Address of the President of the University of Tokyo
At the 2011 Fall-Semester Diploma Presentation/Graduation Ceremony
On behalf of all the staff of the University of Tokyo, I would like to extend our sincere congratulations to all of you who have been awarded a doctor’s, master’s, professional, or bachelor’s degree by the University. I would also like to congratulate your families, who supported you while you studied or engaged in research, and are present here today to witness your academic achievements.
The total number of students completing postgraduate courses by the autumn of this year is 487. Of which, 158 are master’s degree graduates, 319 are doctor’s degree graduates, and 10 are professional degree graduates. There are 213 foreign students, who account for about 44% of the total. 43 undergraduate students have also graduated.
We held our commencement ceremonies in the autumn for the first time last year, and this is the second occasion. We planned this autumn ceremony because of the recent increase in the number of international students completing their courses in September. Today, there are also many Japanese students attending here. In parallel with the increasing globalization of Japanese society, the University of Tokyo now places emphasis on promoting the internationalization of education. As a result, it is only natural to think that this autumn ceremony symbolizes the future direction of the University of Tokyo.
The spring commencement ceremonies were held in March this year. However, the venue was not the Yasuda Auditorium, where we are today, but the Koshiba Hall, and we invited only a limited number of graduates, who represented the graduating members of the student body, to attend relatively modest events. Needless to say, this decision was reached after considering the devastation caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the impact of the accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which occurred just before the scheduled date of the spring ceremonies. It was also a precaution against the high evacuation risk associated with a large number of people gathering at one place. I am pleased to tell you that the graduates and their families who were not able to attend the spring ceremony have been invited to join us here today.
Over six months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. We do receive good news, from time to time, informing us of the steady progress of reconstruction, but on the whole, it is undeniable that progress has fallen far behind expectations. Taking this opportunity, once again, I would like to pray for the souls of the many people who lost their lives in the disaster, and also for the early return of the many people who have been reported missing. My deepest sympathies go to those who have been hurt both in mind and body, to those who have lost their livelihoods, and to those who have been forced to live as evacuees.
Japan has built the affluent modern society we now enjoy over a period of 60 years, after having accomplished an extraordinary recovery from the destruction brought by World War II. Given this modern society, we ask ourselves why so many people still lose their lives, suffer injury and anguish, and see their livelihoods destroyed? Why was a nuclear power plant, which should have been operated to the highest safety standards, not managed properly, leaving so many people feeling vulnerable? I feel troubled by these events as a human being, and at the same time I feel troubled as a person who has devoted his life to academic studies.
It is very unfortunate, but true, that knowledge often comes out of tragedy. It is also said that science and technology advance in the wake of a war. Surrounded by the clamor of reconstruction after World War II, Japan achieved remarkable advances in science and technology. The social sciences in Japan also developed on the basis of the people’s deep remorse for the devastation wrought by the war. The great earthquake in March this year seems to have raised issues about how human beings should relate to nature and how human beings should interact with science and technology. We must learn from hardship. We must also try to ease the pain inflicted on the victims as soon as possible, and ensure that the next generation is free from similar suffering and grief. This is integrated into the purposes of academic study and into the duties of those engaged in academic pursuits.
The destruction caused by the earthquake was horrendous. It will take a long time to reconstruct both lives and communities. We are required to continue activities that support the victims of the disaster, who continue to live under extremely harsh conditions, and support the afflicted areas. The University of Tokyo has established the Office for Relief and Reconstruction Assistance, and is continuing relief activities in the disaster areas, to which we have provided supplies and medical services, as well as dispatched volunteers from among students and academic and administrative staff. As part of the support activities that are using our expertise, dozens of projects are underway in various areas covering health and medical services, construction of temporary housing and town planning, and reconstruction of economic life and industry, as well as disaster prevention activities and countermeasures for radiation. Many students and academic and administrative staff of the University of Tokyo are actively carrying out these support activities, which started as voluntary initiatives. As a member of this University, I am very much proud of them.
The accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the university are being fully applied in these activities. At the same time, I would hope that confronting such an extreme situation would encourage the development of studies that have the potential to make major contributions to people’s lives. The strength needed to think an issue through to its resolution emerges when one faces or envisages an extreme situation. In academic studies, this strength can be developed spontaneously through the human spirit or from experience of external events, difficulties, or tragedies. In either case, the most important message here is that the knowledge required to support the next generation will emerge by facing such extreme situations squarely.
Major disasters do not occur only in Japan. The home countries of many of the international students present here today must have experienced various serious disasters and witnessed many tragedies. We cannot deny the possibility that the overwhelming power of nature will create great difficulties for us. However, we can work to reduce the numbers of victims and those left to grieve by reducing the devastating effects of natural disasters. So far, your studies must have taught you about natural sciences and technologies, social frameworks and institutions, and how human beings should live their lives. I sincerely hope you will do your best to capitalize on your studies, refine what you have learned, and use the results to contribute to human welfare.
You have experienced a major challenge of the current era while studying at this university. I hope you will remember this experience for the rest of your lives and continue to reflect on how the knowledge obtained from your studies can and should be applied to respond to such an tragedy. I also hope you will use this reflection to further motivate your work and research in the future. I would like to close my address by saying that I very much look forward to seeing you stand at the forefront of creating a new society.
I wish you all good luck in the future.
Junichi Hamada
President
The University of Tokyo
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