[Message from TUFS President]
Before the fall semester comes to an end

January 12, 2024

To all students,

We return to the Fall Quarter today. Keep up your hard work for the remaining two weeks!

Today is also the deadline for fourth year students to submit their thesis. Congratulations to everyone who submitted their thesis. You have worked so hard towards this for four (or even five!) years. Even though the submission was digital, please print out your thesis and keep it as a souvenir of your hard work. Anyway, here are five topics I would like to discuss for the end of the Fall Quarter.

1．Regarding the Noto Earthquake

2024 started with the Noto Earthquake. Some of our students and their family members have been affected by this disaster. I express my heartfelt condolences to those affected. At the same time, the fear of ‘What if this happened in Tokyo?’ has been growing. We asked the 127 students whose family homes are in Ishikawa Prefecture, Fukui Prefecture, Toyama Prefecture or Niigata Prefecture to inform us of their safety using ANPIC, but at this time we can’t say that we have received a sufficient response. I understand that many may be in a difficult situation with power outages, but there may be some cases of students not checking their university emails. The Haneda Airport accident made the importance of training and simulations to prepare for emergencies clear to see. Please check the location of the evacuation site closest to your home. For those who live near the university, the university campus itself is also an evacuation site, but Shiraitodai Elementary School and Fuchu 2nd Junior High School are also local evacuation sites. But do you know where Shiraitodai Elementary School and Fuchu 2nd Junior High School actually are? Please try to visit these schools to confirm their location. The university is also planning to hold some more serious evacuation drills in the spring.

２．CEFR-J Reading Test

We will be holding the first CEFR-J Reading Test trial between the 29th of January (Monday) and the 2nd of February (Friday). I know some people may feel frustrated that the university somewhat forced you into cooperating. I’m sorry! But we ask for your cooperation and your understanding of the meaning of this project.

The purpose of this project is for the university to create our own proficiency tests for our 28 major languages. Since we are still in the preparation stages, there are not many questions, and we had little choice but to have you all take the test at the same time. Because of this, unfortunately, the examinations ended up being scheduled anywhere from 1st period to 6th period, but we will try to improve this for the future. Thank you again for your cooperation.

３．Campus Membership for Major Museums and Art Galleries

In addition to our existing membership with Fuchu Art Museum, from January this year, we have also joined the University Partnership Campus Members program with the following museums and art galleries. This is all thanks to the support of the Student Support Association. If you present your student ID card, you can enter the permanent exhibitions for free. Please visit these museums if you have a chance.

Tokyo National Museum
National Museum of Art
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo
The National Art Center, Tokyo
National Film Archive
National Crafts Museum（Located in Kanazawa）
Fuchu Art Museum

Please use the following link for further details:
https://www.tufs.ac.jp/student/facility/museum.html

４．Renting out the Campus

As you may know, our campus is often used externally for examination venues or for shooting commercials and TV shows. Of course, they pay to use our campus, and the revenue for this year was around 40,000,000 yen. This revenue is used to improve your educational environment, such as improving the gymnasium facilities and classrooms, so please forgive any inconvenience this may cause. By the way, Hidetoshi Nishijima was at our university this week filming a drama. That’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?

５．About the Common Test for University Admissions

This year, TUFS is a Supplementary Examination Venue for the Common Test for University Admissions for the Eastern Japan region. Please be aware that the campus will be closed between the 26th of January (Friday – preparation day) to the 28th of January (Sunday).

That’s all for today. I know the Research and Lecture Building is cold, but please try to find a spot that’s nice and warm.