Memorial Tribute: Professors Toshiyuki Kagawa and Michio Umegaki | Motohiro Tsuchiya, Vice-President / Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance

We have recently received consecutive sad news regarding the passing of two distinguished professors who supported SFC during its founding years.

Professor Toshiyuki Kagawa, who served as a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management from 1991 to 2010, passed away on April 12, 2026. Professor Kagawa began his career as a researcher under Professor Hiroshi Kato at Keio University's Faculty of Economics. After teaching at Asia University and Hiroshima University, he joined SFC in 1991, one year after its founding. At that time, Professor Kato was serving as the first Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management.

For me, Professor Kagawa was a co-advisor for my doctoral dissertation. He always spoke in a calm and polite manner. However, he was consistently sincere and passionate about academic pursuits; during meetings for the graduate school's GG Program (now the GR Program), he was always the first to raise his hand to offer questions and comments to the graduate students.

He was particularly dedicated to supervising the graduate students under his mentorship. On one occasion, I unexpectedly ran into Professor Kagawa on an airplane as he was taking his graduate students on an overseas fieldwork trip. Many researchers who received his guidance and inspiration are now actively thriving in their fields.

Professor Michio Umegaki, who likewise served as a professor at the Faculty of Policy Management from 1990 to 2012, passed away on May 15, 2026. After studying at Keio University's Faculty of Law, Professor Umegaki earned his Ph.D. from the graduate school of Princeton University in the United States. After teaching at Georgetown University, he came to SFC right when it had just been established.

I first became conscious of Professor Umegaki when I was conducting research at my previous institution, a university research institute, after earning my Ph.D. at SFC. I was asked to give a single-session guest lecture for a class at the Graduate School of Media and Governance. When I went to the classroom,τ11, Professor Umegaki was there as the coordinator. I still remember receiving his feedback on the content of my lecture.

After I returned to SFC as a faculty member, our relationship was such that I taught "International Relations" in Japanese, while Professor Umegaki taught it in English. However, the substance of our classes was quite different. As a young faculty member, my classes consisted entirely of writing on the blackboard and explaining concepts, whereas Professor Umegaki seemingly conducted his classes using the Socratic method, developing discussions through dialogue with his students. Professor Umegaki was also deeply passionate about student guidance, and many of his former students are now actively working as researchers.

Both of them loved SFC dearly. Even after mandatory retirement, they continued to serve as part-time lecturers for some time. After that concluded, they still participated in guiding graduate students, and I often crossed paths with them on campus. I would like to offer my heartfelt prayers for the repose of the souls of these two individuals, who remained educators until the very end.