To the New Adults | Jiro Kokuryo, Vice-President / Professor, Faculty of Policy Management
January 19, 2021
Coming of Age Day arrived amidst great turmoil in the world. I imagine many of you were unable to enjoy the pleasure of celebrating this day by meeting up with your high school friends in your formal attire. It is not just the coming-of-age ceremonies; I feel regretful that we have had to ask students to refrain from all social dining, from classes to extracurricular activities, leaving you feeling lonely (though I know it cannot be helped). At the very least, I would like to offer my congratulations on your future through this message.
Looking back, shortly after you were born, the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. A decade later, you experienced the Great East Japan Earthquake, and this year, you are coming of age amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. I can only express my sympathy for the fate that has you marking these milestones in the midst of major disasters. I imagine you have grown up watching adults scramble to respond each time. I hope you have observed carefully, taking note of both the good and the bad aspects of their responses.
It feels unfair to ask this of you, who have faced such unreasonable circumstances, but from now on, as members of the adult world, I hope you will strive to solve problems and leave a slightly better world for the next generation. Of course, we older folks intend to do our part without slacking, so let's work together.
I want to add this so you don't feel that you are the only ones suffering: it seems the world is structured in such a way that a major, world-shaking event occurs about once every decade. In 1990, ten years before you were born, the Tiananmen Square incident had occurred the previous year, and the Gulf Crisis broke out early in the new year. In 1980, twenty years prior, the great wave of the second oil shock had arrived. Around 1970, the Vietnam War intensified, throwing the world into turmoil.
Each time a major event occurs, it changes society in a permanent way. In other words, even after the wave recedes, things do not return to how they were. I believe this is because in the midst of a great shock, the old order collapses, and in the process of recovery, only what is meaningful remains, and new things are born. For young people, I believe this is a chance to build the world with fresh ideas. I urge you to seize this opportunity.
Nevertheless, we must be wary of the strange things that can happen amid the abnormal psychology of chaos. I will refrain from touching on serious topics and keep this to an amusing anecdote, but the fact that panic buying of toilet paper occurs every time an incident happens, despite repeated assurances that supplies are sufficient, reveals a dangerous aspect of human psychology. At the very least, we who are receiving a university education should strive to be a force that restores calm to the world, based on data and logic.