Established in 1953 in Mitaka, Tokyo, International Christian University (ICU) is one of the few universities in Japan to have a College of Liberal Arts, and it has focused on liberal arts education since its founding. Classroom buildings and facilities are located on a wooded campus of about 620,000 square meters. Despite its campus size, what makes ICU unique is its relatively small number of students — each year is comprised of just over 600 students — making it possible to have small group learning.
The Japan Times interviewed ICU President Shoichiro Iwakiri and Chair of the ICU Board of Trustees Hirotaka Takeuchi on Aug. 5 to discuss ICU’s role in education in the time of globalization, along with other topics.
The following is an edited excerpt of the interview.