Ever since assuming the leadership of the University of Tokyo, I’ve wanted to share my thoughts and activities as president with members of the university, as well as the larger community outside our institution. With my research field being connected to the ocean, I’d always kept a log during my time conducting surveys and being out at sea. Now, having embarked on my journey as UTokyo’s skipper, I would like to share with all of you my record of this latest voyage, through the UTokyo President’s Log.
Teruo Fujii, 31st President of the University of Tokyo
May 2024
UTokyo PLog #2024-E-03
Date & Time: May 25-26, 2024
Location: Kumano Area
Latitude/Longitude: 33°43'51.0"N / 139°59'21.4"E Open in Google Maps
I gave the keynote address at the Kumano Forum event, held in the city of Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, commemorating the Kumano region’s 20th anniversary as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and organized around the theme of diversity and inclusion as pertaining to sacred places. The Kumano Forum event series grew out of the partnership agreement concluded in March 2021 between Shingu and UTokyo’s Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology. The forum has been held in the city, which lies on the Kii Peninsula, south of Kyoto and Osaka, and is in the heart of the Kumano region, known for its sacred sites and pilgrimage routes.
Since 2017 (with a pause during COVID), Kumano has provided learning opportunities for UTokyo students through the university’s Hands-on Activity Programs. During my stay, I toured the region’s shrines and temples that students visit during the program, and felt firsthand the tradition of diversity and inclusion pervading Kumano’s sacred places since long ago.
UTokyo PLog #2024-UT-11
Date & Time: May 15, 2024
Location: B2 Fukutake Learning Theater, Fukutake Hall, Hongo Campus
Latitude/Longitude: 35°42'41.0"N / 139°45'36.2"E Open in Google Maps
We welcomed United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu to the Hongo Campus for a talk event, and I participated in a dialogue session following her lecture titled “A Turbulent World in Tectonic Shifts: Case for a Renewed Multilateralism.”
Students in attendance also engaged in dialogue during the Q&A session at the end, where they asked questions covering a wide range of topics.
