A Passion for Food | Tomoyuki Kojima (Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management)
2005.04.01
To all new students, congratulations on your admission.
Since its establishment in 1990, the Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) has pursued research and education as a unified campus, without barriers between its undergraduate faculties and graduate schools. This spring, the new Graduate School of Health Management will join the Faculty of Policy Management, the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, and the Graduate School of Media and Governance. In the future, with the Fujisawa Junior and Senior High School also joining forces with the Graduate School of Health Management, SFC hopes to help you, our "students from the future," grow into the leaders who will guide the 21st-century world. Doing so will transform Keio University, which will celebrate the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2008, into a new "Fukuzawa Juku" that will carry it through the next 150 years. This is the principle of "jigasakko" (creating history by oneself) advocated by Mr. Yukichi Fukuzawa for Keio University.
The new semester is finally beginning. An orientation for new students will be held on April 1, and this year, nearly 20 new faculty members, including some who are SFC alumni, will join the SFC Keio Gijuku Shachu. Each has outstanding research achievements and is expected to make significant contributions to research and education at SFC. An orientation for the new faculty members will also be held on April 1.
To coincide with the new semester, the dining facilities will also be renewed. The Italian restaurant "Tablier" will open in the Faculty Club, and the sandwich shop "Subway" will open in the lounge. You can look forward to a rather stylish dining experience. When you're craving udon or donburi (rice bowls), please use the co-op cafeteria in the basement. "Tablier" will hold a tasting event on April 1. However, I hear it will be free only for the first 50 people.
I don't consider myself particularly fussy about food. Having studied China for many years, people often assume I like Chinese food and invite me out for it. However, I don't actually enjoy eating Chinese food in Japan. This is because I travel to China frequently and thus eat Chinese food often there. Moreover, while the food in places like Beijing, Shanghai, or even the inland city of Chengdu used to be little more than "baocai" (set meals), they now all serve wonderfully flavorful dishes. That's why I'm not a fan of "Japanese-style Chinese cuisine," which is dominated by soy sauce and sugar flavors.
Ultimately, the quality of food is determined by the customers who eat it. Whether people will come from off-campus specifically to taste "the flavor of SFC" at these two new establishments, along with the co-op cafeteria, depends on the efforts of the restaurants and all of you at SFC.
(Date of publication: 2005/04/01)