned serious concerns over the viability of the project. Could the APU really attract
400 international students each year? What impact would the financial crisis have on theprospects for the university’s establishment?
The International Student Recruitment Headquarters, established under the directionof President Sakamoto, pressed ahead with the task of reviewing the reports and data
furnished by the advance delegations, canvassing ideas and developing a set of
guidelines for action. Sakamoto’s stock phrase at the time was “if the goal is too big,break it up in to smaller ones.” Recruiting 400 international students was too daunting atask to be tackled in one gulp: “Just concentrate on getting one recruit from one school,”
he would say, “then apply that approach to another 399 schools in turn.”
Target regions were grouped according to the approach to be taken – key priorities
such as China and Korea, other focus regions, regions to be tackled with the support ofEmbassies in Japan, and so on – and specific targets set for each country. Top-priority
nations were expected to yield at least 30 enrollees each.
Through its ongoing experience of reform and expansion, the Ritsumeikan
organization had developed a unique culture of “academic-administrative
collaboration.” This culture underpinned the approach whereby academic staff members
were partnered with administrative personnel at Office Manager level or higher to formteams to undertake recruiting trips for APU overseas. Some 46 academic andadministrative staff members participated in the international recruitment campaign thattook place in summer 1997, spending an aggregate of 210 days visiting 402 different
institutions in 13 different countries and regions. For some of those involved,
preparations began with the task of obtaining a passport for the first time. But each andevery one managed to forget their uncertainties as they set off for various destinations
across Asia.
The greatest achievement of this campaign was the procurement of agreements torecommend students for admission to APU – a first for Ritsumeikan. By the end of
1997, the combined efforts of the 21 recruitment teams, each composed of bothacademic and administrative staff members, had yielded statements of intention tocooperate with student recommendation from more than 200 secondary schools. Thismassive operation was extended to regions beyond Asia in the spring of the following
year, and similar campaigns took place several times subsequently.
Governor Hiramatsu played no small part in ensuring the success of these initiatives.
He contacted key leaders across Asia, such as Prime Minister Mahathir in Malaysia andPresident Ramos in the Philippines, as well as the prominent Chinese political identityand former Mayor of Shanghai Wang Daohan and key officials in China’s Ministry of
Education, introducing them all to President Sakamoto and asking their help in sending
students to the new university.

26

Chapter 2

New institutional partnerships
Ritsumeikan’s approach to the recruitment of international students was founded on
the two pillars of cooperative agreements with other universities and student
recommendation agreements with high schools. The former task proceeded first. The
aim of developing cooperative agreements before APU’s establishment was twofold: toadvance the cause of internationalization within Ritsumeikan University, and toheighten awareness of the APU project. Agreements were worded so that APU would
be included as a partner after it had opened.
In February 1996, Ritsumeikan University hosted a joint signing ceremony involving
eleven partners from six different countries. The hosts were proud to welcome
Presidents and Vice-Presidents of many of the Asia-Pacific region’s leading universities,
including Universitas Indonesia, the University of Malaya, Tsinghua University, Jilin
University, and Victoria University of Wellington. They were, however, a little taken
aback when attendees from Islamic nations made a request regarding food options. This
request was nothing unusual, but among the organizers it generated much discussion
over what to serve at the post-ceremony reception. Eventually they decided upon abuffet-style arrangement with a section set aside for non-meat dishes. This crosscultural experience was probably a first for Ritsumeikan, an organization notaccustomed to such cosmopolitan gatherings; it proved, however, to be valuable after
APU’s opening.
The momentum created by this ceremony led to the signing of agreements with otherinstitutions such as Peking and Seoul Universities, so that by the time APU opened its
doors, Ritsumeikan already had agreements with 95 universities and research institutes
across 24 different countries and regions. Agreements were also signed with other typesof partners. In 1998, for example, Ritsumeikan entered into a cooperative agreement for
academic exchange with the Ministry of Education and Training in Vietnam. The
signing ceremony for this agreement, held at Ritsumeikan University, was attended by
Vietnam’s Vice-Minister for Education and Training. Student recruitment activities
were conducted in Vietnam under the provisions of this agreement, yielding 33
Vietnamese enrollees in APU’s first year of operation. There are now 221 Vietnamese
nationals studying at APU (see table on page 123).
The international symposiums held in the lead-up to APU’s opening also helped toextend Ritsumeikan’s international network. Although not directly connected to student
recruitment activities, these events helped to publicize the APU concept and its
academic basis in “Asia Pacific Studies,” as well as facilitating many new personalconnections for APU associates. The first symposium was held in Korea in 1997 on thetheme of “Roles for Japan and Korea in the 21st Century”; the second, held in the same
year in Beppu, was titled “The Asia Pacific Epoch.”27

Chapter 2

Grilled by the Ministry
Many dramas unfolded in the years leading up to the birth of APU. Not least among
these was that involving the Japan’s national Ministry of Education, Science, Sports andCulture.4 Any new university must receive authorization from this Ministry before it canbe opened, but the low birthrates that prevailed in Japan at the time meant that the
Ministry was disinclined to authorize the creation of any more university places.
Ritsumeikan officials realized that to win the Ministry’s approval, they would need tocome up with a very convincing proposal. This awareness was one of the reasons thatsuch a novel concept was chosen for APU.
The concept was distilled to “the three 50s”: 50% international students, 50% nonJapanese faculty members, and 50 or more countries represented in the student body.
Out of a total student enrollment of 800 at each undergraduate year level, 400 were to
be recruited from overseas.
When President Sakamoto and several other Ritsumeikan representatives visited
Tokyo in September 1998 to canvass this plan with Ministry officials, they were met
with harsh words. “We still have written minutes of that meeting,” explains Sakamoto,“which record Ministry officials questioning, in no uncertain terms, what on earth
Ritsumeikan was playing at.” It was Ministry policy at the time only to approve new
faculties with an enrollment capacity of 200 or less – and even then, the Ministry
preferred this to be effected by a re-allocation of capacity from an existing faculty sothat there would be no overall increase in the number of student places at the institution.
The Ministry officials thus demanded to know how Ritsumeikan could possibly
justify its proposed net increase of 800 – and why 400 of them needed to beinternational students. The illustrious University of Tokyo itself, they pointed out, only
had 1,600 international students. If the plan was to enroll 400 a year over the four yearsof the undergraduate degree program, APU would soon have as many international
students as the University of Tokyo.
The Ritsumeikan delegation explained that yes, this was the plan. “Prove it,” was the
Ministry’s response. They were requiring Ritsumeikan to “prove” that the new
university could really attract 400 new international students a year. They explained that
this request for substantiation was not made out of casual interest: it was something that
the Ministerial committee would require as an absolute precondition to authorizing
Ritsumeikan’s proposal. With no Ministerial authorization, the whole project would fall
flat on its face. Ritsumeikan had no choice but to recruit those students.

4

This ministry is now known as Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology(MEXT). Below it is referred to as “the Education Ministry” or simply “the Ministry.”28

Chapter 2“We’re so glad to see you!” An appreciative welcome for the international
students
January 1999. A chilling wind blows across the campus site on Jūmonjibaru. A groupof high school teachers and parents have made the trip from Korea to view the site andattend an information session. There is nothing concrete to show them: no buildings, noofficial authorization from the Education Ministry, and no guarantee that any students
will actually enroll. One Korean high school student who joined the tour, Kim
Yongchan, recalls listening to the adults talking around him and thinking: “No matter
what anyone else says, I’m going to come to this university. This university is being
built for me.”Kim was one of the many first-year enrollees who were convinced that APU had beencreated specifically for them. Sakamoto explains:
We often received visitors from Korea, but they all became anxious when
they saw that the campus buildings weren’t ready and that we hadn’t got
official approval from the Education Ministry. Many questioned whether
we were going to get approval at all. So right up until the last minute, we
ourselves weren’t really sure if the students would turn up or not. Of
course even with Japanese students, you can never be sure that they will
actually enroll even if they are accepted. But with students from overseas,
there is even more uncertainty. Some of these students lived as far away as
India, Nepal, Zimbabwe – would they really show up?
In the March just before the university opened, when I started to see
students with suitcases making their way down from the bus stop on theexpressway above the campus, and students getting off the airport bus andwalking into the campus dormitory, I finally began to think: maybe this isgoing to work after all. But the feeling of uncertainty still didn’t leave me
until the very last minute. So when asked to name my most emotional
moment in the whole saga surrounding APU’s creation, I say that it was
the Opening Ceremony, when I finally saw that all the students had turned
up as promised. I am being honest when I say that this was my greatest
thrill.
Sakamoto’s words surely speak for all those involved in the APU project.

The first ever APU Entrance Ceremony

29

Chapter 2“Come up the Myōban way”: Attracting Japanese students . . . and their parents
There are two different roads up to the Jūmonjibaru campus, one running via the
Myōban hot springs district, and the other beginning in the township of Kamegawa.
Myōban is the Japanese term for alum, traditionally used in dyes and leather tanning.
The Myōban hot springs district was Japan’s leading producer of alum in the feudal era.
The road through the district was thus well-established, and connected to a broad
thoroughfare leading to the Self Defense Forces training ground located several
kilometers further into the hills. The route from Kamegawa to Jūmonjibaru, on the other
hand, was little more than a narrow, winding mountain track. President Sakamoto
always reminded his staff to advise visitors to the campus site to “come up the Myōbanway”: “if they come up through Kamegawa, the high school kids will be freaked out by
the drive before they even get here.”
There was nothing more substantial than empty grasslands at the top of Jūmonjibaru.
No matter how well they understood that this was still a construction site and not an
actual campus as yet, the Ritsumeikan-affiliated high school students and parents
invited to Jūmonjibaru would surely be disconcerted by a tortuous trip through thickforest on their way to the site. Even without such a trip, the very thought of coming to
far-off Kyushu to study was enough to put off many city-bred students from Kyoto andOsaka.
Students who fell in love with the APU concept almost invariably had a hard time
convincing their parents and teachers of the need to enroll in such a university, even if
their high school was already part of the Ritsumeikan system. Anxious parents would
often suggest to their children that rather than going all the way to Kyushu to study at abrand-new institution, it would be easier and better in terms of job prospects just toenroll at Ritsumeikan University, even at BKC if they liked. Sakamoto guesses that:In the face of such opposition, at least eight out of any ten students would
have given up on the idea of going to APU. So even now, whenever I
come across first and second year students I remind them that they are thetrue heroes of our university. It means a lot to us that they came here –both from inside Japan and from overseas. Quite literally, APU wouldn’t
be here without them.

The dual-language education system
An educational first in JapanThe novel set of principles behind APU’s education system was the product of a long
period of discussion and deliberation.
APU was the centerpiece of Ritsumeikan’s fifth long-term plan, but Academy
officials also recognized that three major hurdles would need to be overcome if theirplan to establish a university with 50% international students was to succeed: the barrier

30

Chapter 2of the Japanese language, international economic disparity, and international student
accommodation. These three points became focal issues for those responsible forfleshing out the basic APU concept. They would also need to be explained clearly to the
Education Ministry when Ritsumeikan filed the formal application for authorization of
the new university. Work on this application needed to proceed in close coordination
with the task of giving substance to APU’s academic concept. Among the many systems
developed as part of these processes, perhaps the most well-known is APU’s duallanguage education system, designed to lower the hurdle of Japanese language
proficiency for international students. APU is still the only university in Japan tooperate such a system.
At the time the APU concept was first being discussed within Ritsumeikan, around
80% of international students in Japan were from China, Korea, or Taiwan. The
Committee for Establishment, aware that this ratio went against the ideal of a truly
multi-cultural campus, decided that it would be crucial for the new university to offer
classes in an English language medium. Thus the need for English-medium education
was acknowledged at a very early stage. The question of exactly how English would be
used in APU’s curriculum, however, was still undecided even when the tripartite
collaboration of Ritsumeikan, Oita Prefecture and Beppu City was announced in
September 1995.
Some people within Ritsumeikan argued that all classes must be offered in English if
the university was to foster the kind of people needed by Japanese companies: people
with a strong grasp of the common language of the Asia Pacific region and high levelsof proficiency in management. The Committee for Establishment, however, was of theview that by offering classes in English only, the university would be letting many
prospective international students slip through its fingers. Students who wanted to study
in an English-only medium would surely prefer to go somewhere like the United States,
Australia or the United Kingdom. The APU program had to promise international
students the opportunity to gain a good mastery of the Japanese language during theirfour years in Japan. Japanese could not be left out of the curriculum.
The majority opinion of the Committee was that it would not be enough just to offer
Japanese language classes: the curriculum must combine the pure study of Japanese as alanguage with the teaching of specialist courses in a Japanese-language medium. Only
this approach would allow international students to reach the level of proficiency
required to function effectively in a Japanese language workplace after graduation.
Proficiency in Japanese was thought to be particularly important if the business
community and wider society in Japan were to donate scholarships for APU
international students. Of course this dual-language concept needed to be reversed forJapanese students: the curriculum must incorporate English in such a way as to makethem “bilingual” by graduation too.
The plan to offer classes in both Japanese and English was formally endorsed in theCommittee for Establishment’s second report issued in May 1997. The Committee thenmoved on to address the task of planning a curriculum around the dual-language
principle.
What made this task particularly difficult was the almost total lack of precedents. No
other university in Japan, nor in the United States, operated such a system. The

31

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Committee finally found one possible model in McGill University, a Canadian
institution offering English-medium classes in the French-speaking province of Quebec.
A McGill Professor on other business in Japan was invited to Ritsumeikan to hold aworkshop on the issue. Rather than providing useful ideas, however, this workshop
ended up underlining how difficult it really was to operate a university campus in two
different languages, leaving Committee members wondering whether they had bitten off
more than they could chew. If it was that tough with English and French, they thought,
how much more difficult would it be with English and Japanese? The McGill Professor
suggested that a translation and interpreting center would be a necessity on such a
campus. “When we began to consider the massive personnel costs that such a center
would entail,” recalls one Committee member, “we all started to feel faint.”
The institution of English-medium education lowered the language barrier andexpanded the range of countries from which APU could recruit students. Traditionally,
international students in Japan needed to spend two years at a Japanese language school
before enrolling at university level: APU’s dual-language system would reduce theburdens of both time and cost on such students. At the same time, the system would
equip students with language skills to enable them to obtain work in Japan after
graduation. The door was opened for Ritsumeikan to approach high schools even in
English-speaking countries.
APU’s dual-language system: Made in Singapore?
International students needed to account for 50% of APU’s student body. There was
no way that such numbers could be recruited if Ritsumeikan focused only on the small
pool of students who had already attended Japanese language schools and spoke
Japanese well. Students had to be admitted even if they couldn’t speak Japanese –provided they spoke English. Naturally, this meant that half the university’s academic
staff would also have to teach in English. That was what the dual-language system came
down to.
Sakamoto recalls:
The notion of dual-language education itself emerged at an earlier stage
than you might think. We were well aware of the need to provide a strong
English language education system, but also conscious that operating thecurriculum on two separate channels as it were, English and Japanese,would be a complex task. As President I found it difficult to commit tosuch a system. My mind was finally made up, I think, when I visited
Singapore in spring 1997 to negotiate some international exchange
agreements.
One of Sakamoto’s destinations was the National University of Singapore (NUS),
one of the foremost institutions of higher education in Asia and known, in Japaneseterms, as a fairly exclusive establishment. The NUS President greeted Sakamoto’s
mission with the following words of advice.
Young Singaporeans don’t go to Japan to study. That’s because Japanese
universities only teach in Japanese, right? Singapore is an English-

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speaking nation, so of course our students go to places like the United
Kingdom, America and Canada. Maybe there are a few Singaporeansstudying in Japan, but I doubt if any of our students would be considering
your country as an option.
This man certainly speaks his mind, thought Sakamoto. But the President was notfinished.
The NUS students who go to study in the United States and Europe are all
outstanding performers, top-class scholars. But the students who come to
NUS from Japan, they can’t even pass their courses. It’s because they are
no good at English.
Sakamoto hand was forced. With the idea of Japanese-medium education expressly
rejected by his NUS counterpart, the conversation would go nowhere unless hecommitted to offering English-medium classes. This was the first time that Sakamotoexplained the notion of dual-language education to anyone outside Ritsumeikan. “Ouruniversity will operate on a dual-language system,” he proclaimed, “classes will beoffered in both Japanese and English, so I’m sure it will meet the requirements of young
Singaporeans.”
Inwardly, Sakamoto was realizing that his university really did need to go with thedual-language model if it was to have any chance of success outside Japan. A Japaneseonly system may attract some students already studying Japanese in places like China,
Korea and Taiwan, but further south in countries like Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia,
everyone was learning English. Targeting Japanese-learners alone would give APU avery small pool of students to work with. Thanks to the NUS President’s frank words,
Sakamoto was able put his doubts behind him, and there was to be no turning back.
Dual-language it was.
It still took some time before NUS would agree to signing a cooperative agreementwith Ritsumeikan. They explained that their only partner in Japan was the University ofTokyo: they didn’t even want to sign an agreement with Kyoto University, let alone
anyone else. Finally, however, Ritsumeikan was able to get a foot in the door, thanks to
the influential Dr. Tommy Koh, formerly Singapore’s Ambassador to the United
Nations. Also a Professor at NUS, Dr. Koh is perhaps most well known internationallyfor serving as Chairman of the Main Committee at the 1992 Earth Summit. Sakamoto
was introduced to Dr. Koh by UN Under-Secretary-General Yasushi Akashi and theSingaporean Ambassador to Japan. Dr. Koh put Sakamoto in contact with a range ofimportant people in Singapore, and this eventually led to NUS consenting to sign an
exchange agreement with APU, Japan’s new English-language university.
Sakamoto reflects on the decision to adopt the dual-language system as follows.
I think the decision opened us up to a new type of international student.
APU is now well-known for both the number and diversity of its
international students, but this student profile is underpinned by the issueof language. If we hadn’t crossed the line into English language education
we would never have got so many students to come to Japan, no matter
how hard we worked on recruitment. English-medium education placed usalongside universities in the U.S. and Australia as an option for people
planning to study abroad. Being an option meant having to compete on the33

Chapter 2

same level as these universities. No other university in Japan was in thesame arena. And no other had the capacity to attract such numbers ofundergraduates from overseas.
The dual-language education system has generated another interesting phenomenon
at APU: it has attracted students who have already undergone advanced training in
English in countries like China, traditionally sources of Japanese-speaking international
students. These English-speakers area able to pick up Japanese very quickly through lifeand study on the APU campus. Japanese employers which hire such students after
graduation, aware of their English-language credentials, are often surprised that they
can also speak Japanese so well. For both APU and the students themselves, this kind ofoutcome is vastly preferable to the alternative of spending two years at Japanese school
before going to a Japanese-only university.
A multi-cultural campus
The dual-language system made it possible for APU to create a kind of cosmopolitan
learning environment never before seen in Japan. APU’s multi-cultural campus, now
embracing well over 80 nationalities, is nothing short of revolutionary in this country.
Sakamoto recalls that the initiative for this multi-cultural concept came from the early
discussions with Oita’s Governor Hiramatsu. As recounted in Chapter 1, Hiramatsu
asked Ritsumeikan officials what kind of university they would like to create. When
asked for his opinion, Sakamoto immediately responded that he would like half theuniversity’s students to come from outside Japan. This idea had emerged from thedebate and discussion on international education already taking place within
Ritsumeikan. It was a recognition that “international education” in most Japanese
universities had, at that stage, got no further than English language classes, theestablishment of an international relations-type department, and the teaching of a few
internationally-oriented courses. So what about a completely internationalized campus,
Sakamoto suggested. Hiramatsu was quick to take it up:
Now there’s a radical idea. Yes, it could be done, provided half thestudents came from outside Japan. A campus full of international students
studying alongside Japanese students: a kind of international training
ground. Just being there would be a lesson in itself.
Yes, agreed Sakamoto, that’s what international education is all about.

Academic program development: Groping in the dark
Designing the undergraduate colleges
From the early stages of APU’s development, many different ideas were canvassed
concerning the nature of the proposed undergraduate colleges at APU. The core
disciplinary concept of Asia Pacific Studies, built on an area studies tradition, was34

Chapter 2

already in place: the task was to give this concept practical expression in theuniversity’s academic programs. It was envisaged that many international students
would want to study science or engineering-related topics in Japan, but the limited
financial capacity of Ritsumeikan, a private institution funded mainly by student fees,
made the immediate establishment of a science and engineering program unfeasible.
Discussion inevitably focused on options in the humanities and social sciences.
In the end, a two-college arrangement was envisaged. One college would take aninternational sociology-based approach to addressing critical issues in the Asia Pacificregion, conducting education and research on the region’s social and cultural diversity
and the interaction among its various nations and societies. The other would be a
management-based college, exploring issues of business management in Asia andsurrounding areas.
How would Ritsumeikan recruit academic staff for these colleges? If the university’s
800 students were to be prepared for study at third and fourth year levels in a language
over which they had no mastery at the point of enrollment, considerable time would
need to be devoted to language education. This was true for Japanese students learning
English, but even more so for the many international students who would enroll withabsolutely no knowledge of the Japanese language. As a start, a total of 40 “lecturers”
were appointed on a fixed-term basis – 20 to teach English, 20 to teach Japanese.
Usually, Japanese university academics were responsible for five koma or teaching units
per semester; these language lecturers, however, were assigned ten koma each. The
foundations were thus laid for APU’s language education system, and by the time APU
opened its doors, a total of 66 academic staff appointments had been made.
Operating a dual-language education system across two different colleges meant thatfor foundation education subjects, two versions of the same subject had to be offered in
English and Japanese twice. Major subjects needed to be run in each college in both
English and Japanese. With a teaching staff of just 66, only a limited range of subjects
could be offered. The subject menu had to be drawn up carefully.
It was especially difficult to find people who could teach classes in both languages.
The vast majority of instructors recruited from outside Japan could not speak Japanese.
There were quite a few Japanese instructors who were well-versed in English, but being
good at a language is quite a different thing to actually teaching in it. For example, aJapanese national who had spent ten years working in the U.S. could handle classes inEnglish, but another who had earned his academic degree in the U.S. could not.
Ritsumeikan planners realized that teaching in two different languages required aconsiderable degree of specialist skill. They had to find more people who possessed thisskill in addition to expertise in a particular disciplinary field. And they had to persuade
them to agree to work at a university that didn’t even exist yet.
The “glasswork” of subject timetabling
Academic planning at APU was made even more difficult by the fact that there were
to be two enrollment seasons each year. Subjects had to be scheduled in such a way that35

Chapter 2

all students could follow the same curriculum, regardless of whether they enrolled in
April or September. One person responsible for this scheduling recalls that the task“was a lot like crafting delicate glasswork.”
It was envisaged that most international students would enroll in September, so theEnglish-medium foundation education subjects were scheduled mainly for the fallsemester (running from September to January). Japanese-medium versions of the same
subjects were scheduled for the spring semester (April to July) to cater for the Japanese
students enrolling in April. APU lecturers would have to teach ten koma in each of thesesemesters. Actual course registration patterns would vary with different enrollment
cohorts, so lecturers’ workloads would become skewed to one semester or the other.
Lecturers from outside Japan found it difficult to understand such a system. The need tomaintain balance in staff workloads made the task of scheduling even more like fineglasswork.
In addition, although most international students were to enroll in October, somewould come in April, just as some Japanese students would come in September. Thesestudents also needed to be catered for. Schedulers thus grappled with three forms ofcomplexity: the dual-language system, twice-yearly enrollments, and instructors’
workload needs.
The tuition fee structure posed other new challenges. Japanese university tuition fees
tended to follow a flat-rate system, with all students at the university paying the same
fixed annual amount, entitling them to take any number of credits up to a preset
maximum. APU, however, chose to adopt a per-credit tuition fee system, pioneered inJapan by Sophia University. This system consisted of a fixed across-the-board fee paidby all students, plus a fee based on the actual number of course credits taken by each
student.
The per-credit fee system helped to dictate class sizes at APU. Unlike students in auniversity with a flat-rate fee structure, APU students would not enroll in extra subjects
as “insurance” against failing, because to do so would incur extra fees. They would only
take the absolute minimum number of subjects needed to meet graduation requirements,
and would thus be keen not to fail a single subject. In order to ensure that instructors
could deliver the quality of content that such students would inevitably demand, classsizes needed to be limited. Even the largest lecture-style subject at APU was to have amaximum of 250 students.
The next question was what to do if the number of students seeking to enroll in a
subject exceeded the number of places available. Ritsumeikan decided that in such acase, enrollees would be chosen by lottery. By Japanese standards this was considered
to be an egalitarian means of selection; from APU’s international student body, however,it brought a flood of protest.
“Why can’t students who want to study, students with good grades, take the subjects
they want?”“Students with superior academic records should be allowed to enroll first!”“A lottery? Surely luck should have no place in this!”36

Chapter 2

These and many other protestations finally swayed APU to abandon the lottery
system and accord priority to students with the top academic records. If there wereplaces left over, they would be offered to the next echelon of achievers, then to theremainder of the student body. This change required the online course registration
system to be modified, costing the university several million yen.
Grades questioned repeatedly by persistent international students
APU staff were constantly surprised by the intensity with which international
students presented their grievances. One administrative staff member recalls that “theearly years at APU taught me that there is a difference between ‘understanding’something and actually being ‘convinced’.” For example, a student asking why he was
not awarded a scholarship may “understand” that his grades are not good enough, butthat may not “convince” him that he shouldn’t get the scholarship. Sometimes students
would even seek out the President and offer a personal explanation of exactly how muchthey needed a scholarship.
APU instructors were confronted with grievances that went far beyond the standard
pass/fail disputes. Students would often want to know why, for example they got a B
grade, or why someone else had been given an A. It would sometimes take hours oftime and several visits before a student could finally be convinced that the grade wasappropriate. In an effort to pre-empt such inquiries, instructors were required to outline
assessment procedures in minute detail in their syllabus entries, and explain whatpercentage of the overall grade would be assigned to class attendance, midterm papers,
exams, and so on.
However, the staggering volume of complaints and questions with which the APU
staff was confronted in the first year of operation dropped dramatically in the second
year. This was because the second batch of enrollees could direct many of theirconcerns to the students who had enrolled in the first year. There was no longer such aneed to rely on university staff members. These kinds of shifts in student behavior
continued from year to year for the first four-year round of APU’s existence, posing
many unexpected challenges for the university’s staff but also providing many
refreshing changes. There was little stability, but plenty of energy.
There are many other examples of Japanese instructors being caught off guard byinternational students’ behavior. One professor had planned to get his students to write
several different papers during semester before the final exam. All students turned intheir first papers on time, forming an impressively thick bundle which the professor
resolved to read and mark at his leisure over the course of the semester. At the class inthe week after submission, however, he was inundated with students requesting that hereturn the marked papers as soon as possible, to help them prepare for other assessment
tasks. At many other universities in Japan, instructors do not have to return papers tostudents at all. The professor, however, decided that international convention demandedthat he mark the papers and return them to students promptly. Having done this thefollowing week, he was then surprised to be approached by students doggedly
demanding to know why he hadn’t written detailed comments on their papers or why he

37

Chapter 2

had marked them in the way he did. He decided that perhaps setting midterm papers was
not such a good idea after all.
International students, whose scholarships depended on their grades, frequently
refused to back down in such cases. One instructor was approached by an Indian student
querying a “C” grade she had been given. The instructor offered a detailed explanation,
but unlike a typical Japanese student who would tend to concede the point at this stage,
this student refused to budge. Eventually she revealed that her father back home hadsuffered a heart attack and would be unable to support her. When the instructor
suggested that this information had nothing to do with the issue of what grade she
deserved, the student walked out and slammed the door. The instructor followed her out
and reminded her that he had spent thirty minutes of his time justifying the grade he hadawarded. The student responded with a begrudging “thank you” and left.
The instructor had never been so angry in his entire teaching career, but the student,
the next time he next passed her in the hallway, greeted him with a bright “goodmorning, sir” as if nothing had happened. The instructor responded with a smile of his
own. He and his colleagues gradually became accustomed to the principle of APU’s
multi-cultural community that such heated exchanges should not be seen as fights, butrather as healthy straight-talking.
Japanese instructors at APU also became aware of the significance of eye contact. In
class, whenever an instructor’s gaze met that of an international student, the student
would raise his or her hand. But when invited to speak, the student would often havevery little to say. Slowly the instructors realized that in many countries, making eye
contact with a student indicates that the student is expected to speak. They learned thatsometimes it was best to avoid eye contact if you wanted the class to proceed smoothly.
Inter-cultural exchange in the classroom: “Understanding the Asia Pacific”
seminar classes
Under the proposed dual-language system, most first-year international students wereto learn Japanese, while their Japanese counterparts learned English. Students would
also take foundation education subjects taught in the language in which they were mostproficient at the time of enrollment. As a rule, therefore, Japanese students would takethe Japanese-medium versions of these subjects, while international students would takethe English-medium versions. This would mean that there would be very few
opportunities for in-classroom interaction between Japanese and international students
in the first year. So where would the inter-cultural exchange, supposedly a core featureof APU, actually take place?
What APU’s planners came up with was a system of “Understanding the Asia
Pacific” seminar classes. Each class would have twenty students, a mix of Japanese andinternational, making presentations and engaging in discussion on matters relating to theregion in which they lived. A textbook for these seminars was produced in English andJapanese.

38

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In practice, however, the language barrier loomed large in these seminars. If the
instructor was a non-Japanese speaker, for example, communication with the Japanese
students in the class was impossible. Considerable thought was given to the makeup ofclasses, particularly to ensuring that each class contained bilingual students, who could
facilitate communication. When drawing up class lists, planners had to pay close
attention to the balance of nationalities, genders and levels of language proficiency.
Considerable energy was expended on class planning each new semester.
The educational aim of these seminars was also contentious, and remains so today,with two distinct schools of thought within the university. One asserts that content
should be the main concern: students should be able to take classes in their language ofpreference to ensure that their knowledge of the Asia Pacific region is enhanced. The
other faction contends that providing an environment conducive to inter-culturalinteraction is more important than imparting pure knowledge. This debate overpedagogical purposes still rages today, and periodical reviews of seminar format
invariably revolve around the question of which purpose is to be given greatestemphasis. “Understanding the Asia Pacific” is thus an ongoing process of trial-and-error,
swinging constantly between the dual agendas of content and inter-cultural experience.
Meanwhile, in class, students gain many valuable opportunities to expand theirworld-views through contact with different value systems and ideas. One example is thedebate in one class over the 2002 decision by the Japanese government to impose
safeguards5 on agricultural produce from China. A Japanese student who suggested thatthe safeguards were a necessary measure for Japan was challenged by a Chinese student
pointing out that China had originally developed its capacity to produce vegetables in
response to demand from Japan, and thus the imposition of safeguards at this late stage
was unreasonable. The Japanese student could offer no rejoinder to this. It did, however,provide the student with an important lesson in the value of different perspectives, alesson that could only be learned in this kind of multi-cultural class setting.

5

These “safeguards” were an emergency restriction on food imports imposed by the Japanese
government when imported produce was threatening to harm Japan’s local agricultural industries. In
practice they involved raising import duties in order to bring import volumes down. The immediate
trigger for invoking the safeguards was the massive increase in imports of long onions, raw shiitake
mushrooms and mat rush (for tatami mats) in 2001.

39

Chapter 2

Students working hard to realize their ambitions
Within the international student body itself, debates often reached a level of intensity
unheard-of in Japan. One class, for example, contained two students from the Kashmir
region: one from the Indian-administered portion and another from the zone
administered by Pakistan. These students avoided the topic of Kashmir itself, but often
clashed on other issues. When the Indian student came out with terms such as“liberalism” and “imperialism,” rarely heard these days in Japan, Japanese students
would simply look bewildered; the Pakistani, however, would vehemently challenge theIndian student’s arguments. In the face of this manifestation of the tensions between thetwo states of India and Pakistan, in which students from other countries such as China
and Singapore often became enthusiastically involved, the Japanese students in the classfound themselves overwhelmed. They just could not keep up. The instructor at the time,
however, recalls that this experience eventually inspired the Japanese students tobecome involved more actively in classroom debates.
This was also a chance for university administrators to learn the lesson that a heateddebate is not necessarily the same as a fight. Once, when the Pakistani student wasadmitted to hospital with a bad case of dysentery, they were surprised to see that he wasaccompanied by none other than the Indian student, his traditional adversary.
Different country, different lecturing style
International students each brought their own fixed ideas about how lectures should
be delivered. Sometimes these surprised the Japanese instructors. Some suggested, forexample, that the best way to run a 90-minute lecture for 200 students was to spend thefirst 45 minutes lecturing, and then to break into five or six groups to discuss the topic
and report back to the whole class. Startled by the suggestion that a 200-strong lectureclassroom could be turned into a two-way workshop, the Japanese instructor consulted a
non-Japanese colleague, explaining that such a thing was unheard-of at Japanese
universities. The foreign instructor replied coolly, “that’s OK, it’s only 200 students.”
The Confucian style of teaching, with the instructor standing at the front and lecturing
to his or her students, is well accepted within East Asia, but in other parts of the world
this is not the case. Japanese instructors were sometimes astounded to see their40

Chapter 2colleagues wandering the classroom as they spoke, rousing sleeping students with anadmonition that “I know you may be sleepy, but I’m doing my best here, so please havethe courtesy to listen!”
In terms of assessment, the rule was that the final exam could only count for a
maximum of 50% of the total grade for any subject. Instructors were thus required to set
additional tests and quizzes during the semester. Japanese instructors were taken abackonce again, this time by the great attention to detail displayed by non-Japanese
instructors when marking assessment tasks. Exhaustive lists were kept of each student’s
performance in each area. This kind of conscientious record-keeping was anotherimportant part of an instructor’s role they learned. The institution of Faculty
Development (FD), organized initiatives to enhance the teaching abilities of academic
staff members, is now obligatory in Japan, but at APU, the teaching and learning
environment itself appears to have been a very valuable FD tool for the university’s
instructors.
APU also offers classes in Japanese tea ceremony. Sen Sōshitsu, Grand Master of the
Urasenke school of tea ceremony, first became association with APU when invited by
Chairman Kawamoto to join the AC and deliver a lecture to APU students. Eventually
this relationship led to Urasenke’s donation of a genuine Japanese tea room “Washinan” to the university. Washin-an is where the classes take place, taught by a Thai
instructor. Japanese students and international students come together in these very
popular classes to practice the procedures and etiquette of the tea ceremony. At the endof each course, the university President, Vice-Presidents and several staff members areinvited to Washin-an to attend a ceremony. An international student plays the role of
ceremony host, kneeling in the formal style and displaying an impeccable mastery of
traditional Japanese etiquette. This incorporation of Japanese cultural traditions into thecurriculum is one which only APU students can enjoy. Just a single class was offered to
begin with, but capacity has now been increased to two classes by popular demand.

A tea ceremony class, popular among Japanese and international students alike

41

Chapter 2

Japanese audiences overwhelmed by international student performances in“language weeks”
Reflecting APU’s status as a university for the “Asia Pacific” region, in addition toregular English and Japanese language programs, six of the languages most widely usedin the Asia Pacific were added to the curriculum: Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai,
Malay/Indonesian, and Spanish. Students in the College of Asia Pacific Studies wererequired to earn eight credits in Asia Pacific language subjects. The question was, which
language would students choose? It was predicted that most students would gravitate
naturally towards Chinese, so initiatives were devised in order to provide informal
exposure to the full range of languages available before students had to choose one to
study formally. APU chose to follow the system in place at Keio University’s Shōnan
Fujisawa Campus (SFC), under which students were given half a year’s lead time after
enrollment before they were required to choose their foreign language subjects. Students
at APU were to begin Asia Pacific language classes in their second semester of study.
To make best use of the first semester lead time, a program of “Language Weeks”
was devised. Occasions such as Korean Week, Thai Week and Spanish Week became
opportunities for international students from countries where the theme language was
spoken to showcase their cultures through performances of music and dance, and via an
ethnic foods corner set up in the university cafeteria. The first series of Language
Weeks proved to be a great success, and each of the Asia Pacific language subjects
ended up attracting roughly equal numbers of students.
In the next semester, students whose language was not represented among the six inthe curriculum began to ask when they would have an opportunity to introduce theircultures to the wider student body. This heralded the launch of Africa Week and similar
weeks for many other countries and regions, including a Japanese Week. The
organization of each week was the responsibility of the students from the countries inquestion, aided by friends and acquaintances. The organizers would put up displays in
the university’s language lounges, and construct a temporary stage in the cafeteria to put
on spirited performances of song and dance.
The vast majority of Japanese students had come to APU straight from high school
and were thus aged 18; the international student body, on the other hand, included
individuals who had already earned degrees at universities back home. These moremature students often had a stronger sense of cultural identity, and were well prepared
to introduce their native culture to others. Initially Japanese students tended to be
overwhelmed by the skill with which their international colleagues performed on
occasions such as the Language Weeks. Not content to miss out, however, they soon got
together to form clubs around Japanese performing arts such as Wadaiko drumming andKagura sacred music and dance.

42Chapter 2

Reflections on teaching and learning infrastructure
Students at APU are required to be familiar with assigned readings before coming toclass. The Academic Office, in charge of administrating the university’s undergraduate
programs, thus quickly became a repository for printed class materials and handouts,
which students would come to collect before going to classes. The sheer volume ofmaterials handled meant that in the first year, half the Academic Office’s total budget
was spent on printing and copying. Photocopying machines often broke down withover-use. In an effort to keep costs down, the system was altered so that course packs
are now provided in advance on a user-pays basis.
At a time when paper-based administration was still the norm in Japanese universities,
APU choose web-based technology for a variety of procedures such as course
registration and student-oriented information provision. Students even submit mid-term
papers by depositing files in an online folder. This enables automatic correlation, sortingand printing of papers for marking, and has been widely welcomed by instructors.
What APU’s planners had not counted on, however, was the level of IT skills
displayed by students from other Asian countries. On the assumption that Asianinternational students would need at least the same sort of guidance as Japanese students,
if not more, a session on computer use was included in the orientation program for
newly-arrived students. It turned out, however, that Japanese students’ skill levels were
far behind those of students from other Asian nations. Instructors saw that their initialconcerns were unfounded as the Asian students, well trained in IT skills at high school,
were the ones that sat down and started using the computers well ahead of their hesitant
Japanese counterparts. APU staff members were made acutely aware of the IT skills gap
that had opened up between Japan and the rest of Asia in the 1990s.
Different cultures of apology
When caught for cheating in tests, students from some countries would readily
apologize; others would not. While students at most Japanese universities can be caught
out for cheating if witnessed by one instructor or invigilator, there must be two or more
witnesses at APU. Students from countries such as China and Korea generally
apologized immediately, but others refused to do so under any circumstances, claimingthat they had been framed or refusing to acknowledge the charges at all. APU’s had
instituted extremely strict penalties for cheating: annulment of all marks obtained by theguilty student in the exam period in question. Being found guilty was thus a big deal forstudents concerned at maintaining good grades, particularly in APU’s credit-based fee
system.
Cases of dishonest conduct by students are handled differently from country tocountry, making it difficult for APU’s Student Affairs Division to know the best
approach to take. In Japan it was customary to offer “instructive guidance,” making thestudent reflect on his or her actions and apologize for them. In some countries, however,
the idea of absolution through apology is totally foreign. Students from such countries

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find it very difficult to come to terms with the idea that by encouraging repeated selfexamination and reflection on improper conduct it may be possible to reduce thefrequency of such conduct, and thus diminish the punishments meted out. In this sense
APU is not a Japanese university. It needs to re-invent traditional Japanese university
management practices and established systems of student engagement, and adopt asystem more attuned to its cosmopolitan student body.
The process of issuing student punishments was also held up for debate. The standard
procedure in Japan for punishing misdemeanors such as shoplifting is to present thecase to the Faculty Council for deliberation before the university President makes the
final ruling. During APU Faculty Council deliberations, however, non-Japanese
academics would often express their vehement opposition to the proposed punishments.
They would question the procedures for re-hearing of controversial cases, and theavenues available for the students in question to lodge objections.
The Student Affairs Division resolved to establish a committee to review theseprocesses, by reference to sample regulations on student discipline gathered from othercountries, particularly the leading universities in Europe, North America and Asia. This
resulted in APU becoming the first university in Japan to institute a formal objection
process in student disciplinary procedures. A case must be re-heard if an objection islodged within one week of the decision. More and more Japanese universities are now
following the lead of the APU Student Affairs Division and providing their students
with opportunities to lodge formal objections to disciplinary decisions.
A year of rumors
In its first year of operation, APU was a small, village-like community. 700 students
entered in spring 2000, and another 200 in fall. Even with the addition of the 130
university staff members, this made for a community of little more than one thousand,isolated from the rest of Beppu up on its hilltop campus. When a rumor started goinground, it tended to move quickly. This was particularly true among the international
students who lived in AP House, where news would spread like wildfire. Any item ofgossip – something said by a professor or an member of the administrative staff, aquarrel between students, a fight over a girlfriend – would be known to everyone by the
day after it was instigated.
The disadvantage of this environment was that any rumors that began to circulate
would generate confusion across the whole student community, making life very
difficult for the university administration. The capacity of the administration to explain
things intelligibly was just as limited as the students’ capacity to comprehend what was
being explained, so misunderstandings were common. These misunderstandings would
be amplified through rumor and gossip and end up reverberating around the wholecampus. One groundless rumor that APU was on the brink of going bust, started by one
idle international student, sent shockwaves through the entire community. The student
in question ended up leaving APU; the rumors, too, had largely ceased to haunt thecampus by the second year.

44Chapter 2

APU House, the international dormitory
As mentioned earlier, the three major obstacles facing international students wanting
to study in Japan are economic disparity, the Japanese language and the difficulty of
securing accommodation. Thanks to the generosity of the AC and the decision to
institute a dual-language education system, only one of these hurdles remained:
accommodation. In Japan at the time, even in major urban centers, it was notuncommon to see rental accommodation advertisements specifying “no foreigners
allowed.” Renting costs were also high. In light of these conditions, Ritsumeikan
needed to devise a radical plan to secure housing for the 400 international students who
were to enroll each year. The task was complicated by the fact that most of the students
would not be able to speak Japanese. There were concerns that the students would beunable to communicate with their landlords or neighbors, unable to follow municipal
rules such as those for disposal of garbage, and incapable of functioning as regularmembers of the community.
The conclusion was that student accommodation must be built on campus. But, it wassuggested, would it really be in the best interests of the international students
themselves to provide all housing in the isolated surrounds of the Jūmonjibaru? The
solution that Ritsumeikan came up with was to establish an “international dormitory” –AP House. All international students enrolling in APU would spend their first year
living in this dormitory. Here they would develop everyday proficiency in the Japanese
language and acquire the knowledge of Japanese society and culture that would enable
them to live comfortably in the local community. In their second year, the students
would descend from the heights of Jūmonjibaru and live amongst the citizens of Beppu.
It was decided to appoint RAs (Resident Assistants) in AP House to assist thisprocess of adjustment to life in Japan. Today, RA positions are filled by senior students,
but in the first year when there were no seniors to call upon, the university enlisted
former students of Ritsumeikan-affiliated high schools and other new enrollees who hadtaken the initiative and offered their assistance. AP House 1 opened its doors along withthe university itself in 2000, but its 424-room capacity was quickly reached, prompting
the construction of AP House 2, with a further 508 rooms, in 2001.
The contribution made by AP House to the realization of the APU concept has beeneven greater than anticipated. The multi-cultural community of AP House, led by its
RAs, has become the most characteristic feature of the APU campus. In 2007, additions
were made to enhance study and learning facilities at this “international dormitory,”transforming it into an “international educational dormitory”; a new building, AP House3, was also added, providing 378 more rooms. The position of House Master (filled by amember of the university’s academic staff) has now been created, and a range ofinnovative programs are in operation. A new style of dual-occupancy room, shared by aJapanese student and an international student, has also been introduced.

45

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Employment for graduates: No margin for error
The next problem to emerge was that of finding jobs for the APU’s first graduates.
No matter how many talented students it was able to attract, the university’s reputation
would be diminished instantly if its graduates could not secure employment. It would be
crucial to achieve a job placement rate of 100%. The first batch of APU graduates truly
held the fate of the university in their hands.
What could be done to ensure job placement success the first time around? Chairman
Kawamoto had an idea:
Behind our success in getting so many people to join the AC was the workof the secretariat at Nippon Keidanren. We could not have achieved what
we did if the secretariat hadn’t come out in a show of full support. And theperson who made that possible was President Suematsu Ken’ichi from
Mitsui Bank [now Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation].
Kawamoto resolved to take extraordinary measures. He went to the Keidanren
secretariat and asked them to lend him their international conference hall to hold aconvention bringing together APU students and prospective employers. This was thefirst time in Keidanren’s history that such an event had been held.
Governor Hiramatsu put in a personal appearance at the convention and made apassionate plea to the employers. He outlined the background to the decision to host aninternational university in his prefecture, how the leaders of many Asian nations had
visited Oita to learn more about the One Village One Product movement, and the highregard in which this movement was held. He explained that the university’s Advisory
Committee was peopled with dignitaries such as Prime Minister Mahathir and President
Ramos, and pointed out the kind of contribution that the university’s graduates could tothe attendees’ companies. “This was the first and last time,” says Hiramatsu, “that I ever
had the opportunity to make a personal request to such an gathering of managers fromJapan’s top companies.” Employer liaison activities continued long after this convention,with APU hosting AC members for campus tours, class observation sessions, anddiscussion meetings with international students. The job placement rate for the firstbatch of APU graduates in 2003 was 100%, a momentous achievement considering thatJapan was in the middle of a recession.
The opening ceremony and centennial celebrations
APU’s official opening ceremony was held on May 20, 2000 at B-con Plaza, aconvention center in downtown Beppu. This event celebrated not only the opening of
APU, but also the 130th anniversary of the founding of the original Ritsumeikan
institution and the 100th anniversary of the formal establishment of the Ritsumeikan
Academy. The text of the Opening Declaration presented at this ceremony is on p. 122.
The ceremony started with a rendition of the Ritsumeikan song by a baritone vocalist
and an “Asia Ensemble” made up of traditional musical instruments from China, Korea
and Japan. This was followed by an address from Nagata Toyoomi, Chancellor of the46

Chapter 2

Ritsumeikan Trust (now Chairman of the Ritsumeikan Board of Trustees). Nagata
proposed that the 21st century would be a century of co-existence, founded on tolerance
and understanding amongst a diversity of value systems and cultural traditions, and that
this would be:[A]n era in which nations worked together to find ways to transform
contradiction, dissimilarity and diversity into the foundations of greatersocial wellbeing . . . In response to the demands of this new era, we must
create arenas in which to explore the values and principles to underpin
coexistence, to develop methodologies and engage in intellectual training
for that purpose, and to foster new human resources to aid these tasks. The
founding principle of this university [APU] is to furnish one such arena to
the young people of the world, and particularly the Asia Pacific region.
Congratulatory remarks were also offered by United Nations Assistant SecretaryGeneral John Ruggie, Japanese Education Minister Nakasone Hirofumi, Oita
Prefectural Governor Hiramatsu Morihiko, Beppu City Mayor Inoue Nobuyuki, Japan
Association of Private Universities and Colleges Vice President Okushima Takayasu,
and Nippon Keidanren Honorary Chairman Hiraiwa Gaishi. 6
Representing the new enrollees, students from Japan and Singapore read out
messages of resolve. The ceremony finished with an address of thanks delivered by
Chairman Kawamoto.
The ceremony was attended by some 4,500 people, including 34 Ambassadors toJapan, mainly from countries represented in the new international student body, as wellas members of the AC, Presidents of Ritsumeikan partner universities overseas, heads ofuniversities within Japan, citizens of Oita Prefecture and Beppu City, Ritsumeikan
alumni, and parents of the new enrollees. Chairman Kawamoto states:
Countless individuals contributed to the creation of APU. This is because
Oita Prefecture and Beppu City cooperated with us. It’s because the
Education Ministry was sympathetic to our case. It’s because companies
offered us such immense assistance. I believe that this university is moreof a social institution than any other Japanese university in the post-war
period.

6

All official titles are those held at the time of the ceremony.

47

Chapter 3

Chapter 3
Promoting APU Locally . . . and Globally

Performers at APU’s Opening Ceremony and Festival, held in May 2000
When asked why he had chosen to come to APU, one African student explained:“It’s not easy to find a university with students from more than 80 different countries,
anywhere in the world – when I found this one, I wasn’t going to let it go!”This is a place where different languages and cultures can coexist in a spirit of mutual
tolerance.
APU students are quick to develop advanced skills of communication and selfexpression.
In the future, these students will work to resolve conflicts in many different parts of theworld.
Their ideal: To spread the APU spirit across the globe.

Student recruitment: A global undertaking
Establishing offices outside Japan
By 1999, the thrust of Ritsumeikan’s student recruitment efforts had shifted fromsurveying human resource needs and appraising the prospects for student recruitment,
towards the actual task of securing enrollments. The official application for ministerial
authorization of APU’s establishment, filed in 1998, contained detailed projections
regarding the recruitment of students. The Education Ministry had repeatedly
highlighted the fact that these projections would play a crucial role in the application
screening process, and Ritsumeikan had spent the two years from 1996 to 1997 in
identifying channels for student recruitment, informed by research to assess where the48

Chapter 3

demand for APU’s style of education and training was greatest. This process, however,was conducted mainly at the conceptual level, informed by the demands of theministerial application process.
After the application had been filed in 1998, it became possible for Ritsumeikan tobegin actual student recruitment activities on the basis of the new university’s“application filed; authorization pending” status. These activities, however, were subject
to the caveat that formal admission procedures could not take place until there had been
official confirmation that the university would go ahead. This condition proved to be thethorn in the side of Ritsumeikan’s student recruitment campaign.
The announcement of ministerial authorization was scheduled for December 23, 1999.
Applicants could only be officially notified of their acceptance after that date. In
practice, however, the task of securing new enrollees for APU’s April 2000 opening
could not be delayed until such a date, even if there was some leeway before the main
body of international students was scheduled to enter in September. Ritsumeikan’s
admissions staff needed to maintain a risky balancing act between official constraints
and practical demands.
The task of attracting international student applicants began in 1997 and 1998 with a
two-pronged approach consisting of visits to foreign Embassies in Japan and in-country
recruitment drives. Teams of academic and administrative staff were put in charge ofeach target country and region. Some those assigned to unfamiliar territories of Africa,
South America and Europe promptly went out to buy travel guidebooks to acquaintthemselves with their new areas of responsibility, only to learn with some sense of relief
that such regions were to be targeted mainly through Embassies in Japan, and that theirpersonal presence in these countries would not actually be required.
A workspace was set up initially on the ground floor of the building now known as
Shitoku-kan on Ritsumeikan University’s Kinugasa Campus. Then, in December 1997,
an office was opened in Beppu City where the new university was to be built. The first
offices outside Japan were established in Korea and Indonesia in 1998.

An uphill struggle for the Office of Korea
Conquering disbelief
On May 18, 1998, the Renaissance Seoul Hotel was the venue for the opening
ceremony and reception for the Ritsumeikan Office of Korea. This function was
attended by many notable figures, including senior government officials, high school
principals and representatives of the Japanese business community in Korea. The
inaugural head of the Office was to be Kim Jung Hyun, former Under-Secretary in the
Korean Environment Ministry, Dean at Kyung Hee University, and a well-known figure
among high school principals in Korea. Kim’s reputation in educational circles wasborne out by his success in attracting a large number of school representatives to the
May 18 function.

49

Chapter 3This function marked the launch of the first overseas office created for APU. It also
signaled the start of a prolonged, bitter struggle to gain acceptance in Korea. The
Korean nationals who staffed the new office began by paying repeated visits to highschools, outlining the ideals and principles behind the new university, explaining its
educational programs, and asking schools to agree to recommend students for admission.
The schools targeted in this campaign were at the top echelon of the Korean school
system, with many graduates successful in gaining admission to the country’s elite
institutions of higher education such as Seoul National University, Yonsei University
and Korea University. This strategy, adopted across all countries in which Ritsumeikan
recruited students for APU, was formulated in reflection of the impossibility ofrequiring all APU applicants to take a uniform test of scholastic ability. With students tobe drawn from at least 50 different countries, and therefore at least 50 different
education systems, the most feasible approach was to recruit directly from the leading
high schools in each country.
Even if its parent institution was the well-known Ritsumeikan Academy, theuniversity that high schools were being asked to support had not even received the green
light from the Japanese government yet. Who would agree to recommend students tosuch a university? This was the daunting challenge that faced the members of staff at
the Office of Korea. Yet they rose to the challenge with enthusiasm, with high hopes fora university that would bring together the young people of the Asia Pacific region, andwith pride at being involved in such a momentous project. Their zealous dedication lefta major impression on the school principals they visited.
The visits, repeated over several months, were conducted as a combined effort
between office personnel and teams of academic and administrative staff members from
Ritsumeikan. At first the visits yielded little success. In some other countries around thesame time, there had been cases in which admission fees had been extracted fromconsumers fraudulently on the basis of false claims of new university establishment.
Reports of such incidents added to the already considerable difficulty of recruiting
students for a foreign university that was yet to receive governmental approval. Someparents of prospective students in Korea even went to the trouble of telephoning Japan’s
Education Ministry directly to confirm that the whole operation was not a scam.
One memorable incident took place while Office of Korea staff and Ritsumeikan
representatives were visiting a school in Yeosu in Korea’s Jeollanam-do province. A
red-eyed, tearful female student came forward to say to the recruitment team how much
she wanted to enroll in APU. The student was accompanied by her mother, who also
burst into tears, saying that she wouldn’t let her daughter go. Teachers at the school
took these two aside to talk directly with the recruiters. The teachers put their doubts
forward once more, probing Ritsumeikan’s intent with questions such as: “Are you
really going to offer scholarships?”; “Are you genuinely trying to produce pro-Japanese
graduates?”; and even “How is APU’s ‘Asia Pacific’ ideal any different from the‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ promoted by imperialist Japan in World War
Two?”
The Ritsumeikan representatives responded by telling their hosts about the “special
graduation certificates” that Ritsumeikan University had issued to mark the 50th
anniversary of the end of World War Two. During the war, Ritsumeikan University had

50Chapter 3

responded to a ministerial directive and expelled all of its Korean and Taiwanese
students who had refused to join the special volunteer forces in the Japanese army. Fifty
years after the war, in 1995, Ritsumeikan University had formally acknowledged thatthese expulsions were erroneous and invited the former Korean and Taiwanese students
in question to attend the university’s next graduation ceremony in March 1996. At that
ceremony, the Chancellor of Ritsumeikan personally handed these individuals theirgraduation certificates. This initiative was continued in the following years.
Slowly, the atmosphere in the school’s meeting room changed. The teachers sought
one final assurance: “This girl’s future is at stake. Are you really prepared to takeresponsibility for her?”
The student in question did end up enrolling in APU, but for the university staff, theburden of responsibility weighed far heavier than any joy they gained from thissuccessful recruitment. The student has now completed her studies at APU and gone on
to work at a leading company in Seoul.
Discussing prospects for high school education in the Asia Pacific era
On January 22 in the year after the Office of Korea was opened, 1999, a discussion
forum was held in Beppu on the theme of “prospects for high school education in the
Asia Pacific era.” The forum attracted around 100 participants, including 50 Koreanhigh school principals and 18 principals of high schools in Oita Prefecture. This major
gathering, a first for most of the Oita schools, represented a starting point forinternationalization of the local education sector ahead of APU’s opening.
On the day after the actual forum, a tour to the APU campus site was organized. Aftera long drive up a narrow mountain road, attendees were greeted with views of a hilltop
on which construction work had recently commenced. There was nothing that yet
resembled a building. One of those who stood on the construction site that day looking
out at the wintry vista of Beppu Bay was Korean high school student Kim Yongchan.
Kim’s father, a medical doctor and graduate of the prestigious Yonsei University, hadspent some time studying at the School of Medicine at Kurume University and wasquite an authority on Japan. He was later to become the head of the Korean Parents’
Association set up soon after APU’s opening, and was even inspired by his son’s
admission to APU to recommence his own study of the Japanese language. But such
heartening developments were still far in the future. For the moment, the prospects of
Korean high school principals signing student recommendation agreements for APU
remained slim.
The wave of internationalization in Korea’s high schools
The high school visit campaign in Korea did, however, start to bear some fruit. Oneof the schools targeted was the Daewon Foreign Language High School, the institution
reputed to offer the best preparation for university entry in all Korea. Daewon Principal

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Nam Bong Chul had recently made a round of visits to the leading universities in the
United States, in order to develop a summer vacation study program for his students.
His intention was to use the summer program to inspire students to go on to study at Ivy
League-standard institutions after graduation. This plan was already paying off, withmost graduates going on to university careers not only at Seoul National University, but
at many prominent institutions outside Korea. For an internationally-minded principal
such as Nam, APU represented an attractive new option.
The newly-developed residential areas appearing on the outskirts of Seoul turned out
to be home to many high schools keen on the idea of sending their students overseas.
One of these was Anyang Foreign Language High School. Principal Lee Eil Sung wassoon convinced to place his trust in the APU vision. His saw the potential for APU tohelp build his school’s record in sending students to Japan, and thus to enhance its
overall reputation for finding graduates good study options beyond Korea. In 2000,
Anyang ended up enrolling more than ten students in APU. Among those students werea set of twins, the mother of whom, Park Hyang Soon, went on to hold an executive
position in the Parents’ Association.
“I feel invigorated whenever I hear about APU.” This is what Principal Nam would
always tell APU representatives visiting Daewon Foreign Language High School inlater years. For educators committed to the idea of internationalization in their own
institutions, APU’s efforts offered inspiration. But not everyone in Korea was
sympathetic to the APU project. There was one high school principal who wasparticularly tenacious in his questioning of APU’s aims. The more Ritsumeikan staff
members highlighted the fact that their new university was receiving extensive backing
from all spheres of Japanese society, the more persistently he would ask: “but what is
the aim of all this?” Here, Ritsumeikan staff could see the memory of Japanese wartime
domination of Asia rearing its head once more. As the delegation made their way out
through the school gates after their difficult meeting with the obdurate principal, aKorean staff member of the local office muttered, “Japan has some heavy historicalbaggage to carry around, doesn’t it?”This burden was a particularly heavy one for employees of Ritsumeikan, an
institution that had established the Kyoto Museum for World Peace and actively
embraced the idea of Japan coming to terms with its history. It also, however, proved an
opportunity for them to feel pride in the Museum that Ritsumeikan had built.
The position was even more complex for the Korean nationals who staffed the Officeof Korea. These individuals were charged with the task of recruiting students to auniversity located in a nation which many of their fellow countrymen still regarded withrepugnance. They found that their country was a testing ground for the substance of
APU’s three founding principles of “Freedom, Peace and Humanism,” “International
Mutual Understanding,” and “Creation of the Future of the Asia Pacific.” Ultimately,
they lived up superbly to the high expectations placed on them and on Korea as a sourceof students for APU: no fewer than 86 Koreans were among APU’s first intake of
students in April 2000.
Today, enrollments from Korea number 674, and APU has partnership agreementswith 103 Korean schools.

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China: Transcending differences
Recruiting students is the state’s responsibility
Ritsumeikan employees visiting the Ministry of Education in Beijing to enlist support
for APU were told the following by their hosts: “We fully approve of your new
university’s ideals and will support your work to establish it. But in China, recruiting
students is the responsibility of the state, not the university.”
China’s reforms and open-door policies had prompted a jump in university admission
rates, and more and more young Chinese were heading overseas to study. Admission tograduate schools outside China was being promoted as a national priority. Meanwhile,
privately-funded undergraduate study overseas was a matter of individual choice, withinterested parties free to obtain information from universities outside China and apply tothem directly. Foreign universities, however, were not permitted to carry out student
recruitment activities within China on their own.
Ministry of Education officials explained this arrangement as follows. Service
Centers for Scholarly Exchange,” established as auxiliary organs to the national andprovincial governments, provided support for foreign universities to promote
themselves and recruit students in the various regions of China. Some of these Service
Centers had already offered to supply students meeting APU’s conditions if
Ritsumeikan would give them full responsibility for student recruitment. This
proposition seemed attractive, but it was made on the condition that the Centers would
be paid a sizeable handling fee for each student.
The Ritsumeikan team in charge of China had hoped to follow a similar course to
their colleagues in Korea and approach top high schools to ask for recommendations.
This plan seemed to have been nipped in the bud by the Ministry. The fact that systems
different from country to country and that different approaches to student recruitment
needed to be developed for each of them, while perfectly plausible in theory, had neverbefore been brought home to Ritsumeikan in practice.
Ritsumeikan’s fundamental policy for recruiting international students to APU was toform collaborative ties with key high schools, universities and other educational
institutions, then to extend this network of partners at the same as enlisting them torecommend students to the new university. Hearing the report of the delegation to theChinese Ministry of Education, the Headquarters for the Advancement of International
Student Recruitment set up under the direction of President Sakamoto found itself at a
crossroads. Discussions over how to proceed took place on several occasions, but theconclusion was always the same: uphold the fundamental policy and enlist the help of
schools and other educational institutions. Recruit students through collaborative
networks. Sakamoto’s team did not come up with any brilliant scheme regarding how
this was to be achieved in China. But they did succeed in attracting many prospective
students to APU information sessions organized with the help of Chinese universities.
Questions raised at these sessions addressed issues of tuition fees, scholarships, living
expenses, accommodation options and many other realistic considerations for students
and parents considering study abroad.
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Some parents revealed that as long as there was some scholarship support andaccommodation available, they would somehow find the money to send their children to
APU. There was no lack of demand for overseas study: that much was clear to the
Ritsumeikan representatives. They also discovered that many Chinese students who
obtained outstanding results in the common exams for domestic university entrance
would choose to go overseas if they failed to gain admission to their university of firstpreference. How could Ritsumeikan connect more effectively with such students? Could
they devise ways to ensure that students granted admission would actually go on toenroll in APU? Whatever solutions they came up with, they would have to be ones
tailored specifically to the Chinese system.
Evolving partnerships
Still with no clear plan of how to proceed, Ritsumeikan’s China recruitment teambegan to approach schools, universities and other educational institutions to discuss thepossibility of entering into agreements for recommending students to APU. Several
initial agreements were concluded, with signing ceremonies held in municipalities suchas Beijing city and Jilin province with officials from the local Boards of Education inattendance. The recruitment team even traveled as far as Inner Mongolia after hearingthat the region was home to many hardworking students with a passion for the Japanese
language. They were not disappointed by the talented and highly motivated students
they encountered there, but they found their efforts thwarted by the harsh realities of
economic disparity. The team even visited the so-called “aristocracy schools” inShanghai, said to attract students from China’s most wealthy families. The students atthese schools certainly seemed to be well-heeled and academically talented, but mostwere only interested in studying in North America or Europe. Some schools seemed
prepared to sign recommendation agreements, but would there be any students willing
to be recommended? This thought was always at the back of the recruiters’ minds as
they continued their campaign throughout China. They no longer expected a bumper
yield, just a reasonable rate of return. At the same time, however, they were heartenedby the progress being made towards student recommendation agreements at schools
with strong Japanese language programs, such as the Shanghai Ganquan Middle School.
Ganquan was just one of the schools where Japanese language teaching provided an
opening to discussions on student recommendation.
Meanwhile, other forms of partnership were developing at university level. The mostnotable among these was the agreement reached with Dongbei University of Financeand Economics (DUFE) in Dalian, an institution which, like Ritsumeikan, was engaged
in a broad-ranging program of reform at the time. The relationship began when DUFE
President Xia Deren, now Mayor of Dalian, visited Ritsumeikan University in 1996, anda formal academic partnership agreement was instituted in 1998. The two universities
developed a vigorous program of academic exchange, and an agreement was reachedregarding the recommendation of students for admission to APU during the term ofoffice of President Yu Yang at DUFE. More than ten Dongbei students entered APU in
April 2000.

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One of these students was Zhang Lin He. While studying at DUFE, Zhang aspired tolearn more about Japanese-style management and eventually work in the international
arena. She attended an information session on APU, and was heartened by the accountsof academic exchange between Ritsumeikan and the President and staff of her own
university. The prospect of scholarship support made APU an even more attractive
proposition. Zhang enrolled in APU’s College of Asia Pacific Studies, and now works
at JETRO. She looks back at her time at APU with fondness:
APU is a very cosmopolitan university. This is true not only for AP House,
but for the campus as a whole. My seminar classes at APU taught me
many fundamental skills essential to my current job, such as
documentation and data gathering, reasoning and analysis, and effective
presentation technique. But students who want to work in Japan should be
careful not to immerse themselves too deeply in this cosmopolitan
environment. APU’s international students in particular seem to enjoy
considerable freedom, but also they need to remember that there arecertain fixed ways of doing things in Japan. I hope that they seek
opportunities to come into contact with Japanese society and learn more
about Japan’s distinctive culture.
DUFE President Yu Yang was appointed a Visiting Professor in Ritsumeikan
University’s College of Economics in 2002. Sadly he has since passed away, but thepartnership with Dongbei continues, and has even spawned new collaborative links withthe city of Dalian itself.
The network expands
Governor Hiramatsu’s personal connections played a major part in expanding APU’s
network in China. It was an introduction from Hiramatsu that led to influential Chinesepolitician Wang Daohan joining the AC. Hiramatsu also enlisted the support of China’s
State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA). This organization wasformerly responsible solely for arranging exchange of technical experts with the Soviet
Union, but the institution of China’s open door policies had expanded its sphere ofactivity to include various projects for technical exchange with partners in the West andelsewhere. SAFEA was also interested in developing partnerships with foreign
universities for the purposes of training future executive-level officials, and it even had
a subsidiary arm involved in placing Chinese students in foreign educational institutions.
The woman in charge of student recommendation agreements in this subsidiary
introduced herself by saying: “I was part of the first cohort of students at Ohira School.”This was how she always greeted guests from Japan.
The Ohira School is the common name for the Japanese Training Center establishedin Beijing in 1980 for the purposes of training university-level Japanese language
teachers. The name is taken from the fact that the school was conceived during a visit toChina in 1978 by the Japanese Prime Minister of the time, Ohira Masayoshi. The Center
later evolved into the Beijing Center for Japanese Studies. Prominent Japanese language
scholars had taken up teaching posts at both the Ohira School and its successor, and55

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many Chinese instructors had been educated there. As one of the first graduates of the
Ohira school, the SAFEA official was understandably enthusiastic about recruiting
students to study in Japan. Some of the students recommended from this organization
were refused admission to APU; some others were not awarded the type of scholarship
requested by the organization at the time of recommendation. But the partnership with
APU has stood firm.
Ritsumeikan’s China team also paid repeated visits to the education division at the
Chinese Embassy in Tokyo. Ritsumeikan recognized that it was vital to ensure that
foreign governments were sympathetic if cooperative activities were to proceedsmoothly after APU’s opening. It was not simply a matter of recruiting students.
The head of the Chinese Embassy’s education division, Lee Dong Xiang, had been
Director of International Cooperation and Exchange at the time of Governor Hiramatsu
and President Sakamoto’s first visit to prepare for APU’s student recruitment activities
in China. Now a Visiting Professor at Ritsumeikan University, Lee has made many
contributions to the development of Ritsumeikan’s partnerships in China since theopening of APU. The official in charge of Japan at the Asia-Africa Bureau who first
dealt with APU staff, Sun Jianming, went on to become the Education Consul at the
Chinese Consulate-General in Osaka, and then succeeded Lee to become China’s
attaché for educational affairs at the Embassy in Tokyo.
Thus APU’s personal network of contacts grew. Their national systems may havediffered, but Ritsumeikan representatives and their Chinese counterparts found many
ways to connect. New possibilities opened up as the parties gained an appreciation foreach other’s principles and objectives and found points of commonality, while always
respecting differences in standpoint and motive. The capacity to share this basic
approach was the key to building a strong cooperative network in China. 92 Chinese
students enrolled in APU in 2000.

Indonesia: Successful networking
Starting from scratch
The task facing Ritsumeikan team in charge of Indonesia was to develop channels forrecruitment of 30 students to APU each year. The number of Indonesians coming tostudy in Japan was small in comparison to major destinations such as Australia,
Singapore, the United States and other English-speaking countries. The task ofrecruiting students for APU would not be an easy one.
Before they could actually start recruiting, however, the team had to work out exactly
where and how they were going to do it. Most team members had little idea how to
begin. One Japanese faculty member, however, had important personal connections
from his time as a Visiting Professor at the Japanese Studies department of Universitas
Indonesia. These connections proved to be extremely valuable for the team. The faculty
member contacted some of his former Universitas Indonesia students who had since
taken up posts at the Japan Foundation. These individuals came willingly to the team’s
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assistance, producing information such as a ranking table of Indonesian high schools.
This information helped the team plan their first campaign, a series of visits to bothnational and private high schools in Jakarta, Surabaya, Yogyakarta, Bali and othermajor urban centers to canvass possibilities for student recommendation.
From the schools’ perspective, however, this was not a simple proposition. They werebeing asked to commit to recommending students to a university that would not evenopen for another two or three years, in a country where few Indonesians went to study atall. Even if the team could furnish information on APU in advance, there was no
guarantee that school representatives would be willing to meet with them. So they cameup with an audacious plan: to get a letter of endorsement from the head of Indonesia’snational educational administration. This was around the same time that the AC wasbeing put together in preparation for APU’s opening, and the Indonesian President
Suharto had recently added his name to the list of AC International Committee members.
Again, this connection proved crucial.
The team moved quickly to visit Indonesia’s national Education Ministry, arriving
without an appointment and explaining their case to the secretary who greeted them.
After a ninety-minute wait, they were ushered in to a meeting with an official ofequivalent rank to the head of the Higher Education Bureau in Japan. This official
explained that it would not be possible to get his Minister’s personal seal of approval,
but that he would write a letter of endorsement as head of the country’s higher
education administration. Armed with this letter, and with the backing of the Indonesian
President on the AC, the Ritsumeikan’s team no longer had any trouble making
appointments.
Scholarships: the ultimate stumbling block
At last, meetings were arranged at schools and universities across the country. At
these meetings the Ritsumeikan team would outline the APU concept and educational
principles, and their hosts would agree that it was a great idea for a university. But when
it came to the question of actually sending students to the new university, there was one
major sticking point: scholarships.
As ill luck would have it, the Indonesian currency, the rupiah, was in the midst of adramatic downward spiral. Just half a year earlier one Japanese yen could be boughtwith around 25 rupiah; now it took 80. The proposed annual tuition fee for APU
represented the equivalent of several years’ salary for an average graduate of
Universitas Indonesia. It was a staggering sum for any ordinary Indonesian. But the
Ritsumeikan team was prepared for this eventuality, and was able to regain someconfidence by introducing prospective students to the scholarship system that had been
prepared for APU. Somewhere between 40 and 50 students emerged keen to enroll in
APU, but even so, the actual number that managed to enroll in the first year was 27 – 14
in April and the rest in the fall semester. It was clear that the economic crisis was
responsible for this unusually high cancellation rate.
The team also worked to extend its network of contacts within the Japanesecommunity in Indonesia, developing links with the Embassy of Japan, the Japan57

Chapter 3Foundation, Japan Clubs, Japanese media outlets and other Japan-related bodies.
Individuals within these organizations responded positively to the opportunity APU
represented in terms of strengthening collaborative ties between Indonesia and Japan,
and generously introduced the Ritsumeikan team to other potential partners, local mass
media, and many other useful connections. Through these activities, the team also cameacross several members of Ritsumeikan University’s alumni community, a communitythat was brought closer together with the launch of the Ritsumeikan University Alumni
Association of Indonesia in 1999.
APU’s Office of Indonesia was opened in 1998, and an official opening ceremony
was held on December 14 of that year. Ritsumeikan had traversed a complex maze ofpolitical and bureaucratic procedures in order to gain official permission for this Office
to operate. In May 1998, half a year before the Office opened its doors, the long reign ofIndonesia’s second President Suharto came to an end. It suddenly became very difficult
to make out not only Indonesia’s long-term prospects, but even what policies would bein place in the immediate future. There was no way of knowing whether or not thethings promised to APU today would be upheld at all tomorrow. The whole country waslaunched into a massive process of reform. If the fall of the Suharto regime had comeeven two or three months earlier, the plans for the Office of Indonesia may well havecome to nothing.
The Office of Indonesia was staffed initially by two highly capable women, both
graduates of Universitas Indonesia, and both skilled in English and Japanese in addition
to their native language. They had soon begun to visit to schools in the country’s major
centers of population such as Bandung and Surabaya. In the first year of operation,
Ritsumeikan took care to ensure that these staff members became fully versed in the
APU concept and were able to communicate it effectively to school principals andcollege counselors. Ritsumeikan faculty members joining the Office staff on school
visits would help create a positive first impression by greeting their hosts in Indonesian.
Responses were promising, but at the end of the day only 27 students came to APU inyear one. Today, however, there are 186 Indonesians studying at APU, meaning that
one in every ten students coming to study in Japan from Indonesia ends up in Beppu,
testimony to the work done by Ritsumeikan’s Indonesia team. Major initiatives
developed in Indonesia since APU’s opening include the launch of an APU preparatory
course in the Al-Izhar School.

Thailand: High hopes for APU
Setting up office at home
The entry to the private residence of Professor Hormchong Twee, a leading light inThai educational circles, is adorned with a sign reading “Office of Ritsumeikan Asia
Pacific University.” APU did not ask for this sign to be erected: it was the Professor’s
own idea.

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Professor Twee’s first encounter with Ritsumeikan came at the World Conference on
High School Education and Human Resource Development for the 21st Century held in
Manila in June 1997. It was this chance meeting that marked the start of the Professor’s
long relationship with APU.
As in other countries, the Ritsumeikan Thailand team, which included the academic
staff member who had first made Professor Twee’s acquaintance at the 1997, embarked
on several trips to Thailand. On the first of these trips, Professor Twee was asked toassist with the recruitment of students for APU in his country. The Professor jumped
into action immediately, mobilizing his extensive network of former students now
teaching at, or even heading, high schools throughout the country. He told his many
protégés of the exciting new international university that was to be built in Japan, andasked for their assistance in organizing information sessions for prospective students.
The response was impressive. A total of 75 schools across Thailand hosted information
sessions for APU in the period from 1997 to 1999.
Up to this point the approach taken in Thailand was no different from that adopted inother countries. But what followed was something quite different. Professor Twee had
his own set of principles regarding the recruitment and selection of students for APU: hewanted to make sure that all the students he sent to Japan were of the highest quality,
and that they would earn their country a good reputation at APU. So he told the schools
he visited: “I want you to let your top one or two students sit a special test.”
The “test” Professor Twee had in mind was a written test of English language
proficiency, using practice questions from the Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOEFL), plus an interview in English, and a comprehension exercise using extended
passages of English text. Applicants were also to provide information on their
extracurricular activities and broader interests. A total of 46 top-grade students from 35
high schools sat this test in the first year, and only 15 of these passed. Just six of thesuccessful candidates were chosen to receive scholarships that enabled them to enroll in
APU in April 2000; the remaining six went on to university study within Thailand.
One of the six entrants was Pichaya Vadhanakovint, who enrolled in APU’s Collegeof Asia Pacific Management. Pichaya went on to receive the Andō Momofuku
Scholarship, donated by the former Chairman of Nissin Food Products Andō
Momofuku, and awarded only to the highest-performing students at APU. Each year’s
recipients are invited to Nissin’s headquarters in Osaka to be congratulated personallyby both the donor and Nissin’s CEO Andō Kōki. They also visit Nissin’s museum
dedicated to instant ramen noodles, the creation of Andō Momofuku that grew to be aworldwide best-seller. Standing in front of a display recreating the small room in whichAndō worked on creating his first version of the noodles, international students feel thespirit of innovation that was behind the success of so many Japanese companies.
Pichaya was one of these students. Upon graduating from APU she began work at
Japan’s Asahi Breweries, and later completed a Master’s degree at the University of
Oxford. She now works for a consulting firm in London.

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The genesis of student recruitment in India
Dr. Verma, a true Japanophile
Dr. Satya Bhushan Verma is the leading figure in the development of Japanesestudies in India, responsible for founding the Centre of East Asian Languages at
Jawaharlal Nehru University. By the time he became involved with APU he had already
retired from his professorial post, but continued to work actively to promote the study ofJapanese language and culture in India, through roles such as President of the Japanese
Language Teachers’ Association of India and head of the Japanese Language Promotion
Centre in New Delhi.
It was the Japanese Embassy in India that introduced Dr. Verma to Ritsumeikan. The
India team at Ritsumeikan had sought the Embassy’s advice because, as was the case inother nations, they had no particular scheme in mind for India. When they explained theideas behind APU, Dr. Verma willingly offered his assistance and proceeded toaccompany Ritsumeikan staff on visits to high schools and universities, primarily in the
New Delhi area close to his own home. Initially, the Ritsumeikan team had found it
impossible even to arrange meetings with high school representatives, let alone discuss
the possibility of having students recommended to APU. This situation changed entirely,
however, as soon as Dr. Verma was appointed a Visiting Professor of Ritsumeikan
University and took charge of the APU project in India. Visits to the leading highschools in the Delhi area were arranged, and negotiations towards the signing of student
recommendation agreements proceeded swiftly.
Slowly the sphere of activity expanded beyond New Delhi to encompass high schools
and Japanese language institutes in Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Lucknow,
Chandigarh and other cities across India. Several former students of Dr. Verma cameforward to offer their personal assistance. After one particular round of visits in New
Delhi had been completed, Ritsumeikan team members were even invited to accompany
Dr. Verma back to his home. Tired after their strenuous efforts in an unfamiliar city, themembers looked forward to this opportunity to relax. As soon as they arrived, however,Dr. Verma sat down in front of his computer and began to type up a summary of the
day’s activities. This was not the only time that APU staff members were struck by theenergy and vigor that Dr. Verma, already well over the age of 60, brought to his work.
The efforts of Dr. Verma and the India team gradually began to produce results. 17
Indian students enrolled in APU in the first year. This number grew steadily in thefollowing years, and by 2003 annual enrollments had exceeded 40. The total number ofIndians studying at undergraduate level is in Japan is by no means high, but APU has astrikingly large share of this total.
Dr. Verma made countless visits to APU, his genial personality cultivating
particularly warm sentiments within the university’s Indian student community. He also
earned a reputation for his strict vegetarianism, which even extended to strict standards
regarding the preparation of Dashi stock used in Japanese-style dishes.

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Beyond APU, Dr. Verma is widely known in Japan for initiatives such as publicationof the first-ever Japanese-Hindi dictionary, and for his contributions to the promotion of
haiku poetry culture, his personal field of expertise. In 2002 he was awarded theprestigious Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Award. Sadly, Dr. Verma passed awayin 2005.

The students arrive
New arrivals from around the globe
One day Mr. Kaitu’u Funaki, then an employee of the National Reserve Bank ofTonga, came across a newspaper article at work titled “fostering leaders for the future.”
It was a publicity piece for APU. This was the start of Funaki’s long journey to Japan,and APU.
Funaki was a graduate of Tonga High School. Many of the country’s leaders weretrained at this school, where all classes were taught in English rather than Tongan, andits students often found that their school’s reputation preceded them. Funaki developed
an interest in Japan after graduating from this high school and enrolling in Macquarie
University, Australia, where he befriended some Japanese students who taught him
much about their home country. To Funaki, Japan seemed a beautiful place. He wasparticularly fascinated by the story of Japan’s rapid economic growth in the postwar
period, and thought that if he learned more about Japanese corporate management, hemay be able to contribute something to the development of his own country. APU
presented a great opportunity to pursue this interest; furthermore, its multi-cultural
campus environment promised opportunities to develop skills applicable at aninternational level.
Funaki submitted his application and attended an interview held at the University of
the South Pacific. He was soon notified of his success, and at the same time remindedthat he was going to be representing the entire South Pacific region at APU.
For Funaki, the unaccompanied journey to Beppu via Fiji and Tokyo was perhaps
even more difficult than the task of gaining admission to APU. He had thought that after
arriving at Tokyo’s Narita Airport it would only be a short trip to the APU campus.
After all, his university in Australia had not been far from Sydney Airport. Telephoning
APU from Narita to get more information, Funaki became aware for the first time ofexactly how far away he still was from the campus. He learned that his first task would
be to transfer to Haneda, Tokyo’s other airport. He approached a friendly-looking
elderly Japanese man to ask for directions, only to be met with a gesture that clearly
expressed refusal. The man did not understand English.
A Japanese young couple that had observed this scene approached Funaki. It turned
out that this couple had been on the same plane from Fiji as Funaki. They proceeded totake Funaki all the way to Haneda themselves, helped him get his oversized luggage
loaded safely, and even stayed to wave him off as he made his way through the61Chapter 3

departure gate. In his first few hours in Japan, Funaki had already been touched by thekindness of the Japanese people.
There are many unique routes by which international students gain admission to APU.
Romanian student Mihai Scumpieru provides one example. Romania was one of thecountries for which Ritsumeikan, unable to arrange on-ground recruitment activities,
had sought the assistance of the Embassy in Japan. Many important leads were
furnished by Embassies; in the Romanian case one of these was an introduction to the
Nipponica Foundation, an organization for the promotion of friendly relations between
Japan and Romania. Ritsumeikan promptly asked this Foundation to recommend
Romanian students for admission to APU. One of the students they recommended was
Mihai, who already residing in Japan and attending the Tokyo Metropolitan KokusaiHigh School while his father worked at the Embassy. As a Romanian who alreadyspoke fluent Japanese, he proved to be a valuable addition to APU’s student body.
APU also welcomed students from Lithuania. APU’s connections with this country
were formed via the Ritsumeikan-affiliated Keishō High School in Hokkaido, which
had sent several students on study tours to Lithuania. Contacts made through these tours
enabled the recruitment of three students from Lithuania in APU’s first year ofoperation.

The Beppu Office
The first task: Finding an office location
It was in December 1997 that Ritsumeikan opened an office in Beppu City, Oita
Prefecture. December is a month of cold, dry winds even in the relatively temperate
Kyushu region. The Manager of the new Beppu Office, who had been appointed on
October 1 of the same year, found that his first task was to find somewhere to set up his
office. After consulting with contacts at local financial institutions and others familiar
with the local area, he chose a building in the quiet residential area of Sōen. The office
was to be housed on the second level of the building, above a pharmacy. The office staff
moved in looking forward to a warm welcome from locals, only to find that the mood of
the local community was, if anything, against them.
Is this any way to spend prefectural and city taxes? Is it right to donate city-owned
real estate, and commit such a large amount of public funds, to a single private
university organization? Will the city’s hot springs be affected by the construction
work? Will there be an influx of infectious diseases? Rather than communicating thesignificance of the new university project, office staff members found themselves
struggling to deal with a campaign of opposition that mobilized a variety of community
concerns.
Several concerted movements had been launched to oppose APU in the wake of theSeptember 1995 joint press conference held by Ritsumeikan, Oita Prefectural
Government and Beppu City Government to announce the university’s founding.
Among the most prominent of these were the Citizens for the Preservation of62

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Jūmonjibaru, the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University Problem Research Group, and the
Citizens First Association. Several experts added their own criticisms of the plan, andlegal action was even initiated against the Prefectural Governor and Beppu City Mayor.
Staff members of Ritsumeikan’s Beppu Office were in the position of having to take allthis activity on board at the same time as trying to prepare for the opening of the new
university.
In April 1997, the Office organized information sessions at six locations around
Beppu City. These sessions needed to be held as part of the urban planning process, inorder to gain community endorsement regarding the projected environmental impacts ofthe project. But with court cases challenging the prefectural and city authorities
proceeding in parallel, Ritsumeikan representatives at these sessions found themselvesin the eye of a raging storm. At the same time, they were heartened by several publicstatements of support for the APU project from sections of the business community as
well as citizens’ groups. Particularly notable was the work of members of the Junior
Chamber International Beppu, whose voluntary contributions went well beyond any
commercial motive. The Manger of the Beppu Office recalls becoming involved in awide assortment of community engagement tasks, and often feeling like the“Ritsumeikan Ambassador to Beppu.”
Ritsumeikan University students lend their support
The Beppu Office staff members busied themselves in developing personalconnections throughout the local community, and within three months had met withmore than 700 individuals. They held seminars and other initiatives aimed at
encouraging locals to offer rental accommodation to APU students, and the Prefectural
and City Governments cooperated in organizing study sessions to prepare thecommunity for interaction with and support for its new international student residents.
The Office also dealt with media outlets, but the APU message had not yet been taken
up in earnest, and media-related activities were not particularly extensive in the first two
years of the Office’s existence.
As work on the campus neared completion and the university’s official opening datedrew closer, the protest movements began to drop out of view. Ritsumeikan officials
realized, however, that this could not be taken to as a definitive sign that APU was now
welcome in Beppu, and so the Beppu Office continued its work to get closer to the local
community. Key projects included the production of a television commercial featuring
international students from Oita University, filmed in front of the famous Takegawara
Hot Spring Baths in downtown Beppu. Support was also furnished by Ritsumeikan
University. It sent several sporting clubs to hold training camps and friendly matches in
Beppu; its Cheerleading Squad, Wind Ensemble and other groups made appearances at
Beppu’s annual winter attraction, the Beppu Christmas Hanabi Fantasia; and the LightMusic Ensemble performed at the Kijima Jazz Inn festival. This mobilization of
Ritsumeikan University students was part of a conscious effort by the Beppu Office tocultivate more affection for Ritsumeikan in the local community and to heighten
awareness of the extensive cultural and sporting contributions that could be made byuniversity students.
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As well as maintaining this active presence at local events, the Office organized the
Ritsumeikan Oita Lectures, a series of monthly gatherings beginning in June 1998.
Through this initiative the Office sought to create a buzz surrounding Ritsumeikan andto cultivate more followers in the Oita region. The lecturers featured in this series werealso invited to engage in dialogues with prominent local figures, with transcriptions
appearing in the popular local magazine CONKA.
The Presentation from APU
With APU’s official opening near at hand, the Beppu Office launched a campaign
titled “Presentation from APU.” This entailed Ritsumeikan furnishing proposals andinitiating discussion on community development initiatives in Oita Prefecture and
Beppu City, and exploring ways to apply the ideas thereby generated to municipal
government and administration. A proposal document was released, focusing on thethree pillars of “human resource development,” “community development” and“collaborative network development.” This proposal was reduced to a leaflet format,
printed and distributed to every household in Beppu. It was also delivered to meetingsof district welfare commissioners, where Beppu Office personnel made presentations oncommunity and lifestyle issues. One year before APU’s opening, Ritsumeikan’s staff in
Beppu was joined by those who had been working at the New University Establishment
Office in Kyoto. The activities of the Beppu Office were expanded across two
departments, with all staff members taking their turn to venture out in the evenings toresidents’ meetings and other gatherings.
Office personnel were especially appreciative of the initiative taken by local
International Exchange Association members, such as Mr. Kawashima Akihiko, tolaunch a Housing Committee to help organize apartment accommodation for APU
students. Many members of the Association, and particularly the Housing Committee,
joined Beppu Office staff to explain housing arrangements to locals and assuage anxiety
regarding the imminent arrival of international student residents in the community.
Ritsumeikan owes a great debt of gratitude to these individuals for their work inresidents’ associations and many other forums to argue the APU case not as
representatives of Ritsumeikan, but from a third-party perspective, and from their own
viewpoints as long-standing residents of the local community in question.
When discussing the pending influx of APU students, Housing Committee members
explained how good it would be for Beppu to gain so many new young residents. “Itwill be just like getting new grandchildren,” they would say to elderly members of thecommunity. Senior citizens were among the most apprehensive initially, and some wereeven heard to made discriminatory remarks about the new arrivals. But curiosity soon
proved stronger than fear, and it was often the elderly who were the first to accept theinternational students in their neighborhood, offering words of praise such as “they’remuch more well-mannered than Japanese kids,” and “I would be happy to have them as
my grandchildren!” More and more local families registered under APU’s home staysystem, and events such as host family discussion forums were held. Office staff madeappearances at meetings of many of the 150 local residents’ associations, and came into
contact with more than 1,000 people in total.
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One Ritsumeikan administrative officer recalls visiting an electrical goods store to
subscribe to Beppu’s cable television system soon after arriving in December 1999. In
the “Occupation” column on the subscription form, the officer wrote “Ritsumeikan Asia
Pacific University.” Seeing this, the wife of the store’s owner suddenly announced: “I’mthinking of getting a dog – a Doberman.” When asked why, she replied: “I heard thatwhen APU opens and all those international students start arriving, a whole lot of
migrant workers will turn up in town too. Things will be a lot less safe around here.” It
was obvious that the very idea of non-Japanese nationals in town was enough togenerate major misconceptions in the minds of some locals. The officer was in a hurry
and had been told that the cable TV subscription would only take ten minutes to process,but this comment could not be ignored. The officer explained that half APU’s students
would be Japanese, and the other half international; that they would live in an oncampus dormitory for a year and be well accustomed to life in Japan by the time theycame to live downtown; and that the university staff would make every effort to ensurethat the transition went smoothly. The cable TV contract was ready in ten minutes aspromised, but this passionate defense of APU’s position took a whole hour to complete.
The above episode was typical of the local level of consciousness prior to APU’s
opening. One resident stated: “I’m sure that a lot of tourists will come to Beppu fromplaces like China, Korea and Taiwan, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but wehaven’t had permanent residents here since GHQ was in town.” GHQ refers to theGeneral Headquarters of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, theoccupation forces that controlled Japan immediately after its defeat in World War Two– more than 50 years ago. This kind of preference for the short-term economic benefitsof tourism over the long-term presence of non-Japanese citizens in the community was
widespread, and Beppu Office staff members could not afford to leave it unaddressed.
Their patient approach, pursued with the assistance of sympathetic locals, slowly began
to show results, and the APU support network spread gradually throughout the local
community. About half a year after APU was opened, the woman from the electricalstore phoned up. She had not bought a Doberman dog, but had decided to host an APU
student from Korea. This really was good news for APU.
Finding accommodation
The development of housing options for APU students and staff was the
responsibility Creotech, a private company fully financed by the Ritsumeikan Trust.
Creotech opened an APU Office in the Ishigaki-Higashi district of Beppu in April 1999.
International students were to spend their first year in the AP House dormitory, butwould then descend from Jūmonjibaru to live in the main Beppu township. Creotech’s
job thus entailed securing accommodation not only for the Japanese students who would
need places to live immediately, but also for university employees and, in the long term,
for more than 400 international students. It was crucial that this work begin immediately.
If, for example, Creotech were to engage a local operator to construct an apartmentbuilding, a lead time of at least two years would be needed, including time to secure
finance and allowing around eight months for actual construction.

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Creotech employees did the rounds of local construction firms and real estate agents,
hoping to locate partners in construction projects and people willing to offer their
existing rental properties to APU students and staff. Eventually they decided to organize
a mass gathering of interested parties. Thus in April 2000 at the B-con Plaza convention
center in downtown Beppu, Creotech and Ritsumeikan held an information forum oninternational student housing. This event was attended by some 400 representatives
from construction firms and real estate agents in Beppu City and the neighboring city ofOita. It was explained to these attendees that information sent to prospective APU
students would contain a message to the effect that all students’ housing needs would be
dealt with by Creotech, a company established by Ritsumeikan itself. This declarationof Creotech and Ritsumeikan’s commitment to the housing project served to assuage theconcerns of many local financiers, and Creotech began to be approached by local firms
interested in housing developments.
Creotech’s target was to get 1,000 apartments constructed in the Kamegawa, Ishigaki
and Kannawa districts, all within 20 minutes’ commuting distance of APU. They werelooking for places offering good standards of livability, with convenience stores andother amenities close at hand. Work on finding international student housing proved
difficult, thanks to a rumor spreading through town that in the past, some international
students had run amok in their rental accommodation. But there were also many successstories, such as the conversion of old employee dormitories owned by NTT and Oita
Bank into student housing, and the elderly woman who came forward voluntarily tooffer rooms in her own house to international students. With the opening of Oita
International House in 2001, the housing target was within reach.

Campus construction work: A triumph of engineering
No soil wasted
The grassy hills of Jūmonjibaru had such a large elevation difference that they were
often frequented by hang-gliding enthusiasts. The highest point on the site was some
120 meters farther above sea level than the lowest point. An environmentally
responsible approach was taken to the earthworks in preparation for construction of
campus buildings, with earth cleared from the higher reaches of the site used to bring
the lower portions up to the same level. The ground on which the Student Union and
Gymnasium buildings stand today was originally split by a ravine some 40 meters deep.
The topsoil was of the type known as Andosol, a soft volcanic ash soil. It went down toa depth of at least one meter – four to five meters in some places. Before it could be
used as a filling material, this topsoil needed to be mixed with lime and cement, making
for a costly start to the campus construction work.
The site was serviced with neither electricity nor gas, nor water. It was possible to getelectricity to the site by extending the lines already running to the nearby expressway
service area, but water, needed in massive quantities for the construction work, had tobe drawn from a local irrigation channel. This water would quickly become muddy

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when it rained, meaning that it needed to be pumped through a purification systembefore it was potable.
Jūmonjibaru has a well-deserved reputation for strong winds, but typhoons are
something really special. Conscientiously following the long-standing Ritsumeikan
directive that “responsible persons must be on site in times of emergency,” staff
members chose to stay overnight in a prefabricated shed on Jūmonjibaru when atyphoon hit during the construction period. Listening to the sound of the wind ripping at
the galvanized iron sheeting that covered their makeshift shelter, they realized that sleep
was not a viable proposition. When they stepped outside the next morning after thetyphoon had passed, they found that the large cargo containers positioned near theiraccommodation had been overturned by the wind and now lay strewn around the site.
People familiar with the harsh topographic and climatic conditions of Jūmonjibaru
often look at the finished APU campus and mutter, “It’s amazing that this place ever got
built.”Jūmonjibaru had been officially designated a Class Three Scenic Zone, meaning thatany new developments needed to be integrated with the character of the surrounding
district and preserve its scenic attributes. The maximum height allowed for any building
was 12 meters. All roofs were to be pitched. The size of the proposed buildings meant,however, that roofs would need to have a vertical interval of 5 meters in some cases ifthey were to be pitched as required. Buildings could thus only be two stories at most
without exceeding the height limit. But filling the campus with a horde of low-rise
constructions would be too costly.
Ritsumeikan officials figured that since APU was to be an international university
without parallel in Japan, they would need some kind of symbolic structure to lend thecampus an imposing character when viewed from either its main entrance or fromdowntown Beppu. They approached Beppu’s Urban Planning Council to explain their
desire to construct two tall towers to achieve this effect. Once this Council had granted
its permission, the proposal was put to the Oita Prefectural Urban Planning Council,
which also gave its assent. The towers were to be 22.5 meters tall, and other buildingson the campus a maximum of 15 meters. These specifications dictated the form of thecampus that stands on Jūmonjibaru today.
Exhaustive environmental measures
Many objections and concerns were raised regarding the planned construction work.
Some suggested that Beppu’s supply of hot spring water, essential to the livelihood ofmany in the city, would be adversely affected; others pointed out the possibility of theearthworks triggering landslides that would threaten homes further downhill; some wereeven concerned that the work would have some effect on active fault lines and lead tomore earthquakes.
The only issue that those in charge of the construction work could not address
categorically was the question of seismic activity. They enlisted the help of experts from
Oita University to conduct a survey of active faults in the area. This survey revealed that67

Chapter 3

the site was subject to earthquakes occurring on a 2000-year cycle, and that the next
occurrence was not due for well over a millennium. These findings came as aconsiderable relief to all those involved.
There was also the problem of how best to preserve the rare plant species found on
the site. This was addressed by moving all specimens of botanical value, which included
varieties of Rhododendron kiusianum, Viola orientalis, Echinops setifer, Iris rossii, andAeginetia sinensis, to a rare flora zone near the main campus gate.
The area that is now home to AP House was densely forested. The Beppu City
Government still owned this forest, and thus sold off the trees for timber. Huge
quantities of branches and leaves were left behind, presenting those in charge of theconstruction work with a challenge if they were to uphold their promise not to allow any
waste products to leave the construction site. They decided to use the “Nekko Chip
Technique” developed by the construction firm Kumagai Gumi. Under this method, thewood refuse was reduced to small fragments, mixed with local soil, grass seeds andfertilizer, and spread over the sloping ground around the site, thereby ensuring that not a
branch was wasted.

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Chapter 4
The World to APU, APU to the World

The APU House student dormitory, a vibrant hub of intercultural exchange
Snow has fallen at the APU campus.
Southeast Asian and African students who have never seen snow before are in highspirits as they explore the transformed grounds of AP House.
Tazawa Naoya, an AP House Resident Assistant (RA) from Hokkaido in northern Japan,
has been studying in his warm room wearing short pants. Answering a knock on thedoor, he suddenly finds himself being carried outside and flung into the snow.
“Hey Naoya, look, it’s snow!”
Keen to prolong their enjoyment, some of the students take handfuls of snow back insideand put them in the refrigerator. They soon melt, covering the kitchen floor with water.
Dōke Maiko, a fellow RA, kneels down and begins wiping up the mess without a word.
Just another intercultural moment at AP House.

AP House, a cultural melting pot
The midnight welcoming party
Despite its immense size, AP House does not have a live-in dormitory manager.
Instead, the dormitory is run by student Resident Assistants (RAs) with the support of
the university’s Student Affairs Division and a third party facilities management firm.
The RAs play a crucial role in guiding international students towards full participationin community and campus life, and in making AP House a more meaningful experience
for all residents.

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The opening of APU in 2000 is also the beginning of the touching story of how the
first group of 35 RAs, new to university life themselves, worked to take care of APU’s
newly-arrived international students. 20 out of the group of 35 came from either
Ritsumeikan Senior High School, Ritsumeikan Keishō Senior High School, or
Ritsumeikan Uji Senior High School. This meant that almost all the Ritsumeikanaffiliated school graduates enrolling in APU were appointed to RA posts.
Tazawa Naoya was one of these. In his penultimate year at Ritsumeikan Keishō HighSchool, Tazawa had chosen to go to Vietnam on a class study tour. Less than one monthafter he returned from the tour with a newly-whetted appetite for intercultural exchange,
Tazawa attended an APU information session at his school. He promptly renounced his
earlier preference for a university degree in science or engineering, and chose to apply
for APU instead. One of Tazawa’s RA colleagues, Kuroki Mayumi from Osaka, hadbeen planning to apply for admission to Ritsumeikan University when she came acrossan APU brochure attached to an information pack sent to her from Ritsumeikan. This
brochure, adorned with the characteristic dolphin motif, was filled with dreams andaspirations. Kuroki soon became convinced that something special would be waiting forher at APU. She submitted her application, at the same time expressing her interest in
becoming an RA. Another like her was Murakami Mai. A native of Fukuoka,
Murakami’s interest in international issues, and Asia in particular, had been aroused byher participation in a high school study tour to Korea. She read about the APU project ina newspaper, cast aside all plans to apply for other universities, and submitted herapplication to APU. Murakami also added her name to the list of RA candidates.
The students chosen as RAs gathered at AP House to undergo training in mid-March,
two weeks before regular enrollees began to arrive at the campus. Kuroki Mayumi
recalls:
The 35 of us took up residence in the single building that was AP Housein those days – no other buildings had yet been constructed. Most students
start their university lives by finding a place to live and buying items tofurnish their new accommodation. But each of us arrived at AP House
with the bare minimum of belongings packed in a suitcase. We had to sit
down right away and began the training. It was cold outside, a strong wind
blew, and at night the whole place was pitch-dark and silent. It was hard to
get a grip on what we were supposed to be doing there. Most new
university enrollees can expect to find senior students and an establishedschool spirit. Those first days in AP House really reminded me that thiswas a brand new university. It was a good feeling, but a little daunting as
well.
It was around March 20 that the international students began to arrive. One of the firstmajor assignments for the RAs was meet these students at airport arrival gates. They
divided into two teams, one for Fukuoka Airport and one for Oita Airport. They neededto draw up a daily airport duty roster, ensure that messages could be passed on, andwork out which floor of AP House each new international student needed to be taken to.
According to Tazawa Naoya,
Two or three RAs would get taken to Fukuoka Airport at a time, in a car
provided by Mr. Miyake Sadamune, the head of a volunteer association
called the Beppu International Students Support Group. I remember
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holding up name signs as we stood at the arrivals gate waiting for students
coming in on a 1 a.m. flight. Then we broke up into two teams: one taking
the students back to Beppu in Mr. Miyake’s car, and the other, usually one
or two RAs, staying on at the airport to meet students off the daytime
flights. Once we had met the daytime arrivals we would all get on an
express bus bound for Beppu, then change to a local bus and make ourway to AP House.
The RAs had a difficult job, but it was not easy on the international students, either.
A group of students from Vietnam, more used to getting around by bicycle andmotorbike, found the two-hour express bus trip from the airport very testing. Many
became ill during the voyage and two were sick as soon as they stepped off at the
Kannawa stop in Beppu. But they had no choice but to get straight on a local bus boundfor the APU campus, a journey that took them up a winding mountain road muchrougher than the expressway from the airport. Upon arrival at AP House the palestudents rushed straight for the toilets and did not emerge for some time.
There was always something happening during those first days. A staff member of
Ritsumeikan’s Tokyo Office gave up his day off to deliver some money to a Filipino
student who had lost a wallet at Narita Airport; n Indonesian student arrived at AP
House speaking fluent Kansai dialect, startling the Japanese students awaiting him.
Kuroki Mayumi reports that:
Recently I caught up with an Indian student who was part of that firstbatch of enrollees. That student still remembers how we met her at the
airport: she never expected us to be there in the middle of the night. At last
I felt our efforts had been worthwhile.
Most international students were setting foot in Japan for the first time, and for thosearriving at night, the intense darkness of Jūmonjibaru was not exactly heartening.
Murakami Mai recalls that the next challenge for the RAs was to cheer up those
homesick international students.
New cultures, new surprises
With each new country that came to be represented in the resident population at AP
House, a new addition was made to the dormitory’s diverse mix of living habits. For
RAs, responsible for instructing residents on a common set of rules, this diversity wasoften a source of confusion and distress. University staff members, most of whom had
never before experienced this kind of situation, also found themselves groping in thedark. Even something as customary in Japan as taking out one’s own trash was notstraightforward for students from some countries. One Indian student announced thatback home, garbage disposal had been the job of house servants. Having explained theJapanese practice, the RAs watched as the student gingerly lugged her own trash out tothe disposal area, crying as she went. Others were unaccustomed to the idea of
separating garbage into different types before disposal. The AP House disposal area wassoon filled with rejected garbage bags, each adorned a sticker from Beppu City’s waste
disposal department reading “not fit for collection.”71

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An RA giving international student residents a hand
(Image supplied by Oita Gōdō Shimbunsha)
The first structure on the AP House site was a lone five-storey building composed
entirely of private single rooms, each furnished with a bed, desk, wardrobe, basin andlavatory. Shower rooms and kitchens were shared. The 11 kitchens, one on each level ofeach wing, were equipped with two gas cookers, a multifunction oven and one electric
hotplate. It was the grilling units attached to the gas cookers that caused problems. For
Japanese people the only explanation required was that these units were designed for
grilling fish. Many international students, however, were unfamiliar with such cooking
practices, and often ended up setting fire to the inside mesh of the grills as they used thedevices for purposes other than grilling fish, or left them on for long periods with nowater in the catchment tray. This would generate excessive volumes of smoke,triggering the smoke alarms and bringing facilities management personnel rushing to
the scene. By August in the first year, the mesh had been burned out on around 80% of
the grilling units, and a decision was taken to remove all of them from the AP House
kitchens.
Once an RA watched fascinated as an international student poured cold water rather
than boiling water over a container of instant noodles. The RA then had to intervene
when the student proceeded to put the container in the microwave to heat it. Anotherstudent was caught trying to toast a slice of bread directly on an electric hotplate. It was
hard to know what would happen next.
The shower rooms also proved to be a constant source of accidents. Each private
shower unit consisted of an external door opening onto a changing area, which in turnopened onto an inner shower cubicle. Some students would leave the inner door wide
open while showering, soaking the floor of the changing area and adding another unit to
the growing number of showers adorned with “Out of Order” signs. But this was not theworst of it. On repeated occasions the shower cubicles were used as toilets. It wassuggested that perhaps doing one’s business in the shower was perfectly natural forstudents from countries where it was the custom to wash with water rather than use
toilet paper.

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The lesson that showers were not interchangeable with lavatories was quickly learned
by the first intake of AP House residents, but Matsumoto Ikue, part of the second cohortof RAs, recalls being shocked by an experience at an RA meeting in the second year.
Several international students were added to the RA team that year. One of them, an
Indonesian student, was observed by Matsumoto coming out of a shower room during a
break in the meeting. “What were you doing in there?” Matsumoto asked. “Taking aleak,” was the casual reply. Matsumoto turned to another RA, from Singapore, forsupport in her condemnation of this action, but that RA simply responded, “Really? I do
it too, sometimes.” Matsumoto was shaken to learn that such a stark difference inperceptions could exist even within the RA group entrusted with the task of helping newstudents to acclimatize.
The “flower festival” incident
It was in May 2000, little more than a month after the university opened, that the
now-legendary “flower festival” incident took place. It started with a group of female
students from Sri Lanka who were keen to mark the anniversary of the birth of Buddha
in the traditional manner of their home country. These students worked for several days
to produce a floral decoration for the festival, which they proceeded to place at theentrance to AP House. This act, however, drew protestations from some of APU’s
Muslim students. APU officials had been particularly concerned by the complex
differences in religious orientation among the student body, and had thus decided that inprinciple, no religious activities would be permitted in AP House’s communal spaces.
The Sri Lankan students, vehement in their demands for permission, were supported bythose who pointed out that all that was at stake was some flowers – no different to thedecorations used for regular cultural festivals in Japan. University officials, on the other
hand, were sure that permitting this exception would open the floodgates for all kinds ofrequests regarding religious observances. The Sri Lankan students became tearful,threatening to go home if this kind of thing wasn’t allowed at a supposedly international
university. Soon the campus was like an overturned anthill, with everybody competing
to express an opinion on the matter. Sri Lankan custom dictated that the “flower
festival” decoration be put up by midnight on the night before the main festival. Intense
negotiation between the students and university staff continued until just before
midnight, when it was finally decided that the decoration would be allowed on the basisthat it was part of a cultural event rather than a strictly religious occasion. It could not,however, be placed at the AP House entrance where other students would be required topass by it; instead, a meeting room within the AP House building was used, with thedecoration labeled “an introduction to Sri Lankan culture.”
Muslim students were also required to avoid communal spaces when conducting theirfive daily prayers in the direction of Mecca. On occasions, however, there was no time
to find a private room, and the students had no choice but to get together and pray in aclassroom. Inquisitive Japanese students would sometimes peek in and watch thestudents at prayer, remarking, “Ah, so Mecca’s over that way!”73

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The ban on religious observances means that the AP House lobby areas retain a stiff,
formal atmosphere unlike any similar spaces in other parts of Japan. There are no New
Year’s pine decorations, no jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween, and no Christmas trees.
Singaporean student Mazhar Hamid offers the following international student
perspective on AP House.
Some people don’t even like the smell of curry, you know. But in AP
House, we have no choice but to share the kitchens with other residents.
It’s important that everyone makes an effort to adjust, and to be tolerant.
Dōke Maiko, one of the first Japanese RAs, has this to say about the lessons learnedin AP House’s multi-cultural environment.
When you look at what’s going on around the world, you can find manythings that are too shocking to even think about. But any one of themmight be happening in the country where your neighbor in AP House hascome from, or might be perpetrated by that country. Living in AP Housesuddenly makes world events feel a lot closer to home. If everyone wholives together at AP House and studies at APU goes back to their homecountries enriched with a more generous spirit, we will be well on the way
to achieving world peace.

APU-style intensive learning
Studying for their lives“Those students you see doing homework during their break times at part-time work
– they’re sure to be from APU.” This is how locals came to describe the intensity withwhich APU students studied. The sheer volume of assignments, tests and exams left
virtually no time for leisure. Japanese students worked assiduously on their English,
while their international counterparts diligently studied Japanese.
Some Japanese students were not in a position to devote their full attention to study:
they had to spend considerable time and energy providing assistance to international
students. The reality of APU’s cosmopolitan environment was the presence of many
students unfamiliar with Japanese customs and living habits: the successful adjustmentof these students was a precondition to the achievement of a multi-cultural community.
Japanese students were constantly being reminded by instructors that it was their duty tooffer support to international students.
International students had a different kind of challenge: they needed to maintain goodacademic grades in order to keep their scholarships. Lose your scholarship, and you
would have no choice but to go home. Some of these students could have lived in theirhome countries for ten years on what it cost to live for one year in Japan. Many refused
invitations to join in extracurricular activities. They weren’t simply acting superior:
their livelihoods were at stake. But the Japanese students also benefited from this highpressure atmosphere, realizing that they couldn’t afford to slack off, either.

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One seminar class taught by Dr. Seike became known as the “jackpot seminar”
because so many of its students earned cash scholarships under the system forrewarding outstanding academic achievement. The class officially ran from 4:30 to 6:00
p.m., but most students would stay on and continue their discussion until around 10:00.
Then, instead of making their way home, about half these students would jump into the
instructor’s car to go on to a pub or 24-hour restaurant to start the discussion all overagain, with each student keenly putting forward his or her opinion, only to have it
dissected and derided by the others. This intense battle of ideas would often continue
until daybreak.
An earlier chapter described how international students continually questioned theuniversity’s systems in areas such as grades and course registration. This preference forasserting one’s opinions rubbed off on the Japanese students as well. “Nobody at APU
liked to keep quiet,” says APU graduate Saitō Maiko, recalling the fact that many
Japanese students were unusually forthright in expressing themselves.
Morning classes at APU started at 8:45. Initially, instructors would arrive a few
minutes after the start time, as was customary at most Japanese universities at the time.
This produced many words of complaint from students, such as “Why does the teacher
have to be late?” and “Please start the class on time from now on!” From then on, thecustom for APU instructors was to be in the classroom in time to hear the starting bell.
But that was not all. Thanks to the per-credit tuition fee system, instructors were
presented with many exacting demands regarding class content. “We’ve paid 34,000
yen for this class, and all you do is show us a video?” was a common protest.
In her third year, Saitō Maiko went on “internal exchange” to Ritsumeikan University.
Bewildered by the docile students and lenient classes, and inevitably comparing the lackof interest in study with the fervent efforts of the international students at her home
university, Saitō curtailed her one-year exchange and returned to APU in less than six
months.

Pioneers of the Accelerated Program
A trailblazer’s ordeal
APU offers an Accelerated Program that allows undergraduates to register tocomplete their degrees in three or three and a half years instead of the usual four years.
Among APU’s first cohort, nine students registered for this program and graduatedearly.
Lee Eng Ngor from Malaysia had planned to study in the U.K. or Australia after
completing high school. But her plans changed when she attended an APU information
seminar in Kuala Lumpur. Attracted by the idea of being part of Japan’s firstinternational university and studying in both English and Japanese, she decided that
APU was the university for her.
The brochure that Lee was given at the seminar in KL had on its cover a computergenerated image of the APU campus area viewed from above. In this image, the sea
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appeared to be on the same level as the campus itself, so Lee assumed that the beach
would be close by. On the day that she arrived at Fukuoka airport and made her way tothe campus, the area was shrouded in thick fog. It was the following morning, when thefog finally cleared, that Lee first learned that her new university was actually on a
mountain.
Lee decided to register for the Accelerated Program, realizing that it offered a way tosave one years’ living expenses, and figuring that it would be seen as an advantage
whether she wanted to go on to graduate study or get a job after graduation. But
graduating a year earlier meant that the workload of assignments and class preparation
was even greater than for regular students. Lee states:
Colleagues say that their memories of me at that time were of a student
who could always be found studying in the language lounge or aclassroom, even early in the morning. Seeing the lights on in my room at
all hours, they assumed that I was studying all night too. She probably eats
nothing but instant noodles, they figured.
Lee’s commitment to her studies led ultimately to success in completing the
Accelerated Program and receiving an offer of employment from Toshiba. When she
went to the immigration office to apply to change her student visa to a working visa,
however, she struck trouble. Usually this procedure is a mere formality, but immigration
officials became suspicious that Lee’s speedy graduation reflected some ulterior motive
for seeking a working visa. A university staff member called the immigration office toargue Lee’s case, but to no avail. Lee contacted Toshiba and had them send a copy ofher employment documents to the office, but even these did not convince theimmigration officials, who pointed out that the documents did not specify the actual
department to which Lee was assigned.
Even today, Lee finds it difficult to forget this painful experience. All that hard work
had come to nothing, she thought. Eventually the visa was granted, and Lee went toTokyo to start work, only to find that being prematurely parted from her classmates at
APU was an unbearably lonely experience. She confesses to doubting whether it had
been a good idea to register for the Accelerated Program at all.
Her interview at Toshiba was also a trial, thanks to the fact that it was held in fallrather than in the standard spring recruitment season. In contrast to the usual process
entailing separate rounds of interviews over several weeks, Lee’s screening was done allon one day in an intensive format prepared for her alone. But Lee was an APU student:
she was not easily daunted. She confronted her interviewers head on, negotiating
fiercely and arguing back on many occasions. Her Japanese was not perfect at the time,and she sensed that the interviewers were taken aback by her impudence. The chancesof getting selected were slim, she realized. When she got back to APU, however, shefound a letter from Toshiba telling her that she had been accepted. Her immediate
feeling was more one of shock than of happiness.
Of her time at APU, Lee now says:
I think I grew more at APU than at any other time in my student career.
Those years are the source of my strongest memories. Even now, whenthings are tough, I find myself wishing I could go back to APU. I flickthrough my old photo albums, or look at brochures or articles about APU.

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It reminds me that I have many friends, and many people prepared to lendme support. If I could make it through those three years at APU, I figure, I
can make it through anything. Those memories still offer great
encouragement to me.
Making his own history
One Japanese student who chose the Accelerated Program was Takemoto Shinya. “Ihave a really strong craving to see, hear and experience things that are new, things that I
have never before come across,” Takemoto explains to people meeting him for the firsttime. It was this strong sense of curiosity that attracted him to the idea of being the first
product of a system that had never before been tried in Japan. Takemoto was not content
with graduating in the usual way: he figured that he could get more enjoyment out of
APU if he set himself a more challenging goal. Today, he speaks proudly of his
experiences.
The Accelerated Program sets very high hurdles. You can’t graduate
unless you maintain a consistently high standard in your grades. The
Program required me to develop my own study regime, set my own goals
and force myself to stick to them. I created my own little bit of history by
graduating earlier than anyone else. And I left my mark on APU.
After graduating, Takemoto was employed by the leading advertising firm Hakuhōdō.
He has also been President of the APU Student & Alumni Association ever since it was
launched in 2003. The Association is still in its formative stages, but it holds gatheringsin the Kantō, Kansai and Kyushu regions and is gradually developing into a forum forconnecting people and facilitating interaction. The Association’s structure was altered in2008 to allow current APU students to join as associate members. Formerly limited toalumni alone, the Association now aims to “be an interface with the student body, andfoster connections among everyone associated with APU.” It organizes employment
information sessions and many other opportunities for current students to hear directlyfrom alumni. Takemoto says:
People say that the character of APU changes from year to year, but I
think it’s important to provide students with opportunities to come into
contact with alumni from APU’s first and second batches of enrollees. I
want to provide more opportunities for students to have a broad range ofexperiences.

First steps to global citizenshipPreparing for a global society
Indian student Shradha Chowdhury first learned of APU through the principal of herhigh school. She was immediately taken with the idea of a university which guaranteeda world-class education taught in a multi-cultural, dual-language environment, all in a77

Chapter 4

country of which she knew almost nothing. This was the kind of experience that could
open up all sorts of opportunities for the future, she thought. All those who knew her
were surprised by her decision to go to APU, both because she was the first woman inher family to venture outside India, and because the country she had selected was one
which few other Indian students chose to go to.
APU’s first students were faced with a blank page when they arrived, but theuniversity supported their efforts to leave their mark on the university in many ways.
Chowdhury worked as a member of the student staff for APU’s Opening Festival,
chaired the World Students’ Summit, and even participated in the Wadaiko drummingclub “Raku.” Each of these experiences is now a treasured memory. Another uniqueexperience for Chowdhury was coming into contact with people from so many different
backgrounds. As a member of a student body in which over 80 countries and regions
were represented, and in which countless different cultures and customs came together,she found it necessary constantly to re-assess things that she had previously taken for
granted. This expanded her horizons and taught her to understand and value people withdifferent ideas and ways of thinking. Collaborating with students from around the globe
both in class and through extracurricular activities proved to be the ideal preparation forengagement with a rapidly globalizing world.
Chowdhury’s participation in an internship program at Sanyo Electric Co. in her thirdyear strengthened her resolve to work in Japan after graduation. She ended up applying
to Sanyo and being accepted. She was posted first to the personnel and planning
strategy division at Osaka headquarters, and subsequently took up a post in global
communications at the Tokyo branch. These roles allowed her to make full use of thelinguistic and communicative skills she had acquired at APU: she was well suited to thework, and found it constantly fulfilling. Including her time at APU, Chowdhury ended
up spending a total of six years living and working in Japan and succeeded inbroadening and deepening her understanding of the country considerably. Eventually,
however, she began to feel too comfortable in a workplace that suited her so well, andrealized that the time had come to move somewhere more stimulating.
She decided to join Peace Boat, a non-governmental organization that operates threemonth tours of more than 20 different countries by chartered ship. Her work onboard
the Peace Boat involved collaborating with the many different instructors who joined
the tour, and dealing with situations in destination countries that went beyond anything
she had previously experienced. On many occasions she found her adaptability andflexibility tested to the limit.
Chowdhury subsequently traveled to the United States seeking a new challenge. She
now works at the Institute of International Education, one of the world's largest
international education and training organizations, where she coordinates a program totrain women to work in technology. She says that in this post she is doing what she
wanted to do most, and really feels like she is bringing dreams to reality: there is nobigger thrill than that.

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The APU Women’s Athletics Team competes in the All-Japan Collegiate Women’s
Ekiden (Road Relay) Championships each year. A team member from Kenya has also
claimed the all-Japan collegiate women’s crown in the 5000 meter event.

Launching a new apparel brand in Vietnam
Vietnamese student Hoang Viet Nga spent two years in Japan as a young child. This
experience inspired her to look to Japan when it came to preparing for university study.
She came across APU, and decided that the opportunities to master English and theprogram in management – the field in which she was planning to specialize – made thisuniversity the right choice for her. Her time at APU, filled with interaction with people
from other countries and experiences of other cultures, equipped her not only withknowledge in her specialist field, but also a sound grasp of both the Japanese andEnglish languages. She found that APU offered many special lectures delivered byindividuals who had themselves succeeded in business. She came to attend such lectures
whenever they were held, and over time, began to form an idea that she too would one
day become an entrepreneur. In January 2003 she entered the inaugural Venture
Business Plan Contest at APU, and came first. Hoang says that each and every
experience she gained at APU connects in some way to the person she is today. After
graduating, she went to Tokyo to study fashion at the same time as working at the “109”fashion store complex. She then returned home to Vietnam and started her own business.
Today, she owns her own apparel brand and also works as a Japanese-speaking
television hostess.
A future in academic research
Finnish student Tuukka Toivonen’s enrollment in APU was the product of a series ofcoincidences. He had just finished a touring the world as a performer sponsored by theAmerican non-governmental organization Up with People, but Toivonen’s natural
curiosity meant that he felt entirely comfortable with the idea of going straight on to
Japan to study. He was keen on the idea of studying sociology, but what attracted him to
APU the most was its image as a vibrant cosmopolitan institution. This image did not79Chapter 4

fade in the least when he started studying at APU. Hoping to pursue a career in research,
Toivonen found that APU’s stimulating seminar classes, rewarding language education
programs and wide range of cultural exchange opportunities furnished many positive
experiences.
He was also fortunate to make many new friends. He values his memories of timespent with friends at APU above anything else. Going to hot springs together, cooking,chatting for hours, performing in concerts at APU’s Millennium Hall . . . all of these arerecalled with fondness. Neither will Toivonen forget carrying the portable shrine in
Beppu’s “Sento Taisai” festival and ending up with sore muscles from head to toe. He
cites this festival as one of the most enjoyable, and the most painful, experiences of his
life.
He also remembers his encounters with university administration at APU, and being
perturbed by the cultural gap between rule-oriented European approaches and customoriented Japanese approaches.
Toivonen is now studying for a doctoral degree in social policy at the University of
Oxford. His research topic concerns young people in Japan. In the summer of 2008 heconducted research in Japan while based at Kyoto University, and used the opportunity
to catch up with former APU colleagues and instructors. In the future he plans to workin a variety of academic posts and extend his knowledge of social policy issues.
Eventually, he hopes to take up an advisory position in government and help to develop
more equitable, sustainable, and enlivening social systems.

Graduation ceremonies for the President and Vice-President
A certificate from the students
Members of the student club “project EXPO” had prepared a surprise at the 2004
APU Graduation Ceremony.
Held on March 19, 2004, that Ceremony marked the graduation of the majority of thefirst group of APU students that enrolled in April 2000. Upon conclusion of theceremony’s formal proceedings, Japanese student Komori Yūsuke took to the podium
dressed in traditional formal Japanese clothing. “Now we would like to hold a
Graduation Ceremony for President Sakamoto and Vice President Jidō,” he announced.
The attendees, already on their way out, quickly made their way back to their seats,murmuring with anticipation. It had already been decided that this would be President
Sakamoto and Vice President Jidō’s final year at APU.
The members of the project EXPO club had decided that instead of just handing out
graduation certificates to the students, the President and Vice President deserved toreceive one each themselves. Club leader Kamiya Hiroyuki had decided on the wordingof the certificates in Japanese, translated into English below.

80Chapter 4“Graduates, please come to the podium.” The incongruous sight of Komori, completewith shaven head, making this announcement in such solemn style sparked a chorus oflaughter throughout the auditorium.
Graduation Certificate
Sakamoto Kazuichi, President, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
As our university’s founder and first President, undaunted by the tribulations of wind,
fog and snow, you have showed affection for everyone and everything and continued topress forward in your earnest aspiration for progress.
Your contribution to our university has been immeasurable.
In particular, your warm and approachable persona has been like an oasis, offering
us great comfort and inner solace.
We hereby express our gratitude and earnest desire for many future meetings, andconfirm that you have successfully completed our university’s prescribed course of
study.
March 19, 2004
Komori Yūsuke, Student Representative
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
Graduation Certificate
Jidō Yūji, Vice President, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
As inaugural Vice President of our university, undaunted by the tribulations of wind,
fog and snow, you have worked to discharge your official responsibilities and made an
immeasurable contribution to our university.
In particular, your not overstated, not understated, light-and-shade approach tosupporting the President has provided a valuable lesson in how we all should live ourlives.
We hereby express our gratitude and earnest hope for even greater accomplishmentsin the future, and confirm that you have successfully completed our university’sprescribed course of study.
March 19, 2004
Komori Yūsuke, Student Representative
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

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A “Graduation Ceremony” for President Sakamoto82Chapter 5

Chapter 5
True Stories: APU Campus Life

Membership of the Wadaiko (Japanese drumming)club includes many international students“When we first enrolled in APU,” Satō Maiko recalls, “Our professors talked eagerly
about all sorts of global ideals. At 18 years of age, we easily got inspired by that kind oftalk.”
Shimoda Ayumi was one of those who sought to give practical form to those ideals,
launching the World History Textbook Exhibition at APU. She explains the inspiration
behind the exhibition as follows: “There was a genial sort of mood on campus to begin
with, as we tried to avoid treading on each others’ toes. But APU is one of the few
places in the world where you can really talk meaningfully about what things are like inyour own country. If we couldn’t have the exhibition here, where could we have it?”
Whenever disaster strikes anywhere around the globe, there is sure to be an APU
student concerned about the wellbeing of a friend or colleague.
The student who is no longer able to understand things simply in terms of his or her
own country’s interests, the student who genuinely hopes for peace across the world:that’s an APU student.

Pioneering club activities
The pitch-black tuba
Shortly after APU’s opening, students began to set up clubs.
Matsumoto Ikue decided to launch a music club, motivation by her own experiences
when studying in the U.S. on a high school exchange. Finding it difficult to comprehend
the English spoken by her African-American host family, Matsumoto had been very
lonely in the U.S. until she decided to join the school marching band and make use of83

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skills honed in a wind ensemble back at her home school in Japan. She made manyfriends through the band, and enjoyed her time in the U.S. much more as a result. She
thought that at APU, too, it would be possible for students to interact through musiceven if they couldn’t communicate through language.
Matsumoto moved quickly to launch the music club “Texas.” But what about
instruments? And who would conduct the ensemble? Matsumoto began to negotiatewith the university to purchase instruments for student use. At the same time, a fellow
member of her new club and native of Oita prefecture had the idea of approaching Ando
Gakki, a company in Oita City specializing in the sale musical instruments. Company
head Andō Hiroshi said that he had a storeroom full of instruments formerly used inschool music programs, and kindly suggested that the club make use of these.
According to Matsumoto:Among the instruments that we got from Ando Gakki, there was a tuba,
originally a metallic golden color, which had turned a deep black overtime. Not long ago, I heard that the club had entered the Oita regional
wind ensemble championships and qualified to compete against ensembles
from around Kyushu. I went to see them perform, and there was the oldblack tuba again! That really took me back. It seems that they are stillusing it because it has such a good tone.
News of the music club slowly spread through the student body and more studentsjoined up, including a Singaporean who formerly had a part-time job playing piano at amajor hotel, an accomplished vocalist from China, and Mr. Funaki from Tonga, also atalented singer. “At last we could play real music,” says Matsumoto. All the clubs
launched by APU’s first batch of students displayed the same kind of pioneering spirit –or more accurately, they had no choice but to make their own luck.
International students and “Wadaiko”
Like many of the other Japanese student members of the organizing body for APU’s
Opening Festival, Yokoyama Meiko was mesmerized by the powers of expression
demonstrated by her university’s international students. In 2001, the year after thatexperience, Yokoyama came across a notice on campus inviting students to join a new
Wadaiko (traditional Japanese drumming) club. The notice had been written by Numata
Reina, part of APU’s newly-enrolled second cohort of students. Numata already had
experience in a local community Wadaiko ensemble.
Attracting prospective members for the new group was not difficult, but there was amore fundamental problem: no drums. At an estimated cost of several million yen,purchase was out of the question, so Yokoyama joined Numata in a search for otheroptions. Eventually they learned that there was a set of drums lying unused in Beppu
City Hall, so they negotiated with the authorities to borrow them. The local ensemble
Hattō Daiko agreed to instruct the students, and for costumes, they borrowed kendō(Japanese fencing) outfits from friends. The group started rehearsing in May 2001, andmade their debut performance in October of the same year at the Beppu DreamVal
festival, where they won a prize of 50,000 yen in the Asian Festa division. This money

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was promptly put towards the purchase of costumes. A local resident was also kindenough to lend the group some more drums.
The group had an initial membership of 10 students drawn from Japan, Indonesia,
India and Bulgaria. The rhythm of the drums transcended most linguistic barriers within
the group, but the international student members were still perplexed by some things.
“What does ‘tonko-dondon’ mean?” some would inquire, unable to grasp the Japanese
onomatopoeia for rhythmic patterns. “Why do you say ‘tsuku’?” others would ask,
referring to the distinctive way of expressing pauses in the rhythm.
This Wadaiko ensemble, operating under the name “Raku,” continues to popularamong APU students to this day, and performs at many community events. It held aspecial fifth anniversary concert in 2007.
The trials and tribulations of the Campus Festival
Letters of acceptance sent out to successful APU applicants were accompanied by anotice regarding a Welcome Party to be held at the time of enrollment, and a call forvolunteers to join the staff for organizing this event. The 50 students who applied,
including Ushimi Isao and Komori Yūsuke, gathered at APU in March to prepare for
the Welcome Party. After APU’s opening, this group of 50 divided into groups toorganize other campus events such as the Opening Festival and the Language Weeks.
Ushimi was one of those who took charge of organizing the Language Weeks, a taskthat involved communicating with and coordinating the activities of international
students from different linguistic backgrounds each week. This demanded considerable
stamina, with staff members working in collaboration with performers almost
continuously over a period of seven weeks. By the end of it, most were too exhausted tojoin the team of students to organize the Campus Festival scheduled for later in the year,
but Ushimi and Komori themselves did sign up. The former was chosen as the leader of
the Campus Festival staff, and the latter as his deputy. They figured that the first step
towards organizing the festival’s program would be to decide on a theme. This turned
out to be the most contentious issue. The organizing team, composed of over ten
students in total – including several international students – would meet every afternoon
at five or six and continue their discussions until around ten p.m., but still they could notagree on a theme.
Language proved to be a major impediment. One of the staff members was the Indian
student Shradha Chowdhury. She is now fluent in the dialect of Japan’s Kansai region,
but at the time, Kansai-bred Ushimi remembers, “She couldn’t make out what I was
saying, and became tearful any time I opened my mouth. Meetings got held up by theneed to interpret every single utterance.” There were other obstacles, too. Japanesepeople tend to accord a certain aesthetic value to the process of extended discussion,and often things cannot move forward until total consensus has been reached.
International students, however, were keen to keep the meetings moving, suggesting afive-minute time limit for consideration of each issue before a conclusion was reached.
There was a fundamental discrepancy in ideas regarding how meetings should be run.

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Feeling that too much time was being wasted, international student members gradually
stopped coming to meetings, until there were only two or three left.
Soon the summer vacation had come around. A Leaders’ Camp was held during thevacation session, bringing together the leaders of all the student clubs that were to be
showcased at the festival. All came to the camp equipped with ideas about how theirclubs could contribute to the festival program. Ushimi realized that it was only thefestival organizing committee itself, the key organ in the process, that had failed todecide anything yet. He became so preoccupied with this problem that he didn’t eat athing for the whole three days of the camp. He decided to bring everyone together toshare ideas for the festival. But when they had assembled, the dejected Ushimi turned tohis colleague Nakamura Ryūta and confided, “If I get up there in front of everyone now,
I’m liable to say that there won’t be any festival at all,” and promptly ran out of theroom.
Nakamura soon caught up with Ushimi, who said that he needed a sharp wake-up call.
What he had in mind was those scenes in television drama shows where the demoralized
hero is suddenly brought back to reality by a slap in the face from his best friend.
Hoping that he could be reinvigorated in the same way, Ushimi asked Nakamura to givehim his best shot. Weakened by three days’ fasting, however, Ushimi took Nakamura’s
hit less well than expected: he crumpled to the floor, murmuring, “I’ve had enough.”
A university staff member who had witnessed these events came over to console
Ushimi, saying, “Sometimes it’s best to bail out. Everyone has their limits – there’s nouse going on if you’ve reached yours.”
Komori Yūsuke had spent the summer in Europe, unaware of the drama unfolding at
the Leaders’ Camp. When he returned, he sensed that there was no longer a place forhim in the organizing group and decided to concentrate on his other role, student
representative for the university Co-op, instead. After the successive resignation ofleader Ushimi and sub-leader Komori, organizing duties were taken over by otherstudents, and the event was held in the first year under the title of “APU Festival.” Theexhausted organizing committee was dissolved immediately after this event, and nofestival was held at all in APU’s second year. In the third year, however, a group
including Kawanabe Yūji and Kubo Motohiro came forward with a plan to ensure that
APU wasn’t the only university in Japan without a campus festival. They enlisted
several lower-year students to help them organize an event titled Tenkūsai (literally,“sky festival”). This festival was the forerunner of the annual campus festival still held
under the same name today.
Held back by the foreign players’ quota: From soccer practice in a park to an
overseas tour
For Korean student Kim Yongchan, life had revolved around soccer ever since highschool. He started a soccer club immediately after enrolling in APU, aided by anotherdevoted soccer enthusiast, Mori Wakana. A native of Kyoto, Mori had a deep interest ininternational exchange, and had even spent time with an NGO in Bangladesh. In her
final year of senior high school she came across a small article on APU in the back86

Chapter 5

pages of a university information magazine, and immediately decided that thisuniversity, with its cosmopolitan student body, was made for her. She didn’t evenbother applying to other institutions. Immediately after enrollment she joined theorganizing staff for the Opening Festival, and then linked in with Kim at the soccer club.
Soccer proved to be popular among APU’s students, and soon the club had around 60
members. But it had little else: no ground, no changing rooms, no money. The members
got together one evening and decided that they should practice at Beppu Park or
Ishigaki Park downtown, and use one of APU’s equipment storerooms as their changing
room. They agreed to hold their first practice session the next morning, making their
way down from the campus by bus or motor scooter. “Having nothing to begin withproved to be a good motivator – we figured out our own ways of doing things,” recalls
Kim. He hadn’t yet told the other club members of his long-term goal: an overseas tour.
As the club began to practice in earnest, the original membership of 60 dropped off to
40, then down to 30. “People like me joined because we liked soccer and wanted to try
lots of different things,” explains Mazhar Hamid from Singapore, “but when they
started practicing twice a week, and eventually every day, we had to give up.” But a
competitive team could now be formed from those who remained. The club was named
APU Intoras FC.
The club soon came up against a major problem. Their team was populated by many
international students, but Japan’s college soccer regulations stipulated that a maximumof just three non-Japanese players could be included in any one team. Unable to join thecollege soccer league, the club started out competing as an associate member of an open
nonprofessional league. They had no option but to use this league to establish the club’s
reputation.
In August 2001, the club ventured beyond Japan for the first time, playing a friendly
match against Kyung Hee University, one of the top four college teams in Korea. It
seems, however, that Kyung Hee had expected a team from Ritsumeikan University,with which they had a partnership agreement. “In the first half we were beaten badly,”says Kim, “and the Kyung Hee people started to wonder what was going on. Finallythey worked out that we weren’t from Ritsumeikan University at all, and switched totheir second-tier team after half time.” But the APU team ended the day with its pride
intact: it had scored one goal against the Kyung Hee firsts and actually beaten theseconds one-nil.
Among the soccer club’s members were African students Sumala Bamidele (“Deli”)
and Emmanuel Ansah (“Nana”). One day, while she was sorting the team’s uniforms
after training, Mori Wakana was called over by these two students and told, “You know,
this grass is really sweet. Why don’t you try some?” The grass in question was from alush patch just outside the lavatory building. Mori was a little hesitant, but she figuredthat this is what they do in Africa. She tried a little, not sure what type it was – somekind of sorrel, maybe. But it certainly wasn’t sweet.
Deli was the team’s goalkeeper. Once, the club organized a friendly match against ateam from the Self Defense Forces (SDF) base near the APU campus. They had
assumed that the SDF team would be tough opponents, but the sight of the 190centimeter, 150-kilogram Deli in front of the goals was enough to put them off. They
didn’t score a single goal in the whole match.
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The broadcasting club
Takahashi Seiko was an ordinary Japanese high school student who had never evenbeen outside Japan before entering APU. Despite opposition from both parents andteachers, Takahashi chose APU because she liked the idea of an international university
and was attracted to APU’s courses in environmental studies. She recalls, however,being taken aback in her first “Understanding the Asia Pacific” seminar class whenconfronted with a classroom full of students from China, Korea, Malaysia and even
Europe. “What have I got myself in for?” she wondered.
Gradually Takahashi became accustomed to both the other students and the language
they used, and began to enjoy the class discussions on themes such as environmental
problems and poverty. She was struck by the diversity and strength of opinions
expressed by her fellow 18-year-olds. When she met up with friends back home during
the summer vacation and was told that their universities were “pretty ordinary,” she wasable to tell them that her university was anything but “ordinary.”“Intercultural communication is tough – but fun!” was Takahashi’s motto. She acted
energetically in starting up an independent student-run study group, and helping toorganize a student clubs federation from the second year. But perhaps her most difficult
task was the establishment of a broadcasting club.
After being approached by a university administrator who knew that she hadbroadcasting experience from high school, Takahashi set up the broadcasting club
together with Saruwatari Takato and some other students. The new club had many
issues to attend to: for a start, the university didn’t have all the necessary broadcasting
equipment, and they needed to appoint a senior advisor to assist them. Initially, they
could not recruit any non-Japanese members, either. Some international students wereinterested, but claimed to be too busy with Japanese language study. The club began toexpand its activities, making a video program to introduce new students to
extracurricular activities at APU. From this point, they started to attract international
student members. The 300 yen monthly membership fee proved to be a sticking point,
however. Some international students would demand to know why the fee wasnecessary, and how it was being used: they couldn’t understand why they had to pay tojoin a voluntary leisure organization. This helped Takahashi and the other Japanese
members, who hadn’t thought twice about the fee system, see many things in a newlight.
Takahashi’s strongest memory of cross-cultural difference comes from the kitchens at
AP House. She had borrowed a frypan from a Muslim student, and used it to cook somepork. When she returned the frypan, she assured the student that it had been washedthoroughly and was therefore safe to use. But the student refused to take it, saying, “It’s
yours now, I don’t need it anymore.” These and other incidents made Takahashi think
more about religion. Japanese people tended to avoid religious topics in conversation,
she realized, but APU’s international students each had their own well-developed
outlook on religious issues, and many considered religion an intrinsic part of theircountries’ culture and lifestyle.

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Chapter 5“I never thought I’d end up staying on at APU after graduation,” says Takahashi, but
she is now employed in APU’s administration and student services.
Ko-Ko-Korea
As a graduate of one of Ritsumeikan’s affiliated high schools, An Michimasa was oneof those students virtually compelled to become an RA at AP House. He vividly
remembers the day when the first group of students arrived from Korea to take up
residence. He and the other RAs stood nervously regarding the long line of 70 Korean
students before them. Laughing, An recalls:
Of course we didn’t speak each other’s languages, so we knew that
communication would be a problem. We understood that they weren’t
trying to be unfriendly, but there they were, gazing intently across at us.
Maybe that’s a cultural difference between Korea and Japan – in Japan we
don’t tend to stare so hard. All us RAs felt the strength of those stares.
An couldn’t speak Korean well at the time, but he himself was from an ethnic Koreanfamily residing permanently in Japan. This background inspired him to start a new clubat APU, Ko-Ko-Korea. “As part of one long-term foreign resident community in Japan
myself,” he explains, “I thought it would be good to get together with Korean andChinese students and talk about the problems facing these communities.”
Ko-Ko-Korea members met three times each week to discuss issues of ethnicity anddiscrimination. After a while, however, they had run out of things to talk about among
themselves, and decided that it would be more interesting to disseminate information toothers. They produced a leaflet introducing the issues they had been discussing, andstarted to connect with permanent foreign resident communities in Beppu, organizing
study sessions and games for children from these communities.
An explains his motivations as follows.
Many different countries were represented in the APU student body, and it
encompassed many different religious issues and cross-border tensions. I
wanted to create opportunities for more substantive debate on these sorts
of issues. After all, APU was one place where there were always clashesof intellectual energy – nobody would have been surprised if fights brokeout here and there.
After graduation, An decided that he wanted to explore the things he had experienced
and discovered through Ko-Ko-Korea in a more systematic, scholarly manner. He is
now enrolled in a graduate program at Hitotsubashi University.
“We can do it!”Long before U.S. President Obama coined “Yes, we can!” as the catch cry for hiselection campaign, APU students had adopted “We can do it!” as their unofficial slogan.

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It was one of APU’s first batch of enrollees, Takebayashi Seigo, who first popularized
this phrase, at the Fall Entrance Ceremony in 2000. Takebayashi had been asked todeliver a speech preceding the showcase of extracurricular club activities scheduled
after the conclusion of the formal proceedings. The day before the speech, Takebayashi
had racked his brains for something that would draw all constituents of the APU
community together and enhance their sense of community. He himself had felt part ofthis community ever since first hearing about APU as a high school student anddeciding that this was where he wanted to study. He hoped to make others just as
excited about being at APU as he was. He now admits that he’s not quite sure how it
happened, but at the end of the day what he had come up with was: “We can do it!”Takebayashi, a member of APU’s swimming club, appeared at the ceremony in his
swimsuit and cap. At the end of his speech, he began to chant: “We can do it! We cando it!” The audience was stunned into silence initially, but slowly Takebayashi’s
enthusiasm won them over. More and more people began to join him in the catch cry of“We can do it!”.
From then on, the “We can do it” chant came to be used to elevate spirits at any
student gathering. President Sakamoto lent his personal support to this development,
joining in with the students at every opportunity. As Takebayashi had originally planned,“We can do it!” became a key tool for bringing the APU community closer together.

The classic APU catchphrase: “We can do it!”Establishing the APU Clubs Association
Inoue Daisuke underwent his entire high school education in an English language
medium at an international school in Osaka. In APU, Inoue saw an opportunity to hone
his English skills further as well has to think more deeply about Japan’s place in theworld. After moving to Beppu, Inoue quickly became infatuated with the town’s hot
spring baths, and had soon launched a hot spring club at APU. Many student clubs wereformed in the first year, but they often found it difficult to negotiate with the university
authorities over protocols and fees for use of university facilities. Inoue and some otherclub representatives decided that rather than each club dealing with the Student Office
on its own, shared problems could be more effectively identified and communicated to90

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the university through a common mouthpiece. This constructive proposal grew into the
APU Clubs Association, founded in December 2000 with a membership of around 30
clubs.
The Association needed to cultivate leaders with vision and drive to bring APU’s
clubs together. It was for this purpose that a Leader’s Camp was held over three days in
February 2002 in the town of Yufuin. Inoue and his colleagues prepared an agenda forthe camp based on information provided in advance by each club, identifying issues that
had arisen in the first two months of the Association’s operation. The camp generated
much enthusiastic discussion, with club leaders presenting a wide assortment of ideas
and points of concern. “Rather than a gathering of people with the title of ‘leader,’ it
was more like an extended circle of friends,” recalls Inoue. “It was really importantbecause it was the first time that we brought together students with clearly-definedinterests of their own.”
The Association’s first official activity was a welcoming performance for new
students, held immediately after the Entrance Ceremony. Current students would be
welcoming junior colleagues to the university for the first time, so they were keen to
make an impact. Each club contributed a performance of its own, in line with the basic
theme of helping new arrivals to loosen up after the stiff formalities of the Entrance
Ceremony. One APU alumnus looks back on this event fondly:
The curtain opened, and a figure wearing nothing but swimming gearcame out and started chanting ‘We can do it!’ all of a sudden. Many
parents were attending the Entrance Ceremony along with their newlyenrolling children. Confronted with this scene, they must have wondered
if this was really the sort of university their children should be attending.
Inoue explains:
We didn’t have anything going for us except a strong motivation toexpress ourselves, and to carry ideas through to action rather than giving
up along the way. I thought it would be important to entrust our newcolleagues with this spirit and show them how it had got us this far.
Tadachi Keiichi was in his fifth year of elementary school when he first learned about
the United Nations. He was deeply impressed by the idea of an organization where
people from across the world came together to seek solutions to global problems. This
interest in the UN became one of the main reasons behind Tadachi’s eventual decision
to study at an international university: APU.
Enrolling in APU in its second year of operation, Tadachi immediately saw potential
in the university’s lack of established traditions. He liked the idea of students creating
things for themselves. This led him to join the newly-formed preparatory committee fora student representative council. The idea was for the council to be an autonomous bodybringing together all the university’s students, both domestic and international. Tadachi
recalls that:
There may have been differences of perception between domestic andinternational students, but there was virtually nobody who was
fundamentally opposed to the concept of setting up an organization that
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it came to questions such as how the organization would be set up, and
who would lead it, well, that’s where we got bogged down.
Many different ideas were canvassed, such as having two leaders – one domestic andone international, dividing the organization into regional groups, and operating a UNstyle system with a delegate from each country represented on campus. It proved
impossible to reach agreement. The preparation committee got as far as holding a ballot
in which a majority of students voted in favor of the idea of establishing a student
council; but still the actual council could not get off the ground. “Maybe everyone got
tired out after so much debate,” suggests Tadachi, “or maybe getting agreement on theidea of establishing the council had become the goal in itself.” In any case, the matter
progressed no further then, and there is still no official student representative body at
APU today.

Events galore
The World Students’ Summit
The World Students’ Summit was held at APU from October 29 to 31, 2002. First
proposed by President Sakamoto, the Summit was backed by President Maurice Strong
and Rector Martin Lees of the University for Peace in Costa Rica as well as Sakamoto
and Ritsumeikan Chancellor Nagata Toyoomi. Students and university authorities
worked in close coordination to enlist students from universities around the world toattend the Summit and discuss the general theme of “The role of students and youth:
How can we establish ‘Human Security’ and ‘Sustainable Development’ on the earth.”
Delegates came from 58 universities across 25 countries and regions outside Japan, and
22 universities within Japan, each personally recommended by the presidents of their
institutions. Maurice Strong, who had been Secretary-General of the “Earth Summit”
held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, contributed greatly to the Summit at APU from the
preparatory steps right through to the actual implementation stage.
Delegates were divided across ten subcommittees to debate major issues surrounding
the achievement of peaceful and sustainable development, including the environment,
terrorism, innovation and AIDS. On the final day of the Summit the subcommittees
came together to discuss their findings at a General Assembly, chaired by Indian APU
student Shradha Chowdhury. After much vigorous debate, the Assembly adopted a joint
communiqué which received considerable attention, including news coverage on NHK,Japan’s national broadcaster.

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APU takes the lead in organizing the World Students’ Summit 2002
Countless students were involved in organizing the Summit, including Steering
Committee Chair Saruwatari Takato, head of the Planning Committee Dōke Maiko, andof course General Assembly Chair Shradha Chowdhury. This organizing body was a
microcosm of the international community, a complex mix of personal idiosyncrasies
and national traits, including some students taking command of the preparations andothers working hard behind the scenes on logistical issues.
Both UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and High Commissioner Ogata Sadako
provided personal messages for the Summit. Secretary-General Annan concluded his
message with the following statement:
It is very encouraging that you are already involved in shaping the worldthat you will inherit and lead. I hope you will continue that engagement,
and help the United Nations in its ongoing global mission to build a morepeaceful, equitable and sustainable life for all the world’s people. In thatspirit of partnership, please accept my best wishes for success.
The World History Textbook Exhibition
A congenial mood prevailed on campus in the months immediately after APU’s
opening, a mood which Saitō Maiko described as “superficially pleasant, with people
simply agreeing on how beautiful, wonderful and great everything was.” Students
seemed to be deliberately avoiding potentially touchy topics such as religion, politics
and national borders. Another student, Shimoda Ayumi, wondered whether the students
were really satisfied with this arrangement. Unlike politicians, APU students weresurely in the ideal position to air their views openly. “If we can’t sit down together at
APU and talk about our own countries and about history,” she figured, “where can we
do it?”
2002 was the year that Japan hosted the FIFA World Cup jointly with Korea. There
are some issues on which Japan and Korea simply cannot see eye to eye. Discussions
over the issue of wartime “comfort women,” for example, often end up going nowhere.
This distance between the two nations is often attributed to differences in historicaloutlook instilled in each country’s younger citizens by their parents and teachers.
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Things might be different if each side understood the background that the othercountry’s citizens bring to their perception of historical issues. But to achieve this kindof understanding, Shimoda figured, there would need to be some basis for bringing thetwo sides together in the first place.
This is how the World History Textbook Exhibition came about. The idea was tomake young people more aware of how history was taught in high schools in countries
other than their own, so that historical issues could be discussed on the basis of thisawareness. History textbooks, provided by students from the 80 countries represented
on the APU campus at the time, would be translated into English and Japanese andexhibited to the public. This would be the first step towards achieving true mutual
understanding.
Shimoda began to accumulate school textbooks donated by fellow students. She
realized that each country took a different approach to understanding history. The sole
APU student from Palau provided a textbook in which history was not presented inchronological order, but rather through a mixture of folk tales, legends, biographies andfactual accounts. The concept of the “world” in this textbook was very narrow,consisting only of the islands directly associated with school students’ own lives.
Stories of family heads, ordinary couples, and people from all different sections of thesocial hierarchy were presented together in parallel. This approach was a marked
contrast to history textbooks in Japan, in which events are presented chronologicallyand written from the perspective of the victorious individual or group. The Palauan
textbook even contained a story from World War Two of how a man called Suzuki, anordinary private in the Japanese army, had secretly left food outside houses in a villagethat had run out of supplies.

Read and compare: History textbooks from around the world
Shimoda’s original aim had simply been to compare how history is studied indifferent countries, but she soon awoke to the fact that “history” itself can mean manydifferent things. She was joined in her work by many other APU students, each bringing
their own textbooks and collaborating to translate them all. This kind of project wassurely something that could only happen at APU.

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After two or three years the exhibition had grown considerably in scale and content.
It was put on show at the Aichi International Expo, and received a special award in asocial business enterprise plan contest. Shimoda herself was awarded the Andō
Momofuku Prize upon graduation, and used the one million yen prize money to go on to
study at one of APU’s Graduate Schools. She is now enrolled in a graduate program at
Ritsumeikan University.
One’s 1 and the World Students’ Summit
Takahara (Suzuki) Hiroumi was studying at Ritsumeikan University when his
respected teacher, Professor Hotta Makitarō, announced that he would be transferring to
APU. Takahara decided to quit his studies at Ritsumeikan and follow his teacher to
Beppu. “You can achieve anything if you study ten hours a day,” Professor Hotta had
told him, “And one day you’ll be in position of responsibility in an internationalorganization where you can save tens thousands of lives with a single signature.”
Tragically the Professor passed away suddenly soon after, but Takahara continued tohold this ideal close to him, devoting all his energies to the study of APU’s basic themeof sustainable development.
Takahara also served as the inaugural leader of the now-legendary student club One’s
1. The 50 members each brought their own strong opinions and ideas to the club’s
discussions, which culminated in the hosting of a symposium in 2001.
Held under the theme of “sustainable development,” the symposium served as a pilot
event for the World Students’ Summit held at APU in October of the following year.
Hearing of the aims of this symposium during a visit to APU, University for Peace
President and World Students’ Summit advocate Maurice Strong went out of his way tocomment on what a superb idea it was. For Takahara, architect of the whole project,
President Strong’s words were the ultimate encouragement.
Takahara says that he learned much from the process of organizing the symposium
together with the other 50-odd founding members of One’s 1. “Perhaps the bottom-up
style, with everyone working together cheerfully and boisterously, works well among
Japanese people,” he suggests. But the alternative, a top-down approach under a clear
vision articulated by a strong leader, sometimes seemed more feasible. “The multicultural makeup of APU meant that objections were common,” recalls Takahara.
“International students would raise matters of process and claim that their opinions werebeing excluded. It was difficult to work from the bottom up.” This experience taught
Takahara why leadership is considered so crucial in multi-cultural societies such as theUnited States.
The culmination of Takahara’s work was the communiqué produced at the
symposium. Several of the original One’s 1 members carried on his work into the World
Students’ Summit held in October of the following year (2002), forming the core of theSummit’s steering committee and ensuring that the event was a success.
Takahara was employed by Sony after graduation and now works in the division
responsible for developing corporate strategy, as well as holding a post in the95

Chapter 5company’s business reform project office, established in fall 2008. He took theAccelerated Program at APU, which helped him develop a headlong all-or-nothing
approach to achieving results in a limited time. Takahara says that APU also taught him
to adopt a creative, productive stance and to stand up against the tide where necessary,lessons that have proved very useful in his working life. “I don’t hold back very mucheven with senior colleagues in my company.” he confides, “If I think something’s right
I’ll keep advocating it, even if some might say I’m being impudent.”
Saruwatari Takato attended a renowned high school in Kumamoto Prefecture. While
all his classmates were making plans to study at Japan’s most prestigious universities,
Saruwatari was looking for an experience out of the ordinary. If he simply followed hisclassmates’ lead, he figured, he might grow up without any strong convictions of his
own. It was this awareness that inspired him to apply for APU. As soon as he enrolled,
however, he struck trouble. “In school it was easy to be appreciated,” he explains,“simply by cultivating a smart appearance and studying as conscientiously as everyoneelse.” But APU made him realize that such a strategy only worked in Japanese-centeredcommunity.
“My assumptions just didn’t hold water in APU’s ‘world-wide’ community,”
Saruwatari admits. “I was forced to re-appraise myself and think about what I, as anindividual, was capable of.” With limited English proficiency and no special abilities to
speak of, he became despondent – but was not prepared to give in. He threw himself
into student life, sitting up the front in class and developing a reputation for zealous
enthusiasm. Other students started to approach him for assistance with their
extracurricular activities, and even his instructors began to acknowledge him more.
When it came time to organize the World Students’ Summit, Saruwatari was
encouraged by many of those around him to chair the steering committee. He decided togive it a shot.
The committee was composed of 50 students each from APU’s domestic andinternational student bodies. There were many initial obstacles to effective operation,such as the need for two-way interpretation at meetings, but eventually things began torun smoothly, and the actual Summit turned out to be a great success. Saruwatari, whowent on to work for the Oita Prefectural Government after graduation, now admits:
I’m glad that I found APU such a struggle to begin with. I still find somethings a struggle, of course, but APU gave me a passion to seek out thethings that I want to do most, and made me aware of my true potential. I
now realize what an incredible place APU was.
The International Exchange Sports Event“The things I thought about at junior high school, the things that I tried to do at APU– they’re all coming together now in my work,” says Ōyama Takashi, who is currently
employed at the sports business college operated by the soccer team Vissel Kobe.
Ōyama’s father’s job took his family to live in New Zealand when Ōyama was injunior high school. He found it a struggle to come to terms with English when he firststarted school in New Zealand, but he was able to make friends through his passionate

96Chapter 5interest in baseball. It turned out that his school had a partnership agreement with
Ritsumeikan Uji Senior High School. This, and the need to live closer to his elderly
grandparents in Kitakyūshū, brought Ōyama back to Japan to enroll in APU.
On May 20, 2000, in response to what he describes as “an out-of-the-blue requestfrom the university,” Ōyama delivered the student representative’s address at theofficial APU opening ceremony and celebration of Ritsumeikan’s 130th anniversary,held at B-con Plaza in downtown Beppu. He subsequently began to make new friends
on campus, and started to formulate a project of his own. “I wanted to promoteinteraction between Japanese and international students through sports,” he explains.
“But I realized that we would need an organized approach.” He came up with the ideaof running tours for students to go and watch baseball matches and road relay races.
Ōyama also worked as an interpreter at the FIFA World Cup. There is a story behindhis decision to take on this role. In line with his dream of becoming an English language
teacher in the future, Ōyama had been working part-time at a private English tutoring
academy in Beppu, only to have his appointment terminated in March 2001. He moved
along with all his junior high school-level students to a different academy and remained
there until all the students had completed their senior high school entrance exams, butthen he resolved to abandon his idea of becoming an English teacher. It was just aroundthis time that Oita was chosen as a venue for the FIFA World Cup, and Ōyama decided
that he could pursue his interest in English by volunteering as an interpreter. “I justhappened to be in the right place at the right time,” he says.

A student makes a point during a subcommittee meetingat the 2002 World Students’ Summit
Around the same time, students at APU were preparing their end-of-semester
presentations for their seminar (“zemi”) classes. Ōyama himself had not planned to takea seminar subject at all, but was persuaded to do so by his friend Shimura Satoshi, whoeven went so far as to write Ōyama’s seminar enrollment application. The class Shimura
had chosen was run by Professor Itō in the College of Asia Pacific Management (nowthe College of International Management). This seminar was said to be the mostdifficult to get into in the whole College, with 60 students applying for the 16 places

97Chapter 5available. “Two of the 16 successful applications were written by Shimura,” laughsŌyama.
Professor Itō’s seminar focused on marketing and sports business, and it was here thatŌyama learned the techniques that would develop his schoolboy interest in sports into a
viable career. Shimura, meanwhile, started a student-run seminar group on marketing,which in 2003 became known as Iyūkai.
Ōyama went to learn more about sports management at the Daiei Hawks professional
baseball team (now the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks). While there, he was asked about thepossibility of using Beppu as the venue for the annual training camp for the Hawks’
second team. Ōyama, along with his junior colleagues in Professor Itō’s seminar, rose to
the challenge. Their very first task was to find a suitable ballpark. They went to Beppu
City Hall for advice, to be told that the city authorities were actually hoping to build a
new ground at Jissōji, but needed to gain agreement from the local residents before they
could do so. If that was the case, thought Ōyama, a good first step might be to hold afriendly sports-themed exchange gathering for residents, APU international students andJapanese students, using the Beppu Arena sports complex. Hopefully this would lead toacceptance of the idea of hosting the Daiei Hawks’ camp in Beppu and recognition of
the camp’s potential to inject new life into the city’s tourism industry.
Ōyama discussed his idea with APU President Sakamoto one day in the Cafeteria,suggesting that one way of initiating talks on the camp issue would be to get someHawks players to come to Beppu for the community event. “Oh, is that so?” responded
Sakamoto, “Well let’s give Mr. Nakauchi a call then.” Nakauchi was the team’s owner:Ōyama couldn’t hide his surprise when Sakamoto simply picked up the telephone andcalled him on the spot. Unfortunately Nakauchi was unavailable, but Sakamoto,
undeterred, put in another call to one of the team’s scouts. In the end the Hawks did
send some players to the event, “not because of my association with the club,” saysŌyama, “but thanks to President Sakamoto’s phone calls.”
Funded by his seminar Professor, Ōyama subsequently travelled to Kyoto to secure
funding for the event from the Ritsumeikan Academy, where he was also advised toseek support from companies operated by Ritsumeikan University graduates. He acted
on this advice immediately and approached Sanyo Electric. Sanyo committed one
million yen towards advertising for the event, as well as promising to send all membersof their badminton team, which had just secured back-to-back titles in Japan’s national
league. The Oita Cosmo Ladies, a world champion tug-of-war team, also agreed toparticipate.
On the day of the event, the Beppu Arena was divided into several themed sections,
including a Baseball Zone, a Badminton Zone and a Tug-of-War Zone. Beppu citizensof all ages joined with APU and Ritsumeikan University students, alumni and corporate
representatives to interact with top sportspeople and join in the sporting contests
themselves. Ōyama still hopes that this event, his final achievement as one of APU’s
inaugural students, will one day lead to further international exchange and a revival of
tourism in Beppu.

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The Cafeteria: Nourishing a cosmopolitan food culture
International exchange begins for Co-op staff
The former manager of the APU Co-op Cafeteria recalls feeling a sense of excitement
each day he worked at APU. To him and other Co-op staff members, being the coreprovider of food on a multi-cultural campus and employing large numbers ofinternational students, posed many unexpected challenges.
With little idea of what students would want to eat, but determined to prepare as best
they could, staff members invited an Indonesian woman living in Beppu’s Kannawa
district to come and teach them about herbs and other unfamiliar ingredients she used inher cooking, and to tell them where such ingredients could be sourced. They developed
their own repertoire of Korean, Vietnamese and Thai dishes by visiting restaurants in
Beppu and enlisting the help of newly-arrived international students. To their surprise,
they discovered that Beppu was home to stores stocking good supplies of ingredientsfrom countries such as Indonesia, China and Korea.
The staff realized that with a bit of effort, it was going to be possible to come up withdishes that students would eat. But they also had to deal with the issue of what students
could not eat. For Muslim students from countries such as Indonesia, this included meatproducts such as pork, as well as alcohol. Even chicken needed to be prepared atcertified facilities according to Halal rules. The people working at such facilities werequalified in the appropriate preparation techniques and offered the prescribed prayers as
they worked. Co-op staff looked in vain for a facility that met these requirements locally.
They did, however, discover some qualified manufacturers in nearby countries such as
China and Thailand, including, to their surprise, a section of the plant operated in Chinaby the Japanese company Nichirei, which was already contracted to supply chickens to
Ritsumeikan’s Co-op. It turned out that they had been using Halal chicken all along.
The Islamic ban on alcohol extends not only to drinks, but also to all ingredients usedin food products. This includes, of course, the common Japanese condiment Mirin, as
well as the alcohol often used in the production of soy sauce. One day the Cafeteria
manager was approached by a group of Indonesian students who said that they had
heard that a certain tofu dish on the Cafeteria’s menu was delicious, but they wereunable to try it because it contained soy sauce made with alcohol. They explained thatsoy sauce made using the traditional natural brewing method was acceptable: althoughalcohol was generated during the fermentation process, it wasn’t technically an
ingredient. Ever since, the APU Cafeteria has used traditionally-brewed soy sauce.
The bread debacle
Initially, the Co-op shop found that it sold huge quantities of sliced bread and milk.
Bread was particularly popular among international students, who found it sweet anddelicious. But one day, a great commotion was stirred up by a Muslim student who had
been reading the ingredients label on the bread. The label said that the bread contained99

Chapter 5‘shortening,’ which is commonly made from lard – pig’s fat. The student was shockedthat he and his Muslim colleagues had eaten the bread without any suspicion that it
contained a forbidden ingredient.
Lard shortening is used as a raising agent in many commercially-produced foods,
including potato chips, rice crackers, cakes and pastries. All were now off-limits for
Muslim students. So the Co-op started stocking uncooked cheesecakes and other sweetsthat did not require shortening, as well as using margarine instead of butter in their own
baking. Students with dietary restrictions took to consulting with the Co-op staff before
making purchases. Staff members always felt rewarded when they saw the look of
grateful relief on students’ faces upon being told that items were not off-limits.
Two days before the Cafeteria’s official opening in 2000, the staff worked all night toprepare the menu labels. Each item containing meat was accompanied with a small
illustration of a chicken, pig or cow to indicate what ingredients were used. “There
would have been chaos if we hadn’t included those illustrations,” says the manager.
During each Language Week on campus, the Cafeteria would serve foods from thecountry or countries being introduced that week. Staff members and students would
often stay back until late at night working to prepare the feature dishes. Some of thetasks conducted in these midnight sessions included finding and ordering rare spices
online, grinding these spices, and making serving platters out of banana leaves and otherunusual items. Students often brought along their own ingredients to help add to thediversity of the Cafeteria’s menu, which eventually expanded to include around 200
different dishes.

Diversity is always on the menu

The Cafeteria was staffed by local Beppu residents during the day, and students in theevenings. Half the evening staff was made up of international students, each with theirown ways of doing things, often different from standard Japanese practices. Before
teaching them cooking techniques, the manager had to teach the students Japanese
expectations, such as strict punctuality, using the welcoming call of “irasshaimase,” andremembering to thank customers when receiving payments.

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Chapter 5Some students would stand arrogantly with their arms folded in front of customers;
others would go home without helping to clean up. But the manager would always be
sure to take transgressors aside and remind them of the need to observe Japanese
workplace customs.
The first cohort of students was subjected to this kind of coaching in concentrated
doses. When it came to the second year, however, the manager simply instructed thestudents he had already trained to “tell those new students that if they don’t takemanners seriously here, they’ll find it hard to get by anywhere in Japan.” The students
must have conveyed this message faithfully: the manager certainly had no more trouble
with manners.
Teaching Japanese manners
The Cafeteria was staffed by local Beppu residents during the day, and students in theevenings. Half the evening staff was made up of international students, each with theirown ways of doing things, often different from standard Japanese practices. Before
teaching them cooking techniques, the manager had to teach the students Japanese
expectations, such as strict punctuality, using the welcoming call of “irasshaimase,” andremembering to thank customers when receiving payments.
Some students would stand arrogantly with their arms folded in front of customers;
others would go home without helping to clean up. But the manager would always be
sure to take transgressors aside and remind them of the need to observe Japanese
workplace customs.
The first cohort of students was subjected to this kind of coaching in concentrated
doses. When it came to the second year, however, the manager simply instructed thestudents he had already trained to “tell those new students that if they don’t takemanners seriously here, they’ll find it hard to get by anywhere in Japan.” The students
must have conveyed this message faithfully: the manager certainly had no more trouble
with manners.

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Chapter 6
Engaging the Community on all Fronts

APU actively pursues interaction with the corporate sector
The Usuki Research Project, undertaken by a group of APU students, made thefollowing proposal regarding the planned transformation of the central townscape inUsuki, a city in the south of Oita Prefecture:“Usuki is often called a castle town, but the castle has absolutely no presence. There isno castle tower left standing, and residents themselves refer to the ruins not as a ‘thecastle’ but as ‘the park.’ Have you thought about reviving consciousness of Usuki’s
castle?”Mr. Himawari, an official from Usuki’s municipal government, says that the eventual
townscape design was inspired directly by this proposal.
All over Oita Prefecture, there are visible signs of APU’s passion to give somethingback to the community.

Reaching out beyond the campus
Overnight in a samurai residence
The catalyst for the exchange project that developed between APU and the city ofUsuki was a lecture given at APU by the then-Mayor of Usuki, Gotō Kunitoshi. Usuki
is where the 16th-century “Christian Daimyo” Ōtomo Sōrin built his last castle. The city
authorities are working hard to preserve the feudal-era castle precinct, and are also
engaging in friendly exchange with Portugal and the Netherlands, both of which havehistorical connections with the city dating back to medieval times. “The main concernof our community development work is how best to preserve our heritage at the sametime as applying it to new endeavors,” explains Himawari Bunmei, the city government
official in charge of the Usuki Research Project.

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Himawari recalls welcoming APU students for an overnight seminar at a former
samurai residence.
Samurai residences are listed as cultural properties, and are usually are off
limits. Visitors can look, but never touch. But the person in charge ofthese properties in Usuki at the time suggested that students could get abetter idea of what a samurai house was like if they actually used one –and maybe the house itself would be happy to have people staying in it. So
we ended up getting special permission to use the Marumo-ke house, oneof the buildings designated by the city government as an important
cultural asset.
Under an Urban Renewal Model Project funded by the national government, city
officials arranged to build a traditional bathtub in the house and repair its kitchen range
so that cooking could be done over a wood fire. APU students who came for theseminar were able to enjoy these old-style Japanese living habits to the full, as well aspracticing Zen meditation at a nearby temple, eating rice gruel for breakfast, and goingout into the town to interact with locals. One of the participants, Dōke Maiko, recalls:
The people of Usuki seemed to love their city and be determined topreserve it and show it off to more people. The city’s elderly citizens werereally dynamic in a different sense to students. We had to work hard to
keep up with them.
The APU students conducted a survey while in Usuki, and presented the findings ofthis survey in a series of essays:“The Usuki Urban Center Plan: Proposals on townscape development in Usuki City”
by Seko Satoshi“Constructing an urban disaster mitigation network in Usuki City” by Takano
Tetsuya and Dōke Maiko“Green urban development through a community garden scheme” by Miyada Shinji
Mr. Himawari from the Usuki City Government has this to say about the students’work:
We are currently redeveloping the buildings around Usuki Castle. This
project was inspired by the presentation given by APU students, in which
they argued that the castle has very little presence despite Usuki being
known as a ‘castle town.’ They pointed out that the castle area, without atower, is seen by residents themselves as nothing more than an ordinarypark, and suggested that we try to use the castle as a focal point in ourplanning. I thought that was a wonderful idea.
The idea of centering Usuki’s urban development on its castle had beenaround since the time of Ōtomo Sōrin, but we had failed to look the town
in that way until the students pointed it out to us. Of course we werealready planning to do some kind of redevelopment, but the students’ideas were what determined the direction we eventually took.
In March 2004, the students’ work was published in an 83-page booklet titled APU
Student Usuki Research Project: Report of Findings.

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A top-class infectious disease response program
A committee grown out of residents’ information sessions
Community information sessions were held in Beppu on a nightly basis over theperiod of a week in the lead-up to APU’s opening. What surprised Ritsumeikan
representatives most at these meetings was the extent of opposition to the idea oflocating APU in Beppu. In truth, of course, it was those opposed to APU who attended
the information sessions most actively, expressing some outrageous statements such as,“if our town gets overrun by foreigners, not even my own daughter will be safe.”
Ritsumeikan realized that the only way to get through to these people would be todevelop a good track record in community engagement after APU opened.
Some residents were concerned over how infectious disease risks would be handled.
In response, the director of Beppu’s Tsurumi Hospital (and now APU’s university
physician) Dr. Akaishi Mitsunobu and Oita Medical College Professor Mifune Kumato
were enlisted to help set up a committee within the university to furnish advice on
infectious diseases and other health issues.
After the university’s opening, several students were identified as having tuberculosis
and were admitted to Beppu National Hospital (now Beppu Medical Center). Bothuniversity officials and the students were surprised at the special treatment they received.
They learned that the hospital had been a center for tuberculosis treatment since prewar
times, and that as stipulated under the Tuberculosis Prevention Act, the students wereentitled to extensive, free-of-charge medical treatment for as long as required – up to six
months in some cases. “Beppu is in a class of its own when it comes to treating
tuberculosis,” explains one APU staff member. As regards new infectious disease
threats, too, among cities with populations of between 100,000 and 200,000, Beppu is
one of the most well-prepared in the whole of Japan.

The JC Members who bluffed their way through Cambodia
Introducing APU to Cambodians
Japan JC, the Junior Chamber International Japan, is an organization of young
business people between the ages of 20 and 40. In 1997, President Matsuda Kiyoshi andother members of the Beppu JC chapter paid a visit to Ritsumeikan while in Kyoto for a
conference, and announced that their organization would lend its support to the APU
project. “Chancellor Ōminami took us out to some fancy restaurant,” recalls Matsuda,“and told us that the local JC chapter had helped greatly when Ritsumeikan was opening
the Biwako Kusatsu Campus [BKC], and that he hoped we would do the same in
Beppu.” When the APU preparation office was opened in Beppu, the relationshipbetween APU and the JC quickly grew stronger, with office staff members attending JC
gatherings, and President Sakamoto making an appearance at the Beppu chapter’s 25th
anniversary event.

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In 2000, with the help of National Diet member Den Hideo’s Japan-Cambodia
Friendship Association, the Japan JC organized a tour of Cambodia for its members. 30
members from around Japan signed up for this tour, but news of the shooting of aJapanese volunteer working with an NGO in Cambodia prompted almost all participants
to cancel. Just three individuals from the Beppu chapter were left.
The major aim of the tour was to capture images of the land mines eradication
program. With the help of the Japanese Embassy, the group managed to gain access toan actual site where army officers were clearing mines, and took photographs that few
others had been able to take at the time. Abe Ichirō from the Beppu JC chapter recalls:
Because the group went under the name of the Japan Junior Chamber, theCambodians got the mistaken impression that we were some of Japan’s
most talented young businesspeople. They got together a greeting party of
three of their elite youngsters, all of whom had studied in the U.S. They
started speaking to us volubly in fluent English. If it has come to this, I
thought, we have no choice but to bluff our way through.
The “bluff” that Abe had in mind was an account of the grand project unfolding intheir own city. The group approached the President of the University of Cambodia andtold him how a rare new type of international university was opening in Beppu that very
year, and that Japanese companies were providing scholarships for international
students to go there. The President certainly seemed impressed, but the group received
another response from an unexpected quarter. Tep Veasna, the young Cambodian who
had been interpreting for the group, suddenly announced, “I want to go to that
university.”“As I always do in such situations,” says Abe, “I jumped at this idea and promised
Tep that I would arrange everything. It was only after I got back to Japan that I realized
what I had done.” When Abe went to consult with APU, he was surprised to be greetedby a young staff member who had previously worked part-time at his store, Chikkōen.
This staff member revealed that the conflict taking place in Cambodia had made it
impossible for APU to conduct promotional activities there, and that they would
appreciate help in recruiting Cambodian students. Abe then went to the Japan-Cambodia
Friendship Association and persuaded them to help host the student. Thus Tep Veasna
enrolled in fall 2000 as APU’s first ever Cambodian student.
“We haven’t got any students from Bhutan yet either. Do you think you could arrange
a trip there as well?” joked the APU staff member to Abe. “No way,” Abe responded.
But Abe did return to Cambodia, in 2005, to find that Tep Veasna was now working
as a bureaucrat in the country’s National Assembly.

Kamegawa, an unlikely multi-cultural community“Enjoy English Conversation”
The township of Kamegawa, part of Beppu City, is located directly down themountain from APU. One year before APU’s opening, several residents of Kamegawa
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got together to organize a new lighthearted community gathering. Most residents were
unsure what to make of the new university’s focus on “Asia.” With little pre-existingknowledge, they decided that a good way to start preparing for the influx of students
would be to learn some English. The group they founded was called Enjoy English
Conversation. Hori Takashi, managing director of the stationery firm Horibun, explainsthat “the group was drawn together thanks to the energy of Abe Junko from City Hall.”
At some meetings, 15 people would show up; at others, there would be 40. To begin
with there were only adults, but soon parents began to bring their children along, andthe atmosphere became more lively. Finally, the group held a Christmas party that went
off with a bang.
Cross-Culture Seminars
Taking a slightly more serious approach, the Sanmoku-kai, an association of residents
involved in community development in the Kamegawa district, organized a CrossCulture Seminar series. Like APU’s Language Weeks, each seminar focused on adifferent region: there was a Taiwan Seminar, a Korea Seminar, a China Seminar, andso on, each held in the building that once housed the Kamegawa Post Office. The
organizers would invite people associated with the country to attend, such as foreign
residents in Japan, Japanese citizens based in the country, and people who had formerly
lived there. These guests would relate their own surprising experiences of encounterswith foreign cultures. The seminars provided some fascinating insights into crosscultural experience.
For the Korea Seminar, the group invited the manager of the Oita Trinita J-League
soccer team at the time, Hwang Bokwan. One of the organizers, Hori Takashi, recalls:
During that seminar we learned for the first time that this man had scored
Korea’s first-ever goal in the FIFA World Cup. He was a national hero,and here he was talking to us in a run-down little post office building. We
even kept him waiting for ten minutes before the seminar. But he was very
pleasant about the whole thing, which really impressed us. We’ve all been
big fans of Oita Trinita ever since.
Nobody had expected a cross-culture seminar to generate new fans for a soccer team.
A sign was erected at Kawegawa station to count down the days until APU’s opening.
The stationmaster himself offered to change the numbers on the sign each day. With thestationmaster’s help, the celebratory mood spread throughout the community.
Hori Takashi volunteered to help out with the task of meeting newly-arrived
international students at Fukuoka Airport. One time he drove to the airport to meet threefemale Chinese students off a night flight. All three spoke Japanese, and they chatted
happily throughout the journey to Beppu on the expressway. After exiting theexpressway at Beppu, Hori turned on to the steep, winding road leading up to APU. It
was pitch black all around. The students, sitting together in the back seat of the car,suddenly fell silent, and then began whispering to one another in Chinese. Horiremembers this well:106Chapter 6

I was sure that they were saying to each other thing like: “What’s goingon? Is this going to be OK?” and “Come to think of it, this man driving
the car looks a bit suspicious.” But finally the APU clock tower came intoview. The students must have seen it before in a brochure, because
suddenly they relaxed. The feeling of relief was palpable.
In the first year, APU students were invited to Kamegawa’s Summer Festival. They
were impressed by the effort made by local residents to prepare lunch boxes andsummer kimonos for them, to show them around the festival site, and even to clean up
after them. The next time around, the students themselves took the initiative, asking
how they could help out in running the festival. Ever since, students have become
involved in a wide assortment of community events. Mention the names of some of thefirst cohort of APU enrollees to a local like Hori, and he is sure to know all about them.

FIFA World Cup 2002: Nakatsue Village in the limelight
The tragic death of Ketchecmen
The tiny village of Nakatsue became known throughout Japan during the 2002 FIFA
World Cup. Chosen to host the preparation camp for the team from Cameroon, thevillage waited for five days after the scheduled arrival date as the team lingered in Paris,
reportedly trying to negotiate higher appearance fees. The people of Nakatsue listened
patiently day after day for news of the team, never showing any signs of anger or
frustration. Eventually, on the fifth day, the team arrived, to be greeted by some 70% of
the village’s population – at 3:00 in the morning. This saga touched the hearts of people
all over Japan.
Sakamoto Yasumu, now Chairman of the Nakatsue Village Earth Foundation, wasMayor of Nakatsue at the time. “We knew that it would only go smoothly if we wereprepared to fit in with the team’s way of doing things,” he explains in his quiet andunassuming manner. “It’s not good to force your own ideas and practices on to others,
especially when you have little idea of their national characteristics or customs.”
A total of six APU students, from countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, thePhilippines and Taiwan had been employed part-time at the village’s Sports Center
since the summer of 2001, cleaning rooms and helping out in the kitchens. In the year of
the Cameroon team’s visit, 2002, APU’s student body included one Cameroonian, asecond-year student named Ketchecmem, Ketcha Leonel D. Naturally, Mayor Sakamotosought him out:
Ketchecmem had a really warm personality, and genuinely loved ourvillage. Even after the World Cup was over, he would come back here towork during vacations. I remember watching him work tirelessly planting
trees in February of the following year, when there was still snow on the
ground, and thinking, he must be dedicated if he can work in this kind of
weather.

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Sakamoto himself is a hard worker. These days he rises at 3:00 each morning, and by
5:00 he is cleaning the lavatory block in the carpark at Nakatsuke’s Taio Gold Mine
complex. Ketchecmem’s commitment won the industrious Sakamoto over. So when
Ketchecmem wrote him a letter, in perfect Japanese, to ask about the possibility of
being employed at the village’s Sports Center after graduation, he moved quickly toarrange the appointment. Tragically, however, Ketchecmem’s life was taken shortly
afterwards in a traffic accident. “It’s such a waste, a terrible shame,” says Sakamoto
whenever the topic is raised, his eyes filled with sadness. Ketchecmem’s funeral service
ran for three hours, and was attended by many residents of Nakatsue Village.
Ketchecmem’s younger brother also enrolled at APU. Sakamoto says that after
accident, whenever he went to watch Oita Trinita play in a soccer match, he would
always stop by Kamegawa station to pick up Ketchecmem’s brother and two of his
friends and take them along to the match with him.

“Coming home” to Oita
Soaking up the hot springs
Around 400 students enrolled in APU in the fall semester 2000. Twenty of thesestudents were Japanese. The international students were accommodated in AP House,but the Japanese students, finding that all Beppu’s apartment accommodation was full,
had to live at inns in the Kannawa district. Hamaguchi Kenichi, who had come to APU
from Yokohama, took up residence in the Kami-Fujiya Ryokan. The Kannawa district
has long been known as a center for hot spring therapy, and has developed a system ofcheaply-priced rooms with communal cooking facilities, rented out to long-term guests
making use of the hot springs. In the old days, farmers would come to these rooms in
the off-season carrying sacks of rice, enough food to last them through a long stay as
they rested their tired bodies in Kannawa’s waters. This is the kind of accommodationthat Hamaguchi was placed in. It seemed to him like a scene out of the Japanese movie“Always: Sunset on Third Street.”
I could take a hot spring bath every day, at any time I liked. At weekends,
I would invite friends over and we’d have fun cooking together.
Sometimes we made a little too much noise, though, and got ticked off by
the other guests.
Hamaguchi stayed in Kannawa for half a year before moving to other accommodation.
In his third year at APU, he went to China on a university exchange, which qualified
him to apply for residence in AP House. He subsequently became an RA.
Communication skills
When asked to name the distinguishing attribute of APU alumni, Japanese graduate
Konuma Tomofumi says: “If I had to choose one, it would probably be that we’re good108

Chapter 6

communicators.” At APU, Konuma set up a club called LEX. He had noticed that
although students would interact with a diverse range of colleagues in the period
immediately after enrollment, many would end up forming long-term friendships only
within their own national circle. LEX’s first project was to arrange a system by which
students could post notices in the university’s language lounges advertising their skills
in teaching their native languages, or offering to teach in return for lessons in anotherlanguage. It was from this starting point that the club developed a menu of activities
involving international students, local residents, disabled persons and many others.
One of these activities entailed club members, accompanied by international students,
being taken by local residents to assist in planting out rice paddies. In summer the
students returned to cut grass around the paddies, were invited to the local summer
festival, and then came back in fall to help with the harvest. They even took part in the
post-harvest rice-pounding event. “It was great fun.” says Konuma, “I still think that
LEX was the club most true to the APU spirit.”
Through these community experiences Konuma fell in love with Oita, and ended up
visiting each one of the municipalities in the prefecture. He became particularly familiar
with the local spring water, and can still name springs such as the one at Kirishima
Shrine in Tsukahara, Oike at Mt. Kurodake, the carbonated spring of Hakusui, and theone in Yamaga. He recalls the “absolute luxury” of drawing water from one of thesewells, using it to cook rice procured from local acquaintances, and eating the rice withfresh locally-produced eggs. Even now, on his days off, Konuma is more likely to “gohome” to Beppu than to return to his family home in Saitama. As soon as he smells thesulfur from the Myōban hot springs just below the APU campus, he knows he’s home.
Konuma is not the only one to feel this way. Singaporean graduate Mazhar Hamid, now
working for the educational provider Kumon, also tells how he “went home to Beppu”
recently.
A community engagement networking university
In June 1999, Ritsumeikan released the document titled “Proposal from APU.”
Embracing the three ideals of “human resource development,” “community
development” and “collaborative network development,” Ritsumeikan declared that“one of APU’s missions is to play a part in the development of Oita Prefecture and
Beppu City,” and promised to make “contribution to the community a principle to befollowed by all students.”
Since then, APU has entered into partnerships with the governments of Oita
Prefecture, Beppu City, Mie Town (now part of Bungo-ōno City), Saiki City, Usuki
City, Nakatsu City, Hiji Town, Kunisaki City, Hita City, Yufu City and Īda City in
Nagano Prefecture. Many different kinds of exchange activities are under way.
APU has produced a new model for universities around the theme of “community
engagement networking.” It is seeking to establish a university-wide scheme forcontribution to the community, and finding ways to integrate out-of-classroom activities
with regular curricular education in a way that transcends the conventional frameworkof extra-curricular activity.
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Dōke Maiko recalls university staff members “telling us over and over again how
Beppu City had contributed funds and land for APU, how buildings and roads had been
built with grants from Oita Prefecture, and how grateful we should be to the local
community.” Many students took this on board, and started to look for ways to repay
the favors owed by APU to Beppu and Oita. Almost all of APU’s first cohort ofJapanese students were spurred on by this need to give something back to thecommunity.
One of the clubs Dōke joined was “W-Touch,” led by Tanaka Natsuko and deputy
Shimomasuda Waka. Through this club, one of several formed for the purposes ofcommunity exchange, Dōke sought to use her position as an RA to build bridges
between international students and the local community.
The largest project that emerged out of these many strands of community engagementat APU was the aforementioned Usuki Research Project, conducted in partnership withthe city of Usuki.

Beppu’s “APU-ist” citizens have their say
By Tanaka Shun’ichi (host family)
Altogether, we have welcomed more than 20 students into our household, from awide variety of nationalities including Mongolia, Uganda, Thailand, Philippines,
Malaysia and Syria. We have even been to some of their countries ourselves, such as
India, Indonesia, Canada, Sri Lanka, China, Thailand and Vietnam. The students mainly
come to stay in our own home or in a separate apartment we own, but sometimes we getthem to stay in a holiday home in the Kokonoe area, and organize musical gatherings.
We really enjoy interacting with the students. Some will cook food from their own
countries, and some, like those from India, Mongolia and Indonesia, will perform
traditional dances for us. Our friends and neighbors love it when we invite them around.
One special memory for me is that of a Thai student who came to us in her second
year at APU. She was very homesick, and told us that she planned to quit APU. We
talked with her at length and did our best to persuade her to stay. Eventually she agreed
to give it another shot, and she ended up staying at APU until graduation. Some timelater the student’s father and brother came to Beppu, and we were all able to agree that
it was fortunate that she had decided to stay.
I also remember a Sri Lankan couple who ended up marrying and living in ourneighborhood. One New Year I took a phone call to say that one of them had a highfever. I rushed them to Tsurumi Hospital that night, and was called out again on several
occasions over the next few days. It made me realize that for students coming from faroff lands, a host family is one of the few things you can count on, and something thatyou want to make the most of.

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By Chikuhama Nao and Ōkubo Satoru (Former employees of Beppu City Hall
Waste Disposal Department)
APU approached us to see if we could provide some casual work for APU
international students who were unable to return home during the vacation for financial
reasons. Our department is understaffed in summer, and sometimes our vehicles can’t
make their usual rounds. So we said that we could employ some students, if they wereprepared to do this kind of work.
The drivers really enjoyed it, and often told us how fun it was to work with people
from so many different countries. We would take photos of newly-appointed students,
write their nicknames underneath, and post them up in our staff room a few weeks
before they arrived, to let the drivers know who was coming and what to call them.
The people who work in on-ground operations in our department tend to have a roughmanner, but they’re really gentle underneath. They would often pick students up in themorning and take them home at night, and sometimes even treat them to meals.
Each garbage truck is manned by a team of one driver and two garbage collectors.
The same people tended to work on the same teams each day, so they really got to knoweach other well. Even the local bus drivers would wait a little longer than usual at thebus stop in front of our office, just to make sure they hadn’t missed any students.
Sometimes they would even pull over even if there was no scheduled stop (althoughthat’s not really allowed, of course).
I’m sure that everyone felt the same way as we did when APU opened, wanting to dosomething to help out. I think that the whole of Beppu was behind the idea of lending ahelping hand to international students when they were in trouble.
By Satake Ken’ichi (former Food and Beverage Manager, Kijima Kōrakuen
Hotel)
I went to APU’s Student Office to talk about my workplace’s needs, and we started to
employ students from around one year after the university opened. Our first group of
students worked really hard, so we continued to employ students in the subsequent years.
In the first year, after they had been with us for four or five months, we asked someof the students to come and live in our on-site employees’ dormitory. The reason we
decided to do this was that it was becoming too hard for me to drive the students aroundmyself. After work on Saturdays, I would have to deliver each one back to their homes,
and it was often past midnight before I could get home myself. Then I had to get up at
5:30 a.m., pick the students up and get them here to start work at 6. On peak days there
would be a total of 20 students working across the morning shift, the wedding shift andthe evening reception and dinner shift. I just couldn’t take all those trips shuttlingstudents back and forth. I decided that there was no option but to get students to live onsite at the company dormitory.

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I would take the students living in the dormitory to campus in the mornings, and go
and pick them up at 6 p.m. When they got back, they would do jobs for us such as
washing dishes in the hotel kitchens. We employed students from many different
countries, including Ghana, China, Lithuania, Nepal, Vietnam, Sri Lanka.
Some of the students could only speak a few words of Japanese, and it was reallyhard to communicate. We’d try to speak to them in our own limited English, but whenthat didn’t work, we called in other students to translate. Students who can speak
Japanese can get work anywhere, but for back-of-house jobs (like dishwashing and tablesetting) there is no need for good Japanese skills. If we work together with the students
and show them what is required, they have no problem understanding.
Other hotel employees, myself included, had very few opportunities to mix withpeople of other nationalities before the APU students came to work for us. Initially it
was a real novelty, but gradually we came to regard them no differently to students whocame from other parts of Japan.
They certainly did a lot of different types of work for us. Some would specifically ask
to do grass-cutting, saying that it was their favorite job. Others would be assigned
special duties at wedding receptions, such as shining the spotlight and serving food tothe tables. In the hotel’s restaurants, they took on regular duties such as helping out withfood preparation and taking customers’ orders. One of the students was so strong that hecould do the same volume of lifting work as was usually shared among three or four
staff members.
My strongest memories are of those students who were not so proficient at their work,
but still tried their best. They may not have been quick workers, but they were certainly
dedicated. There was one male student from Ghana who found it hard to pick up
Japanese and never actually made it beyond dishwashing; but whatever we asked of him,
he would do diligently. The older women who also worked in the dishwashing area
became very fond of him.
Then there was the Indonesian student who had the air of being from a town justdown the road rather than a far-off country, and the Korean who made little fuss andliked to stay out of the limelight, but always did a perfect job. In the first year I musthave met more than 100 students, but I still remember those kinds of students vividly.
Some students ran out of money, and were forced to return to their home countries.
They were so good-natured and hard-working, and I felt really sorry that they had togive up their studies just because of money. But I’m sure that being employed by us did
make a difference to many other students.
By Ajimu Hisanori (Yamaguchi Corpo, Kamenoi Driving School)
As an adjunct to our primary business, the Kamegawa Driving School manages 89“Yamaguchi Corpo” apartment buildings. We leased out three of those buildings in
Beppu’s Kankaiji district as accommodation for students. The buildings were originallydesigned as regular apartment blocks, but in 2000, when APU was opened, many
apartments were vacant and we were searching for new ways to raise the occupancy rate.
112

Chapter 6

That was when we were approached about the possibility of making the apartments
available to APU international students. We thought that we should provide some sortof special benefits to the students, so we decided to offer the apartments at relatively
low rent, and to operate a shuttle bus service between the university and the apartments,and our driving school.
The university welcomed these initiatives heartily, but we were very grateful too forthis chance to increase occupancy rates. We didn’t need to venture into a new type ofbusiness, just make better use of an existing one. It was a real help to our company. The
company’s needs matched perfectly with those of the university, and continue to do sotoday.
We don’t operate any special selection procedures for prospective residents: we
simply take people introduced to us by the university and acquaintances of current
residents. We use a joint guarantor system rather than requiring residents to find theirown guarantors. After all, these are international students. We can’t be too strict onregulations, and anyway, it’s much better to maintain a strong relationship of mutual
trust. Students have already learned much about Japanese culture and customs in AP
House, and they seem to have very few problems or disputes with neighbors.
The only real difficulty is garbage disposal. This is a matter of common sense inJapan, but not for students who do not have similar practices and rules in their own
countries. We sometimes have students dumping food scraps directly in the garbage
collection point, for example. But they do pay attention when we tell them the correct
procedures, of course, and some are more diligent than your average Japanese person.
Language is something of a barrier in a few cases, but all our students are
straightforward and earnest – there isn’t a bad one among them.
Kondō Kenichi and Kondō Yoshiwa (“Ponytail” Hairdressing Salon)
The Kamegawa district is home to many international students. For Mr. and Mrs.
Kondō, who run a hairdressing salon in Kamegawa, international exchange grewnaturally to become part of everyday life. They report:
We did things like setting up a computer in a corner of the salon thatstudents could use freely, offering specially discounted haircuts, and evenhaving dinner with students, and their families when they visited Japan.
Soon students from Sri Lanka, India and other parts of South Asia started
to refer to us as their “Mom and Dad in Japan.”
They even purchased an old boarding house next door to the salon that had not beenused for more than twenty years, and offered it as cheap accommodation for students
with little money. Known as K-House, this building’s rooms are all fully furnished as
equipped with internet access.
“We treat international students simply as ‘students’ – we don’t give them any special
treatment,” say Mr. and Mrs. Kondo, believers in the natural, low-exertion style ofinternational exchange.

113

Chapter 6

Bharti Ahuja (APU graduate; now owner of an Indian restaurant in Beppu)
Among APU’s first batch of students, the first to achieve notoriety was Bharti Ahuja.
Her earned her initial fame by paying a direct visit to Governor Hiramatsu’s official
residence on a Sunday. Like many other international students Bharti was planning toapply for a scholarship offered by the Oita Prefectural Government, but was unhappy
with the requirement that that application form be written in Japanese. So she went
directly to the Governor to argue her case. From then on, applications were accepted in
English as well as Japanese.
Since graduating from APU, Bharti has operated an Indian restaurant in downtown
Beppu. Speaking in Japanese using a blend of Kansai and Oita dialects, Bharti has thisto say about her experiences:
My field of specialization was tourism, so I was attracted to the idea ofstudying in Japan, and particularly in Beppu. But when I first arrived at
APU, I felt like I had been duped. After all, the artist’s impression on the
cover of the publicity brochure showed the campus as being just next tothe sea. The campus certainly offers views of the sea, but from the top of amountain! But once I started getting involved in student life, I discovered
the many positive aspects of this environment. There are no distractions
around the campus, so it’s a great place to study and develop friendships.
During her time at APU, Ahuja participated actively in festivals and all kinds ofevents around the prefecture. She gave traditional Indian dance performances on some
300 different occasions, as well as operating festival stalls selling Indian food. She
recalls that these experiences were fun, but also worthwhile. Talking and interactingwith local citizens became a valuable part of her study of tourism, she recalls.
Upon graduating, she launched the limited liability company Bharti Ahuja Inc., andnow runs the Ahuja Restaurant in one of Beppu’s shopping arcades. She explains her
decision to stay in Beppu as follows:
From the outset, I had no intention of returning to my home country or ofmoving to a bigger city in Japan. My plan was to live right here in Beppu.
For me, it wasn’t enough just to graduate from APU, a university that
happened to be located in the Japanese city of Beppu. I wanted to settle
down and do my best right here in the place where I studied, the place that
I was initially attracted to.

The joy of hosting students
Wanted: Host families
Home-stays have always been a key part of APU’s community engagement agenda.
Seeing the potential for initiating dialogue with local residents, Ritsumeikan began
recruiting host families for APU students well before the university was opened.

114

Chapter 6

At the time, the key organizing force in the home-stay community in Oita Prefecture
was former Prefectural Government employee Hirano Akimitsu. Many other residents
also came forward to join Hirano after hearing about APU’s planned home-stayprogram from city and prefectural authorities. District welfare officers were called
together and allocated responsibility for spreading the word to different parts of thecommunity. Some residents responded positively to this initiative, but others were lessaccommodating, citing concerns about crime and taking a discriminatory stance.
In May 2000, the APU Opening Festival was held in Beppu in conjunction with an
event to mark the centennial of the Ritsumeikan Academy,. This was the firstopportunity for local residents to mix with APU students, and it triggered a major
increase in the number of families registering to host students in the home-stay program.

APU students with a host family (Image courtesy of Oita Gōdō Shimbunsha)
Around the same time, the community was shocked by the news that a Chinese
student studying at another local university had murdered an elderly couple living in the
nearby town of Yamaga (now part of Kitsuki city). In the neighboring prefecture of
Fukuoka, a separate murder charge had also been brought against another international
student. Reporters from a media outlet in Fukuoka came to report on the situation at
APU. In the aftermath of the incident in Fukuoka, they explained, community feeling
had turned strongly against international students. They were intrigued by the fact thatin Oita, despite the terrible incident in Yamaga, attitudes towards APU international
students did not seem to have changed fundamentally. APU personnel suggested that
this difference could be put down to the extensive groundwork that had been done prior
to the university’s opening, the efforts made subsequently, and the support offered by somany local residents. An enduring relationship of trust had already been established.
Members of APU’s Student Affairs Division often tell one particular story regarding
the effect of these incidents. They say that when they saw the shockwaves that the newsof the murders had sent through the community, they braced themselves for a decline inhost family registrations. Everyone was surprised, therefore, when the number ofregistrations actually increased. It turned out that two local households had held family
meetings and decided that the recent events made it even more important that they115

Chapter 6

volunteer to become host families. APU faculty and staff members were heartened
enormously by this news.

116Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Onward, APU

A graduation ceremony tradition at APU:
The new graduates throw their caps into the air
From the APU President’s office, you can watch students from AP House walking toclasses each morning.
No doubt they have been up late studying. They look a little sleepy, but their stride iscertain as they make their way towards the classrooms.
Some 5,400 international students from 106 different countries and regions have passed
through APU’s gates since the university was opened. APU’s mission of “contributing
to human resource development in the Asia Pacific region” stands firm.
APU is also attracting much interest from government and business sectors.
Professor Monte Cassim, who as President of APU has advanced the university’s
second-phase “New Challenge” plan, observes that “Today, APU is much more than asingle private university: it is a public asset.”
The task of building the foundations for APU’s next generation awaits.

President Monte Cassim speaks
The establishment of APU was a defining moment not only for the Ritsumeikan
Academy, but for Japan’s higher education sector as a whole. Many people from bothwithin and beyond Japan come to visit our campus. In the 2007 academic year alone, forexample, we welcomed representatives of international organizations including theformer UN Under-Secretary-General Akashi Yasushi and the head of the Japan Officeof the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Takizawa Saburō, aswell as current and former government officials and diplomats from countries including
the People’s Republic of China, the United States of America, the Republic of Indonesia,
Malaysia, India, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Singapore, the Republic of117

Chapter 7

Botswana, the Republic of Malawi, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Kyrgyz
Republic, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. We also host innumerable
delegations from universities both within Japan and overseas.
There are several things that all visitors to APU tend to comment on.
AP House: A multicultural and educational community
The first of these things is AP House, the international student dormitory complex.
As of fall 2008, this dormitory was home to approximately 400 domestic students and
900 international students. With the tireless help of its Resident Assistants (RAs), AP
House has transcended the status of a mere living space, and now functions as a venue
for international exchange and enhancement of cross-cultural understanding andlanguage proficiency. Symbolic of this development are the dinners held in AP House’scommunal kitchens dinners featuring food from different countries, and the wide
assortment of events organized by residents.
The dormitory’s educational functions are taken even further in the AP House 3
building, completed in the 2007 academic year. This building is fitted with dualoccupancy units: pairs of adjacent rooms joined directly by a doorway. Each pair ofrooms is occupied by one domestic student and one international student. By sharing
their living space in this manner, students can help each other develop, interact freely,
and enjoy enriching experiences day after day.
APU: A university where students are serious about their studies
The second thing that grabs the interest of visitors to APU is the fact that our students
study really hard. The notion that “Japanese university students don’t study,” often put
forward by the government’s Central Council for Education as well as secondary school
personnel, the mass media and people from the corporate world, is just not applicable to
APU. The paradigm of the “truly international university” held up by APU does not
simply denote an institution that enrolls many international students and employs many
foreign academics, or one that offers classes in an English-language medium. Rather, it
expresses the idea that education at APU must have international currency. This idea
informs the many systems we have in place to ensure that students follow a daily study
routine if they wish to earn course credits. These include the emphasis on regular
homework and class presentations as means of assessment, the “quarter system” of shortclass terms in which students take a small number of subjects in depth, and theprovision of detailed syllabus information for each subject.
Surveys now show that the average daily self-study time for APU students is justunder two hours. This is a marked contrast to the norm in Japan, a country where half of
all university students confess to doing hardly any independent study at all. APU’s
students may struggle to handle their workload of assignments and presentations, but weare sure that their efforts today will prove worthwhile in the future.

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Chapter 7

Another feature of our university is the range of opportunities for study abroad andother forms of international educational experience. We anticipate that almost half of
the Japanese students admitted to APU in the 2006 academic year will have had someform of study experience abroad by the time they graduate. The campus environment
and educational programs at APU help these students develop the English language
proficiency, motivation and skills required for successful study beyond Japan. I also
think that APU’s Japanese students are influenced positively by the sight of so many
international students applying themselves earnestly to their studies.
Solid scholastic abilities developed through continuous study will surely prove to be
an advantage when it comes to pursuing a career after graduation. Representatives ofclose to 400 companies visit our campus each year to recruit APU students. We areconscious of the need to continue our work to respond to the needs of both thesecompanies and other sectors of society.
The next leap forward for APU
Following on from the achievement of its “100,000 international students plan”
earlier this decade, the national government is now formulating a plan to attract 300,000
international students to Japan. APU itself has already claimed success in becoming a“truly international university,” but our mission does not permit us to rest on our laurels.
In the academic years 2006 through 2009, APU has been working in line with its
second-phase “New Challenge” plan. Under New Challenge, based on analysis of theeducational needs of the international community, we have established five newacademic programs: Tourism & Hospitality, International Strategic Studies, Languages& Cultures, Information & Communications Technology (ICT), and Health,Environment & Life Sciences. The academic program formed around these five areas is
known as the Crossover Advanced Program. We have sought to render improvements inthe fields that have been APU’s traditional academic strengths, as well as pursuing a
new integrated arts and sciences approach in areas such as ICT and environmental
studies for which there is particularly high demand from the international community
and among international students. The construction of AP House 3, the international
educational dormitory mentioned earlier, was also part of the New Challenge plan.
Furthermore, in order to expand APU’s contribution to the international community inquantitative terms, we have effected a 50% increase in student enrollment capacity.
We are now beginning discussions on a post-New Challenge plan, for APU’s third
phase of development. The expectations of the international community, and the beliefin our university’s potential to contribute to the internationalization of Japanese higher
education, are keenly felt by all of us here at APU. We are looking at ways to respond tothese expectations through new initiatives that make use of our multi-cultural, multilingual environment in the three areas of “specialist skills,” “international
understanding,” and “language proficiency.” In addition to these educational initiatives,
we are advancing academic research oriented to the further development of the Asia
Pacific, a region that is becoming more and more significant in political, economic andcultural terms. Our aim is to construct the academic field of “Asia Pacific Studies.” We

119

Chapter 7

welcome the involvement of alumni, current students and the wider community in thetask of formulating these plans.
Inheriting the APU “DNA”
This book has looked back on the motives and ideas behind the APU project, theefforts made in the lead-up to the university’s establishment, and the incredible
assistance furnished to the university by the wider community. It has provided an
opportunity for us to renew our sense of gratitude to the members of the AC with former
Nippon Keidanren Chairman Hiraiwa Gaishi at the helm, and the local community in
Oita, led by former Prefectural Governor Hiramatsu Morihiko and former Beppu City
Mayor Inoue Nobuyuki. We have been touched once more by the accounts of theuniversity’s first students and the passionate idealism that brought them here. The
decision to publish this book was informed by an awareness of the need to reaffirm thishistory as we prepare to embark on our third stage of development. Now approaching its
tenth anniversary, APU will face many difficult challenges on its way to achieving
greater things. We believe, however, that solutions to these challenges can be found by
returning to first principles. It is our responsibility to look back once more at the historyof APU’s founding, extract the “DNA” embedded in that history, and carry it forward
into the future.
Since APU’s opening, around 5,400 international students have come here to study
from 106 different countries and regions. During one of my many overseas trips
recently, I visited a television station in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). While there, I
was surprised to hear somebody behind me call my name. I turned around to see an
APU graduate, now working as a journalist at the station. On another occasion, while
visiting a foreign embassy, I came across an APU graduate working on the embassy’s
staff. These kind of experiences bring home to me the fact that the APU alumni network
has now expanded worldwide. This expansion demonstrates the global reach of APU’s
human resource development, and gives us the courage to go forward.
I have a dream that one day, when two countries engaged in a conflict in some corner
the world come together for negotiations, the representatives from both sides will be
APU alumni. They will reminisce fondly about the sea and hot spring steam billowing
out below the APU campus, and they will talk of peace. Avoiding conflicts altogether
may be impossible, but APU can be part of their resolution. Surely I am not the only
one who suspects that someday, this dream may actually come true.

120

Postscript
On April 1, 2010, it will be exactly ten years since APU opened. Huge waves ofchange have swept across the world, and through Japan’s higher education sector, in thelast ten years. We are now beginning to explore ways to ensure that APU continues tomove ahead as an international university amidst these changing conditions. The
ostensible aim of producing this book was to furnish a record of the events andprocesses through which APU was created, but the real intention behind it is to inspire
all people associated with APU, both past and present, to contribute to the discussion
over APU’s future. The book is a contribution to the APU of tomorrow.
It was with this purpose in mind that we conducted interviews with many individuals
who made key contributions to APU’s creation. We take this opportunity to express ourthanks to all those who agreed so willingly to be part of this book. We only wish that it
had been possible to talk with every person involved in formulating, developing andsupporting the university.
Through interviews and other forms of engagement with the individuals featured inthis book, we discovered a remarkable strength and depth of feeling for APU. We
sincerely hope that readers can share in this discovery. In particular, we hope that thebook proves useful for academic and administrative staff members of the Ritsumeikan
Academy as they engage in their teaching and research, re-assess their own work andformulate improvements. We also trust the APU alumni and current students who readthis book will renew their appreciation for the ideas and individuals that supported andshaped their experiences at APU. These insights will surely help give more concrete
form to the stirrings of change currently being felt as APU prepares for its next decade.
The editorial committee hereby expresses its sincere thanks to Nakata Tetsushi, editor
in chief, Division of the Chūōkōron Shinsha, and Hoshika Yutaka, in charge of editingat the same company, for their work in producing the book and providing constantencouragement despite our slow progress. Thanks are also extended to the following
individuals for sensing the wishes of university representatives and agreeing to assist
with interviews and writing for the book: Miura Yōko, director of Hanuman; writer
Higuchi Kazumi; and Irabe Kimihiro, Project Manager in the Sales Development
Division of AFB Co., Ltd.
March, 2009
“APU Story” Editorial Committee

121

Declaration on the Occasion of the Opening of APU
Since the beginning of human history, human beings have attempted to create their own
distinctive cultures and develop civilizations in the various regions of the world. They
have also had to overcome many constraints and obstacles in order to achieve their goalof living in conditions of freedom, peace and humanity.
The twentieth century was an era of rapid progress and unprecedented advance in thepolitical, economical and cultural fields, as human activity increasingly took place on a
global scale. Through the experience of the two World Wars, the United Nations andother international organizations were formed to enhance cooperation in order tomaintain peace and to promote international understanding.
Given that the 21st century will see the emergence of a global society, we firmly believethat coexistence between mankind and nature, as well as between diverse cultures, will
be indispensable for the peaceful and sustainable development of the Asia Pacific region.
This is why we are now establishing a university here, to nurture the young talent and tocreate a new academic discipline which will help shape the region's future.
April 1, 2000 therefore marked the birth of the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University,
based on a vision of freedom, peace and humanity, international mutual understanding,and the future shape of the Asia Pacific region. The establishment of the University at
Jumonjibaru, in Beppu City, has been made possible through the cooperation of thepeople of Beppu and Oita Prefecture, together with many others both within and outside
Japan.
Our hope is that it will be a place where the young future leaders from countries andregions throughout the world will come to study together, live together, and understandeach other's cultures and ways of life, in pursuit of goals which are common to all
mankind.
The Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University is hereby declared open.

122Appendix

From the World to APU(International student numbers and countries/regions of origin)2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

Number of
APS Students

Number of
APM Students

Subtotal

1 China

634

42

1

677

23

69

92

2 Korea

658

4

12

674

45

41

86

3 Thailand

242

10

0

252

4

8

12

4 Vietnam

194

26

1

221

11

21

32

5 lndonesia

151

35

0

186

12

15

27

6 Taiwan

93

7

4

104

16

17

33

7 Mongolia

97

6

0

103

1

2

3

8 Myanmar

70

4

0

74

2

4

6

9 Bangladesh

54

12

0

66

3

1

4

10 lndia

29

12

0

41

6

11

17

11 Sri Lanka

30

7

0

37

3

10

13

12 Nepal

33

3

0

36

2

2

4

13 Malaysia

10

9

1

20

5

8

13

14 Philippines

6

8

2

16

1

1

2

123

Appendix
2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

Number of
APS Students

Number of
APM Students

Subtotal

15 Pakistan

8

2

0

10

2

2

16 Cambodia

1

8

0

9

1

1

17 Singapore

3

3

3

9

3

3

6

18 Laos

0

6

0

6

3

4

7

19 Saudi Arabia

6

1

0

7

20 Turkey

0

2

0

2

21 Bahrain

1

0

0

1

22 Oman

1

0

0

1

23 Syria

1

0

0

1

24 UAE

0

1

0

1

Iran

1

25 Kenya

11

1

0

12

26 Ghana

4

5

0

9

27 Nigeria

7

1

0

8

28 Mali

40

0

29 Uganda

3

1

0

124

1

3

3

1

2

4

1

1

4

1

1

1

Appendix
2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

30 Benin

2

1

0

3

31 Malawi

2

1

0

3

32 Tanzania

3

0

0

3

33 Cameroon

1

1

0

2

34 Angola

0

1

0

1

35 Botswana

1

0

0

1

36 Cote d'Ivoire

0

1

0

1

37 Ethiopia

0

1

0

1

38 Gabon

1

0

0

1

39 Guinea

1

0

0

1

40 Liberia

1

0

0

1

41 Madagascar

0

1

0

1

42 Mozambique

1

0

0

1

43 South Africa

0

1

0

1

44 Zimbabwe

0

1

0

1

Djibouti

125

Number of
APS Students

1

Number of
APM Students

1

1

1

Subtotal

2

1

1

2

1

1

Appendix
2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

Number of
APS Students

Number of
APM Students

Subtotal

45 USA

26

11

7

44

3

5

8

46 Canada

4

1

5

10

2

4

6

47 Mexico

2

5

2

9

48 Cuba

0

2

0

2

49 Ecuador

0

2

0

2

1

1

50 Guyana

0

2

0

2

51 Honduras

0

2

0

2

52 Peru

0

2

0

2

53 Bolivia

1

0

0

1

54 Costa Rica

0

1

0

1

55 Guatemala

0

1

0

1

56 Trinidad and Tobago

0

1

0

1

57 Uruguay

0

1

0

1

58 Venezuela

0

1

0

1

59 Australia

5

1

5

11

60 Tonga

1

2

0

3

126

1

3

1

1

4

1

1

Appendix
2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

61 New Zealand

1

0

0

1

62 Papua New Guinea

0

1

0

1

63 Samoa

0

1

0

1

Number of
APS Students

1
1

Palau
64 Uzbekistan

15

5

0

20

65 Bulgaria

7

5

0

12

66 Germany

5

6

1

12

67 Finland

2

0

5

7

68 France

2

0

5

7

69 Norway

4

0

2

6

70 Sweden

3

0

3

6

71 Kyrgyz

1

4

0

5

72 Estonia

3

1

0

4

73 Netherlands

0

0

4

4

74 Austria

0

0

3

3

75 Lithuania

2

1

0

3

127

Number of
APM Students

2

Subtotal

1
1

1

1

1

3

2

2

1

1

3

3

Appendix
2008.11.1
Country & Region

Number ofUndergraduate Students

Number of
Postgraduate
Students

2000.10.31
Number of
Exchange/Study
Abroad Students

Subtotal

76 Hungary

0

2

0

2

77 Kazakhstan

1

1

0

2

78 Belgium

2

0

0

2

79 Swiss

2

0

0

2

80 United Kingdom

2

0

0

2

81 Croatia

0

1

0

1

82 Czech

1

0

0

1

83 Denmark

0

0

1

1

84 Latvijas

1

0

0

1

85 Romania

1

0

0

1

86 Russia

0

1

0

1

87 Turkmenistan

0

1

0

1

PolandNumber of
APS Students

Number of
APM Students

Subtotal

1

1

2

3

2

5

1

1

1

1
3

3

1

1

2

International Students

2458

290

67

2815

165

256

421

Domestic Students

3125

16

12

3153

270

214

484

The Grand Total

5583

306

79

5968

435

470

905

128

Appendix

Note1: “International students” are non-Japanese nationals residing in Japan with the official status of residence of “College Student”. Non-Japanesenationals without College Student status are classed as domestic students. “APS” is the College of Asia Pacific Studies; “APM” is the College ofInternational Management (formerly College of Asia Pacific Management).
Note2: The numbers in the far left hand column count each of the countries and regions represented in the APU international student body as ofNovember 1, 2008. There are 87 countries and regions in total.

129

Appendix

List of Advisory Committee members at the time APU opened.
-----------------------------Honorary Committee-----------------------------HIGUCHI Hirotaro
Honorary Chairman
Asahi Breweries, Ltd.
Chairman
Economic Strategy Council

Jean Chretien
Prime Minister
CanadaBacharuddin Jusuf Habibie
Former President
The Republic of Indonesia

Yab Dato' Seri
Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamad
Prime Minister
Malaysia

Natsagiin Bagabandi
President
Mongolia

Andreas Van Agt
Former Prime Minister
The Kingdom of the Netherlands

130Appendix

Alberto Fujimori F.
President
The Republic of Peru

Fidel V. Ramos
Former President
The Republic of the Philippines

Chuan Leekpai
Prime Minister
The Kingdom of Thailand

Nguyen Thi Binh
Vice President
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

TAKESHITA Noboru
Former Prime Minister, Japan
Member of The House of Representatives---------------------------------International Committee---------------------------------Wang Dao Han
President
China Association of Relations between the Taiwan Strait
Former Mayor
Shanghai City

HRH Prince Hassan Bin Talal
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

131

Appendix

Alfonso T. Yuchengco
Chairman
The Yuchengco Group of Companies
Former Ambassador
The Republic of the Philippines

Chung Mong Joon
Vice-President
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
AdvisorHyundai Heavy Industries

Koo Chen-fu
ChairmanStraits Exchange Foundation
ChairmanTaiwan Cement Corporation-------------------------------Ambassador Members-------------------------------Alfredo V. Chiaradia
Ambassador
The Argentine RepublicPeter C. Grey
Ambassador
Australia

Jamil Majid
Ambassador
The People's Republic of Bangladesh132

Appendix

Fernando Guimaraes Reis
Ambassador
The Federative Republic of Brazil

Ing Kieth
Ambassador
The Kingdom of Cambodia

Leonard J. Edwards
Ambassador
CanadaOscar Fuentes
Ambassador
The Republic of Chile

Chen Jian
Ambassador
The People's Republic of China

Mahdi Ahmed Gadid
Ambassador
The Federal Democratic Republic ofEthiopia

Elias Katsareas
Ambassador
The Hellenic Republic of Greece

133Appendix

Szerdahelyi Istva'nAmbassador
The Republic of Hungary

Siddharth Singh
Ambassador
The Republic of India

Soemadi D. M. Brotodiningrat
Ambassador
The Republic of Indonesia

Farouk Kasrawi
Ambassador
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Esther Mshai Tolle
Former Ambassador
The Repudlic of Kenya

Thongsay Bodhisane
Ambassador
The Lao People's Democratic Republic

Dato' M.N. Marzuki
Ambassador
Malaysia

Manuel Uribe Castaneda
Ambassador
The United Mexican States134

Appendix

S. Khurelbaatar
Ambassador
Mongolia

Aung Naing
Ambassador
The Union of Myanmar

Kedar Bhakta Mathema
Ambassador
The Kingdom of Nepal

Phillip Gibson
Ambassador
New Zealand

Mohammed Ali AI-Khusaiby
Ambassador
The Sultanate of Oman

Aiwa Olmi
Ambassador
Papua New Guinea

Victor Aritomi Shinto
Ambassador
The Republic of Peru

Romeo A. Arguelles
Ambassador
The Republic of the Philippines

135Appendix

Kim Suk-Kyu
Former Ambassador
The Republic of Korea

Eugen Dijmarescu
Ambassador
Romania

Alexander N. PanovAmbassador
The Russian Federation

Chew Tai Soo
Ambassador
The Republic of Singapore

Neville Piyadigama
Ambassador
The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Sakthip Krairiksh
Ambassador
The Kingdom of Thailand

Thomas S. Foley
Ambassador
The United States of America

Alisher Shaykhov
Ambassador
The Republic of Uzbekistan

136

Appendix

Vu Dzung
Ambassador
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Andrew H. Mtetwa
Ambassador
The Republic of Zimbabwe---------------------------Managing Directors---------------------------TOYODA Shoichiro
Honorary Chairman Member of the Board
Toyota Motor Corporation
Honorary Chairman
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

SUEMATSU Ken-Ichi
Counsellor
The Sakura Bank, Ltd.

NISHIJIMA Yasunori
President
Kyoto City University of Arts
Former President
Kyoto University

SATO Ken
President
Rohm Co., Ltd.

137

Appendix

KAWAHARA Shiro
Advisor
Daido Life Insurance Company------------------Committee------------------AKAZAWA Shoichi
Adviser
Tepia Foundation
Honorary Chairman
The Japan-South Pacific Economy Association
Deputy Chairman
Institute for International Policy Studies
Former Chairman
Japan External Trade Organization

AKASHI Yasushi
Former Under Secretary-General
The United Nations
ChairmanJapan Centre for Preventive Diplomacy

AKIZAWA Takashi
ChairmanIshihara Sangyo Kaisha, Ltd.

AKIYAMA Tomiichi
Senior Corporate Advisor
Sumitomo Corporation

138

Appendix

AKIYOSHI Toshiko
Jazz Pianist

AKEMA Teruyuki
Representative Director and Chairman
Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman
Tohoku Economic Federation

ABE Kohei
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman
Chubu Economic Federation

ARAI Masaaki
Honorary Chairman
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company

ARAMAKI Yasuo
Chairman
Kinden Corporation

ANZAI Kunio
ChairmanTokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

ANDO Momofuku
Chairman and Representative Director
Nissin Food Products Co., Ltd.

139

AppendixIIZUKA Masaharu
President and CEO
TKC Corporation

IUE Satoshi
Chairman and CEO
Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

IGARASHI Tsutomu
Director Senior Counselor
Kurimoto, Ltd.

IKENOBO Sen'ei
45th Generation Ikenobo Headmaster
Chairman,Board of Directors
Ikenobo Society of Floral Art (Foundation)

ISOBE Ritsuo
Chairman of the Board and Representative
Director
Hakuhodo Incorporated

IDE Masataka
Chairman of the Board of Directors
West Japan Railway Company

ITOH Josei
Chairman
Nippon Life Insurance Company
Vice Chairman Board of Councillors
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

140

Appendix

INA Teruzo
Chairman
INAX Corporation

INABA Kosaku
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.

INAMURA Kazuhiro
Representative Director President
Mitsui Construction Co., Ltd.

INOUE Noriyuki
President and Chief Executive Officer
Daikin Industries, Ltd.
Co-Chairman
Kansai Association of Corporate Executives

INOKUCHI Takeo
CEO & President
Mitsui Marine and Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

IHARA Kuniyoshi
President Director
Tokyu Construction Co., Ltd.

IMAI Takashi
Representative Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Nippon Steel Corporation
Chairman
Keidanren(Japan Federation of Economic Organizations)141

Appendix

IWATANI Tetsuro
Chairman
Iwatani International Corporation

USHIO Jiro
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
Ushio Inc.

UNO Osamu
Honorary Senior Advisor
Toyobo Co., Ltd.

UMEDA Sadao
President
Kajima Corporation

UMEDA ZenjiCounsellor
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.

EDAMURA Sumio
Advisor
Sumitomo Corporation
AdvisorDaiwa Institute of Research
Former Ambassador to Indonesia
Former Ambassador to Russia

142

Appendix

OHGA Norio
Chairman and CEO
Sony Corporation
Vice Chairman
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

OKAWARA Yoshio
Former Ambassador to the United States
President
Association for Promotion of International Cooperation
President
Institute for International Policy Studies
President
The America-Japan Society Inc.
President
Youth for Understanding International Exchange

OHKUNI Masahiko
President and CEO
Oji Paper Co., Ltd.
Vice President
The Japan Federation of Employers' Associations

OSAWA Hiroyuki
President
Remote Sensing Technology Centre of Japan
Special Consultant
National Space Development Agency of Japan
Former Full-TIME Member
The Council for Science and Technology
Former Vice Minister for Science and Technology

143

Appendix

OTAKE Yoshiki
Director Chairman
AFLAC JapanOHNISHI Masafumi
AdvisorOsaka Gas Co., Ltd.

OHNISHI Minoru
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.

OKAZAKI Masao
Chairman
The Dowa Fire & Marine Ins.Co., Ltd.

OKABE Keiichiro
Chairman and CEO
Cosmo Oil Co., Ltd.

OKAMURA Yasutaka
Attorney at Law
Former Prosecutor General Japan

OGAWA Susumu
Chairman
Toho Gas Co., Ltd.

144

Appendix

OKUI Isao
Chairman
Sekisui House, Ltd.
President
Kansai Employers' Association
Vice President
Japan Federation of Employers' Association

OZAWA Mitoshi
Chairman of the Board
Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.

ONODA Takashi
Chairman of the Board
The Sumitomo Marine & Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

KATORI Yasue
Advisor
The Japan Foundation
President
Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development
Former Ambassador to the People's Republic of China
Former Ambassador to the Soviet Union

KAWAI RyoichiCounselor
Komatsu Ltd.

KAWAKAMI Tetsuro
Senior Advisor
Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd.

145

Appendix

KAWAMURA Yoshibumi
President
Sankyo Co., Ltd.

KISHIMOTO Yasunobu
AdvisorShowa Denko K.K.

KITAOKA Takashi
Executive Corporate Adviser
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

KITAJIMA Yoshitoshi
Chairman of the Board President and Chief Executive Officer
Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.

KIDA Hiroshi
Advisor
New National Theater, Tokyo
Former Vice Minister of Education

KIMBA Akio
President and Representative Director
Keihan Electric Railway Co., Ltd.

KUNIHIRO Michihiko
Advisor to the President
NTT Data Corporation
Former Ambassador to the People's Republic of China

146

Appendix

KUME Yutaka
Former Counsellor
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

KONO Shunji
Chairman
The Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.
Vice President
The Japan Federation of Employers' Associations

KONOIKE Kazusue
President
Konoike Construction Co., Ltd.

GOTO Yasuo
Chairman Emeritus
The Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd.

KONAGA Keiichi
President
The Arabian Oil Company, Ltd.
Former Vice Minister
The Ministry of International Trade Industry for
Administrative Affairs

KOBAYASHI Kohei
Chairman
Hankyu Corporation

KOBAYASHI Shoichiro
Senior Adviser
The Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.

147

Appendix

KOBAYASHI Yotaro
Chairman of the Board
Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
ChairmanJapan Association of Corporate Executives

KOYAMA Eiichi
ChairmanTabai Espec Corp.
KONDO Akira
Senior Advisor
Japan Airlines Co., Ltd.

SAKATA Koichi
ChairmanJapan Telecom Co., Ltd.

SAKATA Koshiro
Chairman
Mitsui Mutual Life Insurance Company

SAKAMOTO Takashi
President and Chief Executive
Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd.

SAKURAI Takahide
Chairman(of the Board)
The Dai—Ichi Mutual Life Insurance Company

SATO Fumio
Adviser to the Board
Toshiba Corporation
148

Appendix

SANO Kazuo
Director and Counselor
Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

SAWADA Shigeo
Chairman
Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
SHIINA Takeo
Senior Advisor
IBM Japan, Ltd.

SHINOZAKI Akihiko
Executive Adviser
Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd.

SHIBATA Kanji
President
Yamashita Sekkei Inc.

SHUZUI Takeo
President
Victor Company of Japan, Limited

SHINGU Yasuo
Honorary Chairman
Sumitomo Metal Industries, Ltd.

SUGIURA Takaya
Senior Advisor
All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.

149

Appendix

SUGITA Katsuyuki
President and Chief Executive Officer
The Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Ltd.

SUZUKI Tadashi
Chairman of the Board
Chief Executive Officer
Daiichi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

SUZUKI Toshifumi
President and Chief Executive Officer
Ito—Yokado Co., Ltd.
Vice Chairman
Japan Federation of Economic OrganizationsSUZUKI Nobuo
President
Maruzen Co., Ltd.

SUZUKI Haruo
Honorary Chairman
Showa Denko K.K.

SEKIMOTO Tadahiro
Senior Member of the Board of Directors
NEC Corporation

SEN Soshitsu XVGrand Tea Master
Urasenke Tradition of Tea
Ph.D. Philosophy,Nankai University
Professor,Department of History,University of Hawaii at Manoa

150

Appendix

TAKAHASHI Osamu
President
Dainichiseika Color & Chemicals Mfg. Co., Ltd.

TAKAHARA Keiichiro
FounderPresident and CEO
Uni-Charm Corporation

TAKEUCHI Nobuyoshi
Chairman
The Toyo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd.

TASHIMA Hideo
Chairman Emeritus
Minolta Co., Ltd.

TASHIRO Wa
Chairman of the Board
Kintetsu Corporation
Chairman
Osaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry

TADA Koki
Chairman
The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman
Chugoku Economic Federation

TATSUMI Sotoo
Adviser
The Sumitomo Bank, Ltd.

151

Appendix

TATEMOTO Shoichi
Chairman
Sumitomo Osaka Cement Co., Ltd.
TANAKA Masuo
Executive Advisor
Kansai paint Co., Ltd.

TANAKA Yoshimi
Counsellor
Nichimen Corporation

TANIMURA Takashi
Senior Advisor
JCB Co., Ltd.

TARUMIZU Kimimasa
Executive Advisor
Institute for International Cooperation, JICA
Former President
Asian Development BankCHIBATA Ichiro
Senior Consultant, Honorary Chairman
Tanabe Seiyaku C0., Ltd.

TSUJI Haruo
Corporate Advisor
SHARP Corporation

TSUTSUMI Seiji
Chairman
The Saison Foundation
152

Appendix

TERAZAWA Masao
President and Chief Executive Officer
Hewlett-Packard Japan, Ltd.

TODA Kazuo
Counselor and Director
Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman
Hokkaido Economic Federation

TODA Moriji
President
Toda Corporation

TOYOSHIMA Toru
ChairmanJapan Economic Foundation
Former Chairman
Japan External Trade Organization

NAKAZATO Yoshihiko
AdvisorFuji Electric Co., Ltd.

NAGASHIMA Kazushigo
Chairman of the Board
Representative Director
Japan Energy Corporation

NAKAMURA Kannosuke
Member of the Board Senior Advisor
Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co., Ltd.

153

Appendix

NAKAMURA Taizo
Chairman ofthe Board of Directors
KDD Corporation

NASU ShohCounselor
Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman Board of Councillors
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

NARITA Yutaka
President
Dentsu Inc.
Vice Chairman
Japan Association of Corporate Executives

NISHIO Akira
Counsellor
Nissho Iwai Corporation

HAGURA Nobuya
Former President
The Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, Ltd.

HATAKEYAMA Noboru
Chairman and CEO
Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO)HAMANAKA Shoichiro
Chairman
Nippon Express Co., Ltd.

154

Appendix

HAYASAKI Hiroshi
Senior Adviser
Sumitomo Trust & Banking Co., Ltd.

HIRASHIMA Osam
President
Taisei Corporation

FUKADA Yusuke
WriterFUKUHARA Yoshiharu
Chairman of the Board
Shiseido Co., Ltd.
Vice Chairman Board of Councillors
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

FUJII Yoshihiro
Chairman of the Board
Hitachi Zosen Corporation
Vice President
The Japan Federation of Employers' Associations

FUJISAWA Tomokichiro
Member of the Board, Chairman Emeritus
Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

FUJITA Hiromichi
President and CEO
Toppan Printing Co., Ltd.

155

Appendix

FUJIMURA Hiroyuki
Chairman
Representative Director
Ebara Corporation

FUJIMURA Masaya
Executive Advisor
Mitsubishi Materials Corporation

FUJIWARA Tomio
Advisor and Director of the Board
Dainippon Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

FURUKAWA Junnosuke
President and CEO
The Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd.

FURUKAWA Masahiko
Senior Corporate Advisor
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation
Vice Chairman
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

MAEDA Katsunosuke
Chairman of the Board
Toray Industries, Inc.
Vice Chairman
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

156

Appendix

MAKI FuyuhikoSenior Adviser
Kobe Steel, Ltd.
Honorary Chairman
The Kobe Chambar of Commerce and Industry

MATSUKAWA Yasuo
Senior Adviser
Tomen Corporation

MATSUSHITA Masaharu
Chairman of the Board
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

MATSUHASHI Isao
Chairman of the Board
Japan Travel Bureau, Inc.

MATSUMOTO Yoshio
President
Kumagai Gumi Co., Ltd.

MIENO Yasushi
Former Governor
Bank of Japan

MITA Katsushige
Chairman Emeritus
Hitachi, Ltd.

157

Appendix

MITARAI Fujio
President & C.E.O.
Canon Inc,MINAGUCHI Koichi
Advisor
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd.
Vice Chairman and President
Japan Association of Corporate Executives

MINO Shigekazu
Adviser
KUBOTA Corporation

MIYAUCHI Yoshihiko
President and CEO
ORIX Corporation
Vice Chairman
Japan Association of Corporate Executives

MIYAMURA Shimpei
President
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.

MIYOSHI Toshio
Chairman of the Board
Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd.

158

Appendix

MOGI Yuzaburo
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kikkoman Corporation
Vice Chairman
Japan Association of Corporate Executives

MORI Kinjiro
ChairmanJapan Federation of Certified Public Tax
Accountant's Associations

MORI Hideo
Chairman
Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

MORIOKA Shigeo
Senior Advisor
Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

MOROI Ken
Director and Counselor
Taiheiyo Cement Corporation

MOROHASHI Shinroku
Senior Corporate Adviser
Mitsubishi Corporation

YAHIRO Toshikuni
Senior Counselor
Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

159

Appendix

YAMAGUCHI Nobuo
Chairman of the Board
Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.

YAMADA Kikuo
Senior Advisor
Nippon Mitsubishi Oil Corporation

YAMADA Yasukuni
Chairman & CEO
Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

YAMAMOTO Takuma
Chairman Emeritus
Fujitsu Limited

YUASA Teruhisa
Honorary Chairman
Yuasa Corporation

YONEKURA IsaoCounselor
ITOCHU Corporation
Vice Chairman Board of Councillors
Japan Federation of Economic Organizations

WAKAHARA Yasuyuki
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Asahi Mutual Life Insurance Co.

160

Appendix

WATANABE Hiroshi
Senior Adviser
The Sanwa Bank Limited-------------------------------Committee(Kyoto,Shiga)-------------------------------AKIMOTO Mitsuru
Chairman
The Bank of Kyoto, Ltd.

ISHIDA Akira
President
Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd.

INAMORI Kazuo
Founder and Chairman Emeritus
Kyocera Corporation
Chairman
The Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry

KOMATSU Shin
Senior Advisor
Nissin Electric Co., Ltd.
President
Kyoto Employers' Association

SAKABE Sanjiro
Executive Director
Dynic Corporation

161

Appendix

SUEMATSU Kensho
AdviserJapan Storage Battery Co., Ltd.

SUZUKI Shozo
ChairmanNissha Printing Co., Ltd.

TAKAHASHI Sojiro
Chairman
The Shiga Bank, Ltd.
Chairman
The Federation of Shiga Prefecture
Chambers of Commerce and Industry
ChairmanShiga Committee for Economic Development

TAKEDA Ippei
President and CEO
Nichicon Corporation

TATEISI Yoshio
Representative Director and Chief
Executive Officer
OMRON Corporation

NATSUHARA Hirakazu
President
Heiwado Co., Ltd.

162

Appendix

NISHIHACHIJO Minoru
Senior Advisor
Shimadzu Corporation

HORIBA Masao
Chairman
HORIBA, Ltd.

MICHIHATA Susumu
President
The Kyoto Chuo Shinkin Bank
Chairman
Kyoto Association of Corporate Executives

MINAMI Shouo
Director and Senior Adviser
Kawashima Textile Manufacturers Ltd.

MURATA Junichi
President and CEO
Murata Machinery, Ltd.

MURATA Yasutaka
President
Murata Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

163

Appendix-------------------------Committee(Kyushu)-------------------------ANDO Shozo
Chairman
The Oita Bank, Ltd.
Chairman
The Oita Chamber of Commerce and Industry

ISHII Yoshitaka
Chairman of the Board
Kyushu Railway Company (JR Kyushu)

IWAKIRI Tatsuro
President
Miyazaki Traffic Co., Ltd.

EZOYE Shigeru
Chairman
TOTO Ltd.

OHNO Shigeru
Chairman
Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.
Chairman
Kyushu-Yamaguchi Economic Federation

164

Appendix

ONO Hiroshi
Chairman
Oita Transportation Co., Ltd.
President
Oita Asahi Broadcasting Co., Ltd.
President
Oita Prefectural Employers Association

KAMICHIKA Yoshikuni
President
Huis Ten Bosch Co., Ltd.

KIKUCHI Koh
Corporate Adviser
Yaskawa Electric Corporation

KOZUMA Toru
Representative Honorary Chairman of the Board
Tokiwa Department Store Co., Ltd.

GOTO Tatsuta
Chairman
The Nishi-Nippon Bank, Ltd.

SAKAI Hajime
President
Kyushu Matsushita Electric Co., Ltd.

SATO Junnosuke
President
Sato Benec Co., Ltd.

165

Appendix

SHISHIMA Tsukasa
President
The Fukuoka City Bank, Ltd.

SHIRAISHI Tsukasa
Representative Chairman
Kyudenko CorporationTSUKUDA Ryoji
President
The Bank of Fukuoka, Ltd.,NUNOE Yanosuke
Chairman
Nishi-Nippon Rail Road Co., Ltd.

FUKUSHIMA Chikahiko
President
Oita City Gas Co., Ltd.

MINEI Masaharu
Chairman
The Okinawa Electric Power Co., Inc.

MURAYAMA Tomiichi
Former Prime Minister of Japan
Member of The House of Representatives

YOSHIMURA Yasuaki
President
ASTEM, Inc.

166

Appendix

WACHI GoroCounselor
Saibugas Co., Ltd.

(All data including job titles are current as of April 1, 2000, and reproduced from APU Kaigaku
no Ayumi[Toward the Opening of APU]. Please note that Hiraiwa Gaishi served as an AC
Honorary Committee Member from the inaugural meeting to the end of February 1998.)

167

Notes on Japanese-English transliteration style
In principle, the “Hepburn system” of transliteration has been followed in this volume,with long Japanese vowel sounds indicated by a macron over the vowel (ā, ī, ū, ē, ō).
The only exception is the case of common Japanese place names and other proper nouns
that regularly appear in English-language texts. Thus, for example, the prefecture inwhich APU is located is written “Oita” rather than the more technically correct “Ōita”;
Japan’s capital is written “Tokyo” rather than “Tōkyō”. This practice reflects aesthetic
considerations rather than the application of objective criteria. All personal names havebeen rendered in the order customary in the person’s native language. Names ofcompanies and other organizations follow the conventions used by the organizations
themselves, with the exception that some capitalizations have been modified foraesthetic reasons.

168© 2011 Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University