[IMPORTANT] Infection prevention measures for the novel coronavirus: Partial relaxation of prevention measures and continuing requests

The declaration of the state of emergency made by the Japanese government has been lifted nationwide, including in Tokyo. First, I sincerely thank you for your contributions, for accepting the unprecedented inconvenience and continuing to take appropriate actions in a conscious manner.
With the lifting of the declaration of a state of emergency, we are announcing our infection prevention policies as follows. They will apply from June 1 to July 31 (The period may be extended or shortened, depending on the situation of the spread of the novel coronavirus. In that case, we will make an announcement via the University's website, etc.).

Under the basic policy of minimizing the loss in terms of education for our students, and to continue to provide education at the same level as before as far as possible without lowering the quality thereof, Musashino University has been offering classes online since April. One month into the online learning-based student life, we conducted a survey of our students regarding the novel coronavirus response to learn about your living and learning environments. As a result, we received many comments stating that the greatest difficulty in terms of learning is that access to university facilities such as the library is restricted and that this restriction should be partially relaxed.

Thus, under the condition that the education and research activities are in line with the "Examples of practicing a 'New Lifestyle' as presented by the government's Expert Meeting in response to the lifting of the declaration of state of emergency, we have decided to partially relax the infection prevention measures that we have been requesting that you carry out as shown below, placing highest priority on the items that significantly affect the progress of learning.

We all feel we want our lives to return to normal, but there are reports of infections increasing once again in areas that had succeeded in containing the novel coronavirus. With no vaccines or effective drugs as yet, we must keep in mind that infection can spread rapidly again as soon as we return to our lifestyles as they were in the days prior to the spread of infection. We ask all associated with the university to continue to behave appropriately with a sense of responsibility.

Musashino University continues to emphasize issues around human lives, based on the idea of developing human character based on the spirit of Buddhism. Even though the declaration of state of emergency has been lifted, in terms of protecting individual lives, the threat of the novel coronavirus is still unpredictable. Thus, we request that actions to avoid getting infected and spreading the infection be continued.

There is no choice for us but to live in the "with corona era," where we coexist and live together with the novel coronavirus, having an appropriate level of caution, so that we can gradually return to our daily lives while continuing to take precautions against the second and third waves of infection. We must change the habits, culture, and values we acquired over the years. Transformation which accepts change is the source of growth. I want you all to think about the things we need to protect and things we need to change and rethink the way we learn, live, and work, and imagine a "post-corona" future society in which we will be living. Now that the environment, economy, and society has been shaken significantly by the spread of the novel coronavirus and the risk of sustainability itself has manifested, the entire world must gather knowledge and work on a global scale to solve this problem. Musashino University is ready to prepare for the next "post-corona" era with you.

Lastly, to our freshmen. We are deeply saddened by the fact that you had to start the new year with more anxiety than expectations. If situation allows, we will set up a place for orientation on campus as soon as possible with safety measures in place, so that you can learn more about our campus environment and educational policy.

We will make efforts to deliver the message in the tanka written by our first Dean of Faculty of Literature Zenmaro Toki, Koko ni manabu to hajimete tachi shi kotei no hana no shigatsu no shoshin wasuru bekarazu (I will never forget how I felt in April flowers, the first time I set foot on this campus where I would be studying), to you as soon as possible.

We ask that all of our students, faculty, and staff take measures against infection and monitor your health, and ask for your continued understanding and cooperation.

May 26, 2020
Teruma Nishimoto
President, Musashino University