[No. 25] Nobutaka Goto

I graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University in 1989. When I was asked to be featured on this website, I wondered if I was a suitable choice, given the many famous alumni who have come before me. However, I decided to write this piece in the hope that it might serve as an introduction to the kind of graduate I am, and as a way to give back to my alma mater, where I made so many memories.

To be honest, I don't think I was an outstanding student during my four years at the university. I believe I was able to graduate thanks to the support of many professors and friends. I would especially like to thank Professor Noriko Tobari, my first-year homeroom teacher, and Professor Shigeaki Masuda, who supervised me in the laboratory during my fourth year. I am also grateful to my first-year classmates. Among them was Kohei Itoh, who now teaches at the Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics, Faculty of Science and Technology (at the time, Kohei was just as mischievous as I was, but he has since become a wonderful professor).

Although I was in the Faculty of Science and Technology, a department with a heavy research focus, I was also a member of the water polo team in the Athletic Association's swimming club. I was always shuttling back and forth between the Hiyoshi and Yagami campuses and the pool, lightly dressed over my swimsuit. I was often overcome with drowsiness in classes after practice, and I am sure I caused a great deal of trouble for my professors. During exam periods, I was desperate to earn credits and studied for two weeks with almost no sleep, which is now a fond memory (though I know that's not how it should be...).

My fourth year in the laboratory was a year of daily experiments for my research under Professor Masuda, and I often worked overnight at the Yagami campus. While the results of my research were nothing to boast about, I believe that through this year of research work, I learned the process of critical thinking, which has been of great help to me in my professional life.

After graduating, I had hoped to go on to graduate school, but my grades were not good enough, and I had to give up on that idea. I got a late start on my job search, so in addition to the manufacturers I had hoped to work for, I also applied to financial institutions and advertising agencies. As a result, I was hired by a city bank, a field completely unrelated to my research. At that time, it was rare for science and technology students to enter the financial industry, except in systems-related fields. I remember on my first day at my assigned branch, the manager's first words to me were, "Banks are usually for students from the Faculty of Economics or the Faculty of Law." (Today, many science and technology students find employment in financial institutions). At the bank, I was mainly in charge of new corporate sales for the branch, and many clients guided me as "the unusual representative from a science and technology background."

Later, I decided to help with the family business run by my father, and I now manage an optical equipment manufacturer. I finally have a job that feels like it's in the science and technology field. Our company was founded in 1926 by my grandfather's generation as a manufacturer of special lenses for telescopes and other instruments. We later developed and sold the first planetarium in Japan, and we now deliver our equipment all over the world.

At the 2005 Aichi Expo, we delivered the world's first 360-degree, full-dome video system to the Nagakute Japan Pavilion, which was very well received for projecting a visual space unlike anything seen before. In the field of telescopes, we are conducting a joint research project, the Internet Telescope Project, with Professor Omote of the Department of Physics at Keio University's Hiyoshi Campus. This is an attempt to remotely operate a telescope via the internet to observe its images and data, and to use them for experiments and in actual classes. One telescope is installed on the roof of our company in Japan, and another is at the Keio Academy of New York in the United States. We are currently exploring ways to utilize them.

Finally, I'd like to share an unforgettable memory from my days at the Faculty of Science and Technology. I was chosen to lead the cheer at the graduation ceremony for the Faculty of Science and Technology. However, a week before the ceremony, I had an unfortunate accident and injured my head and the area above my right eye. As a result, I led the singing of "Wakaki-chi" and the exchange of cheers with my head wrapped in bandages. Even now, 17 years after graduation, I still regret creating such an embarrassing—and for some, comical—memory on the important day of graduation, and for causing my professors to worry until the very end. I would like to take this opportunity to once again offer my deepest apologies to everyone.