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Founding Principles

The Founding Principles of the Graduate School of the International University of Japan 

International University of Japan (IUJ) was founded in 1982, with the extensive support of Japan’s industrial, educational and local communities, to train professionals who can actively make contributions to the international society with a high level of interdisciplinary and specialized knowledge.

As the nature of IUJ is very different from other Japanese graduate schools that mainly nurture scholars for academia, before stipulating its founding principles, IUJ was extensively discussed at the IUJ Advisory Committee, comprising eminent persons from industry and educational society, and at the Drafting Committee. The Drafting Committee compiled“The Concept of the International University of Japan Graduate School.” This concept was subsequently approved by the Board of Trustees. Within this framework, IUJ’s founding philosophy, referred to as the “Purpose of Establishment,” is articulated in “The Concept of the International University of Japan Graduate School” as follows.

Aims of the school

  1. The International University of Japan is a private post graduate institution founded with the extensive support of Japan’s industrial, financial and educational circles and of administrative in the area where it was established. Its administrative policy, based on a spirit of progressive internationalism, is open and autonomous.
  2. The graduate school of the International University of Japan is a new professional school whose primary purpose is to educate capable young men and women and develop in them a high level of interdisciplinary and specialized knowledge which they can put to practical use in the international arena. 

It also outlines the characteristics of the graduate schools as follows.

Characteristics of the school

  1. Reflecting the above aims, teaching and research in the graduate School are, as a matter of Principle, interdisciplinary and are characterized by the comprehensive integration of area studies with the study of international relations and international management.
  2. In order to develop in its students a high level of specialized knowledge, the graduate school aims to foster originality in both teaching methods and in the organization of its curriculum and also to respond to social needs through extensive research activities. 
  3. Instruction in the graduate School will as a general rule be conducted in English with a view to educating talented men and women whose skills will be applicable throughout international society.
  4. One of the fundamental aims of the founding of the graduate School is to encourage the enrollment of college graduates who have had previous business experience. The School opens its doors widely and welcomes persons with a wide variety of back grounds and specialties, both from Japan and abroad, in the hope that their practical knowledge will be further broadened and reinforced through friendship and interaction with other students.
  5. To effectively implement the above stated aims, students will as a rule reside in dormitories so that by living together young people of different nationalities and with different backgrounds can be stimulated by each other’s world views and awareness of critical issues and learn to work together. It is hoped that the graduates of the university will promote a high level of mutual understanding and international friendship on the basic of the personal relationships and trust developed during their student days.
  6. The Graduate School has searched widely for distinguished scholars from Japan and abroad, who are experts in their fields, to create a truly international faculty, which will have a strong formative influence on the students by maintaining close contact with them not only in the classroom but outside of it in the opportunities offered for interaction with the local community so that the students’ learning experiences can be both varied and meaningful.