Speech President at the 2024 Entrance Ceremony (April 3, 2024)

Congratulations to all the new students on your enrollment. I am sure your families and guardians are all the more delighted. On behalf of Otemae University, I would like to offer my congratulations.

First, I would like to briefly talk about the history of Otemae University. The roots of our university date back to Otemae Bunka Gakuin, which was founded in 1946 by the first Chairperson of the Board, Mr. Fujii Kenzo. Mr. Fujii was an intelligence officer attached to the Press Department of the Central Army Headquarters in Osaka Castle when the war ended. Standing in the ruins of Osaka, which had been devastated by war, he came up with the idea of reviving Japan through "an education for women with rich emotional maturity," and energetically worked to improve the foundations of that education.
Bunka Gakuin continued to develop smoothly, opening Otemae Women's Junior College in 1951, followed by Otemae Women's University in Shukugawa, Nishinomiya in 1966, and then making the women's university coeducational in 2000, which it continues to do to this day. The year after next, 2026, will be a memorable year marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of Otemae Educational Corporation and the 60th anniversary of the founding of Otemae University.
Currently, Otemae University has a total of six faculties, including four liberal arts faculties at the Sakura Shukugawa Campus and two healthcare faculties at the Osaka Otemae Campus. It also has a correspondence education department and two graduate schools. Although each faculty deals with a different academic field, the founding spirit of "STUDY FOR LIFE" is shared by all faculty and staff. In addition, the school emblem "OTEMAE FLOWER" was established with a cattleya flower motif in line with the founding spirit.

Please take a look at the program for the entrance ceremony that you have in your hands. OTEMAE FLOWER has five petals, and each petal represents 1) passion, 2) curiosity, 3) intelligence, 4) health, and 5) aspiration for truth, goodness, and beauty. The last one, "Truth, Goodness, and Beauty," is a difficult word, but "Truth" represents the intelligence that pursues the truth. "Goodness" represents the spirituality of making both yourself and someone other than yourself happy, in other words, the spirituality of striving to realize the happiness of the entire society. "Beauty" represents the sensibility that finds beautiful things beautiful. In other words, truth, goodness, and beauty are the ideal conditions for a human being to have intelligence, spirituality, and sensitivity.

If we think about it in conjunction with the meaning of the petals of OTEMAE FLOWER, the "LIFE" in STUDY FOR LIFE can be expressed as "a strong desire for truth, goodness, and beauty, and a burning passion for the realization of a better society. To that end, we must hone our intellect with curiosity, and grow freely and healthily." If you are currently in this state, it means that you are achieving well-being in life.
Another keyword in "STUDY FOR LIFE" is "STUDY," which means "learning" to realize such well-being in life. Learning is the act of self-creation to build oneself. Learning is different from "studying" which is simply repeating what is written in a textbook; it is spontaneous and active. Learning means finding a subject by yourself, researching it, thinking about it, and communicating it.

The desire to learn always starts with an "urge in the heart." Some people may want to study psychology because they are aware of their own weaknesses and want to overcome them. Some people may start learning because they love manga and want to try drawing them themselves. Some people may get hooked on foreign dramas and want to learn about the culture and history of the country.
That's right. Learning always starts with an impulse in your heart. If you don't have anything you want to learn, let alone an "impulse in your heart," don't worry. Otemae University will ignite your "impulse in your heart" to learn. Throughout the class, our faculty will continue to ask you what you want to learn. We will coach you on the path to transforming your interests, concerns, or "favorites" into learning. We call this one-on-one teaching method "heart-touching education," and it is an important code of conduct for all faculty and staff.

To all the new students, please spend the next four years studying what you like to the fullest, cultivating a sense of awareness and finding a life goal that you are passionate about. Sakura Shukugawa Campus and Osaka Otemae Campus are adjacent to Shukugawa Park and Osaka Castle Park, respectively, which show off beautiful natural scenery throughout the seasons. I look forward to learning with you all on campus starting tomorrow.

Congratulations to all the new students on your admission.

Mitsutoshi Hirano, President Otemae University