Teachers on the Run: A Real Diary of the All-Campus Academic Week | Kazunori Takashio, Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2024.12.03
That's strange. I thought it was still November.
A year has passed since last year's forced march, when I pulled off the now-legendary-in-my-lab "Sunrise commute" from Yonago after visiting the ORF satellite venue in Nichinan, Tottori Prefecture (Okashira's Diary: Water, Rice, and ORF - 2023.11.28). The season for the All-Campus Academic Fair & ORF has come around again. It was a whirlwind week. I've put it together as a "real" diary, partly as a way to look back. It covers a full week, so it's a bit long, but I hope you'll bear with me.
Monday, November 18 (Yonago: Rain / Low 11°C, High 14°C):
I headed to Tottori for a demonstration of the "Nichinan Healthcare Project," which has been ongoing since last year. After finishing my 4th and 5th period classes, I went straight to Haneda, met up with two students, and flew into Yonago on the last flight. It was past 10:00 p.m. when I checked into my hotel in Yonago. The restaurants were closed, so I had dinner from a nearby convenience store. It was cold in Tokyo that day, but Yonago was even colder. On my upper body, I only had a jacket and my lab's windbreaker. Uh-oh, I underestimated it. I hear Nichinan is even colder.
Tuesday, November 19 (Nichinan: Rain then Cloudy / Low 2°C, High 8°C):
The hotel breakfast was delicious. They even offered three different kinds of rice from within the prefecture. I met up with Professor Takita, who had also arrived the day before, and we traveled just over an hour from Yonago to visit the town hall in Nichinan, which supports our project. We reported on our progress to Vice-Mayor Kakui and Mr. Arakane, who is in charge of the project. We had lunch at Horai-san near Shoyama Station. I had the curry chukadon, which I've been hooked on since my last visit. It's strangely addictive.
After lunch, we headed to our destination, Nichinan Hospital. The two students went to the long-term care ward and the rehabilitation center, respectively. In the long-term care ward, we demonstrated a soft sensor currently under development, with the head nurse and other staff members observing. I was relieved that it operated successfully and met the requirements. At the rehabilitation center, the head of the rehabilitation department checked the behavior of a dialogue system we are developing. It turns out the department head is "one of us"—someone who actively develops the hospital's internal systems himself. The students seemed to receive a lot of valuable feedback. Before returning to Yonago, I successfully got my hands on some new-crop "Umi to Tenchi no Megumi Mai" rice at a roadside station (*^^)v.
Back at the hotel, I moderated theSFC Forum Online Seminar, a pre-event for the All-Campus Academic Fair special event, the "Graduate School of Media and Governance 30th Anniversary Talk Session." Following the session on the night of November 12, this was the second night. In each session, we have two current graduate students from the Graduate School of Media and Governance speak freely on the theme, "The Significance of Learning and Re-learning in Graduate School."
The speakers for the previous session (Night 1) were Mayo Nagano, a second-year master's student, and Hirono Kawashima, a third-year student in the Doctoral Programs. After graduating from the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Ms. Nagano worked at TBS Television as a news reporter, cameraman, director, news desk editor, and information policy producer before making the decision to return to graduate school. In contrast, Ms. Kawashima is an "SFC lifer," having spent her junior high, high school, undergraduate, and graduate years on the same campus. Although their paths to graduate school and their research fields differ, both are balancing their research activities with various life events such as childbirth, child-rearing, and family commitments. Including some rather mature topics, it made me realize that everyone has their own story.
On this second night, the speakers were Kota Tanaka, a second-year master's student, and Momoko Yoshida, a third-year student in the Doctoral Programs. After graduating from another university, Mr. Tanaka joined the Shizuoka Prefectural Government. He chose the Graduate School of Media and Governance as a place to pursue further studies while maintaining his position at the prefectural office. He describes himself as a "graduate student by profession (working away from family)." Ms. Yoshida earned her master's degree at SFC, worked at a spatial design company, and then returned to the Graduate School of Media and Governance. Both have professional work experience. We discussed the Graduate School of Media and Governance from an outsider's perspective, student life while representing the prefectural government, and the aspirations versus the realities of academia. The 90 minutes flew by in an instant.
After the seminar, I joined Professor Takita and the students for dinner. It was my first time having saba shabu-shabu (mackerel hot pot). It was incredible. Everything, right down to the soba noodles at the end, was delicious.
Wednesday, November 20 (Nichinan: Cloudy then Sunny / Low 0°C, High 13°C):
The students headed to Nichinan early in the morning to begin their fieldwork at a day service center. I was still tired from the day before and couldn't make it down to the lobby to see them off. I'm so sorry.
In the morning, I had a meeting in the hotel lounge with officials from the Tottori Prefectural Government who came over to the west side of the prefecture. We shared information on how to proceed with the "Tottori Future Co-creation Project" from the next fiscal year onward and the implementation policy for the "Camp for Designing the Future" as an outreach activity. I moved to Nichinan for lunch. I had the dam curry, made with plenty of local tomatoes, at the roadside station "Hinogawa no Sato."
In the afternoon, following up on the previous day, I visited Nichinan Hospital and coordinated the future demonstration schedule with the staff. Next month, the students are scheduled for a long-term stay (will they remain in Nichinan?). After completing our entire schedule for this trip, we took a commemorative photo in front of the Hino-kami ginkgo tree. It was stunningly beautiful. I returned to Yonago and landed at Haneda on the last flight.
Thursday, November 21 (Shonandai: Cloudy with occasional sun / Low 9°C, High 14°C)
to Friday, November 22 (Shonandai: Sunny / Low 9°C, High 19°C):
Preparations for the All-Campus Academic Fair and ORF. Setting up the exhibition venue and conducting dry runs for sessions and demos.
Saturday, November 23 (Shonandai: Cloudy then Sunny / Low 10°C, High 16°C):
All-Campus Academic Fair & ORF, Day 1.
I felt dizzy looking at my schedule. In the morning, we held the "Tottori Future Co-creation Project Mini-Session" at my lab's (SFC Sociable Robots Lab.) exhibition booth, inviting Mr. Adachi (Manager, Collaborative Participation Division, "Kagayaku Tottori" Creation Headquarters, Tottori Prefecture) and Professor Takita (Representative Director, WebDINO Japan).
In the afternoon, the special events for the All-Campus Academic Fair continued.
The main event of the first day was the All-Campus Academic Fair special event, the "Graduate School of Media and Governance 30th Anniversary Talk Session." We invited former deans of the Graduate School of Media and Governance—Professor Tokuda, Professor Kiyoki, and Professor Murai—to reflect on the past 30 years and discuss the future of the graduate school. Professor Tokuda was the 3rd and 5th dean (2001–2007, 2009–2015), Professor Kiyoki was the 6th dean (2015–2017), and Professor Murai was the 7th dean (2017–2019). Incidentally, with Professor Kato (Bun) in between, I am apparently the 9th dean. We began by having Professor Tokuda reflect on the struggles during the graduate school's early days and transition period, Professor Kiyoki on the legacy of expansion, including collaborations with other graduate schools, and Professor Murai on education and research in collaboration with the undergraduate faculties, and the graduate school as seen from the faculties.
The content from this "Okashira's Diary" series actually came in handy here. "Okashira's Diary" started in 2004, was interrupted after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and was revived in October 2019 during Dean Kato's (Bun) term. I had provided everyone with a list of these diary entries, along with the dean's messages from the Graduate School of Media and Governance pamphlets of the time, as reference material for our reflection. Questions from the audience also touched upon the content of "Okashira's Diary."
At the end of the session, the former deans offered words of encouragement to the current faculty and graduate students. Professor Tokuda said, "Continue to be a graduate school that aims to be 'the only one,' not 'number one' in the world." Professor Kiyoki stated, "The Graduate School of Media and Governance is a graduate school that pioneers new scholarship for a new era." And Professor Murai urged, "The Graduate School of Media and Governance is SFC itself; become the core of the university's focus on graduate studies." Their words were so warm. I couldn't be more grateful.
With no time to savor the moment, I handled the graduate school information session and made an appearance at Homecoming Day. It was nearly 6:00 p.m. by the time I was free from all the events. *Phew.*
Sunday, November 24 (Shonandai: Cloudy then Sunny / Low 9°C, High 16°C):
All-Campus Academic Fair & ORF, Day 2.
Today's main event was the morning's "Yamagishi Student Project Support Program 10th Anniversary Session." I became the person in charge of this program in the fall of 2015. Professor Miyamoto has taken over now, but I'm still invited to the progress report meetings each semester. Mr. Yamagishi says that based on his own experience, he wants to "directly support individual student projects." A program that directly supports research projects led by undergraduate students like this is unparalleled. To mark the 10th anniversary, acommemorative booklet (PDF)was also published. Four alumni who had been supported by the program also took the stage for the session, and we had a lively time reminiscing. I hope that a second Mr. Yamagishi will emerge from among them.
After a social gathering with Mr. Yamagishi, I attended the "Community Development Idea Contest 2024 Awards Ceremony" in the afternoon as the head of the judging committee. This was followed by another special event, "From SFC to the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games."
During this year's All-Campus Academic Fair & ORF, I was barely able to be at my lab's exhibition booth. I feel truly sorry to my students. Perhaps thanks to the good location of the classroom we were assigned, our booth apparently received an unprecedented number of visitors. Many high school students who had participated in the Camp for Designing the Future also came by. At the very end, I spent about 30 minutes at the exhibition site. I took a photo with the lab members, and then we packed up. We had a big wrap party in Shonandai.
That was my whirlwind week leading up to and including the All-Campus Academic Fair and ORF. I really did my best, yes I did.
Finally...
It has been a little over two weeks since I learned of Professor Agawa's passing. To be honest, I still haven't been able to process it. I haven't been able to put my feelings for Professor Agawa into words, and I have avoided posting about it on social media. I wrote about my connection with Professor Agawa in "Okashira's Diary: Policy Management and Submarines - 2024.02.06." There was a time when our families were close. Please give me a little more time.