Diploma 2

March 31, 2023

Starting with the graduating class of 1991, the "graduation certificate" was renamed the "diploma." This was due to revisions to the School Education Act, the Standards for the Establishment of Universities, and the Degree Regulations. As a result of these revisions, the bachelor's degree title, which had previously been uniformly designated as "Bachelor of Arts in Letters" for all graduates of the Faculty of Letters, for example, became a degree designated according to the major, such as "Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy" or "Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Science." The same applies to the English notation; what was once Bachelor of Arts in Letters became Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy or Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Science, clarifying the field of study completed.

A major change to the diploma since then was the switch from the traditional vertical writing to horizontal writing, starting in the 2020 academic year.

A major factor was likely the growing need for bilingual notation in Japanese and English on diplomas as a response to internationalization over time. The diploma cover, in use since 1961 with its red line on a navy blue background, has had the red line removed. The paper is now used vertically, with the Japanese text section concluding with The Pen Mark, the word "Diploma," the conferral statement, the date, and the signatures of the university President and the faculty Dean. This is followed by the English text section in a similar format, with the conferral statement, the degree, and the English signatures of the President and the Dean. It can be said that the graduation certificate (diploma) has also changed with the times.

There is a change in the evolution of the graduation certificate that has gone surprisingly unnoticed. This is the addition of a watermark to the paper. A two-line watermark reading "Keio" and "Gijuku" was introduced for graduates starting in the 1985 academic year. This was likely for counterfeit prevention. In front of the gate of Eiheiji Temple in Eiheiji-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui Prefecture, is Sekijin, a maker of Echizen handmade washi paper. The papermaking frame for the watermark of Keio University's diplomas is on display there. I hope you will stop by when you visit Eiheiji Temple. Since then, the diplomas, including the watermark, have been printed by a printing company.

The diploma features The Pen Mark with the graduation year and the founding year written above and below it. As you may know, The Pen Mark originated around 1885 when Keio students began crossing two pens and attaching them to their caps. A few years later, in 1890, around the time the college was established, a distinctive Pen Mark design began to be drawn on the graduation certificates. This design features laurel and olive branches placed below The Pen Mark, which consists of a crossed quill pen and wooden pen tied with a ribbon. Above it, the name Keio University is written in seal script, encircling the design. Although The Pen Mark as we know it today, with the crossed pens, has been in use since the Meiji period, the fact that this particular illustration, rather than The Pen Mark itself, was used on graduation certificates until the Taisho and Showa periods is very characteristic of Keio University. It gave the award-sized graduation certificate a style and personality befitting the university. This illustration is featured in the entry for "The Pen Mark" in "Keio Gijuku Shijiten" (An Encyclopedia of Keio History), which I encourage those who are interested to see.

(Atsuko Ishiguro, Former Director, Office of Communications and Public Relations)