About Toyo University NEWS

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NEWS 01
Student Opinions Collected from the Questionnaire Investigation to Current Students after Two Years with COVID-19

At Toyo University, we implement a student questionnaire every year to assess students’ learning behavior, feelings of growth and satisfaction, for the self-assessment and evaluation of our educational activities and examining potential reform and improvement.
In the questionnaire held from November 2021, for the question “Since entering university, have you ever given up anything due to the effects of the COVID-19?,” about half of students answered “interaction with friends” or “Club activities.” As it is currently difficult to travel overseas, there were also students who answered short-term or long-term “Overseas study/training.” To the question “What would you like to experience after the coronavirus situation has been resolved?,” the most popular answers were “Club activities” and “interaction with friends,” making us once again aware of how many students are longing for active social interaction with other students. The next most popular answer was “Obtaining qualifications / licenses,” revealing that students are motivated to take on new challenges for their lives after the pandemic.

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NEWS 02
AY2021 “What Was Enryo Inoue’s Aspiration?” Award Ceremony

The AY2021 “What Was Enryo Inoue’s Aspiration?” award ceremony was held at the Hakusan Campus on December 21, 2021.
In this contest, we select excellent literary work that explores, with a central focus on educational principles, what the great aspiration of Toyo University founder Enryo Inoue was, compares Inoue’s aspirations with the writer’s way of life and modern society, and depicts how the writer will make use of Enryo’s aspirations in their future. The contest always receives many entries, and this year was no exception. In the section for Toyo Students, the President Award (top prize) was awarded to Kimaru Okunishi (1st year student, Graduate School of Letters) for his piece “Independent Living: Be a Bulwark for Academic Freedom.” In the general division, Mariko Hirobayashi was awarded for her work “Working in the Education Industry, I was Encouraged by Enryo Inoue.”
Including online participants, the award ceremony was attended by 10 participants who were chosen for their excellent work. Congratulatory addresses were given by President Etsuko Yaguchi, Hidetoshi Kobayashi, Director of the Inoue Enryo Philosophy Center, and Hiroyuki Hisano, Vice Chairman of the Hosuikai. Kimaru Okunishi gave a speech on behalf of the award recipients. The contest was a valuable opportunity to touch upon Enryo Inoue’s work who gave opportunities for learning to so many people, and pass this learning on to modern society.

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NEWS 03
Students Engaging in Friendly Competition across Faculties and Years of Study at the AY2021 English Speech Contest

The 7th English Speech Contest was held by the Center for Global Education and Exchange at the Hakusan Campus on January 8, 2022.
At this year’s English Speech Contest, students researched and presented a five minutes speech on one of the following topics, COVID-19, SDGs, climate change, and the Tokyo 2020 Games. The 13 students who won the preliminary rounds competed in the Contest held across faculties and years of study.
The winning speech was given by Yume Katayama (2nd year student, Department of International Tourism Management, Faculty of International Tourism Management) who spoke about SDG 4 “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Ms. Katayama spoke about the fact that many children worldwide cannot receive an education due to poverty or sexism and encouraged her own generation to take action. Based on her own experience, she appealed to people to take action on what we can do now. The Contest was streamed on YouTube Live, and the outcomes of the participant’s diligent language study were watched by many people. Toyo University will continue to implement initiatives and create an environment that facilitates the improvement of students’ English ability.

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NEWS 04
Students Displayed the Outcomes of their Japanese Study at the AY2021 Japanese Presentation Contest

The Center for Global Education and Exchange held the 4th Japanese Presentation Contest for non-native Japanese students at the Hakusan Campus on January 8, 2022.
This academic year’s topic was “The SDGs from now—proposals toward the future.” Based on their expertise, students used slides and other materials to present about what should be done to achieve the SDGs by 2030. The eight participants who won the preliminary rounds used fluent, sophisticated Japanese and delivered logical and creative presentations. Bahodirov Akbarzhon (3rd year student, Department of Global Innovation Studies, Faculty of Global and Regional Studies), who won first prize and the audience award, gave a presentation titled “Measures for Leftovers from School Lunches and Food Waste in Japanese Society.” Mr. Akbarzhon raised the issue of leftover school lunches, introduced initiatives taken at various schools, and proposed that the issue be solved by promoting awareness to reduce leftovers through visualization of the issue using an application.
Toyo University is promoting the development of international students’ Japanese language proficiency so that the students can thrive in academic environments and business settings. Under these efforts, Toyo University is focusing on the improvement of their Japanese proficiency and education of Japanese language at a business level with a focus on their employment in Japan.

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NEWS 05
A Ritual Praying for Safety Was Held for the Asaka Campus Construction Work to Be Completed in April 2024

A ritual praying for safety was held for the renovation work on existing campus buildings and the construction of new campus buildings at the Asaka Campus on February 2, 2022. The ritual was attended by Chairman Takashi Anzai and President Etsuko Yaguchi representing Toyo University, the mayor of Asaka City, Ishimoto Architectural & Engineering Firm, Inc., responsible for design and supervision, and Obayashi Corporation responsible for construction. A kuwaire-no-gi (a ground-breaking ritual) and a tamagushi-hoten (the offering of a branch of a sacred tree) were performed.
In April 2024, the below graduate schools, faculties, courses, and departments will be moved to the Asaka Campus. The goal is to create a new academic center where graduate schools, faculties and departments related to biotechnology and food are brought together to respond to the needs of today.

Itakura Campus: Graduate School of Life Sciences and Faculty of Life Sciences; Graduate School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, and Food Science Course, Department of Food and Life Sciences and Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences of the Faculty of Food and Nutritional Sciences.

Kawagoe Campus: Course of Biomedical Engineering of the Graduate School of Science and Engineering, and Department of Biomedical Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Engineering. Toyo University will clarify the strengths of each campus and utilize these strengths to contribute to the solution of local issues.

Chairman Takashi Anzai carrying out the kuwaire-no-gi