Policy Management and a Submarine | Kazunori Takashio, Dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance
2024.02.06
As Mr. Ichinose also mentioned, the year 2024 began with the shocking news of an earthquake and a plane crash.
As I have often mentioned in the Okashira Diary, my own connections with the San'in region have deepened over the past three years, and I have made more acquaintances there. During this recent earthquake, the area where I live also shook for quite a long time, forcing me to recognize that this was no ordinary situation. As soon as the epicenter and magnitude were identified and a major tsunami warning was issued, I checked and shared information via Slack and social media. I was relieved that my acquaintances had not suffered any major damage, but as time passed, reports of the damage in the Noto area began to come in, and memories of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the Kumamoto Earthquakes came flashing back. I felt a bit unsettled, so I spent New Year's Day away from the television.
On campus, we moved quickly to confirm the safety of students, faculty, and staff. Mr. Kamo and the administrative staff acted swiftly on this matter. In the process, it was discovered that while the safety confirmation system for current students is operational at the Juku, it does not cover faculty and staff. SFC worked to gather information through its own methods. I am grateful for Mr. Kamo's leadership.
Once again, I would like to express my deepest condolences and sympathies to all those affected by the disaster and the accident, and I pray for the earliest possible recovery.
Now, regarding the topic of this entry, since Mr. Ichinose mentioned the "Environment and Information Studies" class in last week's diary entry , I thought I would jump on that topic.
"Your name is the same as a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship, isn't it?"
These were the first words from Professor Agawa, who was sitting next to me, during one of my first (I think) assignments after becoming a full-time faculty member at SFC.
I love ships. I even included the character "航" (kō, meaning "to sail" or "voyage") in my child's name. I did this with the hope that he would sail the world and create history (Are you reading this, son?). Professor Agawa is also famous for his love of ships. He is also an avid fan of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. He has published many academic books, but one of my absolute favorite books is "Hokkyokusei-gō Kōkai-ki" (The Voyage of the North Star), a vivid account of his own sea travels. It is also available in digital format, so I highly recommend you pick it up and read it. Sometime after this exchange, Professor Agawa became the Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management.
"Yes, there is a submarine named 'Takashio'!"
This is how I answered his question. My relationship with Professor Agawa began from there. We attended various Self-Defense Forces events together, both at sea and on land, such as fleet reviews, the Fuji Firepower Review, and the 1st Airborne Brigade's first parachute drop of the year. Our families literally began to socialize, but I'll save those stories for another time. It was also Professor Agawa who gave me the opportunity to plan the Camp for Designing the Future . It all started during a break in a meeting at Mita, when Professor Agawa whispered to me, "There's talk of building a residential facility (now Η Village) at SFC for the 150th anniversary of Keio Juku..." and I replied, "Then why don't we hold an experiential camp for high school students to learn the essence of SFC?"
Then one day, a while later, Professor Agawa stopped me on campus (behind the main building, I believe).
"I received a plaque from the submarine 'Takashio.' Do you want it?"
"Really? Absolutely!!!"
"What will you do for it?!"
...
"Anything! (huff)"
What I took on in return for the plaque was teaching a course called "Creation of Policy Management" (now "Policy Management"). As you know, I am a faculty member of the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. I might be the first and last faculty member from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies to co-teach "Creation of Policy Management" ("Policy Management").
This was a truly stimulating experience. Of course, Professor Agawa's personality had a lot to do with it. In the first half, in relation to the big question "What is Policy Management?", the Dean himself would present various challenges, jolting the minds of the new students who were still in a relaxed mood right after the entrance ceremony. Following that, many faculty members from both Policy Management and Environment and Information Studies (Sōkan) took the stage for a panel discussion, where we had in-depth debates with the new students about the future direction of SFC. The "Policy Caucus" time, introduced that year by Professor Shimizu (Yui), who was also a co-instructor, was also enjoyable. This also led to increased interaction with faculty members from the Faculty of Policy Management. I was invited to a security session at ORF (Open Research Forum) and had the opportunity to comment on the anticipated future of the battlefield from a technologist's perspective. What I talked about there is now becoming a reality.
Even now, both the Policy Management and Environment and Information Studies courses are painstakingly developed and structured into a series of lectures by the respective deans of the time (currently Mr. Kamo and Mr. Ichinose). In such a context, the fact that a single faculty member from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies was able to be deeply involved in what could be called a core course of the Faculty of Policy Management is probably part of the SFC culture. Although my involvement was not for a very long time, I would be very happy if I was able to contribute, even in a small way, to shaping this course at that time.
P.S. I suddenly developed a bad cough and fever over the weekend when I started writing this manuscript, and it took me a while to put it all together. My head is still foggy, so I haven't been able to revise it thoroughly, and the ending may seem a bit abrupt. My apologies. I'll fill in the gaps somewhere else later.