[No. 15] Masayuki Ochiai

The photo below is of our "Freshly Baked Egg Tart Shop," which opened in December 2004 in the Haneda Airport Terminal 1 Building. Our company operates shops in department store basements and other locations, selling side dishes like oden and freshly made sweets. My current job is to develop delicious new products and open new shops. There is a special, irreplaceable feeling of accomplishment that comes from overcoming the thrilling excitement, stomach-churning pressure, and hardships together with my young staff to finally open a shop—a shop that I myself would want to eat at or wish existed.

People around me seem to think my job is far removed from the science and engineering fields, and they look very surprised when I tell them, "I graduated from the Faculty of Engineering." However, for me, the four years I spent studying at the Faculty of Engineering at Keio University gave me the analytical skills I use in my work. When I face difficulties, this ability has become a great source of mental support and confidence, and I believe it has had a profound impact on my life.

I entered the Faculty of Engineering with great excitement, still holding onto my childhood dream of "becoming a scientist." But looking back on my student days, I remember the huge shock of not understanding the electromagnetism class at all right after enrolling. When I asked around, I found that everyone else felt the same way, and we all studied hard together. During my liberal arts curriculum, I dreamed of studying abroad in France and immersed myself in the French language. After advancing to the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, my days were filled with experiments, exercises, and reports. I remember the program I wrote in assembly language wouldn't run, and I spent day and night in the computer room. And for my graduation research in Professor Kawase's IE lab, I pulled all-nighters almost every day, finally completing a system dynamics model with the help of my seniors and classmates.

There were so many truly passionate professors who guided us. And I feel that the four years I spent studying at the Faculty of Engineering were wonderful years that gave me countless memories and many lifelong mentors and friends.

Finally, I would like to touch upon a characteristic feature of Keio University: the strong bonds among its alumni, which are often mentioned.

Yukichi Fukuzawa emphasized mutual help and cooperation among Keio University alumni, a principle that has been passed down to this day as the Juku's basic philosophy, expressed by the term "Shachu Itchi" (Unity of the Keio Gijuku Shachu). A symbolic activity embodying this is the Mita-kai. This involves graduates celebrating their 10th, 20th, 30th, and 40th anniversaries acting as organizers for a large-scale homecoming day held every autumn at the Hiyoshi Campus.

Last year, it was our turn, the class celebrating its 30th anniversary, to take the lead, and I served as a representative organizer and the Executive Director of the steering committee. Over 1,000 people participated as committee members, and on the day of the event, October 17, it was a massive gathering with 17,000 attendees. We started preparing more than a year in advance, dividing into various teams to organize a wide range of events, including a live show by my classmates Masataka Matsutoya and Masatoshi Nakamura, a lecture by Ken Sakamura, another classmate famous for his work in ubiquitous computing, and over 50 food stalls. Four generations of graduates, each ten years apart, worked together to accomplish this single goal. It was a challenging year that required a great deal of energy and time, but the sense of accomplishment and solidarity we all shared after it was over was wonderful. This event further deepened the bonds between classmates, as well as with senior and junior alumni, building a fulfilling alumni association. I truly felt the power of the solidarity among Keio University graduates, a quality that is envied by other universities.