Tohoku University celebrated the 118th anniversary of its founding with Homecoming Day festivities on October 11, bringing together the local community and alumni eager to reconnect, reminisce and learn more about the university's latest activities.

In his welcome address, President Teiji Tominaga gave an update on the university's commitments and goals as the country's first University for International 雷速体育_中国足彩网￥在线直播 Excellence, a government initiative in which the university will get the profits from a 10 trillion JPY investment to support expanded research. He shared Tohoku University's strategic vision, reiterating commitments to impact, talent and change.

Executive Vice President for Education and Student Support Hirotsugu Takizawa then presented the university's recent academic achievements, including being ranked number one on Times Higher Education's list of top Japanese universities for the fifth consecutive year. The achievement is notable because THE's Japan list puts the spotlight on institutional resources, quality of education and overall student experience.

Vice President for Social Outreach Fumihiko Imamura, who also oversees the Tohoku University Fund and Alumni Association, then announced the winners of this year's International Awards, which honour alumni and partners who have enhanced the university's global reputation. Five exceptional individuals and two organisations comprise this year's winners.

Individual Award:

- Heri Hermansyah (Indonesia), President of Universitas Indonesia
- Nguyen Trung Viet (Vietnam), President of Thuyloi University

Science and Technology Award:

- Osamu Terasaki (Japan), Professor and Director of the EM Centre, ShanghaiTech University
- Davide Bassi (Italy), Professor of Palaeontology and Palaeoecology, University of Ferrara

Special Award:

- Tomasz Dietl (Poland), Head of MagTop Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences

International Alumni Association Award:

- Tohoku University Taiwan Alumni Association
- Tohoku University Alumni Thailand (TUAT)

The winners were celebrated with a rousing performance by the university cheer squad.

This was followed by presentations from Tohoku University students past and present, starting with alumna Noriko Kamaya, the first female director of the Sendai Regional Meteorological Observatory. She shared stories from her time at Tohoku University and insights about her current work.

And then it was the students' turn. The Tohoku University Futsal Club, which achieved third place in the 2025 All Japan University Futsal Tournament, thanked their supporters and pledged to aim for first place next year.

The audience also heard about the innovative "MushMoon Project" to cultivate mushrooms on the lunar surface. "MushMoon" was selected for the university's crowdfunding support programme TomoPro.

After a brief intermission, the second session of the afternoon featured a special appearance by the creators of the popular "Blue Giant" manga series about Dai Miyamoto, a high school student from Sendai who has ambitions to be the world's greatest jazz saxophonist.

Author Shinichi Ishizuka was joined on stage by his story supervisor (who goes by the moniker "NUMBER8") as well as Imamura and president Tominaga, an avid jazz fan. The panel discussed how the manga, which began serialisation in 2013 after the Great East Japan Earthquake, has inspired many with its message of pursuing excellence on the global stage.

The session concluded with a special performance by a jazz band comprising alumni and current students. They performed a set produced by alumnus Mitsuhiro Sakakibara, one of the founders of the Jozenji StreetJazz Festival.

For the finale, alumna Eri Chichibu arranged the university's school song "Midori no Oka," and led a sing-along.

It was truly a day of nostalgia and new memories as many alumni also took the opportunity to catch up with each other and pick up some university-branded merchandise sold at the venue.