October 8, 2021

Rikkyo University

President Renta Nishihara

Dear all students,

The declaration of a state of emergency was lifted on Thursday, September 30, and the restriction level has been switched to Level 2 since Monday, October 4. The semi-emergency coronavirus spread prevention measures has not been issued since then, and there is a remarkable improvement in the number of infected people. Therefore, we will switch the restriction level to Level 1 from Monday, October 18 and resume in-person classes on campus (online classes to be also conducted), while paying the utmost attention to the viral expansion. Extra-curricular activities are encouraged online, but in-person activities are granted provided that the utmost attention will be paid to the viral expansion. We provide the support of online classes for the students who wouldn’t be able to come to campus for health reasons or enter Japan from overseas, so please check the detail on the website of academic affairs.

The activities on campus will be widely available, which all of us are looking forward. I want all the students to enjoy your learning and life on campus as much as possible. However, it is important to prepare for the so-called 6th wave of COVID-19. Even if you are vaccinated against COVID-19, please continue basic preventive measures including wearing non-woven fabric masks, washing and sanitizing hands and social distancing.

Due to the viral expansion of COVID-19, our classes and many activities had to be conducted mostly online for one year and nine months except for some period of this spring. During this period, we have noticed the potential to make use of online. On the other hand, however, because our in-person activities have been restricted for a long time, we are also concerned about the loss of a number of social abilities through direct interaction that you share with others over time and space, which is supposed to be nurtured through the exchanges with others. By resuming in-person classes and many activities, we may have to, once again, learn to gain the abilities of interpersonal communication or the skills to sense what others intend or think. There may be a case, in which you would feel worried about the exchanges with others in person. I am beginning to think that we will need to resume in-person classes as soon as possible, so that we may eradicate the anxiety and regain our original abilities and skills.

I am confident that we would be able to respond adequately to this new stage, because many of us are being vaccinated and have learned how to behave well socially. I also would like all the students to think how you could make in-person classes or extra-curricular activities better and safer. Let us continue the learning of true liberal arts together in this new stage filled with a lot of hope.