The opening ceremony for the recently completed Ritsumeikan University Wakebayashi International Plaza was held on Osaka Ibaraki Campus (OIC), Sunday, October 13. The new centerpiece of OIC, almost 300 guests and university personnel were in attendance.

In his opening address, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Ritsumeikan Trust, Tomomi Morishima discussed his determination to use this occasion, and the establishment of the College of Global Liberal Arts in April 2019, to further promote globalization while touching on the need to create a campus where myriad values can come into contact with each other, commenting also that ‘I was greatly moved, yet felt a great sense of responsibility, when I heard that Mr. Wakebayashi wanted to support the College of Global Liberal Arts.’

Next, the donor, founder and Chairman of Nihon M&A Center Inc., Yasuhiro Wakebayashi, gave a speech reflecting on his life as a whole, as well as his time at Ritsumeikan University, before going on to indicate why he decided to contribute to his alma mater: ‘It is my great hope that the future endeavors of students who come through the Wakebayashi International Plaza will make both Japan and the world a better place.’