Tuition Revision for Education and Research Environment Improvement

Message from the President

To prospective students and parents for the 2019 academic year and beyond

　Since our founding as the only national arts university in Japan, Tokyo University of the Arts has been conducting education and research activities on a global level, nurturing a great number of outstanding artists and contributing to the succession and development of Japanese art and culture through extensive and diverse artistic activities and social practices both in Japan and overseas.

　In recent years, Tokyo University of the Arts has secured its position as a national center that plays an important part in national strategies, as illustrated by the fact that it is the only arts university selected as a “Top Global University” and “Center of Innovation (COI)” Site.

　Our students have also made remarkable achievements. For example, in September 2018, a trio consisting of Kosuke Akimoto (piano) and Yu Ito (cello) from the Graduate School of Music and a graduate of the same school, Kyoko Ogawa (violin), won first prize in the Piano Trio category of the ARD International Music Competition in Munich, a notoriously formidable competition steeped in history and tradition.

　The film Asako I & II (Netemo Sametemo), which was directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, a second-generation graduate of the Graduate School of Film and New Media Department of Film Production and involved other graduates from the same department as key staff members, achieved the remarkable feat of Official Selection for the Competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

　Moreover, our students and alumni have made significant contributions to society, such as supporting regional revitalization and earthquake reconstruction efforts. For instance, the statue of Yakushi Nyorai Buddha, which sits in the main hall that was reconstructed in the national historic site of Enichiji Temple in Bandai, Fukushima Prefecture, was restored over a period of about three years by the Sculpture Laboratory of the Conservation Department in the Graduate School of Fine Arts under the direction of Professor Satoshi Yabuuchi.

　On the 130th anniversary of our founding in October 2017, we took the opportunity to conduct institution-wide discussions on our future direction for the next ten years, which culminated in the formulation of the “Tokyo Geidai NEXT 10 Vision.”

? Be innovative???–?? Keep challenging to stay innovative and unique
? Be diverse?? –?? Keep providing diverse and inspiring environment
? Be international?? –?? Keep presenting Japanese art culture to the global community

　In the next 10 years, we will push forward toward these three visions.

　To fully demonstrate our capability and attraction as a globally unparalleled comprehensive arts university and rigorously promote the cultivation of outstanding artists who can play an active role in the world—not only in the artistic fields of fine art, music, and film, but also through our new Graduate School of Global Arts established in 2016—we strive to enhance, to a greater extent, our educational research environment and support system for our students under the “Tokyo Geidai NEXT 10 Vision.”

　Specifically, we will focus on the following:
　(1) Promote initiatives to attract prominent artists from overseas, as well as diverse specialists and practitioners
　(2) Expand opportunities to acquire international experience through means such as sending students to overseas universities, art festivals, and music festivals.
　(3) Enhance practical education and research programs in art organizations, businesses, etc.
　(4) Enhance the university’s education and research environment to ensure thorough, individualized instruction and small-group learning
　(5) Expand specialist staff who support hands-on guidance and practical training in workshops, studios, etc.
　(6) Provide world-class large workshop facilities, musical instruments, and filming and editing equipment

　To steadily implement these initiatives, we have decided to increase our tuition fees. Annual tuition for undergraduate and Practical Music Course students enrolling from the 2019 academic year as well as graduate students enrolling from the 2020 academic year will increase from the current rate of 535,800 yen to 642,960 yen.

　We will work even harder to improve the quality of our education and the standard of our student services while striving to enhance our financial support for students, including the establishment of new scholarships. We appreciate your kind understanding in this matter.

Kazuki Sawa
President, Tokyo University of the Arts