The Ritsumeikan Declaration on Sports

Ritsumeikan acknowledges the cultural significance and value of sports as common assets for all humankind, and considers the benefits thereof to be essential to both happiness of individual and the peace and prosperity of society. We recognize sports have a crucial role in the development of the Academy in accordance with the Ritsumeikan Charter.

Ritsumeikan, from the perspective of creating a variety of learning opportunities, considers sports as a part of “learning and growth” for all students, and has promoted and advanced sports at all levels of the Academy. We shall be committed to cultivating individuals attuned to the changing demands of society, and to reaffirming the role and potential of sports both within and beyond the Ritsumeikan community. This Ritsumeikan Declaration on Sports enhances this commitment, and we hereby undertake to work towards its realization.

• Ritsumeikan, based on its founding ideals and academic missions, shall highly cultivate individuals to engage in the promotion and advancement of sports with an ethos of “to believe in the future, to live for the future”.
• Ritsumeikan, in the continued spirits of liberalism and cosmopolitanism embraced by its founder Prince Kinmochi Saionji, believes that sports have the power to enable mutual understanding across barriers such as language, culture, race and nationality, and shall foster global citizens with a liberal and progressive spirit who are capable of contributing to international exchange and world peace through sports.
• Ritsumeikan, as a private comprehensive educational institution, shall practice liberal education through sports in its educational curricula, and work for the promotion and advancement of sports in student clubs, circles, and other extracurricular activities.
• Ritsumeikan shall respect the basic rights of all members of the Ritsumeikan community to participate in sports, regardless of disability, and shall encourage all members to make sports a part of their everyday lives and to enjoy sports throughout their life for the purposes of both personal health and physical refinement.
• Ritsumeikan profoundly appreciates the cultural value and educational significance of sports, and shall pursue education and research in various sports-related fields and, through developing infrastructure for sporting activities, become a leading presence in the promotion and advancement of sports in Japan.
• Ritsumeikan believes that sports have the capacity to give concrete form to the Academy’s ideals, and to serve as an important driving force for development by bringing together the Academy’s various stakeholders, including alumni and parents. Ritsumeikan shall work for promotion and advancement of sports for these purposes.
• Ritsumeikan, as a member of role shoulders in the society, shall pursue the formation and development of inclusive local communities regardless of differences in age and gender, and contribute to community health and wellbeing through sports.