Chiba University of Commerce 's founding spirit is the cultivation of useful academic knowledge and business ethics.
Our school was founded in 1928, the year before the Great Depression. During the bubble economy just before the Great Depression, our founder, Dr. Ryukichi Endo, lamented the decline of business ethics and felt the need for education in "honest business," so he established Sugamo Higher Commercial School, the predecessor of our school.
In order to cultivate business morality, Dr. Endo said, "We must infuse the samurai spirit," which he meant the samurai spirit that is the source of Japanese morality as organized by Inazo Nitobe. By placing this samurai spirit as the foundation of education, he promoted practical education that would be useful to society, rather than simply learning for the sake of learning.

Of the seven keywords that Nitobe Inazo put forward for the samurai spirit, "righteousness, courage, benevolence, courtesy, sincerity, honor, and loyalty," I believe that the first three are particularly important: "righteousness" = the ability to judge what is right, "courage" = the courage to act, and "benevolence" = consideration for others.

The United Nations' SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) have 17 goals, and the common theme among them is "Leave no one behind." In other words, it means keeping an eye on everyone and giving them due consideration, which is connected to the "Jin" of Bushido. Jin is about the relationship between people, and it means having compassion and giving due consideration. That's why the SDGs and Bushido are heading in the same direction.

Furthermore, Endo Takayoshi wrote in the founding philosophy of Sugamo Higher Commercial School, the predecessor of our university, that "business is never just about personal profit, but is a respectable enterprise that aims to serve society," and made the cultivation of "chidoka" (people of integrity) with high ethical standards the educational philosophy. In today's sense, "chidoka" means "a leader with high ethical standards who can see things from a broad perspective, grasp the changes of the times, and solve various social issues," which can be understood as working on the SDGs and pursuing ethical and sustainable business.

Since 2017, our university has been promoting a wide range of education and research covering the SDGs and community contribution activities, starting with President Project.
In 2019, we formulated the Chiba University of Commerce SDGs Action Charter and announced our policy for achieving the SDGs both inside and outside the university. This is intended to serve as a guide for fulfilling our social responsibilities in our education, research, and business activities based on our founding philosophy.
In line with this, our university will continue to promote various activities that contribute to achieving the SDGs.