I extend my sincere congratulations to all our fresh, new students as they assemble here today for this matriculation ceremony. I have just formally declared the admission of 1,848 students in the bachelor programs, 792 students in graduate school programs, and 33 students in the special program. From today, all 2,673 of you are students of Kanazawa University. Welcome to Kanazawa University. On behalf of the faculty and staff, I extend a heartfelt welcome to you all. I also extend my sincere felicitations to your families, who have waited with great anticipation for this wonderful day to arrive.
As you enter the university with hearts full of hope, a future filled with bright promise awaits you. Take pride in the fact that you will be students of Kanazawa University. Soar to new heights with excited curiosity, and challenge yourself to try a variety of new things. The fact that you have been able to greet this day and attend this matriculation ceremony is thanks to the warm encouragement of your families and teachers. With that fact engraved on your heart, be aware of yourself as a member of Kanazawa University, and spend your years as a student here in many wonderful, meaningful ways.
Today, we face many challenges of a global scale, such as climate change, political and economic issues, food issues and starvation, and health, all of which must be addressed. There are also have many grave concerns internationally about peace issues. The structure of industry is changing at an ever-accelerating pace due to advances in the fourth industrial revolution, including AI and robotics technologies, and digital transformation (DX). Furthermore, the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has had a massive impact on society both here in Japan and overseas. Life in society has changed greatly in the past two years. Technological innovations in digital environments and sharing of information in cyber space have accelerated, transforming our work, our homes, and other aspects of our daily lives. It is in the midst of such great social change that you have all matriculated to Kanazawa University. Together with you all, I would love to think about what you will learn at university. Precisely because you will be studying at university at such a time of great change in the social structure and values, those studies will become invaluable assets for the future.
In a society that is undergoing such significant changes, I would like to offer three words of advice for your studies at Kanazawa University.
The first is to cherish your encounters with new people.
People have much they can learn from other people. Encounters with people who have passion are important. Cherish your encounters with new people both on and off campus at Kanazawa University, a place with energy and vigor that is wide open to the knowledge of the world. Strive to be sincerely interested in and communicate with many different people. Through such efforts, you are sure to meet people who will become lifelong friends. To that end, it is important to be interested in both the other person and in yourself. Forty years ago, I, too, stood where you are standing, my heart filled with anticipation, as I matriculated to Kanazawa University. I believe that the friendships I made and the activities I pursued as a student at Kanazawa University are what allowed me to grow into the man I am today. Even now, forty years later, I am still in touch with my classmates and friends from those days, and they are irreplaceable treasures in my life. These days, due to the pandemic, there are fewer opportunities to meet and talk with them face-to-face. It is precisely at times such as these that I am struck by how important it is to sit across from one another and talk, about both the important and the mundane. I hope that, among the people that you meet in your life as a student at Kanazawa University, you will one day feel from the heart that those chance encounters were, in fact, meant to be.
My second word of advice is to think for yourself.
In your studies up to high school, you will have been provided with model answers. However, as is often said, there is no such thing as a model response for the social challenges of today. There is so much in the real world for which there is no answer, or for which there may be more than one answer. In a society without model responses, if we are to forge a path toward the future, it is crucial that we explore the issues of today and of the future and that we search for the questions ourselves. Today’s textbooks could be described as an accumulation of past knowledge. The contents of tomorrow’s textbooks will be found in the facts and issues before us now. It is important to develop hypotheses, verify them with evidence, and think deeply about whether those hypotheses are valid. This process is one of the keystones of university education. I believe that it will be a critical point for your studies at Kanazawa University. The experiences that you accumulate as you face up to challenges in your life as a student at Kanazawa University are sure to become assets that will underpin your lives. I urge you, as the leaders of the next generation, to attain “human resilience,” founded on a strong aspiration to overcome barriers, and “comprehensive knowledge” that integrates all types of knowledge. I hope that you will forge a path for society, with the courage and aspiration that you will be the ones who will solve issues and create a better society. It is my wish that you will grow into valuable people with high aspirations to create “future-oriented intelligence,” the wisdom to explore future issues and help overcome them. It is you who will write tomorrow’s textbooks and build the society that the future deserves. My message to you is that you can change yourselves and the future, and that the future is something that you will create yourselves. At Kanazawa University, we promote education in which students learn and grow by themselves, and we are strengthening our support systems to help students think for themselves.
My third and final word of advice is to “compete outside your lane.”
I hope that, while at Kanazawa University, our students will gain experience of “living among strangers” and “venturing outside their lane.” I believe that doing so will change the way you look at the world. I highly recommend venturing outside your own lane. My own experience of living and studying abroad, although it was only for a short time, left a great impression on me. It made me feel that many diverse values could emerge. I also recommend that you collaborate with people from different environments and stakeholders both in Japan and overseas. Interacting with people from different environments will give you fresh perspectives from different angles.
The school where you will study Kanazawa University is located in the wonderful environment of Kanazawa, the academic capital of Japan, where the history of Kaga Hyakumangoku and rich traditional culture have been fostered. Kaga Domain Hikoso Vaccination Center The school has a history and tradition of 160 years, which was inherited from the predecessor schools of the old school system, such as the Fourth Higher School. Kanazawa University In the Charter of Kanazawa University, the basic philosophy of a research university dedicated to education, while opening up its doors to both local and global society is set forth. Based on this philosophy, we have set forth the human resources to be nurtured in each of the undergraduate and graduate programs as "Kanazawa University Global Standards (KUGS). In order to encourage the acquisition of these qualities, we are striving to strengthen liberal arts education that integrates disciplines and so-called STEAM education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as to enhance expertise in these areas.
Furthermore, Kanazawa University has several world-class research centers, including Nano Life Science Institute. Based on these advanced research promotion capabilities, I hope that you will learn interdisciplinary knowledge as well as specialized fields and develop the ability to see the whole picture of issues from a bird's eye view. I hope that you will proactively take the initiative in learning outside your field of specialization, interacting with people who have worldviews and knowledge that you do not have, and having such "cross-border experiences" on your own. Through these experiences, I hope that you will acquire a deep education and advanced abilities, and create Future-oriented Intelligence that will contribute to solving problems. We hope that you will become "Kanazawa University brand human resources" with the human ability to lead society as it should be.
You are the ones who will open up a future society that has hope. Your potential stretches out before you without limit. Our entire faculty and staff will do all in our power to support that potential. Hold high aspirations and enjoy a fulfilling student life at Kanazawa University. Once again, my sincere congratulations on your matriculation.
April 4, 2022
Takashi Wada, President of Kanazawa University
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