The International Division marks its 40th anniversary this year.  I had the honour of teaching in this Division for 35 years and am retiring as the curtain of the International Division itself falls.  I heard that in the beginning, the students for the International Division were brought here on a ship from San Francisco and the orientation was held on board.  I also heard that when Professor Yoshitaka Komatsu was the Director, he frequently held an afternoon tea party with his students.  Those were the good old days when how fast you can go was not much of a big issue.  When GLCA/ACM planned to create an exchange programme in Japan, Professor Jack Bailey consulted with Professor Reischauer of Harvard University, who later became the Japanese Ambassador.  Professor Reischauer recommended Waseda University because he believed that Waseda was then the least internationalized purely-Japanese university in Japan and that would be the perfect place for international students who would like to study in Japan.  And that was how the International Division was born.  Among the graduates of Waseda University there are some who were not aware that their own university had the International Division.  Indeed, when I came to the International Division, there were few teachers who could conduct their lessons in English in any field.  The faculty the International Division needed was the specialists in the field of Asian Studies.  I remember there were many teachers from Sophia University, the University of Tokyo and National University of Fine Arts and Music.  Now, after 40 years, that university is going to open up the School of International Liberal Studies.  I cannot help feeling the long lapse of time.  Some teachers of Waseda, who had taught in the International Division, were given an opportunity to teach at the universities in the U. S. through the teacher exchange programme of the International Division.  I myself went to teach at Grinnel College in Iowa for a year.  It was my first visit to the U. S.  The one year over there offered me so much to learn.  It was the happy year.  During this peaceful year, I translated an autobiography in the 19th Century Malay language written in Arabic alphabet.  Later it was published as The Abdullah Story by Heibonsha Limited, being the first Malay book to be translated into Japanese.  Exactly 10 years later, Grinnel College once again invited me as a Heath Visiting Professor.  And this year, Grinnel College invited me to the Rosenfield Seminar three times, which gave me another chance to visit Grinnel covered in snow after a long absence.
　　When one has been a teacher for such a long time, like me, one definitely learns a great deal from the students.  Every year, they make me realise that those young students have limitless possibilities within themselves.  Once they are outside the classroom, it is possible to discover another aspect of them.  I have countless pleasant memories of trips to Okinawa, Malaysia, Vietnam, etc. with my students.  I remember vividly that one of the students was looking at the exhibition keenly in tears when we visited the War Remnants Museum of Hanoi, Vietnam.  Students from all over the world come to Waseda.  I have only one wish.  Everyone should live happily without killing others or being killed by others.  You will come back to the university when cherry blossoms bloom.  Please enjoy your remaining three months here.  I look forward to seeing you again some day.