President Address at the 2025 Entrance Ceremony (April 4)

Congratulations to all the new students on your enrollment. I am sure your families and guardians are feeling even more joyful. On behalf of the 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, in Otemae, Osaka Castle. Mr. Fujii Kenzo was an intelligence officer in 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 wished to revive Japan through "an education for women rich in sentiment" and energetically worked to improve the foundations of that education.

Bunka Gakuin continued to develop smoothly, opening Otemae Women's Junior College in 1951. In 1966, Otemae Women's University opened in Shukugawa, Nishinomiya City. In 2000, the women's university became coeducational, and remains so to this day. Next year, 2026, will be a memorable year, marking the 80th anniversary of Otemae Educational Corporation founding and the 60th anniversary of Otemae University founding.

Currently, Otemae University has a total of six faculties: four liberal arts faculties at the Sakura Shukugawa Campus and two healthcare faculties at the Osaka Otemae Campus. In addition, we are planning to establish a seventh faculty, the Faculty of Information, in 2027. Although each of the seven faculties deals with a different academic field, the founding spirit of "STUDY FOR LIFE" is shared by all of us, the faculty and staff.

Otemae Educational Corporation has also established a school emblem called "OTEMAE FLOWER" that uses the cattleya flower as its motif. Please refer to the entrance ceremony program in your hand. OTEMAE FLOWER has five petals, and each of them represents 1) passion, 2) curiosity, 3) intelligence, 4) health, and 5) longing for truth, goodness, and beauty. The last one, "truth, goodness, and beauty," is a difficult word, but "truth" is the intelligence that pursues the truth. "Goodness" is the spirituality that seeks to realize the happiness of society. "Beauty" means the sensibility that finds beautiful things beautiful. In other words, truth, goodness, and beauty are the ideal conditions for humans to have intellect, spirituality, and sensitivity.

If we think about the meaning of the five petals of OTEMAE FLOWER, the "LIFE" in STUDY FOR LIFE can be expressed as "a life in which one has a strong desire for truth, goodness, and beauty, and is passionate about creating a better society. To that end, one cultivates one's intellect with curiosity, and grows freely and healthily." This means that you are achieving well-being in life.
"STUDY" is another keyword in "STUDY FOR LIFE," and it refers to the "learning" required to realize well-being in life. Learning is the act of self-creation that transforms oneself.

What is important in the process of creating oneself is the title of the Otemae University concept movie that was aired just before the opening: "Shake, Touch, Touch." "Shake" means to shake up your own heart. We call this "reflection." "Touch" means to "verbalize" the lessons learned from experience and your theories into words that touch the heart. Finally, "touch" means to "engraving deeply into one's heart" the beliefs and aspirations that have been verbalized.

To all the new students, over the next four years, please study to your heart's content in the subjects you love, reflect on your experiences, and accumulate experiences that "shake you," "touch you," and "touch your heart."

We look forward to learning together at the Sakura Shukugawa Campus and Osaka Otemae Campus, where the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom, starting tomorrow. Congratulations to all the new students on your enrollment.

April 4, 2025

Mitsutoshi Hirano, President Otemae University