Message from the Dean

Japanese society has gone through dramatic structural changes due to a low birth rate, longevity, globalization and energy issues. This has not only impacted on industries and businesses, but has had far reaching effects. Now it is more important than ever for specialists such as certified public accountants, licensed tax accountants, lawyers, consultants and civil servants who are specialists in public administration to understand the essence of each change and come-up with appropriate solutions for these. To be a leader in this new era, it is more necessary than ever to be armed with theory.

Since its inception, the Graduate School of Business and Commerce has strived to train researchers who can make contributions from an academic perspective to the economic community. Our contributions extend beyond the realm of university faculty and researchers in scientific institutions. “Professionals, with the mind of a researcher,” are the kind of leaders we would like to send out into the world to play key roles in the governance of the economic community. By this, we mean, individuals who are not trapped in conventional wisdom and socially accepted ideas, who can base their logic and reasoning on rational empiricism to investigate phenomena and at the same time can apply their knowledge and scientific thinking to issues in the real world. Yukichi Fukuzawa referred to this kind of a person as someone who has a “scientific mind” or “Jitsugaku” in Japanese. (See https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/about/ for further explanation.)

It should be noted that we have the pleasure of having many government sponsored scholars and students from overseas in our school. We also have the pleasure of having scholars or students, Master's Program in Taxation Policy and Management. We have courses with lectures in English for this purpose. We also have an exchange program through our collaboration with leading Business Schools in the world, to train highly skilled specialists for the global stage. As a representative of Japan, we also participate in the CEMS Double Doctoral Degree Program, in collaboration with the Graduate School of Economics and the Graduate School of System Design and Management (Keio SDM).

There are different ways of being admitted to the Graduate school of Business and Commerce. You can take the General Entrance Examination if you are either a graduate of a university in Japan or an international student. The other option is to take the Admissions Office (AO) Entrance Examination. The AO Entrance Exam system is designed for individuals who have graduated with outstanding marks from a department of Keio University, individuals who have successfully passed the Certified Public Accountant Examination (CPA) (inclusive of the short answer examination) or the Certified Public Tax Accountant Exam, the National Civil Service Examination (Type I/Type II or Administrative or General Duties) , or those individuals who have passed the Local Civil Servant Upper-Level Examination or the equivalent to the Advanced-Level Local Civil Service Examination and have a minimum of 3 years work experience as a civil servant in a government office or local public organization, as well as those who have had experience working in a research position at a research institute. We hope that this will create an environment where students from various backgrounds can interact, inspire and elevate each other intellectually.

Keio University’s Graduate School of Business and Commerce anticipates great changes in the 21st century. Our unremitting effort to improve and progress in research and education continues.

Dean of the Graduate School of Business and Commerce
Eri Yokota

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