ABOUT US

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Hitotsubashi University began its life as the Commercial Training School (Shoho-Koshujo) in 1875 and was established by Arinori Mori in the central business district of Tokyo. Since that time, the University has adapted with the times and has evolved through a number of incarnations. In 1887, two years after the University had relocated to a new campus in Kanda-Hitotsubashi, it was renamed the Higher Commercial School. In 1920, it began a new incarnation as the Tokyo University of Commerce. Finally, after parts of the campus were destroyed in the Great Kanto Earthquake, the campus was moved to Kunitachi (its current location) and, in 1949, took the name Hitotsubashi University.

Throughout this long history, the Faculty of Commerce and Management has played a central role in the University. The school can trace its origins back to the very first incarnation of the University (The Commercial Training School), and, as a result, is proud to be one of the oldest and most distinguished business schools in the world.

ADAPTATION AND EVOLUTION:
THE MISSION OF THE UNIVERSITY AND THE SCHOOL

We foster captains of industry who create value for business and serve communities in Asia.

We defined the mission statement aiming at providing high-quality education programs. Our students as well as academic staff understand what the statement means as a shared value to pursue.

“Captains of Industry” represent leaders in the business world. Hitotsubashi University, since its founding, has produced numerous distinguished professionals. It remains committed to the mission. For further details of the mission statement, please see below.

DIPLOMA POLICY OF THE FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT

Diploma Policy (Degree Awarding Policy)

Hitotsubashi University, which was established in 1875 as the Shoho-Koshujo, has since the time of its predecessors—the Tokyo Higher Commercial School and the Tokyo University of Commerce—nurtured highly specialized professionals with a strong sense of mission, objective analytical skills, and deep-thinking abilities to support the economic and social development of Japan and the world.

1. Abilities and Qualities to be Acquired

As one of the business schools with the longest history in the world, the Faculty of Commerce and Management has directly inherited the traditions of Hitotsubashi University. Students are expected to take an interest in phenomena related to companies and markets, to identify the problems to be solved through deep observation, and to develop creative solutions to problems by repeatedly going back and forth between social scientific thinking and theory and real-life phenomena. Our mission is to nurture human resources who are able to develop creative solutions to problems and put them into practice. These individuals must possess ① leadership that combines deep insight with effective communication skills, ② creativity supported by advanced professional skills, and ③ a highly ethical and honorable spirit that is considerate of others and has a global perspective. Through their studies at the Faculty of Commerce and Management, students are expected to become individuals with a strong practical orientation who can creatively mobilize their intellect to solve problems that they face, rather than simply keeping what they have learned at a theoretical level. They are also expected to be a person with a particularly international mindset who can demonstrate their abilities without being limited by differences in language or cultural backgrounds. Such students are expected to contribute to society and play an active role both domestically and internationally.

2. Method of Judgment of Acquired Abilities and Qualities

Students will be judged to have acquired the abilities and qualities listed in 1. Acquired abilities and qualities when they have fulfilled the graduation requirements specified in the Undergraduate Course Regulations.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COMMERCE AND
MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS?

Any differences between commerce and management and economics would likely be characterized differently by different universities. It is often noted that the content dealt with in commerce and management is more practical than that dealt with in economics. Although this may be true, we cannot explain away the differences between the two disciplines simply by saying that economics is the theoretical foundation and that commerce or business administration is the practice, nor can we simply say that economics is abstract while commerce or business administration is concrete. From the perspective of the Hitotsubashi University Faculty of Commerce and Management, the differences lie in the focus and the approach to analyzing issues:

1. Commerce and management focuses to a much greater extent on the topics pertaining to business administration than economics faculties.

2. Commerce and management, as an applied social science, draws on neighboring disciplines?economics, sociology, history, psychology, law, and so on?to enhance our understanding of business administration challenges. This cross-disciplinary approach allows a broader view of key issues than can be achieved through the lens of a single discipline; for example, law provides insight into accounting, sociology has close ties with business administration, and economic thinking and theories are clearly reflected in financial theory.

3. Finally, though cross-disciplinary, commerce and management has nevertheless developed unique perspectives not found in neighboring disciplines. For example, management organization theory seeks to understand business organization issues and phenomena through aspects of sociology, psychology, economics, and other lines of thinking. Yet, sociological or other thinking is not directly applied to the topics under consideration, but rather management organization theory has evolved its own theoretical constructs, and it is these unique constructs that are applied both in research and practice.

This practical utility and theoretical validity not only serves the business world, but also promotes a deeper understanding of the essence of the issues in business administration from a unique academic perspective. In other words, the practical skills one acquires in the Faculty of Commerce and Management have a solid theoretical basis.

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN, FACULTY OF COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT

In 1875, the Commercial Training School (Shoho-Koshujo) was established as a venue to learn “Commerce” (a “method” how to conduct business) in Owari-cho, Ginza, in central Tokyo. Arinori Mori and Eiichi Shibusawa, who developed a framework (basic structure) of the Japanese society in the Meiji era, founded it as what we call today a business school, recognizing that it is essential for the future development of Japanese economy and industry to learn modern corporate management, commerce and corporate environment systematically. The Commercial Training School changed its name to the Tokyo Higher Commercial School, the Tokyo University of Commerce, and eventually grew into the present Hitotsubashi University. We, the Faculty of Commerce and Management, with this proud tradition, have produced numerous professionals with the capability of transforming Japanese businesses and economic society from within. We also have engaged in evolving the study of commerce from practical science into a new realm of a more profound discipline.

Toshihiko Kato, Dean,
Faculty of Commerce and Management,
Hitotsubashi University