Toyo University NEWS
The Akabanedai Campus is now complete with the additions of AI-House HUB-4 and HELSPO HUB-3.
On January 26, 2023, Toyo University held a ceremony to mark the completion of HELSPO HUB-3, a new building that was being constructed at the Akabanedai Campus.
The name “HELSPO” is derived from “Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences.” It is intended to represent the facility’s goal of becoming a center of education and research in Asia in the field of health and sports. Kengo Kuma & Associates provided the design, following the firm’s work on INIAD HUB-1 (completed in 2017) and WELLB HUB-2 (completed in 2021). The building consists of an arena and cafeteria building (4 stories above ground and 1 below) and a library building (6 stories above ground). It opened in April 2023 with the launch of two faculties and five departments: the Faculty of Design for Welfare Society (Department of Social Welfare Studies, Department of Child Studies, and Department of Human Environment Design) and the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences (Department of Health and Sports Sciences and Department of Nutritional Sciences). In addition, the Department of Social Welfare in the Faculty of Sociology (Daytime Courses) and the Graduate School of Social Welfare moved from the Hakusan Campus to the Akabanedai Campus.
AI-House HUB-4, completed in January 2022 on the Akabanedai Campus, is an international exchange-oriented dormitory that promotes student growth through interaction and learning. A place where regular students and international students live together, AI-House HUB-4 is designed with the hope that residents will meet a variety of fellow students and learn with an appreciation for different cultures and diversity, thereby cultivating the ability to live with others with a rich international outlook. Consisting of five stories standing above ground, the building is fully equipped with a cafeteria, common kitchen, music studio, multipurpose studio, and common study rooms. It currently houses 92 Japanese students and 157 international students. A variety of educational programs and events are held there, providing opportunities for international and Japanese students to share their cultures and knowledge. AI-House HUB-4 is praised for its high design quality and was awarded the “GOOD DESIGN AWARD 2022” by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion.
With the completion of INIAD HUB-1 (providing a state-of-the-art environment where everything on campus is digitalized and information can be obtained anywhere in real time), WELLB HUB-2 (equipped with facilities for learning the skills necessary to acquire certification as a social worker, care worker, psychiatric social worker, first-class kindergarten teacher, or childcare worker and for learning and creating designs), HELSPO HUB-3 (equipped with the sports facilities and experimental training facilities necessary for education linking theory and practice in health care, sports, and nutrition), and now AI-House HUB-4, the construction of all buildings planned for the Akabanedai Campus has ended. With all of its buildings now in place, the Akabanedai Campus is set to become an even more vibrant learning environment and further broaden the scope of academics.
Commemorating the opening of TOYO SPORTS CENTER
TOYO SPORTS CENTER (TSC), a facility engaged in human resources development through sports, opened its doors on April 22. To commemorate this event, a program titled “TOYO ATHLETE FORUM” was held at the newly built gymnasium (HELSPO HUB-3 Arena) on the Akabanedai Campus, with approximately 1,300 visitors in attendance.
The program’s first part featured a talk show attended by athletes Yui Ohashi, Kosuke Hagino, Ryota Murata, Ryoga Yamaguchi, and Yoshihide Kiryu (appearing via video) as well as actor Mitsuomi Takahashi, all of whom are Toyo University graduates. Takaki Sugimoto, a Toyo University graduate and former representative of the student volunteer group Origami, spoke from the perspective of “supporting sports.” The second part included a “table tennis class” led by Masataka Morizono, a professional table tennis player, and the university’s table tennis club; a “basketball class” led by the Tokyo Haneda Vickies women’s basketball team and the university’s basketball club; and a “hands-on para-sports class” led by Ryoga Yamaguchi and a Toyo University graduate who is on the staff of the Faculty of Health and Sports Sciences and works for the Tokyo Sports Association for Persons with Disabilities.
TOYO SDGs Weeks
Having established the “Toyo University Incorporated Educational Institution Charter of Conduct for SDGs” in June 2021, Toyo University promotes activities related to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on multiple fronts. In line with this, the university holds TOYO SDGs Weeks with the aim of fostering an SDG movement on its campuses and nurturing people to act proactively for the future of global society. The second year of the TOYO SDGs Weeks initiative took place over one month, from October 10 to November 6, 2022.
It featured an intensive program of symposiums, contests, lectures, workshops, and other events designed to deepen understanding of the SDGs. A special advance screening of the film Sakura-iro no Kaze ga Saku (A Mother’s Touch) was held on October 13 with the participation of executive producer Takafumi Yuki, director Jumpei Matsumoto, and actor Taketo Tanaka. On October 22, a symposium titled “SDGs × carbon neutrality: What I can do now” was held online. The symposium’s program included lectures by instructors and experts as well as reports on activities by current Toyo University students and students from university-affiliated high schools who serve as “SDGs ambassadors.”
A Toyo University proposal is adopted by MEXT’s “Inter-University Exchange Project”
In September 2022, Toyo University’s “Program to Develop the Japanese Language Ability and Multicultural Communication Skills of International Professionals through Intensive Business Japanese Study,” a proposal submitted to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s “FY2022 Inter-University Exchange Project: Support for Creation of Inter-University Exchanges in the Indo-Pacific Region” was adopted after a tough screening process.
MEXT’s project aims to nurture global human resources who can play active roles on the international stage and strengthen the global development of university education. It provides five years of support for collaborative international education efforts that conduct study abroad programs for Japanese students and accept international students. Toyo University’s undertaking will focus on Japanese language education and utilize existing exchange and study abroad programs while conducting two-way student exchanges with 15 partner universities overseas. It will also offer a variety of programs, including an “online cross-study program” that will allow students to take classes at universities around the world for free while in their home countries; “international student meetings,” in which Toyo University students and students studying Japanese abroad will interact online; and a “virtual Model United Nations,” in which students will become national ambassadors and discuss international issues. The Toyo University program will provide students who are unable to travel abroad with opportunities to participate in international educational exchange.
Launching career development support to foster “DX human resources”
Toyo University is focused on developing human resources specializing in digital transformation (DX) who can contribute to the advent of Society 5.0. In line with this, the university launched an initiative in January 2023 to provide career development support enabling first- and second-year students to learn programming, regardless of their faculty of enrollment.
This initiative was executed in partnership with Paiza Inc., the operator of “paiza,” Japan’s largest platform supporting career changes, employment, and learning for IT engineers. Participating students can learn all of the content offered on “paiza learning,” the latest video programming learning service. Then, after completing their learning, they can receive invitations from companies on “paiza shinsotsu,” a job hunting information site specializing in IT engineering jobs, by proving their skills.
These and other features allow students to engage in job hunting on one website. In addition, the university offers a “visualized” presentation of outstanding companies—called “Toyo University Tetsukon Companies”—that it can recommend to students, all of which were carefully selected based on the university’s criteria. In this and other ways, Toyo University will continue to expand its employment and career development support services.
Football Club Women’s Division and Boxing Club are No. 1 in Japan!
In January 2023, Toyo University’s Football Club Women’s Division defeated Yamanashi Gakuin University by a 1-0 score in the final of the 31st All Japan University Women's Football Tournament. The victory propelled the women’s football club to its first-ever national championship.
In addition, Toyo University’s Boxing Club, the Kanto University Boxing League champion, won a convincing 9-2 victory over the Kansai University Boxing League champion, Osaka University of Commerce, at the 76th Japan University National Boxing Championships held in August 2022. The team thus claimed the top spot among Japan’s university boxing clubs for the second time in three years.
