Message from the President
FWU on the Move
Board Chairperson and President
MUKAI Tsuyoshi
Throughout the long history of Fukuoka Women’s University (FWU), we have cherished a phrase in our college song -- ‘travelers seeking truth deep in the forest of learning’ -- and have identified ourselves as such. Unlike other women’s universities, FWU has a unique foundation story in that its origin derives from the eager call by Fukuoka’s female citizens for higher education and the corresponding vocational opportunities at the dawn of democracy. The university was thus founded in 1923 as Japan’s third public educational institute for women (the two preceding ones are national while FWU is prefectural). In 2023 we will celebrate our 100th anniversary and establish two Research Centers (“Leadership” and “Food Study”) to accelerate our academic activities and to make further contributions to the society.
While being proud of this background, we have been constantly adapting ourselves to contemporary milieus and social needs as one of the beacons in the field of female education. The most drastic of these developments came with our 2011 reform. Under the traditional motto of “Developing Female Leaders for the Next Generation”, FWU has been transformed into a brand new institute with an emphasis on four principal objectives: encourage critical thinking through practice, enhance communicative abilities, unify arts and sciences, and cultivate internationalization.
With the positive evaluation of our collaborative activities among students, faculty and support staff, FWU has now been placed among Japan’s top three women’s universities in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. If you want to benefit from our reforms and objectives, please come and join our academic guild and experience the discourse developed around the campus as well as in the classroom. Live together in the International House (NADESHIKO), singing the college song in chorus and enjoy cultural exchange with your international friends. Above all, please be assured that, during your time at FWU, we are prepared to assist and support you in any way that we can.