Kyoto Seika University

“SEIKA renounces all the conventional values of the past like a blank canvas. We are creating a new university imbued with the spirit of freedom and autonomy where all faculty members and students are respected first of all as people.”

Seiichi Okamoto, SEIKA’s first president, envisioned the creation of an entirely new kind of university education, passionately advocating the concept of a university based on the spirit of freedom and autonomy.

Kyoto Seika University（SEIKA） was founded on the principles laid out in the Foundational Principles of Education proposed by its first President, Seiichi Okamoto. Staff and teachers who agreed wholeheartedly with Okamoto’s Memorandum on Foundational Education Principles committed their support and in 1968 Kyoto Seika University (then Kyoto Seika College) opened.

Kyoto Seika College bases its education on principles of great respect and regard for humanity. These principles uphold the Constitution of Japan and Fundamental Law of Education, and are also essential to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Kyoto Seika College does not educate through any specified religion. However it respects the truths sought by many religions, and their ethos of sincerity and love towards humanity.

Students will be taught to respect teachers. This is because without respect for teachers one cannot undergo character formation or academic training. Further, through education by teachers we foster love and respect for our parents and neighbors. The affection and responsibility of teachers to their students must be without limit, as that of parent to child. Both staff and teachers bear some further responsibility for education outside of the classroom.

Students’ liberty and independence on campus is respected and that ethos is cultivated. Accordingly, students must take responsibility for campus order. Shortcomings in respect and language will be rectified for a new era, and attitudes and language lacking dignity will be unacceptable within the College. All education in Kyoto Seika College has a responsibility for the expansion of human history and contributes to the formation of humanity striving its utmost in Japan and the world.

As its basic educational principle, SEIKA will respect the autonomy of the individual. Our objective is to promote a spirit of independence, thereby contributing to human society by intellectual and artistic learning. In order to fulfill its objective of promoting the spirit of independence combined with social responsibility, SEIKA will always maintain awareness of the social viewpoint and contribute actively to society. SEIKA will form an organic community incorporating faculty members, students, and administration, and we will educate our students on the basis of human relationships within that community.

Foundational Principles of Kyoto Seika University:

• SEIKA will create outward-looking educational opportunities within Japan and abroad. To fulfill the ideal that human society should transcend national, religious and ethnic differences, it is essential that we develop human relationships that respect differences in values.
• SEIKA will not limit its education to the promotion of any specific religious or ideological viewpoints. However, we will respect universal values which human beings have cherished through history, and the spirit of trust and love.
• SEIKA will offer an education that promotes human independence and meaningful co-existence, by basing its approach on the real problems faced by contemporary society. Formation and management of the university’s intellectual resources must be organized in a way that makes a positive contribution nationally and internationally.
• SEIKA’s education and research, which aims to provide constructive criticism and contribution to contemporary society, must be guaranteed by university governance which always upholds social responsibilities and faces social realities.
• SEIKA will be governed with egalitarianism among faculty members, students, and administration, and the values consciously chosen by the community members will be equally respected. The exclusive promotion of any particular principle would be an oppression of individual freedom preventing development of true independence, and is therefore rejected.
• SEIKA’s community will be improved by the self-enlightenment of the community members, and mutual constructive criticism, creating new educational and research potential. Undignified attitudes and speech are unacceptable. No discrimination will be tolerated.
• All members of this community are expected to uphold the above principles and have the right to participate in formulating new concepts of what a university can be.