Message from the President

Creating Positive Power from Diversity and Contributing to Intercultural Coexistence

As a leading institution in the education and research of languages, cultures and societies of the world, the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies takes a serious interest in safeguarding and enhancing the richness and potential of human diversity. We have been making persistent efforts to deepen our understanding of the languages, cultures and societies that comprise this human diversity and also to train professionals who can serve as mediators between people with different backgrounds. As the world becomes smaller and the interaction among different parts of the world intensifies, there is a rapidly increasing need for accurate and deep understanding of cultural differences and for those with the ability to mediate interaction among different people. This need reinforces the highly valuable expertise that TUFS provides in the study of linguistic and cultural diversity.

It is our hope, not only to contribute to mediating and coordinating functions, but to take on a leading role in creating positive power derived from human diversity to lead the world into a brighter future. There are many “differences” in the world, including differences of language, culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, and wealth. In order to overcome all these disparities, it is essential to increase mutual awareness, to deepen understanding of the sources and mechanisms for the differences, and to foster mutual respect. This may not be an easy path, but I believe that we can accomplish this and generate productive energy from this very diversity we have among people in the world.

This is the kind of intercultural coexistence we seek. Instead of choosing between exclusion and assimilation, we need to seek a third way of embracing and working with diversity. Our ability to find this third way will determine what kind of future we will be living in. It is a core mission of TUFS to explore ways in education, research, and social programs to realize intercultural coexistence by generating creative power from diversity. I will be devoting my efforts to strengthen our institutional potential to achieve that goal.