Peter Anderson

I am very happy to be here to join KCG to welcome the incoming students.
Go new-gaku, Omedeto-oh Gozaimasu.

KCG was the first school in Japan to offer a computer science education. KCG has always offered its students a computer science education which is among the most innovative and technically advanced of its time.

In the early 90's, computer science expanded to the field of Art with the arrival of the era of Multimedia. KCG was one of the first schools in Japan to expand its Computer Science program to offer a program specifically in Multimedia Arts.

When it came to Multimedia, it was said at that time that there was a 10 year gap between Japan and the USA. But, in 1994, KCG president Yasuko Hasegawa, who wanted to keep KCG at the top of both Art and Information Science, requested RIT to support KCG so that KCG could open its Computer Graphics and Computer Animation program. With the strong support of RIT graduates, the Art and Information Science program was founded in 1995 at Kamogawa Campus of KCG.

Since then, KCG students have visited RIT every summer to study, and RIT has enjoyed having them.

In 1996, KCG became an official sister school of RIT, which tightened our friendship.

RIT, founded in 1829, has been for many years a pioneer in the field of career-oriented education. As RIT's catalog puts it, our education is Alive, Dynamic, and Vibrant, meaning that students receive a living and evolving education and apply it dynamically in society, with results that propagate vibrantly to the corners of the Earth.

KCG decided to become a sister school of KCG because, again, we saw a "family resemblance:" for 38 years, KCG has established itself as one of the pioneers of career education in Japan and the world.

RIT's information technology or IT program is one of the top career-oriented programs in the United States. In 1998, before the word IT became common vocabulary in Japan, KCG president Yasuko Hasegawa saw the coming of the IT era, and proposed an IT exchange program with RIT. RIT was glad to establish this program with her.

In the new IT exchange program, students spend first one and half years at KCG, then they transfer to RIT to complete their master's degree. Since 1998, RIT has accepted KCG master candidates every year.

We are also in the process of planning new innovative and revolutionary programs to meet the needs of the coming ten years and beyond, and to deepen the friendship between our two schools.

Finally, I would like to say that subjects of Computer IT, and of Multimedia and the Arts, are demanding, fascinating, and fun. Enjoy your time here, and I wish you all bright futures in Computing.

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Peter G. Anderson, Ph.D.