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Shure
University
1.Why don't you create where we can
study and express anything we want as we want? 
Have you wanted to know what you are interested
in until you are satisfied? You may also want to have your
autonomous place where you can study freely. Are you looking
for your own way of doing things? Each of us has something
to realise or to know individually. Naturally we have such
feelings in our everyday lives. However, it isn't easy to
keep such motivations because we feel we have to give up in
the situations or deny our possibilities. It is too sad to
seal up such creative minds. 
We long to pursue our curiosities in our own ways and to
create our own place of study freely by ourselves. This is
the beginning of Shure University. We tried to realise this
passion. And this became Shure University.
This idea originated in what we realised through the experiences
of school refusing in credential society of Japan. We have
found out many important things such as creating something
by ourselves. In order to enjoy studying what we really want
to know and expressing what we feel, we cannot stick to existing
educational organisations, its system, values of credential
society and the methods and the knowledge there. Accordingly
we decide to found new university by our own hands.
Of course, there isn't entrance exams, final exams, grades,
the age limitation of entrants, and set duration of study.
Anybody who wants to know and express can join and deepen
our interests. Curiosities of an individual move the individual
to pursue our interests. We love to create and construct Shure
University and activities here. Shure University is wherever
you are. You can create your way and Shure University. Why
don't you join and publicize what you get here to societies
in the world.
2.Characteristics of Shure University
Pursuit of individual curiosities in one's own style
 The
difference between clothes at supermarket and hand made clothes
by oneself have some analogy with the difference between Shure
University and conventional universities. We don't choose
the ready-made class by Professor, for instance. Which direction
do we want to go? Which book do we read? How often do we have
the class? Students offer the course and exchange ideas about
the content and ways of the course with the lecturer.
We want do our activities to know and to express not as leisure
activities. These activities are at the centre of our lives
at least at this moment. Deeper and deeper we know, we change
us by ourselves. Now at Shure University, we create these
activities and built Shure University. We are free and we
don't have any model. Thus it's not easy but we can get much
satisfaction from our activities. Fifty experts in various
fields, such as a photographer, sociologist, multi-media producer,
modern dancer, support our pursuits. Most of them are leading
experts in their fields.
No need of the credit
In order to join us, any credentials nor  diploma
is not necessary. You are just required to have something
you want to know or express even though something is very
concrete or vague. You won't get university graduation diploma
though you graduate Shure University. Because we are out of
the national education system, we are free from grades, credentials,
and so on.
Whole world is our campus
 Even
though we use just the first floor of a four story concrete
building in which offices and apartment houses are. Although
our space is very limited, we think whole society or world
is our campus. We go to adviser's working places on one day
and we also go to forests for fieldwork on another day. If
it is possible we go abroad. In these a few years, we went
to Korea, Peru, the Philippines and USA. We also have guests
from many parts of the world, such as Korea, Yugoslavia, Bhutan,
Maldives, Holland and UK. In 2001 we visited Haja Collegio,
Korean alternative college, and they also visited us. A staff
of American NPO for youth whose speciality is photography
taught us photography for four weeks.
We make this university
Free pursuit is really important for us. To have
such freedom, it's essential for us to decide our activities
and running. It's also exciting to create and direct this
university. Every another week we have steering meeting. At
this meeting, we discuss to found new course, to increase
staff members, to reform interior of our space, direction
of this university and so forth.
Shure University exists wherever you are
Most of Shure university students live around Tokyo. However,
not small number of students lives in many parts of Japan,
such as Sapporo (very north), Nagano and Nagoya (central part).
Such students go to Shure University once a week, or twice
a month. They do their activities basically at their home.
For example, one student who lives near Nagoya sends essays
almost every week by e-mail and tutor of him correspond to
him. Almost twice a month, he comes here and talks with his
tutor face to face.
Some of the people who live around Tokyo come here almost
everyday and the others come twice a week or so. Of course,
not only distant people, but also such people can do their
activities around their home. An individual student decides
how they study.
Connecting and stimulating each other
Even though we do project collectively, each of us has different
interests. At Shure University individuality is greatly respected.
At the same time, we pay attention to the other’s activities
and we support and stimulate each other. Such relationships
promote our activities. Not only students but also staff members
and advisers support us.
Publicizing the new culture 
It is very difficult to find similar place like Shure University
not only in Japan, but also in the world. Things we create
can be called new culture. We want to publicize the outcome
to the world. We have our homepage, newsletter, open lectures
and events. We are planning to publish on both paper and digital
media.
Originated from school refusal--- study of school refusal
It was 1950's when psychiatrists "found" so called school
refusing children who didn't fit Japanese school system. Since
then, they have labelled school refusing as disordered children.
Not to fit to the conventional system is not disease. We liberalised
our values from so called commonsense through these experiences
in Japanese Schooled society. We won't take anything for granted.
School refusal ens ure
our freedom of our investigations. We have study meeting of
"history of School refusal", class of "credential society
and school refusal". In these study opportunities, we published
two reports of Korean alternative education and school refusal.
We also practiced survey about medicine and school refusal.
We have just published the report.
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