Three Precious Days | Hideyuki Tokuda (Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance)

2010.01.21

January 1 (Fri.): I attended a New Year's party in the Endo district. On the way, I ran into unexpected traffic and was almost late. This year, I got the impression that there were slightly fewer attendees. Coming to campus on New Year's Day is quite an effort, but frighteningly, it has become an annual tradition. Actually, there was one thing that bothered me this year. Someone was smoking in the venue, and after about 30 minutes, my eyes became sensitive and were on the verge of watering. After an hour, I hit my limit. I also had a conflict with my next appointment, so I left. On my way out, I made a quick *hatsumode* (first shrine visit of the year) at SFC's Sengen Shrine, another annual tradition. I prayed for the safety of the SFC campus and for the smooth running of entrance examination operations this year. (Incidentally, new smoking rules will be implemented at SFC starting around April this year.)

Sengen Shrine / Senso-ji Temple

January 2 (Sat.): After a New Year's party at my family home, I made my customary *hatsumode* visit to Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa. January 4 (Mon.): A New Year's party with faculty and alumni from my research lab. January 10 (Sun.): I attended the 175th Birth Anniversary Commemoration of Yukichi Fukuzawa ( News: [Keio University] ). Following the New Year's address by the President, there was a lecture by Mr. Goro Hashimoto titled "A Journalist's Compass." He spoke about his connection to Yukichi Fukuzawa, drawing from his many years of experience as a journalist. Particularly interesting was his introduction of the "Yukichi Fukuzawa Compass Theory," which was said to have been advocated by President Kamata during the Meiji era. The theory describes Fukuzawa as a person who, like a compass, firmly planted one leg on the principle of independence and self-respect while using the other leg to flexibly draw circles of all sizes, from large to small. That makes perfect sense.

The 175th Birth Anniversary Commemoration of Yukichi Fukuzawa

January 15 (Fri.): I participated remotely from SFC in the 2nd Future Design Workshop ( Keio SFC 25th Anniversary & Toward the Next 25 Years X account and logged on Twitter with #sfc20). The venue seemed to be quite lively, but since immersive communication has not yet been established, the excitement unfortunately didn't come through. The original goal of involving not only alumni and current students but also a wide range of people to brainstorm in the spirit of Keio Gijuku Shachu cooperation is gradually being achieved. I am looking forward to the third workshop and beyond. For my part, leading up to SFC's 20th anniversary, I hope to not only contribute to the Miraisozojuku (Institute for Designing the Future) but also to renew the campus infrastructure to improve the quality of research and education. Specifically, I envision evolving the integrated virtualization of computing and networking with a group of recommended smartphones and a smart cloud (or Virtualized CNS), creating an environment where a single student can freely manipulate 10,000 or even 100,000 machines and networks to create unique solutions.

Now, regarding the topic "What is essential for the New Year's holidays," there are of course many things, but I believe one of them is the *sanganichi*, the first three days of the New Year's holiday. When I was a student in the Doctoral Programs at the University of Waterloo in Canada, this precious New Year's holiday period was different. If I didn't rest during the Christmas break, classes would start the day after New Year's Day, and there were years when I couldn't feel the sense of a new beginning at all. In Japan, we have these very precious three days of the New Year, the *sanganichi*, which create a milestone for us. They also remind us of the blue sky and the slow passage of time, things often forgotten in urban life.

It is a precious time for each person to form new resolutions for the new year. They are three precious days to reflect on one's own thoughts without being swept away by the clock.

(Date of publication: 2010/01/21)