This school is the only fisheries-focused institution of higher education in Japan that is managed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. As we celebrate our 70th anniversary this year, we are proud to have produced many talented graduates who are now active on the front lines of the fishing industry and related professions, both in Japan and abroad, and to have made many important contributions to the Japanese fisheries industry.
We have been an "independent administrative corporation" since 2001, and the entire university community has been working together to provide ever expanding and advanced levels of education and research so as to achieve the goal of "cultivating those who will play a leading role in the fisheries industry in the future," which is the institutional purpose clarified in the National Fisheries University Act.
In the Third Interim Plan (2011-2015) that starts this year, we are striving to place an even greater emphasis than before on education: (1) education to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to understand the current challenges facing the fishing industry, as well as fisheries policies, and to ensure the dissemination of those policies, (2) practical education that combines internships and other on-site learning with classroom learning, (3) comprehensive fisheries education that organically highlights the cycle from production to consumption, and (4) education to give students the social foundations they will need to perform their jobs with a diverse of array of people in society.