Message from the President

Yoshihiro Hidaka (Dr. jur.)
President

Senshu University, established in 1880, celebrated its 130th anniversary in September, 2009. Its founders, Nagatane Soma, Inajiro Tajiri, Tanetaro Megata, and Shigetada Komai, studied abroad at Columbia University, Yale University, Harvard University, and Rutgers University at the dawn of the Meiji era and, after returning to Japan, created "Senshu Gakko," the forerunner of present-day Senshu University, as a place to give lectures in economics and law. The school, designed to help plant the roots of modern legal thinking in Japan, played a significant role as one of the nation's five major legal institutions. In the Meiji era, a time when Japan needed leaders to shoulder the challenges of a new age in a variety of disciplines, the four young founders were motivated to use the recent knowledge they had acquired overseas to better society and contribute to the development of the country as it embarked on the dawning of modern law; their passion to use professional education to fortify Japan's human foundation and develop the human resources that would strengthen the backbone of civil society was fervid. Since then, just as the history of Japan has been colored at times by light and at others by shadows, the history of Senshu University has been a mixture of good fortune and difficulty - but despite the hardships, the institution has rallied around the Senshu wisdom to make its mark on the storied history of Japanese higher education.

Despite being faced with the challenges of the Great Kanto Earthquake and the calamities of war, Senshu University has kept its light burning throughout. Now that we have entered the 21st century, we must weather the troubled waters that befall private education and push on toward further endeavors. Though the times are difficult, our path will be clear as long as we constantly return to our origins and carefully contemplate the direction the institution must take. As part of its 21st-century vision, Senshu established the development of "Socio-Intelligence." Socio-Intelligence is the ability to take the initiative in solving social problems by using professional knowledge and skills as well as technological insight. This is based on a deep understanding of humankind, a sense of morality and a global perspective to produce creative ideas. In contemporary society, as value systems crumble and ethics deteriorate, fostering this kind of Socio-Intelligence not only means giving people the ability to detect problems and forge solutions, but also developing people who are capable, ethical, and have a rich sense of humanity - this belief serves as the pillar of the Senshu education. We believe that this principle makes the passion of our founders - the drive to lay a human foundation for Japan - a reality.

While each school and department has a different method and emphasis in developing Socio-Intelligence, proactive and diligent efforts are being made across the board. In April, 2010, Senshu University will open a new school of Human Sciences (Psychology, Sociology), and the school of Literature will add a new department, increasing the total to seven (Japanese language, Japanese Literature and Culture, English Literature, Philosophy, History, Geography, and Liberal Arts and Journalism). Furthermore, in addition to its Commerce program, the graduate school of Commerce will also offer an Accounting course. In the future, with our vision of an "institution based on students" always in mind, we are committed to the ongoing improvement of Senshu University's academic environment and development of Socio-Intelligence.

e-mail: president@isc.senshu-u.ac.jp

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