3 PILLARS OF THE MISSION

The school’s mission consists of 3 pillars: Leadership, Innovation, and Integrity. SBA's programs instils these three characteristics in its graduates through a balance of cutting-edge research, ground-breaking education, and adherence to strong ethical values.

ORIGINS OF THE MISSION STATEMENT

The mission statement is based upon the principles that have guided Hitotsubashi University since its beginnings.

LEADERSHIP
The expression fostering captains of industry comes from the writings of Thomas Carlyle, the British thinker and historian (1795-1881). This expression has been the slogan for Hitotsubashi University since it was known as the Tokyo Higher Commercial School, as it perfectly characterizes the schools mission to produce leaders in the Japanese business world and beyond.

INNOVATION AND INTEGRITY
Eiichi Shibusawa (1840-1931), who greatly contributed to the establishment and development of Hitotsubashi University, exhorted the balancing of profit-making activities with ethics and morality in Rongo (Analects of Confucius) and Soroban (abacus). Therefore, as innovation is the driving force for profitmaking and integrity is the core of ethical behavior, SBA graduates will be instilled with both.

The mission statement could be paraphrased as follows: To develop captains of industry (Leadership) who are able to practice both Analects (Integrity) and abacus (Innovation).