Center for Research Promotion Symposium held at Mita:
"Designing the Future through Sports – Sports Medicine and Sports Science, Cultural Research and Promotion"

On Saturday, July 22, the Center for Research Promotion held a symposium entitled ”Designing the Future through Sports – Sports Medicine and Sports Science, Cultural Research and Promotion” at the North Building Hall on the Mita Campus.

The main theme of the symposium was “Designing the Future through Sports”, and the sessions focused on issues such as how sports contribute to our society and healthy living, and how we should engage in sporting activities. The symposium included lectures by Keio University researchers and leaders in a wide variety of fields, a report of results achieved through industry-university collaboration, and a panel discussion.

Vice-President Yamazaki started the symposium with the keynote lecture entitled “Designing the Future – Sports Medicine Now and in the Future,” followed by a special lecture entitled “CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and the Support of Sporting Activities” by President and COO Kazuyasu Kato of the Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd.

At the subsequent in the Sports Medicine and Sports Science session, Professor Shohei Onishi, Dean of Graduate School of Health Management /Deputy Director of the Sports Medicine Research Center, and Shinzo Kato of Uniqlo Co., Ltd. discussed the theme “Contributions of Sports Medicine and Sports Science to our Quality of Life”, while citing examples of social contributions made by sports science/sports medicine research at Keio University and business-academia collaborative projects.

Featuring “Sporting Culture” in the next session, Vice-President Nishimura gave a lecture entitled “Sports and Literature in Ancient Greece – Pindaros”, and a special lecture “The Promotion of Sporting Culture for a New Era” was presented by Olympic gold medallist and Member of the House of Councillors, Kenji Ogiwara.

At the end of symposium, Shigeru Sugiyama, a sports producer and Graduate School of Health Management Guest Professor chaired a panel discussion with former Keio University Rugby Football Club Coach Akio Ueda, Keio University Baseball Club Coach Tsutomu Aiba and Professor Onishi to discuss the theme “A Healthy Society, A Sporting Society – Sports and Universities, Sports and Society”. The three panelists actively exchanged opinions and identified a number of pertinent issues.

The symposium was extremely well received to attract approximately 230 attendees, including researchers from Keio and other academic institutions, coaches and sports officials as well as sports fans, students, and members of the public.