On Thursday, December 13, Keio University’s time-honored Mita Public Speaking Event was held at the Mita Public Speaking Hall (Mita Enzetsu-kan). At this 707th event, Professor Jun Murai of the Graduate School of Media and Governance and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies gave a lecture entitled "Outline of a Theory of Internet Civilization," a play on the title of a book published by Keio University founder Yukichi Fukuzawa in 1875.
Professor Murai began by introducing the history of the Internet. He explained that the modern Internet has its origins in the birth of the computer network ARPAnet and an operating system called UNIX in 1969, while it got its start in Japan in 1984 with the launch of a network linking universities. His talk also touched on the principles of the Internet, as well as the significant contribution that was made by Japan to its linguistic diversification. In the Q&A session that followed, Professor Murai talked about the need for ethics now more than ever in an Internet-saturated society in response to a question on the misuse of the Internet.
Keio faculty and staff members, students, and members of the general public filled the venue to capacity, with some of the audience having to stand as they listened attentively to Professor Murai’s popular lecture.