News

Firstly, congratulation on your graduation!

Today, in the academic year 2012, I am so pleased to say that 12,439 students in total are graduating or receiving degrees from Waseda; 9,281 students from Undergraduate Schools, 60 students from Art and Architecture School, 19 from Kawaguchi Art School, 2,106 from Master’s degree programs, 713 from Professional degree programs, and 260 from Doctor’s degree programs!

On behalf of Waseda University, I would like to express my sincere congratulation to all of the students graduating today, as well as their families and friends who have supported them for a long time from many aspects.

I believe all the students here in this hall are full of hope and so excited in stepping forward to the next stage in your life. At the same time, I also believe some are satisfied with achieving the goal they set at the time of enrollment, and others are grieving that they could not deliver well. I strongly hope each of you will keep those experiences at Waseda in mind and live a fruitful life in the future.

That said, I cannot help saying the current state of Japanese society you are entering into is very tough. Looking back the past 4 years which many of you would have spent, we saw change of Cabinet twice; September 2009 and December 2012, the Great East Japan Earthquake hit in March 2011, and we have seen the rising diplomatic tensions with neighboring countries over territorial issues and nuclear development. It is not too much to say it was such a turbulent 4 years.

Recently, expectation to Japan’s economic recovery has been heightened due to the upsurge of stock prices on a weaker yen. However, we cannot be too optimistic as there is no sign of positive change in structural issues such as declining birth rate, aging population, rise of the emerging economies, and because the uneasy factors including sovereign debt crisis in Europe have not been wiped out. Those facts triggered decline of Japan’s international competitiveness from the top in the early 1990s to nearly the 30th in the world. Therefore, business and industrial circles are further calling universities and higher educational institutions for organizational reform to nurture global human resources and human resources who can create innovation .

Fortunately, it is widely recognized by society that Waseda University has energetically nurtured global human resources ahead of other universities, which has been very successful. I am sure that all of the graduates here will play an important role in your career and contribute to higher reputation of Waseda .

Only the power of young generation can break through today’s suffocating situation and build up a bright society full of hope. Among all the young people, Waseda graduates are particularly expected to realize such society, as they have worked hard on Japan’s development for a long time, especially overcoming critical situations.

I will expect the following two things to you who will become major players in the future.

The 1st thing is; please never forget that the ultimate goal for nurturing wide range of academic fields, affluent expert knowledge, and rich humanity lies in the realization of happiness in human society. With that in mind, please make the best of what you have learned at Waseda to boost the revenue of the corporation you are working for, and furthermore, contribute to the recovery of the national power.

Waseda declared the 3 founding principles as Waseda’s mission; “To uphold the independence of learning”, “To promote the practical utilization of knowledge”, and “To promote good citizenship”. The declaration was made public by the founder Shigenobu Okuma 100 years ago in 1913.

For “To promote good citizenship” of the 3 principles, Okuma said as follows.

“To widely contribute to the world at the front line as a role model for the people, we must acquire not only knowledge but also high moral character. The true purpose of education lies in the cultivation of that character. If we are obsessed with absorbing expertise only, we will get selfish and the spirit of self-sacrifice to voluntarily do something for the world will wither little by little. That is the obstacle in civilized society. Good citizens have a responsibility to avoid the obstacle and utilize benefits, which is the very core of Waseda’s mission. That is what makes the basic concepts for the nation and society of good citizenship and for ourselves. We must make constant efforts to realize this ideal.”

Okuma’s idea should be understood assuming the era when he was active, but I think the idea should be passed on to the next generation as the one with the same meaning of the Western idea “Noblesse oblige”. It is natural that private companies pursue their own benefit and national civil servants pursue interest of their own nation. However, if the pursuits involve humanity, I believe Okuma’s 3 principles should be applied as the code of conduct of each person.

Many of your great seniors who learned at Waseda have represented the 3 principles.

One of them is -as you may know well- Chiune Sugihara, Vice-Consul for the Empire of Japan in Kaunas, Lithuania. Sugihara saved the lives of over 6,000 Jewish refugees in Poland who escaped from Nazi, Germany, by issuing so-called “Visas for Life” for them against the directive from the Japanese government.

Last year, Waseda University set up a relief at the square in front of the Building 14, commemorating the 25th anniversary after Sugihara’s death. The Building 14 was once the building of Higher Normal School in which Sugihara leaned, and is now used by School of Education. Sugihara’s words “I made the decision not as a diplomat, but as a human being. I did what I believed was just and right.” are inscribed in the monument.

Sugihara’s action has cast a universal question “How should human beings live?” to us through the ages. Each of us must have free and rich individuality, deal with any difficulty on our own, act with our own convictions, and do our best for the peoples’ happiness all over the world. To nurture such personalities of the students and send them to society is a true purpose of education and is also a philosophy Waseda has maintained since its establishment.

The 2nd thing is; please do not forget what we learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and the accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant gave us many lessons. There are too many lessons to describe. Telling those lessons in a comprehensive way, however, it will be “we should never forget to take into account what we should do in realizing happiness in human society when thinking about how science and technology and governments should be, furthermore, how each of us should live.” What it comes down to is Waseda’s mission “To promote good citizenship” I mentioned just before.

Waseda’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni have done their best in their own way to support victims and to help reconstruct the afflicted area in the wake of the 3.11 earthquake. I am so proud of that, and I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your efforts. At the same time, I want to stress that, as we have experienced 3.11 whether directly or indirectly, it is important for us to reflect ourselves with what we learned from the devastation and pass the lessons to the next generations. Each of us is responsible to do that.

Last November, our Executive Board has created and made public our mid-to-long term plan “Waseda Vision 150” which looks into our 150th anniversary in 2032 under the goal “A Commitment to the World as an Asia’s Leading University”

Waseda Vision 150 proposes the ideal vision of Waseda University as follows: 1) Attract students of the highest caliber and character from around the world to Waseda University who show promise in being able to contribute to the world; 2) Conduct unique research that will ultimately contribute to real world peace and happiness in human society; 3) Cultivate graduates (alumni) who, in all corners of the globe, and in every academic field, will contribute to the public good as global leaders, and who will continue to support an active and intimate collaborative network with Waseda University; and 4) Establish an organizational and management structure that will transform Waseda University into Asia’s premier “model university.” It also shows specific measures to realize the vision.

The word “Global leader” does not necessarily mean the people who are globally famous and influential. It widely means the people in the Japanese society who voluntarily act for others and the society with a broad range of exceptional qualities, the power of insight, global perspectives, and enterprising spirit, including those who make efforts to invigorate local community and to disseminate and develop culture, art, sports, etc.

Under the mission “To uphold the independence of learning”, “To promote the practical utilization of knowledge”, and “To promote good citizenship”, I strongly hope that all of the graduates here who acquired a wide range of knowledge, sophisticated specialty, and rich humanity through classes, lectures and extracurricular activities at Waseda will play an important role as global leaders in realizing the world peace and happiness in human society in every corner of society and in every academic field.

Again, congratulations! Thank you.