"Love yourself, love others, and serve others" - Education that cultivates the Eiwa spirit

　Toyo Eiwa Girls' School was founded in 1884 by Martha J. Cartmell, a missionary sent by the Canadian Methodist Women's Mission. At the time in Japan, the concept of women's education had not yet taken root, so it was one of the first schools to provide education for women. Currently, Toyo Eiwa Girls' School has approximately 3,000 students studying from kindergarten to graduate school, and the kindergarten and graduate schools are open to both genders.

　Toyo Eiwa University opened as a four-year university in 1989. The founding spirit of the university is "reverence and service to God" based on the Gospel of Mark.

"Respect God, know that God loves you, love yourself and others, and serve others. That is reverence and service to God. Furthermore, as a university, we also uphold the attitude of 'For someone's sake, let me begin first.' At our university, we have summed up these things in the phrase 'Eiwa Spirits' and have reflected them in our education.

Our education is based on Christianity, but we do not force Christianity on others. However, I believe that the Christian idea of ​​taking care of yourself is very important for living in the society of the future. I want you to understand this during your four years at our university and become who you are and who you want to be."

　One aspect of the education that fosters the Eiwa spirit is the curriculum that cultivates collaboration skills. Through classes that improve communication skills, Christian-related subjects, and optional worship services, students are encouraged to focus on loving themselves and serving others.

　Another feature of the university is its emphasis on both liberal arts education and specialized education.

"Liberal arts are the foundation of life. At our university, students acquire liberal arts knowledge in four areas, focusing on human sciences, clinical psychology, childcare, and international relations or communication, and have produced women who can play active roles in society. Furthermore, students receive specialized education from their first year, honing both their liberal arts knowledge and expertise over the course of four years."

　Small-group seminars are also offered throughout the four years of the program. Each seminar is small, with around 4 to 1 students, and faculty members provide personal support to students.

"Our university's attitude of valuing each individual is also reflected in our seminars. At Toyo Eiwa, all students belong to a seminar from their first to fourth year. From the Freshman Seminar in their first year, which cultivates the basics of university learning such as how to gather information, reading comprehension, logical thinking and writing, and presentation skills, to the Basic Seminar in their second year, and to exercises and graduation research in their third and fourth years, students develop an independent approach to their studies through seminars. Another unique feature of the school is that the seminar professors act as advisors and support the students.

　The knowledge and collaborative skills gained through classes and seminars are further honed through practical opportunities in collaboration with the local community.

"In order to help students not just listen in class but to learn and put into practice, many community contribution activities are being carried out by students themselves. For example, in a collaborative project with Midori Ward, Yokohama City, where the university is located, we held a Midori Ward version of the "Mini Munich" event held in Munich, Germany, called "Children's Town Development Event," and we also held picture book readings in three languages, Japanese, English, and Korean, at the nearby Midori Library.
Picture book reading session

　Other examples include "Welcome to Eiwa Forest! Exciting plastic arts play in a forest full of greenery," where parents and children can enjoy the forest on campus together as part of the "Yokohama Green Up Plan" promoted by Yokohama City, and "Children's Square," an event for interacting with local children. Students from the Department of Child Care and Child Studies participate in these activities, learning about child care through practice.

"Students are actively and independently involved in various projects. This is a reflection of the practical skills they have acquired at our university."

　Career support is also provided from the first year so that students who have cultivated the Eiwa spirit and practical skills can realize who they want to be. The content is varied, including company introductions, interview guidance, and interactions with working adults.

"The purpose of having students think about their careers from their first year is to get them thinking about graduation as an exit strategy from an early stage. This allows them to think about how to make the most of their four years, while also looking beyond that. Thanks to this support, the employment rate for the March 1 graduates is around 4%. Basically, they go on to find work in the industry of their choice, with the airline industry being particularly popular. Around 2024 students from the March 3 graduates have found employment in the airline industry.
In addition, in surveys conducted after graduation, nearly 8% of students every year answer that they are glad they studied at Toyo Eiwa University and entered society.
Exciting creative play

Cultivating the skills required for the coming age. Working hard to collaborate with high schools

　The school has placed emphasis on language education and information education since its inception, and this emphasis remains unchanged today.

"Although we are a liberal arts university, we believe that the ability to handle information is important as part of the liberal arts. It would be problematic to enter society without knowing about information, and the idea that you don't need to be knowledgeable about information just because you are in the liberal arts is not valid. We teach with the hope that students will enter society with a minimum understanding of IT and data science. Our data science program, which consists of multiple subjects, has been certified by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "Mathematics, Data Science, and AI Education Program Certification System (Literacy Level)."

　Information education is not limited to classes such as "Basic Information Science" and "Information Processing Exercises." There have been cases where teachers who are knowledgeable about AI have set up club-like activities outside of class, allowing students to deepen their learning. In addition to learning the basics, the school has an environment where motivated students can tackle more specialized content.

　In terms of language education, we cover a wide variety of languages ​​other than English, and offer classes so that students can learn the languages ​​of 11 partner universities in 26 countries around the world.

"Our school was founded by Canadian missionaries, so we have placed emphasis on language learning since the beginning. When students enroll, they are divided into levels and study in small groups with students of similar language ability. More and more students are studying abroad while enrolled or going to universities overseas after graduation, and this can be said to be a tradition of the entire Toyo Eiwa School."

　President Hoshino says that while Toyo Eiwa University places great emphasis on language studies, the university's image has not yet penetrated high schools, and that this is an issue. The "Toyo Eiwa University English Recitation Contest" and the "Korean Language Contest for High School Students" serve as opportunities to improve this situation.

"The next English Recitation Contest will be the 11th. In the 10th competition, students were asked to recite a passage from a speech by J.K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, and act as if they were the original author. Every year, around 300 high school students from around the country apply, and around 30 are selected for the final round to come to our university.
"By hosting the contest, we have been able to increase the opportunities for high school students to learn about the efforts our university is making in English education. One of the major by-products of the contest is that the image of 'English-Japanese' is becoming more widespread."
Group photo of the English Recitation Contest

　In addition to the language contest, Toyo Eiwa University also puts effort into high school-university collaboration. It has signed agreements with 18 high schools, including Yokosuka Gakuin High School, and holds on-site lectures and information sessions, as well as entrance exams for "school recommendation-type selection high school-university collaboration partner schools."

"We want to accept students from high schools that have a good understanding of our university, so we have begun to put more effort into high school-university collaboration. All of the high schools are understanding of our education, and we are grateful that they send us students who want to study at our university. In particular, our education, which values ​​each individual student, and the close and caring relationship between students and faculty, are highly praised by high schools.
For example, we have students from partner universities participate in a work experience program in librarianship at their university library. Surveys show that they are very satisfied with the program, with many saying that it has increased their interest in working and their motivation to learn. Staff accompany the students throughout the program, so they record how they do and provide feedback to their high school teachers. The records are also returned to the participating high school students, so I think it will be an opportunity for them to look back on what they felt more objectively."

Covering weaknesses and enhancing strengths: The future vision of Toyo Eiwa University

　Toyo Eiwa University currently has two faculties and four departments: the Faculty of Human Sciences, Department of Human Sciences and Department of Child Care and Education, and the Faculty of International Studies, Department of International Studies and Department of International Communication. However, they are planning to reorganize into one faculty and three departments by the 2 academic year.

"When I became president of our university two years ago, I first met with all the faculty members to summarize our university's strengths and weaknesses. Based on that, I analyzed the situation and am formulating a plan for reform, focusing on how to cover our weaknesses and enhance our strengths."

　The weaknesses cited were a lack of public relations and the inconvenient location due to the school's beautiful natural environment. Because the school did not proactively promote its educational content, it was not clear what students could learn there. Furthermore, many students found it inconvenient that the campus was located far from the station.

"Regarding the bus service connecting the station and the university, we received many requests not only through student surveys but also through the suggestion box addressed to the president. The university shuttle bus for students only operated in the afternoons originally, so students who had first or second periods had no choice but to use the local bus. Therefore, we calculated the number of students taking first and second periods each semester and started running the shuttle bus in the mornings with enough frequency to accommodate all students.
Although the provision of a bus service has helped to make up for the weakness of the location to some extent, public relations is still weak. For example, our university has a track record of training clinical psychologists at the graduate school, and one of its attractions is that students can obtain the qualification to take the exam to become a licensed psychologist, but the previous department names did not adequately promote this to the outside world. In order to properly inform students of the content of the education we offer, we will set up courses in each department, clarify the direction and curriculum of each course, and reorganize so that the content of the studies and the career paths that can be aimed for can be conveyed, and we will focus on public relations activities.

　The new names of the three departments will be the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Comprehensive Psychology, Department of Child Education, and Department of International Studies (tentative names, currently under construction). By consolidating the departments into one faculty, cross-disciplinary learning and cooperation between faculty members will be strengthened.

"Our university's strength is an education that values ​​each individual. We will further strengthen this through the reorganization. With two faculties, the faculty council was divided into two, and there were times when they checked each other. It was not uncommon for some content to overlap, resulting in waste. So we decided on a single faculty structure, so that we could all come together under the same roof and provide an education that values ​​students.
The reorganization currently being planned will create a "cross-disciplinary program" that will make it easier than ever to study across fields. Students will be able to study freely and without hesitation, and what's more, it will count as graduation credits. We are currently preparing to realize this system in 2026.

　Finally, when asked what message he would like to convey to the students taking the entrance exams and their parents, President Hoshino replied, "I want you to become people who can be successful in their own way wherever they are in society."

"At our university, we aim to provide students with the liberal arts and expertise they need to live life true to themselves. However, I hope that students don't overthink their time at university; instead, they should enjoy themselves by devoting themselves to club activities, community support, projects, and so on. In this way, they will gain more and more experience, and become women who can play an active role in society in their own way."

　Toyo Eiwa University cultivates the love that values ​​oneself and others, as well as the ability and expertise to live in society. I cannot help but hope that this reorganization will further enrich the quality of its education.