Temple University, Japan Campus (TUJ) held its 2019 commencement ceremony on Sunday, June 2 at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel, Tokyo. This commencement in Japan was attended by Ms. Carolyn Glassman, Minister-Counselor for Public Affairs, U.S. Embassy Tokyo and many other honored guests both from Japan and overseas. In a keynote speech, Amazon Japan President and TUJ Board of Overseers Emeritus Member Jasper Cheung said, “Focus on others and put their interests before your own, and your greatness will shine. Find your own voice, so you express freely and your personal leadership becomes yourself. Always Day 1, and be a passionate learner.”
Held for the first time in the new Reiwa era in Japan, the ceremony saw a diverse graduating class of 318 from the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degree programs. More than 100 of the graduates come from the U.S., with others coming from 26 countries and regions, including Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Brazil, Hong Kong, Australia, Philippines, UK, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Switzerland. The youngest graduate of the undergraduate program is 20 years old and the oldest is 51 years old, which makes our graduating student body remarkably diverse by age as well as background.
Founded in 1982 in Tokyo, TUJ, as the only four-year American university in Japan, has promoted globalization of Japanese higher education and continues to be committed to fostering students to become professionally active worldwide. In fall 2019, all programs at TUJ will move to the Showa Women’s University campus in Sangen-jaya, Setagaya Ward in Tokyo. The move is a part of the Super Global Campus project, the first of its kind in Japan, and will promote future U.S.-Japan university collaborations.
At the ceremony, two graduating student representatives, Hikari Hida, B.A., from Tokyo and Haruka Ubukata, Ms.Ed., from Kanagawa spoke on behalf of their fellow graduates of the undergraduate and graduate programs. They explored the different paths that had led them each to graduation, and expressed their heart-felt appreciation to all of their classmates, family, friends, and faculty for their warm and continuous support and encouragement over the years.
Total number of graduates in the TUJ Class of 2019: 318
- Associate of Arts: 2
- Bachelor of Arts / Bachelor of Science: 236
- Master of Laws: 23
- Master of Business Administration: 19
- Master of Science in Education: 37
- Doctor Philosophy in Education: 1
This TUJ ceremony was part of the 132nd commencement of Temple University , which took place on May 9 at Main Campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This year the combined commencement at Main Campus and TUJ honored 10,071 graduates, another record-high. The global graduating body represented 108 countries plus all 50 states of the U.S. and Washington, D.C. Founded in 1884, Temple University is a comprehensive public research university, and ranked in the 351-400 group of the top world universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019.