Got Your X40? | Kenji Kumasaka (Dean, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies)
2004.11.26
At 9:00 p.m. on November 24, with the two-day ORF successfully concluded, I was soaking in a sense of relief as I got into a taxi with Mr. Kojima and left Roppongi Hills.
At 10:27 p.m., my cell phone rang. "This is Shigechika. Mr. Kumasaka, do you have your X40?" Yikes. In that instant, I understood everything. I immediately checked my bag, but as I feared, it wasn't there. My alter ego, my IBM X40 PC, was gone. In other words, I had left it at the staff headquarters on the 40th floor of Roppongi Hills. Good grief.
I suppose I must have felt a sense of relief somewhere that it had all ended safely, but I asked myself, "Am I really that foolish?" The answer was clear. Since it's the bag I always carry, the sense of its weight is deeply ingrained in me. Without the PC, it's 1 kg lighter, so I should have noticed with a "Huh?" unless something unusual happened. But something equivalent in weight—namely, three thick volumes of entry forms for the Entrepreneur Award 2004—was in my bag. That's why the misfortune of leaving my alter ego behind occurred. "Oh, brother," I grumbled, "Hey, Maki, good grief." I should have been sending thank-you emails late at night to everyone who had helped me, but I couldn't even do that. All I could do was just zone out and let the heavy fatigue in my body quietly settle. "Oh well, I guess this is fine too," I decided, trying to change my mood.
Then, various things came to mind. "SPIBER," which we gave a special prize to at the Entrepreneur Award, is a bio-venture started by a pair of fourth-year undergraduate students working hard in Tsuruoka. When they received the award, they put on a poised performance, even shedding some tears. Being easily fooled, I was genuinely moved(?) by it. I hope they become a venture that aims for the top of the world. It made me feel proud, thinking, "SFC really is the best campus."
In the debate during the 21-12 main session, I asked the "third generation" (the young faculty at SFC!) to take on a tough role, so I imagine it must have been difficult for them. But contrary to my expectations, they all stepped in among the SFC "stars" (the middle-aged faculty at SFC! A kind explanation for those who didn't come to ORF) and looked quite cool. They looked the part, so I thought, "Good, good." And Mr. Ogi won the award. Congratulations. In the exhibitions, Mr. Iba and Mr. Wakita won awards for their great contributions. It was wonderful. Of course, Mr. Kohiyama's skill in showing a jack-in-the-box(?) with dancing butterflies was superb, and everyone from children to the elderly who attended was impressed. But even though he's older than me, his exhibit had such a youthful spirit that I had him decline the award. And that's just fine.
And so, ORF was over. It was a truly wonderful two days.
(Date of publication: 2004/11/26)