Address by the President of the University of Tokyo for the 2024 Spring Undergraduate Matriculation Ceremony [Translated Version]

Congratulations on your admission to the University of Tokyo. I am truly delighted to celebrate this new beginning with all of you here today.

During your university life, you will gain something different from what you learned in school before. The university is not merely a place to acquire knowledge that has already been established. Rather, academic inquiry is the pursuit of the unknown. By delving into the past to illuminate the history of the world and of humankind, by analyzing our contemporary societies and cultures, by exploring the mechanisms of life that link the past, present, and future, by seeking the truths of the universe and of matter, the University of Tokyo pursues many unknowns.

Throughout our long history, the human race has advanced the methods of academic inquiry, accumulating and sharing knowledge through observations. The existence of neutrinos, for example, was first proposed theoretically in 1930. Neutrinos from a nuclear reactor were observed in 1956, followed by neutrinos from the sun in 1970. In 1987, the Kamiokande group, led by the University of Tokyo, successfully detected neutrinos from a supernova explosion 160,000 light-years away. In 1998, neutrino oscillation was discovered, showing that the particles have mass. Now, with the more sensitive Super-Kamiokande detector, new fields of study are emerging, including not only neutrino astronomy but also multi-messenger astronomy, which incorporates observations of gravitational waves and other phenomena. By using neutrinos, those tiny elementary particles, to unravel the mysteries of the limitless universe, this approach enables us to feel the interconnectedness of the physical world across vast differences in scale.

The Nobel Prize in Physics has made the unit of the attosecond—one-quintillionth of a second—more widely known. With attosecond pulses, it is possible to capture the instantaneous movements of electrons within matter. The technique deepens our understanding of chemical reactions and heralds the dawn of a new field known as attosecond science. With improvements in computing speed, increased time resolution of measurements, technological innovations enabled by artificial intelligence, and advances in many other directions, an important endeavor of academic research now is to achieve higher resolution through finer, faster, and more precise measurements.

However, the resolution required for academic inquiry is not limited to the physical scales and dimensions of time and space.

How we study societies and cultures is also important. Analyzing a region from the perspective of ethnicity, for example, reveals various differences and structures among its people. But do those results alone enable us to understand the people living there? Analyzing the region through other factors such as sexuality, age, education, gender, and socioeconomic status will reveal other differences. Any individual has multiple identities, and society is made up of diverse individuals. Examining just one aspect of them can obscure their other aspects. Discrimination based on a certain minority status cannot be sufficiently understood if you focus on only that one status, because the severity of the discrimination a person experiences changes depending on their other characteristics. The experience of being discriminated against is intertwined with multiple attributes, and its reality cannot be captured as the sum of the individual dimensions.

This framework, which focuses on human multidimensionality and the interrelationships among those various dimensions to analyze the social effects of power, is called intersectionality. The concept of intersectionality is vital for capturing the complex relationships among multiple factors intertwined across various dimensions. It is also crucial to note that the dimensions in which resolution is questioned are themselves socially constructed and often difficult to recognize.

In the fields of medicine and neuroscience, it has become increasingly important to regard differences in brain function and behavior among people not as definitive traits but as manifestations of diversity deserving respect. Based on the concept of neurodiversity, even brain functions that might be considered disorders or disabilities in development or learning can be reinterpreted as being among a person’s multidimensional characteristics. Moreover, even for the same disorder, recognizing that the functions causing difficulties and their severity vary from person to person is a prerequisite for providing support tailored to the needs and circumstances of each individual.

A multidimensional approach is also important when collaborating across the boundaries of academic disciplines.

For example, the development of microfluidic devices using semiconductor microfabrication technology—a pursuit of engineering—and research on culturing various organ-derived cells—an area of medicine—are generally considered to belong to different academic fields. However, in my own research I found that it was possible to cross that boundary and use microfluidic devices to culture organ-derived cells and test the effects of drugs. I collaborated in research with Dean Masaomi Nangaku of the Faculty of Medicine, who is here on the stage with me now. That field, called organ-on-a-chip, shows that unprecedented discoveries and breakthroughs can occur when types of academic knowledge that seem different intersect.

Emphasizing the multidimensionality of the world also leads to a broader understanding that there is not always one answer to any problem. In tackling global challenges such as pandemic policies, social issues, international relations, and the response to climate change, insisting that there is only one right answer can lead to division. Even if you have strong opinions, it is important to consider other perspectives. We need to recognize that the problems to be solved are themselves multidimensional, be mindful of the existence of people with diverse attributes, and strive to reach consensus through dialogue.

It is not easy to re-evaluate objectively what you have always believed and still feel is right.

After all, people are prone to cognitive bias, that is, the tendency to process and judge information irrationally, because we are influenced by our past experiences and preconceived notions. In today’s information-saturated society, cognitive bias plays a major role in the spread of fake news and the interpretation of information from the mass media. It has been pointed out that people who hold a particular opinion on a social issue tend to seek out information that supports their position and ignore what contradicts it. People also tend to make judgments based on recent information that made an impression, which is why information spread through the news and social media has such a strong impact. People are also biased toward overestimating their own knowledge and abilities.

The existence of cognitive bias makes it difficult to focus on multidimensionality. In both academia and everyday life, it is crucial to be aware of and compensate for our own cognitive biases as much as possible.

Now, let us turn our attention to the “society” of the University of Tokyo that welcomes you today.

The direction in which our university should move is outlined in UTokyo Compass. That statement says that the University of Tokyo aims to create a campus that anyone in the world would want to join. We are now working to realize a fair and just environment in which no members of our community suffer discrimination. In June 2022, for example, we issued our Statement on Diversity & Inclusion, and this past February we released our Guidelines for Students on Diversity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. In April of this year, we established the Center for Coproduction of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity, putting in place a system for making concrete progress on these efforts through education, research, and practice.

However, the gender of students entering the University of Tokyo has a significant imbalance, one that is even greater in the natural sciences than in the humanities and social sciences. One reason for this imbalance is the fact that fewer women take our entrance exams. We must ask ourselves whether UTokyo is really a university that attracts diverse students, including women, and whether it has a welcoming environment for them.

According to a report by the Gender Equality Bureau Cabinet Office last year, the percentage of women in the National Diet of Japan is 16.0%, ranking 139th in the world. The proportion of women among executives of listed Japanese companies is 10.6%. These figures indicate an extreme shortage of women involved in decision-making in both politics and the economy. In education, too, it has been pointed out that barriers discourage women from taking exams for entrance to science and engineering programs and from advancing to higher levels.

A situation like this, where people with certain attributes are excluded and denied equal opportunities or are forced to make extraordinary efforts, is called structural discrimination. In order to break free from structural discrimination, the Japanese Business Federation Keidanren has set the goal of increasing the proportion of women in executive positions to 30% or more by 2030. The University of Tokyo joined the 30% Club Japan in 2020, and UTokyo Compass sets forth the goal of raising the proportions of female students and newly hired female researchers to 30% as well as increasing the proportion of female faculty members.

Why is our target 30%? In her research on the business world, Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter of the Harvard Business School found that in organizations with fewer than 15% women, the abilities and skills of each woman are likely to be linked to the collective attribute of being female. But when the proportion of women exceeds 30%, that tendency can change, making it possible for women to contribute according to their individual abilities and skills, influence the decision-making process, and promote organizational reforms.

Therefore, increasing to 30% the ratio of women, who have been underrepresented due to circumstances preventing them from reaching their full potential, is our first target in the pursuit of a fair and just society.

Even those who belong to the majority in terms of social and cultural gender may be minorities in other dimensions such as disability, poverty, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity. However, in today’s complex society, there is complicated structural discrimination that cannot be measured with one-dimensional indicators. We should not overlook situations where people with multiple minority identities are further marginalized along intersecting dimensions.

We have a responsibility to stop reproducing and promoting the structural discrimination I mentioned earlier and create a society where all people have equal rights, because the world will be more prosperous when diverse people thrive. The idea that those living in society should take responsibility for eliminating structural discrimination is extremely important. We must observe reality at greater resolution and then think and take action.

There is a concept called the social model of disability. The idea is that disability is not derived from an individual’s physical or mental dysfunction but rather is created by a society that refuses to accommodate those dysfunctions. Society therefore has a responsibility to remove the impediments. This perspective questions social exclusion and attempts to eliminate institutional barriers and overcome prejudice. We emphasize this concept at UTokyo, and we are implementing measures to create an environment where community members of all kinds can play active roles through reasonable accommodation. Since the various types of structural discrimination will not disappear on their own, we must recognize them, reflect on them, and take action ourselves.

I said at the beginning that academic inquiry begins with a challenge to the unknown. For all of you new students gathered here today, your first assignment might be to try to grasp where you stand now in relation to structural discrimination. Those who understand the structure also have the power to change it. I encourage you all to explore your ability to transform the current social structure in a positive direction together.

On the Komaba Campus, where you will spend your first two years, many courses are offered related to intersectionality, gender, law, disability, politics, and related topics. There is also a community called KOmaba campus Safer Space (KOSS), where diverse students, including women and sexual minorities, can learn with a sense of security and belonging. In addition to your foundation and integrated courses, you should also have plenty of opportunities to encounter different cultures through your language classes and other experiences.

You might notice that seemingly unrelated subjects are in fact connected once you start thinking about solving concrete problems. Those problems might have no solution, or they might have more than one. As with the example of organ-on-a-chip technology that I mentioned earlier, the act of linking seemingly disparate points has the potential to spark groundbreaking innovations.

Our society includes people with many different attributes, so it is also important for you to expand your circle of friends. The diverse people you encounter during your university life will be assets that will enrich your future. Look ahead without fear of challenges and with belief in your own strength and potential.

During your time at the University of Tokyo, through your encounters with many people and diverse types of knowledge, please remember the multidimensionality of the problems that must be solved and do what you can to create a better society. Enjoy your university life to the fullest. Congratulations on your admission!