On Wednesday, April 2, Ritsumeikan University held its AY2025 Matriculation Ceremony at Miyako Messe (Kyoto International Exhibition Hall), welcoming 8,439 new undergraduate students, 1,764 new graduate students, and their family members.

　　　

　　　

　　　

In his address, President of Ritsumeikan University Yoshio Nakatani presented the new students with a call to action: “Our undergraduate students are expected to deepen their inquiry skills, and those of you aspiring to advance to graduate school should further cultivate these skills into strong research abilities. In a rapidly changing and unpredictable world, it is important to commit yourself to the future. I expect all of you to demonstrate the will to boldly tackle challenges; you must not be bound by conventional wisdom, frameworks, or stereotypes, but rather, you must question these as you seek the ideal shape of the future.”

The Ritsumeikan University Symphony Orchestra welcomed the new students and their families with a performance at the ceremony venue. Next, the Cheerleading Squad gave a rousing performance entitled “Fight on Stage,” and a video introducing the many different extracurricular activities at the university was played. The new students were certainly filled with anticipation as they watched the dynamic upperclassmen of Ritsumeikan University in action.

At the graduate school matriculation ceremony, College of International Relations Professor and RARA Fellow Kota Suechika gave a lecture entitled "Towards ‘Area Studies 2.0:’ From the Perspective of Middle East Politics." He introduced his research activities, in which he is rethinking the nature of area studies by utilizing GPS, digital data, and online tools in addition to using conventional local historical materials, and he provided the new graduate students with some words of encouragement, talking about the attitudes and thinking they will need to develop as researchers.

With a large flower wall decorated with the Ritsumeikan 125th anniversary logo and several photo spots, a festive atmosphere filled the venue as many new students took commemorative photos with their friends and family.

Ritsumeikan University Matriculation Ceremony Special Site

isit this site to see congratulatory messages from President Nakatani and the President of the Parents Association for Student Education Assistance as well as posts from new students describing their aspirations. A video of the ceremony is scheduled to be posted on the Ritsumeikan Channel（YouTube）in mid-April.

　Matriculation Ceremony Special Site: Spring Welcome 2025