Rikkyo University

When Rikkyo University was founded, Japan’s primary goal was to catch up with the advanced Western nations and become materially affluent. Education was also influenced by this materialistic ideology. There was a strong trend towards providing a utilitarian education, using knowledge and technology as tools to gain material wealth and get ahead in the world. Rikkyo University was founded as a clear departure from this trend. The university was conceived not simply as a place for students to acquire knowledge, but rather as a place where they could seek the truth in order to step into an unknown world. The university formulated a policy of nurturing students who have the ability to not only unravel the unknown, but to seek out the meaning of the mysteries revealed and make use of the answers to benefit human society.