Universities to celebrate new year, with conditions What’s a Japanese spring without university entrance ceremonies in cherry blossom season? That’s precisely what happened last year after many festivities were cancelled due to the outbreak of COVID-19. One year later, universities nationwide are getting ready to hold a new round of entrance ceremonies and welcome new students, albeit with strict precautions observed by both the faculty staff and the freshmen, writes Kaori Shoji for The Japan Times. The University of Tokyo, which was the first institution in Japan to hold online lectures when the outbreak emerged last year, announced earlier this month that an in-person entrance ceremony will be held at Nippon Budokan Hall – the university’s traditional venue – on 12 April.