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
December 2024
UTokyo PLog #2024-E-09
Date & Time: December 19, 2024
Location: Iwate Prefectural Office
Latitude/Longitude: 39°42'13.0"N / 141°09'09.2"E Open in Google Maps
UTokyo and Iwate Prefecture concluded a comprehensive cooperation agreement, and Iwate Governor Takuya Tasso and I held a signing ceremony to mark the occasion.
We look forward to strengthening and promoting our existing collaborative projects through this agreement, and creating new opportunities for us to work together.
UTokyo PLog #2024-UT-23
Date & Time: December 13, 2024
Location: Student Plaza, GlobE
Latitude/Longitude: 35°42'49.3"N / 139°45'49.4"E Open in Google Maps
We welcomed Indian Ambassador to Japan Sibi George, whom we invited to our campus for a talk session with students.
Following his lecture on India’s international vision, the ambassador partcipated in a dialogue with students, in which we engaged in lively discussion about exchanges between students in Japan and India, as well as with the industrial sector, among other topics.
UTokyo PLog #2024-G-05
Date & Time: December 9, 2024
Location: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Latitude/Longitude: 1°20'53.9"N / 103°40'59.3"E Open in Google Maps
I visited Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and met with the school’s President Ho Teck Hua, with whom I discussed future research exchanges between our two institutions, among other topics.
Following our meeting, I took a tour of the university and visited Gaia, the eighth zero-energy building on the campus, completed in 2023, as well as NTU’s research facilities.
November 2024
UTokyo PLog #2024-UT-22
Date & Time: November 28, 2024
Location: Hongo Campus
Latitude/Longitude: 35°42'48.3"N / 139°45'44.2"E Open in Google Maps
I conducted the annual president’s health and safety patrol, and this year inspected the preservation and management practices in the humanities departments of rare books and valuable archives and exhibit items, from a health and safety perspective. The once-a-year inspection is carried out to raise awareness among UTokyo members and expand the university’s health and safety apparatus by reviewing the safety management and condition of facilities within our grounds.
In my capacity as the chief administrator of UTokyo’s management of our environment, health and safety, I pledge to continue my work in ensuring health and safety at our university to safeguard the trove of research our institution has accumulated over the years, and to allow faculty and staff to conduct their activities in a safe and pleasant educational, research and work environment.
UTokyo PLog #2024-E-08
Date & Time: November 22&23, 2024
Location: Yasuda Auditorium, Hongo Campus
Latitude/Longitude: 35°42'48.3"N / 139°45'44.2"E Open in Google Maps
We held Tokyo Forum 2024, the international symposium co-hosted by UTokyo and South Korea’s Chey Institute for Advanced Studies, at Yasuda Auditorium. Launched in 2019, it was the sixth meeting of the annual event.
Under this year’s theme, “Shape the Future, Design for Tomorrow,” researchers, artists, public-sector specialists, business leaders and entrepreneurs from around the world took part in the event to discuss the power of design as a transformative concept to address the various global challenges we face and to envision the future of our planet and society.
In this year’s Youth Session, students from UTokyo and South Korean universities reported on their research on the issue of low birthrates affecting both their countries. The session proved to be insightful and enlightening for me and all those attending the event.
