"Moving the Forest" and the President's "Action Scenario": from Inauguration to Formulation

Thank you for all of your hard work during your six-year tenure. First, could you look back and recount the moment when you were elected to become the University's 29th president? At the press conference immediately following the announcement of your selection (November 2008), you described the moment as "the biggest crisis of [your] life," while at the same time you were already saying the phrases that would later become important slogans for your time as president, such as "tough UTokyo students" and "the publicness of knowledge."

When I answered "the biggest crisis of my life" to that question at the press conference, it was my reflexes instinctively answering for me. Until that moment, I had enjoyed freedom as a researcher, with my life being under my control and mostly predictable. So, I was worried that after assuming the post as president, my lifestyle might become restrained and that I would have to adapt my mentality to match that incredibly different lifestyle. This made me feel a sense of crisis.

I don't clearly remember mentioning the phrases "tough UTokyo students" and "the publicness of knowledge" at that time. Even before the press conference, however, I had felt that UTokyo students were still unable to exercise the full extent of their talents in society.

In an academic sense, the University of Tokyo, without a doubt, is a place devoted to supporting the summit of knowledge, as well as educating people who will shoulder the responsibility of maintaining and furthering this knowledge. However, this fact does not necessarily ensure that all alumni will be able to utilize 100% of their abilities in society. Furthermore, in the past, society had placed confidence in or paid respect to intellect or knowledge itself, but I felt that this mindset has changed in recent years.

Considering these circumstances, I realized that students would have to become even tougher and more resilient in order to exert their intellectual abilities to a larger extent, and that by doing so, they would initiate a new understanding of the role of knowledge as a common asset.

During the period between your election and first day as president, what kinds of preparations did you make? For example, was it during this time when the catchphrase "Moving the Forest" came out? Also, what points were you keeping in mind when you were selecting new executives for your administration (or, in other terms, "forming your cabinet")?

As for my "cabinet formation," like other former presidents, I intended to choose people who had abilities or experience in administrative management and who could consider matters from University-wide viewpoints, while also ensuring that my "cabinet" would maintain a good balance in its representation of every Faculty, Graduate School and Institute. Honestly, other than forming my "cabinet," I didn't have time to prepare very much, including hammering out a detailed concept for how I would manage during my six-year tenure, before assuming the presidential post. This was because I was appointed as an executive vice president for then-President Hiroshi Komiyama and was very busy just with doing the work that that position required.

Of course, I spent a lot of time discussing my plans with my future executive staff. At that point, however, we just tried to confirm at first the general direction in which the University should go, rather than draft a specific and detailed plan. As I had a six-year term (former presidents had four-year terms), and my inaugural year was the last year of the First Midterm Plan (a mandatory six-year plan required for national universities), I strived to wrap up the remaining tasks carried over from former President Komiyama's time as president at first and then sort out issues to be tackled in the following years.

"Moving the Forest" Represents My Resolve for Complete Reform

Upon my inauguration in April, however, I understood that fundamental policies functioning as pillars of the University's management should be clarified. Thus, I proposed ten basic concepts, such as a "base for knowledge that supports the international community," the "publicness of knowledge" and an "enhanced Administration Bureau, enhanced Faculties and enhanced individuals." While these concepts may appear to be simple, they formed the basis for the management during my six-year tenure, so I spent a lot of time refining them while predicting possible future developments.

Positioned as the first pillar was the theme "Moving the Forest." Since the incorporation of national universities, the University of Tokyo went through a variety of reforms, in which I had been involved as an executive vice president under former President Komiyama. However, I felt frustrated because we weren't able to well utilize the advantages of incorporation to promote the sweeping changes needed to bring about a new version of the University of Tokyo.

At that time, more than five years had already passed since university incorporation, and I feared that if we did not take things one step further to review its organizational structure as a whole, the University would have no option but to continue to run while weighed down by its organizational complexity. In the phrase "Moving the Forest," I expressed my aspiration for across-the-board reforms, which would go beyond the boundaries of individual, fragmented reforms. This theme, however, was still just an abstract concept then.

That phrase feels extremely symbolic. As you are an expert in the field of information, you must have been highly aware of the importance of attracting attention by first coming out with strong, impressive buzzwords. Did you already have this theme in your mind when you were still an executive vice president?

No, the phrase "Moving the Forest" itself came to me during the period between my election and first day as president. When I still worked as an executive vice president, however, I had already recognized that the University's structure as a whole needed to be reviewed, which may have contributed to the creation of that phrase.

Speaking of being particular with words, as the University's president, I must always be responsible for indicating the University's general direction. That's why I am constantly aware that value should be placed on words through which ideas are communicated. As the University of Tokyo has significant social presence, I intended to use easy-to-understand words for communicating ideas—particularly about which direction the University intends to move towards—not only for the University community but also for society to fully appreciate the messages I convey. In my opinion, words are an important tool for promoting deeper understanding, as well as for changing our mindsets. Of course, it is important to propose specific plans if you want to change systems. At the same time, however, you must change people's awareness so that they can accept and support the new systems. I think that ideas conveyed through words are an important means of achieving this purpose.

I remember thinking at the time that those words really struck a chord with me.

From the stance of the people hearing the word, it's kind of like a feeling of "I don't really get why, but something about that sticks with me." (laughs)

President Hamada, you once put forth a great effort towards the launch of a new Graduate School, the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies. I assume that you were well aware of the difficulty of bringing change to the University of Tokyo, a massive organization with a long history that is comprised of a variety of elements. In light of these hurdles, where did the idea that the organization in its entirety had to be "moved" come from?

More than anything else, the main reason I decided to bring about this change was the pressure of globalization. Looking at the big picture, the University of Tokyo is without a doubt in the top tier of Japan's academia. In this day and age, though, we have to seriously consider, more than we ever have before, to what extent we can compete with the rest of the world. In the market of the latest knowledge, researchers, students, along with companies and a significant portion of society are getting to the point where they must all be sharply aware of the world whether they want to be or not. To face this intense trend, we as the University of Tokyo must dramatically raise our ability to compete. Changing small parts of the University one at a time cannot be done quickly enough to achieve this goal. I felt a pressing sense of risk that if we didn't revise our entire University structure, including our awareness of the trends surrounding us, that we would end up getting left behind.

I Wanted to Show that UTokyo Bears the Responsibility of Japan's Intellect

I have been involved in the field of law, and evaluate myself to be a conservative person. At the same time, I bear a great responsibility to future generations as the president of the University of Tokyo. Even a conservative person like myself must at least make as many changes as I have within the University, especially considering the times and situations we find ourselves in today.

Also, one other thing that was on my mind was something I touched upon earlier—the change of awareness regarding society's sense of trust in intellect or knowledge. The trust society places in intellect has not completely disappeared, but the respect that society has given the University of Tokyo or the knowledge disseminated by the University of Tokyo has faded considerably when compared to that in the past. At the beginning of the Meiji period, Japan imported a vast amount of knowledge from overseas. The University of Tokyo became Japan's base for this knowledge, fostering an environment of respect for intellect and recognition of its authority. However, this mindset had already started to change from the 1970s and 1980s. Also, even in situations where knowledge is considered important, an impression is sometimes given that knowledge is treated as nothing more than a tool. Thus, in this day and age, I realized that the University of Tokyo had to plainly demonstrate once more that it bears the responsibility for the proper role that intellect should hold in Japanese society. In order to do that, I knew that it would be necessary for the entire structure of the University of Tokyo to be adjusted.

You held your first conference about formulating your Action Scenario in June 2009. Building on President Komiyama's Action Plan, you created a scenario which laid out the direction of your actions during your six years as president. Please tell us the circumstances that led up to you Action Scenario.

I had a hand in helping to create President Komiyama's Action Plan from the beginning, and I was involved in the process when we put it through the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle. Deciding on what definite goals to achieve and later assessing whether those goals have been met seemed like a very sound way of implementing a thorough plan, so I made up my mind to formulate my own Action Scenario through a similar process.

When I was coming up with my plan, one important thing I kept in mind was how each definite initiative would fit within a comprehensive way of thinking, and implementing the plan with everyone's understanding of this larger, comprehensive picture. That's why I deliberately used the word "scenario" in my plan's name. Also, for the content of the Action Scenario, seven professors from different Schools and Institutes within the University came together under then-Executive Vice President Sato to discuss and plan out the future of the University of Tokyo. They were dubbed the "Seven Samurai," and President-elect Gonokami was one of them.

Moreover, the scenario was not planned out by the executive members of the Administration Bureau alone; the content of the scenario was finalized through debate and discussion throughout the wider University community. We asked all of the deans and Institute directors to discuss and refine my plan, and then asked them to bring the plan to their respective Schools/Institutes for further discussion, all over the span of a long period of time. I believed that going through this kind of lengthy process would help us to share our ways of thinking with each other and make the implementation stage of the scenario go more smoothly than it would if we had taken less time to do it. I poured all of my energy into that process starting in the fall after I became president and announced the final version of my Action Scenario in April of the following year. We were undergoing this process while we were working on the Second Midterm Goals and Midterm Plans, so we were able to announce them both at the same time.

Speaking for the administrative staff, I felt like we had to wait a long time for that announcement to be made (laughs). Hearing that you took such deliberate steps to formulate your plan made me realize that all that time spent on it was worthwhile.

If my term had been shorter than six years, I would have gotten my Action Scenario out faster. Since I had six years, though, I felt that I had the luxury of spending a full year on creating my plan.

I believe that you emulated President Komiyama's way of doing things for the framework of your plan. Were you thinking about the continuing the course set during the time of the former president, or coming up with original and unique aspects characteristic to your time as president?

As one would expect, I was well aware of the continuity aspect that you mention. As an executive vice president, I was in a position to support President Komiyama, and I think the University of Tokyo is an organization that is generally solid on maintaining the continuity of its fundamentals. With regards to originality, I think that my idea of changing the entirety of the University rather than just individual parts of it would be considered original. I felt strongly that if we didn't adopt this kind of mindset, we wouldn't be able to adapt fast enough to keep up with changes in society.

You've said before that "Moving the Forest" is a rather obscure phrase.

Well, "Moving the Forest" is truly obscure, isn't it? (laughs) But that's perfectly fine. As long as the phrase conveys the message that if we don't take major action then we won't be able to go on to become leaders of our era, it will raise our awareness and create a foundation which may engender new ways of thinking, as well as help us to prepare for whatever changes we will face in the future. Communicating this kind of message to everyone in a compact manner is also one the president's responsibilities.