After a long stretch of rainy days, the skies cleared on Thursday, September 24, as Keio's newest students took their first steps on Mita Campus for the fall semester undergraduate and graduate entrance ceremony, held on a crisp autumn morning at the West School Building Hall.
This September, 198 students enrolled in Keio's undergraduate faculties—109 in the Faculty of Economics, 6 in the Faculty of Law, 36 in the Faculty of Policy Management, and 47 in the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. Another 256 students entered the graduate schools, including 172 master's, 72 doctoral, and 12 professional degree candidates. The Japanese Language Program welcomed a further 98 new students, bringing the total September intake to 552 students.
Even before the ceremony began, Mita glowed with bright smiles and festive cheer as international students mingled with their new friends from the dormitories and family members arrived from around the world to celebrate the occasion.
Vice-President Yoshimitsu Matsuura opened the ceremony with the incoming class report. He was followed at the podium by President Kohei Itoh, who delivered the welcome address. President Itoh introduced the class to "The Mission of Keio University" and reflected on the life of Keio's founder, Yukichi Fukuzawa, who tirelessly pioneered new paths that led society forward in his time. In the present day with knowledge and technology more readily available than ever, President Itoh urged students to give themselves time to learn and develop their own aspirations. Outlining Keio's plans to become a world-leading, human-centric AI-native university, he encouraged the incoming class to use AI but to weigh its output thoughtfully and bring their own creativity to bear on questions with no single right answer.
Associate Professor Le Thao Chi Vu of the Faculty of Policy Management then delivered a congratulatory address on behalf of Keio's faculty and staff. She recognized the incoming students' decision to value the act of learning itself and the inspiration that comes from interactions with professors and peers over the short-lived satisfaction of answers readily available through search engines, social media, and AI. She encouraged them to embrace the uncertainty and doubt that comes with continued questioning, rather than settle for a single answer or narrative. Through learning, authentic human dialogue, and the willingness to question the world, she said, students can learn to trust others and become trustworthy individuals themselves.
Hope Chawala Banda of the Graduate School of Media Design delivered the matriculation address on behalf of the incoming class. Drawing on his experience as an international student from Malawi, he spoke about the value of learning alongside people whose lives have taken different paths and the new ideas that emerge when cultures, disciplines, and perspectives meet. He emphasized that even as technology advances, human wisdom remains essential to building trust across cultures and creating a more compassionate society. Describing education as both a gift and a responsibility, he pledged, "May we use what we learn not only to advance ourselves, but to lift up those around us, to serve our communities, and to contribute to the well-being of others."
The student mixed choral group Gakuyukai led everyone in attendance in singing the Keio University anthem, the "Juku-ka," bringing a resonant close to a ceremony filled with warmth and conviviality throughout.
After the ceremony, students posed for commemorative photographs in front of Mita Campus's historic buildings and banners marking the occasion, smiling and chatting with family members and new friends as they shared their excitement for the studies ahead. As these students begin a new chapter full of hope and ambition, we look forward to seeing how they grow and where their curiosity leads them during their time at Keio.
Photos: Aki Takematsu