A Dedicated Attitude | Hideyuki Tokuda (Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance)
December 1, 2006
In mid-November, I participated in a softball game on the grounds of the Yagami Campus for the first time in decades. It was for a gathering called WNET, a workshop for students on networking started by Professor Yoshito Tobe, who was formerly at SFC and has since moved to Tokyo Denki University. This time, a game was planned to mark the final meeting, and matches were held between teams from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo Denki University, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Keio University, and the NTT DOCOMO Research Laboratories. As someone who once tore their Achilles tendon playing tennis, I made a point of not running suddenly during practice and the game. We formed a joint team with the Teraoka Fumio Laboratory from the Graduate School of Science and Technology and played against Tokyo Denki University. Although they tied the score in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Keio joint team managed to win 20–13 with a big rally in the 7th.
On November 22–23, the Open Research Forum (ORF) was held in the Marunouchi district. It took place at three locations—the Marunouchi Building, the Mitsubishi Building, and the Tokyo Building (Galleria TOKIA)—and our demonstrations and exhibits were also spread across these three venues. With time constraints for setup and takedown, as well as the cold near the entrances, it was a challenging ORF for the students in many ways. It was truly touching that alumni stopped by again this year and even brought refreshments to the wrap-up party.
Now, to the topic of this column: movies. Due to my work, I tend to watch a lot of science fiction films. Scenes from "Minority Report," such as the follow-me advertising displays, iris recognition systems, and video editing interfaces, as well as the scene in "The Matrix" where the helicopter piloting program is downloaded, are still fresh in my memory. However, as for a sci-fi film that truly moved me, there is "Gattaca," directed by Andrew Niccol.
The protagonist is a young man who dreams of becoming an astronaut. However, in this future society, one's aptitude and eligibility are determined by DNA tests from even a tiny amount of blood. It is a society where people are tested from a single strand of hair, and definitive judgments are made based on the results. With his natural-born body, his inferior eyesight and physical abilities mean he could never become an astronaut. But he never gives up on his dream and lives his life to the fullest in pursuit of it. This dedicated attitude is what I find so moving. As for how the story ends, I hope you will watch the movie on DVD to find out.
Another film that comes to mind with a similarly dedicated attitude is "The Sun Also Rises" by director Kiyoshi Sasabe, which turns the story of the birth of VHS into a classic Japanese human-interest drama. It is a film that powerfully conveys the dedicated attitude and passion for "monozukuri" (craftsmanship) of the protagonist, played by Toshiyuki Nishida. This one is also very moving.
The attitude of working diligently toward a dream, a sincere approach to "monozukuri"—these films remind us of the importance of these things.
(Posted: December 1, 2006)