Second Ambitious Challenge for the Next 150 Years
Happy New Year.
On behalf of Hokkaido University, I would like to extend my New Year's greetings to all our stakeholders and members of the local community who continue to support our university, as well as to our students, faculty, and staff.
As you may know, the year 2026 marks a significant milestone for our university, as it celebrates the 150th anniversary of its founding. Since opening in Sapporo in 1876 as the Sapporo Agricultural College, Hokkaido University has evolved, first as an imperial university and then as a national university under the new system, developing into one of Japan's largest comprehensive universities in terms of the breadth of its faculties, graduate schools, and research institutes. Over this long history, Hokkaido University has established a strong foundation across all major academic disciplines, spanning the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. From the prewar period to the present day, the university has also established distinctive research institutes dedicated to addressing global and regional challenges.
This development was not a coincidence. As the largest comprehensive university in Hokkaido, our university has been entrusted by society with the responsibility of covering all academic fields, from the humanities and social sciences to the natural sciences, both in terms of human resource development and advanced research.
While the presence of many faculties, graduate schools, and research institutes can potentially lead to fragmentation of academic disciplines, Hokkaido University has long cultivated a spirit of interdisciplinary and integrative research. We have set forth "HU VISION 2030" as a vision linking internationally outstanding education and research, referred to as Excellence, to the capacity to address societal challenges, referred to as Extension. Realizing the social innovation envisioned in this strategy requires the development of interdisciplinary and integrative research, as well as management reform focused on collaboration between faculty and staff.
One hundred and fifty years ago, Hokkaido University's journey began by inviting the renowned scholar Dr. William S. Clark and other distinguished educators from the United States, then a leading country in agricultural science, to advance the mission of establishing agriculture suited to cold climates. This is our university's "First Challenge," which continues to this day. Last year, the university established a collaborative research hub aimed at the environmental regeneration of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, bringing together all faculties across the sciences and humanities. In parallel, systems to further accelerate interdisciplinary and integrative research have been initiated.
In addition, Hokkaido University is currently supporting the realization of the "Hokkaido Digital Park" initiative through the creation of significant value in renewable energy, human resource development, and research related to advanced semiconductor technology. I refer to these endeavors as Hokkaido University's "Second Ambitious Challenge." This challenge inevitably requires the transformation of the university itself to enable the creation of new value, and it is with this in mind that I refer to it as the "Second Ambitious Challenge."
This year of our 150th anniversary will be a special one, in which we look back on the university's 150-year history and celebrate this milestone together with all stakeholders connected to Hokkaido University through a wide range of events and ceremonies. More than that, however, it will mark the starting point for the university's next 150 years as we take on the Second Ambitious Challenge. I sincerely ask for your continued and strong support. In closing, I wish that this commemorative and significant year of 2026 for Hokkaido University will also be a wonderful year for each of you. With these wishes, I extend my New Year's greetings.
January 5, 2026
Kiyohiro HOUKIN
President
Hokkaido University
