Speech at the 2023 Entrance Ceremony

This is the speech at the 2023 entrance ceremony.

Opening speech

Congratulations to all the new students on your admission. All the current students, faculty and staff are very happy to be spending time together at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology of Agriculture and Technology, which you have just entered, is a national university with a long history that has played a very important role both domestically and internationally, and next year will mark its 150th anniversary. Agricultural Training School and the Sericulture Research Institute and Sericulture Experiment Section?, the predecessors of the current Faculty of Agriculture and Faculty of Engineering, were both established in 1874 in what is now Shinjuku Gyoen. At that time, our university played a central role in protecting Japan's food supply, starting the production and export of world-class silk thread, and becoming a core industry supporting the Japanese economy. Now, with cutting-edge science and technology, we are connected to countries around the world, and opportunities for students to participate in overseas activities are expanding dramatically.
As you know, the spread of the coronavirus infection that has continued for over three years has had a major impact on all human activities, and the university has somehow managed to overcome this despite various restrictions thanks to the cooperation of current students, faculty, staff, and parents. I believe that all of you who entered university today have had to endure difficulties that are incomparable to those in normal times, including preparing for university entrance exams, and have been forced to make extra efforts, but I sincerely hope that you will all have a more fulfilling student life, including for those of you who have had to make up for this.

Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic is coming to an end, I recently visited the University of Hawaii and other institutions with a few faculty members for the first time in three years, and resumed our suspended international collaboration activities. Looking out the window of an airplane I hadn't boarded in a long time and looking at the vast forests and ocean below, I was reminded of Saint-Exupéry's masterpiece, "Land of Man." He is well known as the author of "The Little Prince," but I am always moved by the many precious words engraved in "Land of Man," which he wrote a few years earlier. "To be human is to be responsible. To be human is to feel ashamed of unfortunate events that seem to have nothing to do with you." In other words, all problems are not someone else's problem, but something to feel responsible for and ashamed of yourself. These words were spoken from the bottom of Saint-Exupéry's heart, as he was flying through the sky as an airplane pilot, looking down on the earth from the sky and asking how humans living there should be. This leads us to the issue we are facing today, where we must take full responsibility for all human activities and make efforts to maintain sustainability on this one planet.
At first glance, everything seems calm on the Boeing 787 I'm on. However, the jet engines I can see from the window are sucking in a lot of air from the front and expelling carbon dioxide along with water vapor explosively from the back. That carbon comes from fossil fuels, and it's having a huge impact on the weather on Earth. These fossil fuels will eventually have to be replaced by biomass produced by the forests and marine life below, and humanity doesn't have much time left until then. We also need better research and development on flexible and strong new materials that support the jet plane's body, communication systems that support safety, mechanics, and so on. Looking inside the plane, I saw that the in-flight meals were about to be distributed, and there is no doubt that all the passengers here will have delicious and safe food. However, the reality is that at least 10% of people on the ground do not have enough food. This kind of scene I happened to see on the plane reminds me of many things for which we should feel responsible. How will we change society and what kind of research will we promote? This is the major mission of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology of Agriculture and Technology, and it is also the world in which all of you, who have enrolled today, will make great strides in the future.

While I was thinking about this on the plane, the chief purser suddenly approached me and spoke to me with a smile. "I heard from the passengers that you are Mr. Chiba from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology of Agriculture and Technology, right? The captain and co-pilot in the cockpit of today's JAL787 are both graduates of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology of Agriculture and Technology. They are both very happy, and I have left my business card with them, asking them to please take care of you." After receiving their personal contact information, I learned that the world in which our university's graduates are active has already expanded to a level far beyond my imagination, and I was filled with a deep sense of joy and confidence, as I was strongly convinced of the ever-widening possibilities of Tokyo TUAT of Agriculture and Technology students. I contacted the captain and co-pilot afterwards and asked them to help support our students, which they readily agreed to. At the same time, I am excited to imagine the infinitely expanding future of all of you who are here today.

In the coming age, it will be important to envision a broad and free world, free from the constraints of invisible boundaries and precedents, while shining a light on each and every person and creating daily lives with a higher level of fulfillment. Achieving this will not be an easy task, but I sincerely hope that through your studies and experiences at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, you will be able to draw out and fully utilize the unique powers that lie within you, even if you have not yet discovered them yourself, and greatly broaden your own path.

I sincerely hope that this memorable day, a huge turning point in your lives as you enroll at this university, will be an irreplaceable and wonderful day of departure for you all, and I would like to conclude my remarks with my congratulations.

Congratulations today.

April 4, 2023
Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology Kazuhiro Chiba

Ceremonial Address

Congratulations to all new students on your enrollment at TUAT. It is a great pleasure for all of us, current students and faculty members, to be here with you at TUAT. TUAT is a national university with a long history of playing a very important role in Japan and abroad, and next year will mark the 150th anniversary of its founding. In 1874, the Faculty of Agriculture and the Faculty of Engineering were both established in what is now Shinjuku Gyoen, as the Agricultural School and the Silkworm Research Institute there. The University has played a central role in this process. Nowadays, with cutting-edge science and technology, the University is connected to countries around the world, and opportunities for students to engage in overseas activities are dramatically expanding.
As you know, the spread of the coronavirus over the past three years has had a tremendous impact on all human activities, and the University has managed to overcome this with the cooperation of current students, faculty, staff, and parents, despite various restrictions. I am sure that all of you who have enrolled at the university today, including those preparing for university entrance examinations, have had to work even harder than in normal times, and I sincerely hope that your time as students will be more fulfilling, including for that reason.

As the Corona disaster is being contained, I myself, along with several other faculty members and staff, recently visited the University of Hawaii and other institutions for the first time in three years to begin international collaborative activities that had been suspended. As I was boarding for the first time in a long while, I looked out the window of the plane at the vast forests and ocean below, and I was suddenly reminded of Saint- Exupéry's famous book, "Wind, Sand and Stars (Terre Des Hommes)". His name is well known as the author of "The Little Prince", but I am always struck by the many gems he inscribed in "Wind, Sand and Stars (Terre Des Hommes)" which he wrote several years earlier. To be human is, after all, to have responsibility. To be human is to feel ashamed of unfortunate events that seem to have nothing to do with you. These words were spoken from the bottom of his heart by Saint-Exupéry, who flew as a pilot of an airplane at that time and looked at the earth from the sky and how the people living there This is precisely what we are facing today: the need to take responsibility for all human activities and strive to maintain sustainability on the earth.
At first glance, everything looks peaceful on the Boeing 787 that I flew on. But the jet engines, visible through the windows, are sucking in huge volumes of air from the front and spewing out an explosion of carbon dioxide and water vapor from the rear. That carbon comes from fossil fuels, which now have an enormous impact on the Earth's weather. This fossil fuel will eventually have to be replaced by biomass produced by the forest and ocean life below us, and we do not have long to wait. We also need more advanced research and development on new flexible and tough materials for jet fuselages, communication systems that support safety, and mechanics. Also, if you look at the cabin, you will see that in-flight meals are about to be served, and there is no doubt all the passengers will be provided with delicious and safe food. On the ground, however, at least 10% of the people do not receive enough food. These scenes that I saw on the airplane remind me of the many things for which we must feel responsible. How we are going to change our society and what kind of research we are going to promote are the major The missions of TUAT are also the very world in which the students who have enrolled today will be active in the future.

As I was pondering these thoughts on the plane, I was suddenly approached by the chief purser, who smiled and said to me, "I understand that you fellow passengers are Mr. Chiba of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), aren't you? The captain and co-pilot at the controls of today's JAL 787 are both graduates of TUAT. Both of them are very pleased and have asked me to give you their business cards with their best wishes". When I received the personal contact information, I was filled with joy to learn that the world in which TUAT graduates are active has already expanded to a level far beyond my imagination, and I became even more convinced of the wide range of possibilities for TUAT students in the future. I contacted the captain and co-pilot and told them that I would like them to cooperate in supporting our university students, and they readily agreed. At the same time, I am very much looking forward to imagining the limitless future of all those present.

In the coming era, it will be an important task to create a daily life in which we can live with a higher level of fulfillment, shining a light on each and every person, while envisioning a wide and free world, without being bound by various invisible boundaries and precedents. It will not be easy to accomplish this, but I sincerely hope that through your future studies and experiences at TUAT, you will draw out and fully demonstrate your unique strengths that lie hidden within you, which you have yet to discover for yourself, and that you will greatly expand your own path.

I would like to conclude with my words of congratulations, wishing you all a wonderful and irreplaceable start on this momentous and memorable day of your life, the moment you enter TUAT.

I would like to extend my sincere congratulations to you today.

April 4, 2023
Kazuhiro Chiba,
President of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology