The Ritsumeikan Charter

Ritsumeikan traces its roots to Prince Saionji’s private academy of the same name, established in 1869. It was officially founded in 1900 by his protégé, Kojuro Nakagawa, as the Kyoto Hosei Gakko (Kyoto School of Law and Politics), later to take on the name “Ritsumeikan." The name is derived from a passage in the Jinxin chapter of the Discourses of Mencius, and means “a place to establish one’s destiny through cultivating one’s mind.” Ritsumeikan’s founding ideals are “freedom and innovation” and reflecting upon its wartime experience, it committed itself to a core educational philosophy of “peace and democracy” after World War II. Ritsumeikan has faced the challenges of the times by pursuing an independent path to rise above adversity and has become the comprehensive private educational institution that it is today through extensive cooperation and support from both within and outside Japan.

Ritsumeikan, as a Japanese institution located in the Asia Pacific region, is committed to sincerely reflecting upon history and to building an institution where many cultures coexist in the spirit of international mutual understanding. Ritsumeikan will build relationships of trust, through research and education, as well as sports and cultural activities, and establish its roots in the local community, to create an academic institution open to international society. Ritsumeikan will strive to strengthen links with society and promote its institutional development by fully utilizing the characteristics of a private academic institution, the participation of its faculty, staff and students, and the support of alumni and parents, while respecting the principles of autonomy, democracy, transparency, non-violence and justice.

Ritsumeikan will pursue the creation of universal values based on academic freedom and search for solutions to the pressing issues facing humankind, with its educational endeavors based on its founding spirit and educational ideals, bearing in mind “to believe in the future, to live for the future.” Ritsumeikan will foster learning and the development of individual talents in order to nurture just and ethical global citizens. Ritsumeikan, as an institute of education and research, pledges to promote peace, democracy and sustainable development in Japan and throughout the world, in keeping with the spirit of this Charter.