Welcome to the World Woven by Power

In truth, "politics" is not a particularly beautiful word. Even in daily conversation, saying "his behavior is 'political'" is an expression used to criticize someone. Furthermore, if a comedian tries to mock the administration of the time on a TV program, the internet erupts with comments like, "If you don't refrain from 'political' remarks, the sponsors will pull out" (interestingly, behavior that defends the administration is rarely criticized as being "political").  

In other words, the Japanese word for "politics" carries a nuance of "the deviousness of using plausible logic to gain support from people for one's own personal interests or ideals." Since you are planning to study in a department that bears this name, I honestly have mixed feelings when I face wide-eyed freshmen.  

Nevertheless, I must advocate for the appeal of political science here. Moreover, since I am attempting to describe the selling points of political science by linking it to "power"—a term with a particularly strong negative nuance among the terminology used in this discipline—this will be a somewhat convoluted story.

Now, I mentioned that power has a negative nuance. This is because the coercive force of power is, at its core, violence. But why do humans need such a dangerous thing? It must be because humans realized that "unless we threaten by brandishing power, and in the worst-case scenario (and I mean the worst case) actually exercise that power, we simply cannot bring things together. That is how diverse the ideals and interests held by people are." To jump to a conclusion, in that sense, a world where politics and political science exist is a world that takes the rich variety of individual and group personalities as its major premise. Political science is the knowledge concerning diversity. Whether from a global perspective, with a focus on institutions, or perhaps philosophically, I want you to think about the meaning of why power and the politics it weaves are necessary for us. With these thoughts in mind, I stand on the podium at Hiyoshi every year to welcome you all.