2011 Graduation Ceremony and Degree Conferment Ceremony

March 27, 24

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Cho Matsunaga Kore

Congratulations to all of you graduating from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology today. On behalf of the faculty and staff of the university, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations. I am relieved and grateful that we were able to hold this ceremony safely this year. Of course, today's degree is the result of your efforts, but it is not on my own that I was able to continue my efforts. Don't forget to thank your family, friends, and everyone involved who has supported you throughout your studies. We, the faculty and staff, would like to express our sincere gratitude and share the joy of this sunny day.

The following degrees will be awarded: Faculty of Agriculture 347 students, Faculty of Engineering 608 students, and master's degree will be awarded to 367 students in the Graduate School of Engineering master's program, 183 students in the Graduate School of Agriculture master's program, Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering 85 students in the master's program, 37 students in the graduate school of technology management, and 21 students in the doctoral program, Graduate School of Engineering 21 students in the doctoral program, Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering There are 11 doctoral students, for a total of 1,659 students. When I look at you again from this stage, I can see a variety of expressions. There are many faces, such as those who are sad about the end of a fun Campus Life, those who are filled with hopes and dreams for the new world they are about to enter, and those who are anxious about the uncertain and unknown environment. However, compared to when I welcomed you to this university a few years ago, all of your faces look reassuring. This is a testament to the fact that all of you have worked hard day and night to become researchers who take the initiative to tackle issues, accumulate and apply knowledge, and create new knowledge, from the standpoint of receiving previous knowledge unilaterally. And I feel that our faculty and staff's desire to support them has also been rewarded. As you know, as a distinctive university with education and research fields including agriculture and engineering, which are the backbone of industry, and their interdisciplinary fields, Waseda University has inherited the long history and tradition of 140 years since its founding, and has continued to evolve to produce scientists who will contribute to the modernization and internationalization of Japan. The success of our alumni in their respective fields is a source of pride for our university, and I hope that you will follow in their footsteps, believe in yourself, be confident in your efforts so far, and dive into a new world to your heart's content.

On this day of departure, I would like to give you a few words.

"Do not go where there is a road, but go where there is no way, and leave a way."
(Do not go where the path may lead, Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.)

These are the words of the American thinker Ralph W. Emerson. I want you to keep these words in the back of your mind at all times. Many eminent scientists have also left words synonymous with this. The same is true of the phrase "Don't be a follower as a researcher," which was passed down from Professor Yogoro Kato, who was the inventor of ferrite magnets, to his disciples, and was instilled in me by my teacher. Don't be a follower. Go where there is no road. Naturally, living in such a way can lead to fear, anxiety, loneliness, hostility, jealousy, and all kinds of negative emotions. There will be many more challenges in your way that will not be compared to what you will experience in Campus Life. However, there are places where you can get there, what you can get, and a world that you can see only by overcoming them. And as someone who has earned that degree from a higher education institution such as a university, you must be aware that you have a great deal of responsibility and expectation on your shoulders to create such a path and lead people. Needless to say, the earth today is facing a variety of problems. The environment, energy, resources, and food are all issues related to the survival of living things on earth, and the creation of new knowledge is indispensable for solving these issues and creating a sustainable society. In order to achieve this, we scientists must be actively involved in creating new paths that lead to the coexistence and prosperity of nature and humankind.

The preparatory period is over. I believe that you have acquired the foundation for becoming a human resource who contributes to society at our university. In addition, I think that they realized that all the difficulties they experienced at Campus Life are common to researchers, and that they are always incidental to the pursuit of truth, which is the job of researchers, and at the same time, they felt the fundamental joy of "pursuing the truth." Once a person has felt the joy of this study, no matter what path he or she takes, he or she will be able to move straight and steadily in the direction he or she seeks. With the conferral of my degree today, I will now be required to expand the foundation and thoughts I have acquired with my own hands more deeply and richly, and to contribute to humanity in a more practical way. There are various career paths, such as graduate schools, research institutes, companies, etc., but what is required is the same everywhere. As a researcher, in order to benefit Japan and the international community, I hope that you will not forget your passion for the pursuit of truth, and that you will do your utmost to push forward with an eye on the future of the beautiful earth. I believe that the next time I see you, I will be able to see you grow and rely even more. In order for our university to become a reassuring pillar that you can be proud of as your alma mater, we will continue down the road and make further efforts to create a better university. I wish you all the best in your endeavors.

I would like to congratulate you on your achievement today.