Why Japan?
And if Japan, why Hitotsubashi ICS?

If you are here you have likely asked this question, and may still be asking it. Here are just a few of what I believe, as a veteran of the Boston Consulting Group and Dean of Hitotsubashi ICS, are the most compelling answers.

Asia is rising, and within Asia are many models of non-Western economies. Japan has the unique position as the first economy in Asia to prove that there could be another successful economic model than that of the West. Students have unprecedented access to the learning and experience of other countries and models by studying in Japan and by studying at ICS in particular. ICS recently established the BEST Alliance with China’s Peking University and Korea’s Seoul National University, allowing our students and theirs to study alongside one another during a week each in Tokyo, Peking, and Seoul. During the rest of the year, ICS students benefit from their own peers: our classes include young professionals from not only China and Korea but also India, Vietnam, Myanmar, Taiwan, and Malaysia, as well as the U.S., Europe, and Latin America. Each brings his or her own unique perspectives and experiences to an ICS education.

It is unlikely, as the world becomes increasingly globalized and interconnected, that a single model or a single country will dominate. As such, it is more valuable than ever for future business leaders to not only understand the models of Japan and the West but also learn from the many rising economies so close by. Hitotsubashi ICS is a school that is in Japan, but not only about Japan: we are a bridge to all of Asia, and a window into the insights that these countries can offer.

If these answers are enough to address “Why Japan,” then, once more, “Why Hitotsubashi ICS?” In addition to our diverse classes, favorable student/teacher ratio, and unmatched access to Japanese and other Asian business, ICS remains the only business school in Japan with the same standards and requirements as an American or European MBA program. Established 135 years ago as the first university to teach economics and commerce, ICS later opened its business school under the Ministry of Education’s new standards for “professional schools.” Hitotsubashi ICS graduates are prepared to succeed in all the new and unexpected challenges that our rapidly changing business world will bring.

Hiroshi Kanno,
Dean