And Kyushu U’s new slogan is...

Whether leaping into the next 100 years, leaping into the next in cutting-edge research, or leaping into the next stage of your life, Kyushu University is a place where anyone can leap into the next.

Unveiled on October 19 by President Chiharu Kubo at Kyushu U’s Academic Festival 2019, the new slogan was decided using input from students, faculty, staff, and alumni through a contest that received 752 entries, which then underwent several rounds of internal judging.

Tomomi Hirotane, a first-year master’s student of the Graduate School of Bioresource and Bioenvironmental Sciences, submitted the Best Entry-winning proposal of “動き出す。九大新世紀。”—literally translated as “Come alive. Kyushu U’s new century.”—which became the basis for the final slogan.

Hirotane’s concept for her winning entry was the ambition for Kyushu U’s research activities to become even more creative as the 108-year-old university embarks on its next 100 years.

President Kubo’s vision for Kyushu U to spread its wings and leap out to the world—“九州大学が世界へ羽ばたき、飛躍する大学としてありたい” in Japanese—was added to this to create the Japanese slogan of “世界へ飛躍する九大新世紀.”

The English version of “Leap into the Next” was conceived to embody the ideas of the Japanese slogan while also being easily accessible when used abroad.

Two entries from the contest were also selected for recognition as Excellent Entries: “広く修め、深く資する。” from Kosuke Kaneko, associate professor of the Cybersecurity Center, and “Open Mind, Creative Spirit” from Hirose Takeshi, professor of the SHARE Office.

“We are very grateful for all of the wonderful entries in the contest, and we hope to use the new slogan as a springboard to make more people aware that Kyushu U is dedicated to always being ready to leap into the next with you,” says Yumiko Yamagata, the executive vice president in charge of public relations at Kyushu U.