News & Topics

Hello everyone. I am pleased to greet you as a fellow alumnus of Nanzan University's Center for Japanese Studies (CJS). My name is Winibaldus Stefanus Mere. I am the Director of the Institute for Social Ethics, one of our three main research institutes, alongside the Nanzan Institute for Religious and Culture and the Anthropological Institute.

Nearly 20 years after completing the Japanese courses at CJS in 1998, I returned to Nanzan University in the fall of 2018, having been admitted as a full-time Senior Research Fellow of the Institute for Social Ethics and as a faculty member of the Department of Law. Since early 2022, I have also been a member of the Executive Director, Board of Directors of the Nanzan School Corporation, responsible for the General Affairs and Future Planning Division.

Experiencing life at Nanzan both then as a student and now as a lecturer, researcher, and administrator has been a privilege, and I am grateful to the CJS for providing the essential and necessary conditions in terms of language skills and cultural understanding that have made this possible. Another reason to be grateful to the CJS is its persistent contribution to maintaining the international character of Nanzan University through the presence of foreign students and programs to accommodate their needs.

It is expected that this international character will continue to have a constructive impact on intercultural collaboration and communication beyond Nanzan University, particularly including other schools within the Nanzan School Corporation system. A noteworthy recent initiative toward this end is the so-called "Global Friends," an international collaborative program both online and in person between Nanzan University and Misono Girls' Junior and Senior High School (our Nanzan school) in Kanagawa Prefecture. Started in 2024, this program allows Misono students to experience our international character at Nanzan University, which includes visiting the Janssen International Residence and engaging in English conversation with our foreign students at CJS and Stella.

Besides people and programs, another international aspect that has gained increasing attention in recent years is infrastructure, as represented in our campus architectural buildings, designed in the 1960s by Czech-born architect Antonin Raymond. His unique architectural style at Nanzan Campus is characterized by a blend of international modernism, Japanese traditional values, and a deep sense of the natural landscape. By undergoing the Raymond Renovation Project from 2017 to 2021, Nanzan University received the 4th Infrastructure Maintenance Award from the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in November 2020, as well as the Architectural Institute of Japan (AIJ) Prize in the Practical Achievement Division in April 2024.

As Nanzan University commemorates the 60th anniversary of the "Yamazato Campus" (1964-2024) with a variety of events, our three research institutes jointly organized a two-day international interdisciplinary academic event (May 16-17, 2025) focused on Raymond's architecture under the common theme "The Past, Present, and Future of Nanzan Raymond Architecture: In Search of the Appropriate Attire (Dignity) of People and Nature." Its main aim, as stated in the Nanzan University President's policy for 2024, was to "create an event that communicates the history and beauty of the campus, which consists of Raymond architecture, to a wide range of people both in Japan and abroad, mainly to students."

We hope that all Nanzan graduates also, in one way or another, will commemorate this historical occasion and revive the memories of your remarkable contributions to Nanzan's International character through your presence in "time" and "space" within Yamazato Campus during a significant period of your life.

Winibaldus Stefanus Mere

Professor, Faculty of Law and Director of the Institute for Social Ethics