On April 3, Josai International University’s entrance ceremony, the opening ceremony for the Faculty of Nursing, and the ceremony conferring honorary doctorate degrees for 2012 were held concomitantly at the Sport Culture Center on the Togane Campus in Chiba. Many guests and parents participated in these ceremonies to congratulate new students as they set off for bright futures.

In her address, Chancellor Noriko Mizuta stated “you are the hopes of Japan and the world. Please nurture broad perspectives for the world and the future, treasure the times to talk to others, and enjoy your youth filled with intelligent stimulations on campus”. President Yanagisawa also gave a greeting, saying that “with your bursting energy and burning motivations, I hope that you will cultivate strong human capabilities in your minds and bodies and spend fulfilling student lives without regrets”.

The Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Nursing in the Faculty of Nursing were open this year. Dean Kanae Iida of the Faculty of Nursing presented the 120 new students in the Faculty of Nursing with white gowns.
    Following the entrance ceremony and the opening ceremony for the Faculty of Nursing, the ceremony conferring honorary doctorate degrees was held in the Sport Culture Center on the Togane Campus in Chiba.

Honorary doctorate degrees were presented by Josai to Dr. E. Ann Kaplan, who made great contributions to Josai’s international exchange activities and is an ex-head of the Humanities Institute in the State University of New York at Stony Brook in the United States, and Dr. Louis Lemkow, who is an ex-head of L'Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals in Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain.

Dr. Ann Kaplan is not only a pioneering researcher in the field of film criticism in feminist theories but has also devoted herself to the development of visual expressions in the new media generation as the president of the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. She has also made great contributions in the enhancement of Josai’s women’s studies, such as planning and hosting the first and second World Women University Presidents Forums as well as being a visiting professor in the Women's Studies Department of the Graduate School of Humanities for four years from 1994 on.

Dr. Louis Lemkow devoted himself to expanding and developing Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and made great contributions to this university by promoting cultural and academic exchanges, international cooperation, and international education. In addition he has also worked on a number of international research projects, which are highly regarded on an international scale. He has devoted himself to concluding an exchange agreement between Josai and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and made great contributions in promoting Josai’s international education by supporting a number of exchange students and research programs.

During these ceremonies, honorary doctorate degrees, medals, and commemorative trophies were presented by Chancellor Mizuta to these personalities honor their past international academic research activities and great contributions to Josai. Children of faculty members of Josai University presented celebratory bouquets.