On a Special Graduation Day | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management
March 24, 2020
This diary entry is supposed to be posted online the day after the graduation ceremony. However, this year's graduation ceremony was canceled. Yesterday, I would have stood in the newly renovated Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall with the President and other deans, sung the Juku-ka, and the event would have been streamed online.
Around the time yesterday's ceremony was scheduled to be streamed online, we posted a joint message to the graduating students on the SFC website from the Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management, the Dean of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care, the Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance, and the Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management . The Graduate School of Health Management was established in 2005, but I believe this is the first time in the 15 years since that the five of us have issued a joint message. This is something that might not have been possible if not for this state of emergency.
About 130 years ago, from 1889 to 1891, there was a global influenza pandemic. This was even before the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–1919. In December 1890, Yukichi Fukuzawa also contracted influenza, and his entire family became infected, leaving them all bedridden. Although he was only ill for a few days, it is said that it took him nearly a month to regain his strength.
This means that humanity has faced such infectious diseases once every few decades. To varying degrees, infectious diseases have claimed many lives every year. However, the current novel coronavirus is having an exceptionally large impact.
It may sound inappropriate, but where there are problems, there is a role for SFC graduates to play. Eradicating infectious diseases will not be easy. However, the problem of infectious diseases is not limited to the medical sciences. It is causing a chain reaction of problems in various places. For example, even in people's communication, differences in the sense of crisis and risk awareness can irritate people. As a result, they may use unnecessarily harsh words or misinterpret the words of others.
It is precisely in difficult times like these that I want SFC graduates to act with pride. The phrase we always use is "problem finding, problem solving." Once you go out into society, you will realize that this is not so simple. At first glance, problem finding may seem easy, because the problem appears to be right in front of you. However, the essence of the problem may be hidden behind the phenomenon at hand. Furthermore, it is almost never possible to solve a problem with a single click or a single email.
The word "strategy" is often used. Although it is used in various contexts, it originally refers to thinking about how to win a war. However, above that, there is also the term "grand strategy." This means fighting—or choosing not to fight—with an eye toward the peace that lies beyond the war. Anticipating the worst-case scenario and allocating and conserving resources is also a key principle of grand strategy.
We are now in a phase where we must gather our strength and respond to the novel coronavirus crisis, about which much is still unknown. However, this crisis will eventually come to an end. We must set our sights on the goals that lie beyond it and aim to achieve a better state. Let us make use of policy, technology, and everything at our disposal. And above all, the wisdom of the people. I want you to thrive as graduates of SFC, which was founded not to be confined to an ivory tower of academia, but to face the problems of society head-on.
Congratulations on your graduation.