Graduation and Entrance Ceremonies at Soka University, Soka Women’s College and Soka Schools
Incoming junior high students at Tokyo Soka Schools (Tokyo, April 8, 2022)
During March and April 2022, the Soka Schools in Tokyo and Kansai and Soka University and Soka Women’s College in Tokyo held graduation and entrance ceremonies at their respective campuses. Daisaku Ikeda, founder of these institutions, sent messages and poems in celebration.
Graduation ceremonies were held for the Tokyo and Kansai Soka Schools and Sapporo Soka Kindergarten on March 16 and for the 48th class of Soka University and the 36th class of Soka Women’s College on March 18. For the two-year women’s college, the students entered and graduated amid the pandemic, with the majority of classes held online and extra-curricular activities cancelled. However, students recounted that because of these difficulties, they were able to cherish the exchanges they had with fellow students all the more. In his messages, Founder Ikeda called on graduates to create value in the workplace, community and society, and become “pillars of wisdom.” He also called on them to be pioneers of human revolution through efforts to continually develop themselves, and to courageously and with perseverance help create a network of global citizens dedicated to peace, culture and education.
Soka University and Soka Women’s College graduation held at the central auditorium (Hachioji, Tokyo, March 18, 2022)
On April 8, Soka Schools in Tokyo and Kansai, and Soka Kindergarten in Sapporo, Hokkaido, welcomed incoming students at campus ceremonies.
The week before on April 2, Soka University held an entrance ceremony to welcome students of its 52nd graduating class and the 38th graduating class of Soka Women’s College. The cherry trees on campus were in magnificent bloom as students made their way to the Ikeda Auditorium. Soka University also welcomed Masashi Suzuki as its new president.
Founder Ikeda’s message to the students included a poem in which he encouraged them to transform hardships into strength, to take flight and achieve new heights. He urged the incoming students, which include many international students, to create friendships and imbue themselves with the school’s never-give-up spirit. He encouraged them to develop “wings of scholarship and value-creation,” enabling them to bring together the global citizens of the world.
International students pose for a commemorative graduation photo in the central auditorium stairway (March 18, 2022)
[Adapted from articles in the March 17 and 19, and April 3 and 9, 2022, issues of the Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan]
