What ORF Means to Me | Keiichi Yoshino (Dean, Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care)
December 4, 2004
Mr. Kojima skillfully wrote about the origin of ORF and this year's highlights in the "Okashira Nikki" entry from two posts ago (November 18), while Mr. Kumasaka wrote about his sense of fulfillment after successfully completing his heavy responsibilities as the ORF2004 Executive Committee Chairman in the last entry (November 26).
Well, I guess it's my turn.
This year, like last year, we had over 3,000 visitors—that's Roppongi Hills for you. It's hard to believe that at the ORF held at SFC until two years ago, we had only 300 visitors, and the already spacious venue was eerily quiet. But holding it here, it's been a huge success, with some areas so crowded there's barely room to move. It has literally become a different world. I mentioned that the number of visitors was similar to last year, but I agree with Jun Murai, Director of the Keio Research Institute at SFC, that in terms of content and substance, it was 140% of last year's. This is because last year, being our debut in Roppongi, both presenters and the audience seemed a bit out of place, whereas this year, everyone seemed firmly grounded in the Roppongi venue.
Our Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care also played a small part by participating in the main session "21-12: 12 Dialogues to Create the 21st Century," specifically in the discussions on "Declining Birthrate, Aging Population, and Gender" and "Genetic Information and Richness of Mind," and through demonstrations on topics such as the application of IT in nursing and medical care and ensuring information security.
Let me share an incident where a key figure in one of the main events nearly had to cancel, but we managed to resolve the situation with the help of the University Hospital. The person in question had developed severe lower back pain from a herniated disc in Paris a few days earlier. Furthermore, their flight was scheduled to arrive at Narita just after 9:00 a.m. on the day of their ORF appearance. Executive Committee Chairman Kumasaka contacted me about this two days in advance. I immediately pleaded with Associate Professor Chiba of the University Hospital's Department of Orthopedic Surgery, who is an expert. He kindly changed his schedule, saw the patient directly from Narita at the University Hospital, and after emergency treatment, the person was able to appear at ORF, saving the day. When things like this happen, it reaffirms that a School of Medicine is essential for a university in the truest sense.
At the final reception, I was given the honor of making the mid-reception remarks. Perhaps because the stage was unusually high, I felt exhilarated and got into the swing of things. My speech flowed smoothly and led me to the topic of our 31st Tokyo Big6 Baseball League championship this fall, our first in six seasons. While this victory was partly due to a scandal involving a pitcher from a certain other university, winning a championship is no easy feat. It is especially a great achievement for the Juku, which has few admission spots for athletes recommended by the Athletic Association and is a community of scholar-athletes. So, when I concluded with the words, "This championship is truly wonderful. And much of this victory is thanks to the players from SFC!" it was very well-received. It was an incredible feeling because it's true!
One last thing: the "Sports Skill Assessment Using Sensors" demonstration, part of the physical education research exhibit that was also here last year. As someone who enjoys golf as a hobby, this is extremely fascinating to me. My golf score has been getting worse since about last year. So, last year, I had them investigate the cause at this demo, and I was very satisfied because I felt I understood the reason. However, my scores continued to worsen. So, I decided to rely on their help again this year. As a result, I was once again very satisfied. This is because the cause of my poor performance became even clearer. What was it? There were two main reasons. First, I became extremely busy, and the number of times I played golf dropped dramatically. The second is that improving my golf swing based on last year's diagnosis was fundamentally impossible unless I did daily stretching, ab, and back exercises to improve my body's flexibility and spring, played nearly 50 rounds a year as I used to, and went to the driving range in between. In fact, considering the recent age-related decline in my physical flexibility and resilience, pursuing such a swing is extremely risky.
This is what the "Sports Skill Assessment Using Sensors" demo taught me. This will surely help stop my scores from getting worse. But still, should I pursue the ideal swing of a pro golfer? My worries never end. (End)
(Published: December 4, 2004)