Message

ZEN University is a new university dedicated to making a significant positive impact on today's global society. Through internships in collaboration with companies and seminars by project implementers, ZEN University offers students with diverse opportunities to organically connect with society. Regardless of the career paths students choose after graduation, face-to-face communication is crucial. Without it, social progress, human happiness, and a sense of fulfillment cannot be achieved. At ZEN University, students seeking to enrich their lives through an online environment will not only receive on-demand instruction from nationally and internationally recognized faculty members, but will also be guided through small-group discussions by faculty members who are also outstanding researchers. This educational environment will fosters the acquisition of Japanese language proficiency and effective communication skills.

In today's world, where AI is a ubiquitous term, accurate information exchange is essential. There is an increasing demand for individuals who understand and can operate IT, including AI. Cultivating talents capable of fulfilling this role is what we at ZEN University consider our mission. By offering online classes, ZEN University will free up more time for students, allowing them to gain a variety of experiences with researchers and companies through which they will acquire a good balance of IT competencies and decision-making skills to take on the complex challenges that abound in society. I believe that ZEN University is the place to acquire the true power to shape and take responsibility for the world of the 21st century.

I find the concept of Zen University to be bold and imaginative, potentially disruptive in addressing some enduring challenges faced by traditional higher education institutions such as barriers to access and the difficulty of helping students gain competencies which prepare them to solve vexing problems and to establish a solid foundation for lifelong learning.

Zen University plans to be an online university that leverages the power of digital tools and artificial intelligence to offer students the opportunity to gain mastery in mathematics and digital skills to solve complex problems. Through proposed partnerships with companies, public sector organizations and nongovernmental organizations, students will benefit from apprenticeship based and online learning, therefore optimizing the opportunities to develop procedural as well as conceptual knowledge. More importantly, in a program that will be delivered to a great extent, online, students will gain the self-management skills to learn independently, in this way obtaining the essential skills for lifelong learning. Of particular value is the fact that the courses offered by Zen university will be available to students living anywhere in Japan, at a lower cost than the existing residential programs. This will democratize access to higher education, overcoming the barriers resulting from ability to pay, the need to earn a living and location of residence.

I have collaborated with some of the members of the founding team of Zen University and, on that basis, believe that this ambitious undertaking will be executed with high levels of quality, and with great attention to establishing protocols that will ensure continuous and rapid improvement in search of delivering the greatest value to students, so that in gaining access to higher education, they can expand their own freedoms as well as gain the skills to collaborate with others in improving the communities of which they are a part.

I salute the founders of Zen University for this audacious idea and look forward to following up on its execution in the years to come.