Nara National Institute of Higher Education and Research

Great aspirations and possibilities for a small university – Aims of the two universities under the umbrella of the Nara National Institute of Higher Education and Research –

Irrespective of the relatively small scale of countries such as Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sweden, and in spite of their populations being a fraction that of Japan, they have unique visions and strong international links. They are characterized by excellence in their academic cultures, economies, and international relations. The true value in their businesses and universities lies not in the number they employ nor in their financial muscle, but the high quality and originality characterizing the activities of their company employees, their teaching staff, and their students.
The California Institute of Technology, for example, has about 300 members of teaching staff, but there are more than one thousand graduates. The institute is one of the foremost in the world.
The Nara University of Education and the Nara Women’s University were founded on long traditions as teacher and girls high school teaching colleges. In 1949 they were reborn as universities under a new system, continuing to provide original education and research opportunities. In 2022, they merged their corporate statuses and began life as two institutions under the umbrella of the Nara National Institute of Higher Education and Research. The two universities, whilst having a relatively small number of teaching staff – about one hundred and two hundred, respectively, endeavour to promote levels of excellence in human resource education and research activities by both teaching staff and students both focusing on their mutual strengths as well as differences, supporting one another, and strengthening their relationship with the commitment and features characteristic found in close partnerships, and harnessing the potential benefits to be gained from links with bodies outside the university.
Much of humanity today faces great difficulties, including international tensions resulting from global climate change and epidemics, political and economic setbacks. These demand wise responses from national governments, organizations, and individuals, who need to take a comprehensive view. Fortunately, the Nara University of Education and the Nara Women’s University, whilst small in scale, have the benefits of being amalgamated and, as such, like universities which feature more comprehensive programs, offer a wide range of subjects, from literature and the social sciences to the natural sciences and engineering and technology. If we can exploit these characteristics, not only will students be able to specialize more deeply, but to study in ways which cross over traditional boundaries between disciplines, developing a more comprehensive knowledge, one that is deeper and broader. As such, the two universities will be able to accomplish their missions in bringing along women who will be leaders with brilliant futures as teachers and in other areas of society. Furthermore, I hope teachers and students with a broader knowledge will together, in enhancing education, and by raising the levels of research and creativity, open up new avenues of possibility in study and society, and contribute to the future, both regionally, and globally.
On the other hand, it is rare good fortune, be it anywhere in the world, to be able to spend ones university days in the Nara area, one which has been created from over a millennia of history. As well has having fine temples, shrines, and Buddhist images, and an enviable lifestyle and natural environment, here one is aware of the area’s heritage, from Shotoku Taishi and Ganjin Wajo to the remarkable richness of the Japanese culture and learning which have developed here as a result of international exchanges. All this will, I hope, provide signposts to life in the our world in the 21st century.
Moreover, there is no better place for teaching staff and students at both of institutions, whose predecessors were the teaching college and the girls high school teaching college, to study and to deepen their knowledge of the essence of education. As in the thesis on education by Oka Kiyoshi, I hope we will tirelessly seek to understand what education should be, and make every effort to raise standards in learning and education, including ways in which women’s education can be developed and improved in the future.
In order to strengthen cooperation with seven organizations in the Nara area, including universities, colleges of technology, museums, and institutes of archaeology, the organization and the two universities under the one umbrella, has been promoting the Nara Colleges, a network which links institutions. We were originally a hub for coordination between the organizations, but building on that, and in concert with Nara Prefecture and Nara City, we created a platform aimed at linking with, and encouraging collaboration between, neighboring businesses, and are making even greater efforts aimed at to becoming an international centre for innovations in study and research.
Finally, I would kindly ask everyone who as anything to do with either institution or related organizations for their consideration and warm support for this institution and affiliated organizations.