Diary of a Former Head | Naoyuki Agawa (Professor, Faculty of Policy Management / Former Dean, Faculty of Policy Management / Former Vice-President)

2016.03.23

I Won't Sing the SFC Song Anymore

I am leaving Keio to move to another university. I am leaving SFC to go to Kyoto. When I told people around me, they were more surprised than I expected. It's true that I haven't reached retirement age, and perhaps it was a bit sudden. They might have thought I was leaving quite abruptly.

Faculty members at Keio University seem truly reluctant to leave when they reach retirement age. Many people at this school have been at Keio since their undergraduate years. Some have known nothing but Keio for about 60 years, from entering the Yochisha Elementary School until retirement. The Juku was their youth and their prime. All the joys and sorrows, successes and failures of their lives are tied to this school. So, leaving Keio must be incredibly hard for them.

I don't have such strong feelings. I like both Keio and SFC, but they are not my lovers or mistresses. I have a spouse elsewhere. Didn't Yukichi Fukuzawa, who preached "Gakumon no susume (An Encouragement of Learning)," also say, "Don't be obsessed with learning"? Don't be obsessed with Keio. Don't be obsessed with SFC.

Since I was young, I have watched others from a slight distance. I was not good at interacting with people. That's why I often went to the harbor to watch passenger ships cast off their lines, walked around Nara and Kyoto, and spent a lot of time alone. I would lose myself in the world of books, starting with fairy tales and moving on to accounts of ancient civilization excavations and historical stories, forgetting reality.

However, when I say this, people tell me it's surprising. They argue that I'm very sociable. It's true that I open up to people quickly and am always joking around. Actually, I became this way after entering Keio Senior High School (Jukuko). The influence of my very cosmopolitan friends was significant. Keio changed my personality a great deal. But when I make friends and colleagues and the relationships become intense, I start to feel a bit suffocated. For some reason, I feel the urge to escape the comfort.

I dropped out of the Juku's Faculty of Law. There were various circumstances, and it wasn't entirely my own decision. I was studying abroad at a university in the United States and missed my friends at Keio terribly. I was very sad to cut ties with my alma mater, but at the same time, something was lifted from me. Being alone in America, a country with many independent individuals, made me stronger.

After that, I left the company I joined after 10 years, and I also left the American law firm where I worked as a lawyer after about 10 years. It wasn't that I was dissatisfied with the work. I had wonderful experiences at each place. I just wanted to mark a new chapter and place myself in a new environment. I must have lost things by leaving, but I also gained a lot. It was also strangely refreshing. All in all, quitting once every 10 years wasn't so bad.

Then I moved to Keio SFC and have been here for 17 years. This time, it's been a bit long. I was seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for three of those years, so if you subtract that, it's 14 years. During my two years as dean and four years as Vice-President, I couldn't focus enough on teaching and research, so the net time was probably about 10 years. If I think in 10-year cycles, it's time to leave.

Let me be clear, my days at SFC were enjoyable and fulfilling. This campus is full of memories. Memories of classes, memories of seminars. Memories of the changing seasons, memories of fighter jets and patrol planes flying overhead. In the first place, SFC gave me, a Keio dropout, a chance to teach. Dean Kojima at the time allowed me to be seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The students put up with my classes. My colleagues tolerated my willful statements and administration. I am indebted to Keio and to SFC. That's why I accepted the positions of dean and Vice-President, and I worked hard enough during my tenure.

For about six years, from when I became dean until I stepped down as Vice-President, I wrote essays for the "Okashira Diary" section of the SFC website, which is still running. While other contributors write about their classes and research at SFC, I wrote only about things not directly related to my work, such as everyday scenes, feelings from my travels, airplanes, and ships. Writing the "Okashira Diary" articles was a way for me to step away from my daily work for a moment and refresh my own feelings. Still, when I reread them, I see that while muttering "I hate this" or "I'm tired," I was actually thinking quite seriously about Keio and SFC.

In fact, back then, I thought in my own way about what kind of education should be provided at SFC and what should be conveyed to the students. I watched and listened to recordings many times of the public speaking by President Tadao Ishikawa, who announced the founding of SFC and declared that it would "nurture people who think for themselves," and the speech by Hiroshi Kato, the first Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management, who lovingly called out to SFC graduates, "You are the owls of Minerva." I also reread various works by Yukichi Fukuzawa. I myself spoke and wrote in various places about the nature of SFC and the philosophy of Keio. But that is now in the past. As it says in the Old Testament's "Book of Ecclesiastes," "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." My time and season at SFC have already passed.

When I stepped down as Vice-President, the SFC executive team held a small thank-you party for me. At that party, Mr. Murai told me to write a song for SFC. Keio has many songs, but SFC has none. He suggested we create one and present it at the SFC 25th anniversary ceremony. I took him seriously and wrote a complete poem for the first time in my life. It's not just that SFC has no song; the stories that were once told are no longer being told. I wrote with that feeling in mind. I hoped someone would set it to music, but due to various circumstances, it was not presented at the 25th anniversary milestone.

In this poem, I put my thoughts about SFC into words. As I leave the hill, I want to leave behind these lyrics that were never sung. I entrust the singing of songs and the weaving of stories to all of you who remain at SFC.

1.

Let's climb the hill

Up the gentle slope

Toward the plaza at the summit

Let's climb straight up

On this hill, clearing the forest

To carve out a history older than our own

They built a house of learning

There were people

And the young came from the future

Fearing nothing, holding their heads high

Stepping on the earth, one by one

Seeking the power of knowledge

They came

So

You too, let's climb

Where friends await

Let's climb the hill of Endo

The owl

Is it still

Sleeping, I wonder?

2.

Let's stand on the hill

Where airplanes cross the sky

With its fine view

Let's stand in the plaza

On this hill

The questions that must be asked

The answers that must be given

Calling out to seek them

There were people

And the young were always in the future

Strong and bright

Quenching their thirst with water from the pond

Looking up at the sky

They acquired the power of knowledge

So

You too, let's stand

Where friends gather

Let's stand on the hill of Keio

The owl

Is it now

Dreaming, I wonder?

3.

Let's go beyond the hill

The high mountains

The vast ocean

Let's aim for them

On this hill, time and again

Flowers bloomed and leaves fell

Years passed and they departed

There were people

And the young took flight into the future

At the depth of the cosmos, at the transience of life

Trembling but unshrinking

They took flight, believing in the power of knowledge

So

You too, let's set out on a journey

Thinking of your friends

Beyond the hill of SFC

The owl

Has it now

Awakened, I wonder?