Commencement Address for the 2018 Academic Year, Kochi University
To all of you celebrating your graduation today, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations.
I can only imagine how deeply moving this day must be for all of you parents and guardians.
I offer my sincere congratulations.
I would also like to express my gratitude, on behalf of Kochi University, to all the distinguished guests and staff members who have taken time out of their busy schedules to attend today’s ceremony.
After today’s graduation ceremony, each of you will set out on your own path—whether it be entering the workforce or continuing your education—but please do not forget that you hold the potential to become drivers of innovation in society, both now and in the future. It is said that the nature of work will have changed dramatically 30 years from now. I suspect that everyone around the world shares the same feeling that the future is difficult to predict. However, there is no doubt that you, the younger generation, are the leaders of the next era.
Professor Akira Yoshino, recipient of the Japan Prize—often referred to as Japan’s Nobel Prize—gave a lecture at our university late last year.Professor Yoshino is the developer of the lightweight, high-capacity lithium-ion battery (LIB) used in smartphones and other devices, a technology that completely revolutionized the conventional concept of batteries. When this battery first began to gain attention, “LIB” was used only as a technical term, but today it has become a common term throughout the industry. Such terms are called buzzwords. Terms commonly used today, such as AI and IoT, are also examples of buzzwords.
Professor Yoshino defined innovation as changing the world; in other words, he argued that we can only call something an innovation once a new technology or concept has become a term shared worldwide. Professor Koichi Tanaka, who won the Nobel Prize about 15 years ago, has stated that innovation is a new combination and a new interpretation, and that one should approach it casually and with ease.
The word “innovation” may sound like something extraordinary, but in reality, it is the result of a combination of brilliant ideas and the steady, diligent effort required to bring them to fruition. It is neither a magic word nor a fantasy. It is only when a phenomenon that is commonplace in our daily lives becomes widespread across the globe that it comes to be recognized as innovation.
I encourage all of you to keep your antennae tuned to the world at all times. You may become the ones who create groundbreaking innovations, or you may become the ones who, while playing a part in global innovation, go even further to create even more outstanding innovations.
When discussing innovation, there is one thing we must never forget. While it is true that innovation is created by people, I ask that you never lose sight of the importance of connecting with others as human beings. I urge you to take this to heart and never forget it.
I know it’s not easy to imagine what your future will look like five, ten, twenty, or thirty years from now, but I hope you will continue to envision your future while steadily building a solid foundation. Today is the day you take that first step toward that future.
Congratulations on your graduation.
March 22, 2019
Katsutoshi Sakurai, President, Kochi University