【Important notice】Cancellation of the 138th Graduation Ceremony Due to the Growing Effects of Novel Coronavirus Infection

To undergraduate and graduate students graduating in March and their families

The novel coronavirus epidemic that started last December has seen an increasing number of cases of infection in Japan and the situation is changing constantly. Hosei University set up a crisis response headquarters on Feb. 19 to deal with this epidemic. Through information gathering from inside and outside the university and discussions on the university’s policy and response, a decision was made to cancel the 138th Graduation Ceremony scheduled for March 24.

While there has been no novel coronavirus infection reported among the university’s students and personnel, the number of confirmed cases of infection is increasing in Japan and prospects remain dim for any improvement in this situation. The Opinions on Concrete Measures for Implementing the Basic Policy on Responding to the Novel Coronavirus Infection issued on Feb. 24 by the experts’ panel on measures to deal with the epidemic set up by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare advised that close face-to-face contact (at arm’s length), conversation and other contact for a certain period of time, and going to places involving interaction with a large number of people should be avoided as much as possible. The university’s graduation ceremony is participated in by over 10,000 people from Japan and abroad, including the graduating students and their families, and it is one of the biggest ceremonies among Japanese universities. If infection occurs among the participants, this will seriously affect not only those present, but also the new life of many students from April.

There is no doubt that the graduation ceremony is very important for the undergraduate and graduate students receiving their degrees, their families, and the university’s teaching staff, so it was an extremely difficult decision for us. However, for the sake of the health of the students and giving priority to our social responsibility to prevent the spread of the epidemic, we had to make the truly painful decision to cancel the graduation ceremony this year. We hope for your understanding.

I believe there are students from China who will be graduating in March but who are still unable to return to Japan after their home visits. There are also those who are here in Japan worrying about their families back in China. I hope for mutual assistance by people both in Japan and other countries to help them return to peaceful normal life, so they can begin a new life full of hope as soon as possible.

As to the details of the method of conferment of academic degrees and other related matters, these will be announced on the university’s website or through notices to be disseminated to students around March 6. Please check this information as well.

Yuko Tanaka
President, Hosei University
February 27, 2020