On Tuesday, December 4, Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer of the British education weekly Times Higher Education (THE), visited the Tokyo Campus of Ritsumeikan University and met with Vice Chancellor Yoshio Nakatani and Executive Director, Division of Global Planning and Partnership, Masatsugu Hongo. Takanori Tamura, CEO of Shinken-Ad Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Benesse Corporation, THE's partner for its Japan University Rankings, was also in attendance. The four exchanged opinions on world university rankings and how Japanese universities can enhance their profile in the world.

After thanking Mr. Baty for visiting the campus, Vice Chancellor Nakatani told him how the Ritsumeikan Academy has defined the globalization of its education and research as one of the pillars of its Academy Vision policy document, and discussed the university’s efforts to improve the quality of its education and research and further bolster its profile. Mr. Baty, in turn, provided examples of how foreign universities heighten their profile and commented on Ritsumeikan University's assessment in world university rankings as part of what was a lively, proactive discussion session.