Congratulations on your graduation! (Graduation Ceremony in March, 2025)

Congratulations to all of you on your graduation. The total number of graduates from our three undergraduate schools this year is 768: 262 students who entered in 2021 are graduating after four years, 409 students who entered in 2020 are graduating after five years, and 63 students who entered in 2019 are graduating after six years.

The percentage of students who graduate in five or six years is the by far the highest among universities around the country, and the fact that these students can proudly enter the mainstream is truly unique to TUFS. Needless to say, the majority of graduates who take more than five years to graduate are studying abroad during their enrollment.

As you can see, there are many aspects of our university that differ from other universities. While studying both your major language and English, or Japanese for international students, in your first and second year, you had to study even more than you did for the entrance examinations. After that, you were faced with the freedom and responsibility of selecting a research seminar from various fields of study. Those of you who were selected to study abroad at a university overseas for a long-term exchange program had to go through a rigorous selection process. Of course, we provided support and assistance, but I am sure that you must have been filled with anxiety when you stood alone at your host university for the first time. We are the only university in Japan where so many undergraduate students leave for universities all over the world, one or two at a time. I am sure that those of you who did not choose to study abroad for a long-term exchange program also had a wide variety of experiences at the university.

I have just painted a scene for you of TUFS in a regular year, but in your case, the first half of your university life was very difficult due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. The Coronavirus Pandemic began in the spring of 2020, and I know that those of you who entered in 2021 were anxiously preparing for your entrance exams; those of you who entered in 2020 did not have an entrance ceremony, and it was only six months later, in October, that you were able to enter the campus as university students. I remember how anxious I was thinking of all of you at home behind your computer screens when we could only contact each other online. The 2021 entrance ceremony was held in separate classrooms, so for today's graduates, this may be your first time attending a ceremony in Prometheus Hall. Many changes happened throughout your time at TUFS: in 2021, a state of emergency was repeatedly declared, vaccinations were rolled out, and the Gaigosai Festival was held in a hybrid format; in 2022, long-term exchange programs were resumed and the Gaigosai Festival was held face-to-face; and in 2023, short visits were resumed. The university has returned to normal by the end of your time at TUFS , but I am sure it was a pity for you that your one-time university experience had to be limited in so many ways. Nevertheless, you were able to spend the second half of your university life on campus learning together. I hope that you have been looking forward to today and that you will make many good memories.

However, just when we thought that the world would return to normalcy after the Coronavirus Pandemic and that we would become more united than ever before, the world is now moving in the opposite direction. Needless to say, the current world has become a place where anything goes, and survival of the fittest is the norm. It is hard to watch the news, and with all the unsubstantiated information flying around on social media, I wonder where we are headed, and to what extent humanity is learning from the past and evolving.

However, TUFS is a university that resists these trends. The "sensitivity" that you have naturally acquired through your studies at TUFS does not see the current state of the world favorably. There are many different people in the world, each with their own history, culture, faith, and language. These are all attributes of people, and there is no superiority or inferiority. Even if there are times when we clash, we know that if we communicate with each other, one day we will understand each other. Even if we do not put it into words, I believe that this is an intrinsic value in our university. For those of you who have studied at this university for four, five, or six years, I think it is regrettable that a world in which these values are taken for granted has not yet been realized. In the society you are about to enter, your sensitivity may even be considered unusual. However, I am confident that you will face these realities in your lives and do your best to realize a society where these values are taken for granted.

Because TUFS is a small university, in terms of numbers, our graduates make up only a handful of people in society. However, if you continue to uphold the same aspirations throughout your life, you will surely come across TUFS graduates whether it be in your workplace, your community, or anywhere around the world. During the six years I have served as President, I thought this every time I met with one of our graduates.

Therefore, I am not pessimistic about the current situation in the world. I am confident that each of you who are beginning your journey into society today will become a nucleus of change. You all have that power. I hope that you will believe in yourselves and never give up on your ideals, as you move forward with your lives.

TUFS will always continue to support you. Please stay well and lead a life that makes you and those around you happy. I would like to extend my congratulations to you today.

March 21, 2025
Kayoko Hayashi, President, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies