UTokyo President’s Log

I recorded a segment for UTokyo Day 2023 on Nov. 22. The online event envisions the University of Tokyo’s future by introducing UTokyo’s new initiatives and direction, as well as the university’s own practices it has designed, through dialogue with everyone. This will be the second such event after changing the format from that of a shareholders’ meeting last year.

In the pre-reocorded segment, I engaged in a dialogue with students participating in the Entrepreneurship Education Design corporate sponsored research program. I found the stories told by the students who are striving to solve social issues, to be very interesting and we carried on our lively conversation even after finishing the recording.

Besides pre-recorded segments, we will livestream a special roundtable discussion on the sustainable university management model envisioned by the university, during UTokyo Day 2023. We are eager to receive people’s questions and opinions for the Q&A session during the online event.

Two years have passed since we announced UTokyo Compass, a statement on the guiding principles of the University of Tokyo, in September 2021. We invited members of the press and held a conference, reflecting on the past two years and focusing on reporting our achievements thus far.

We had many reporters attend the session and ask questions on a wide range of topics, and we spent the time in a fruitful exchange of opinions.

We welcomed Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark to our campus.

After our meeting and touring the lab of Professor Akira Furusawa of the Graduate School of Engineering (pictured), who researches quantum information science, and the General Library, the prime minister delivered the keynote address at the Japan-Denmark workshop on quantum technology, which took place at Sanjo Conference Hall.

The day was meaningful in further deepening cooperation between Denmark and Japan in the quantum field.

UTokyo and East Japan Railway Company (JR East) concluded a 100-year industry-academia collaboration agreement and held a press conference to announce the partnership with the goal of achieving planetary health to realize a fulfilling life a century from now.
Planetary health refers to the concept of analyzing the effects of human economic activity on health, the urban environment, and life and nature on Earth, and aims to create a lifestyle that sustains a healthy balance among humans, cities and our planet.

Our goal is to focus on achieving planetary health and to realize future lifestyles by launching the collaborative Planetary Health Design Laboratory project and demonstrating UTokyo’s diverse and cutting-edge knowledge by using JR East’s infrastructure of railways and stations as our laboratory.

The 2023 University of Tokyo Shokumon Award ceremony was held to honor this year’s recipients. The annual award has been presented since 2002 to individuals, corporations or organizations who have contributed significantly to the development of UTokyo’s activities through donations, volunteer work and other forms of support.

We were honored to receive at this year’s ceremony, the nine individuals and corporations who made outstanding contributions to our university. I wish to reiterate our gratitude for their generous support.

I attended UTokyo’s 22nd Homecoming Day. It is a day when alumni, their families, UTokyo fans and people from neighboring communities gather on campus to join the festivities.

This year, there were many in-person events, including separate anniversary class reunions, which had resumed for the first time in several years and held following the Graduation Anniversary Ceremony for alumni celebrating their 10th, 20th, 30th, 40th or 50th class reunion. It was nice to have many people back and enjoying homecoming on our campus again.

I attended the opening ceremony of the Center for Global Education (UTokyo GlobE). The center was established in April 2023 as a university-wide research and educational facility to support UTokyo students in gaining more global experiences. UTokyo GlobE serves all undergraduate and graduate students, and by coordinating its functions with various faculties and schools within UTokyo, it operates as a platform for international education for the entire university.

UTokyo GlobE will continue to offer programs that will provide opportunities for UTokyo students to play active roles on the world stage.

I attended the Science and Technology in Society forum 2023 in Kyoto. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the international conference, where global leaders from business, universities, educational institutions, government and other areas gathered in Japan’s ancient capital to discuss issues related to science and technology, and their impact on society.

I was a speaker in the plenary session titled “Path to Sustainability,” in which I engaged in a discussion with other speakers from around the world, including Japan’s minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology, Masahito Moriyama. The panel received a lot of questions from the audience, and I keenly felt the high level of interest among people toward achieving a sustainable society.

I also was a presenter at the University Presidents’ Meeting, in which my counterparts from around the world and I discussed the role of universities in an advanced digital society, where generative artificial intelligence (AI) is used in multiple fields, as well as the topic of a future created by humans and AI together.