Address of the President of the University of Tokyo at the Autumn Entrance Ceremony 2011
I would like to extend my congratulations to all of you entering the graduate schools of the University of Tokyo. I sincerely hope that you will lead a fulfilling life in the borderless world of academia. I would also like to congratulate your families who supported you on the journey that brought you here today.
The total number of students entering our graduate schools this autumn is 445. Of which, there are 204 in master’s courses, 207 in doctor’s courses, and 34 in professional degree courses. There are 327 international students, who account for more than 70% of the total.
This is the second entrance ceremony to be held in the autumn. At the spring entrance ceremony held in April this year the venue was not the Nippon Budokan as usual, but the Koshiba Hall, and we invited only a limited number of students, who represented the new members of the student body, to attend relatively modest events. This decision was reached after considering the devastation caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake, which occurred on March 11, just before the scheduled spring ceremonies.
Over six months have passed since the earthquake. Taking this opportunity, 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.
All of you present here today are about to start a new life of research and study at the University of Tokyo, just after Japan experienced the destruction caused by the great earthquake. I hope to encourage you to have two fundamental mindsets to be motivated by this disaster.
One is always to open your eyes to reality in your studies. Confronted with the great earthquake, I am sure many of you asked yourselves: “Is there anything I can do to help bring relief to the victims or to reconstruct the afflicted areas?” If not this earthquake in Eastern Japan, then a major disaster in your home country or region might prompt many of you to think about what you can do to help. It is a natural and respectful human emotion to wish to help people in distress. However, what can we actually do?
Without doubt, it is surely important to take concrete actions, and to sustain them. The University of Tokyo has taken systematic actions since the immediate aftermath of the earthquake to deliver food, water, and medicines to the affected areas. Several hundred volunteers representing students, academic, and administrative staff of the University visited the affected areas to carry out such tasks as scraping away sludge, removing debris, weeding, and working on farmland. There are also researchers and students who are using their specialized knowledge to the full. Our DMAT, Disaster Medical Assistance Team, was the first to arrive at the site, followed by other members of the University who are supporting relief and reconstruction activities. These include urban development aimed at reconstructing the lives of people, including the elderly, and restoring the economy and industries, as well as disaster prevention and radiation measures.
Although it is important to contribute at the site of the disaster in this way, it is wrong to assume that you cannot be of any use unless you work at the afflicted areas. Through a series of media reports, you have already become fully aware of the horrendous damage in the area and the distress and grief experienced by the people, as well as the courage, compassion, and emotional ties that grow from suffering. You are expected to thoroughly digest and absorb information received from the disaster site, and to retain a sense of tension towards the disaster site, which is, as it were, embodied in your knowledge. This is, among others, one action to take in the face of the devastation we have experienced.
Reconstruction will require a long time. You may act promptly to join volunteer work. That is one option. At the same time, there is the other important option of giving yourself sufficient time within the University to continue improving your intellectual strengths. So long as you keep your eyes open to the tragic reality and retain a sense of tension towards the disaster site, there is no doubt that you will be able to make great contributions to the reconstruction of the disaster areas, as well as to the future of the people of Japan, of your country and of the world.
I mentioned that I was hoping to encourage you to have two fundamental mindsets following your experience of the great earthquake. The second one relates to reliance on science. By science I mean not only the natural sciences but also the social sciences, including studies in the humanities. And, you need to accept seriously the fact that many people are becoming skeptical about science.
Science today is the result of accumulated efforts over many years to learn more and more about nature and society. As a result, we have succeeded in protecting people’s lives and property from many of the ravages of nature, while using the bounties of nature for the benefit of society. Nevertheless, massive seawalls, which should have employed the strength of science, were destroyed, taking the lives of many people. And a nuclear power system, to which the wisdom of science should have been applied, went out of control, forcing many people to be evacuated and leaving them vulnerable. Such events feed skepticism toward science and anger at incompetence.
As the German sociologist Ulrich Beck pointed out, the rationality of science is often different from the rationality of society. When we construct seawalls or a nuclear power plant, besides applying scientific knowledge, financial conditions, political or administrative considerations, and concepts of business management are taken into account. But, even if that must be true, I am not willing to think it is reasonable that harnessing science for the benefit of society factors in compromises and risks. If you reconcile yourself to such thoughts, you cannot see great progress in science, which aims to support people’s lives. Rather, you have to face squarely the negative perceptions held by people who question why science is unable to solve problems, while at the same time striving to expand the areas where science can bring positive benefits. This is the fundamental attitude expected of people engaged in science.
In the pursuit of science, you are required to keep your intellectual integrity and not give in to the pressures of people’s expectations, while doing your best to respond to such expectations. No matter the age in which we live, science can never offer perfect answers to all problems. Science is requested to admit and clarify that limitation. People who engage in scientific research cannot perform their roles simply by expressing their hopes and dreams for good results. Overconfidence in the potential of science generates distrust and a world filled with unreasonable fears and superstitions. Again I would say, people who engage in scientific research are expected to do their utmost to expand the realm of science, however, at the same time they are expected to clarify with humility what science can do and cannot do, and also to show themselves that they are struggling to overcome such limitations. As a result, hope and confidence in the future of science will be assured.
In Japan, we have recently heard words such as “post-3.11.“ Although there seems to be no major discontinuity between what existed before and after the earthquake, there is a growing sense that issues existed we were not aware of before the earthquake, and even if we had been aware of them we were equivocal; however, after the earthquake, we have come to learn that we should confront these issues without hesitating. This applies also to the world of research and education. I am delighted and feel reassured to welcome all of you present here today to join us as colleagues as we challenge the future potential of research in the post-3.11 world.
I look forward to your success in your studies.
Junichi Hamada
President
The University of Tokyo
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