The Perks of Being in Charge of International Affairs | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance
I visited Quito, the capital of Ecuador in South America, for the first time in seven years. My previous visit was in 2018 to present at an academic conference. At that time, thinking I would never have another chance to visit South America, I extended my trip from Ecuador to Peru and climbed up to Machu Picchu, the "City in the Clouds." Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—the weather was too good to see Machu Picchu floating in a sea of clouds, but I felt a great sense of accomplishment being in a place on the other side of the world that is rarely visited.
This visit to Ecuador was for university business: the Senior International Leaders' Meeting (SILM) of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU), in which Keio University participates. Keio University hosted the 2024 SILM, where we welcomed many APRU member universities. We held discussions under the theme "Learning without Limits" while enjoying Tokyo in the autumn.
The host for the SILM in Ecuador was USFQ (Universidad San Francisco de Quito), a private university. The campus was filled with the same bustling energy found at any university. However, I was startled by a giant dragon peeking out from the roof of a building. I thought it might be a decoration for a school festival or something similar, but I was told it remains there permanently as a symbol of the university, watching over the students. The "S" in the USFQ logo is shaped like a dragon, making it the university's official symbol.
Lunch during the two days of the meeting was provided at a restaurant on campus. It was no ordinary restaurant. USFQ has a faculty for culinary studies, and students prepared and served all the meals for dozens of people. Students dressed in pure white chef's uniforms lined up to greet us. We were served vegetarian dishes on the first day and a multi-course meal on the second.
The highlight was the dinner reception held at the home of the USFQ founder. We all boarded a bus and wondered how far we were being taken as we were rattled along, but we arrived at a massive mansion. I mistakenly wondered if private universities in Ecuador were an incredibly lucrative business, but it seems the founder comes from a wealthy family. Many portraits hung on the walls, with explanations like "that is so-and-so from several generations ago" and "that is my mother."
While walking from room to room with a drink in hand, a boy about the age of an elementary school student appeared. He said, "Come this way," and as I followed him, a wall suddenly swung open to reveal a secret staircase. The basement was a study, with old books lining the shelves and computers set up. Perhaps it was the master's room. Although it was in the basement, the mansion was built on a slope, so one of the four walls was a glass door, making it a comfortable room. I want a study like this!
This time, our Keio team was the only one to participate in person from Japan, on the opposite side of the globe (though it was only two people, including myself). There were no participants from China or Hong Kong, while Yonsei University and Pusan National University participated from South Korea. Many USFQ faculty members joined us during meals, and when they realized I was from Japan, they struck up various conversations. One faculty member was actually using a Waseda University business card holder. It turns out he had stayed at Waseda as a visiting scholar. He understood the relationship between Waseda and Keio and laughed, saying, "Next time I'll go to Keio." It would be wonderful if joint research between faculty members begins first, leading to educational collaboration such as student exchanges.
Once we were seated and the course meal began, a person from a Mexican university sitting next to me showed me their smartphone and asked if I knew this person. I saw the name "Miki" written there. It turned out to be Professor Norihisa Miki from the Faculty of Science and Technology. They had apparently met while he was at a university in Sweden. Wow, as expected of Professor Miki, he has a wide network.
By the way, speaking of Ecuador, the most famous attraction is the Galapagos Islands. This is where Charles Darwin gained his inspiration for the theory of evolution. USFQ has a campus in the Galapagos. USFQ had prepared an optional Galapagos tour, but participating would have meant not being able to return to Quito for several days, resulting in an absence from Tokyo for over a week. It was a bit of a stretch to call that Vice-President business. Thinking that I might never come to Ecuador again in my life (though this was already my second time), I felt it was a waste, but I decided to forgo the optional tour and return home after the SILM meeting ended.
Since my return flight departed late at night, I went to see a graduate student. She is enrolled in the Ph.D. program at SFC, but she is married to an American diplomat and is writing her doctoral dissertation while raising four children in Ecuador. The two older children were running around energetically, and the two younger ones are twins, not yet a year old. Since the theme of her doctoral dissertation has nothing to do with Ecuador, writing it must be very difficult. However, I was relieved to hear that her diplomat husband fully supports her dissertation writing.
I took a night flight departing Quito at 00:35 and headed to Houston, USA, for a transfer. Even though I should have been tired, I couldn't sleep. My shoulder was incredibly painful. Wondering if my frozen shoulder had returned, I spent the flight massaging it myself. However, that was probably from playing with the children. It's pathetic that my shoulder hurts after only an hour of play. On the flight from Houston to Tokyo, I was finally tired enough to sleep.
After returning home, I asked an acquaintance from another university who was supposed to have participated in the Galapagos tour how it was. Apparently, their smartphone broke in the Galapagos, making it difficult to contact their university, which allowed them to fully enjoy the Galapagos. How enviable. However, being able to see my graduate student for the first time in three years was also an irreplaceable experience for me.
Even as the person in charge of international affairs for the university, I often visit the same cities many times. Nevertheless, once or twice a year, I get to go to places that are rarely visited or that I have never been to before. Even if I can't go to places that align with my own research or hobbies, I suppose this is a perk of being in charge of international affairs (though there are successive business trip projects, and it is physically demanding to go to all of them).
And I am writing this manuscript on a plane heading to Hyderabad for the first time. This is to participate in the 4th Japan-India Universities Forum. I have been to New Delhi in India three times, but this is my first time in Hyderabad. I wonder what awaits me.
In the era of SDGs, I feel a bit hesitant about taking so many flights (to be clear, there are also many online meetings with overseas partners late at night and early in the morning, the number of which is incomparable to before the pandemic), but the reality is that there are many things you only understand by going there in person and talking face-to-face.