Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to welcome 123 new students to Kanazawa University. On behalf of our institution, I would like to express my congratulations to all of you, your family and others who have supported you to join Kanazawa University. Now, you have all become members of the Kanazawa University community.

Today, the environment surrounding us is changing dramatically. We have to tackle a variety of global challenges preventing sustainable development, such as ethnic conflicts, immigration issues, and terrorism threats. At the same time, driven by the progress of technologies such as the Internet of things, big data, and artificial intelligence, wave after wave of innovation is surging to build a better future society. Beside that, the new coronavirus outbreak that is shaking the whole world is accelerating changes in response to the crisis, while putting the brakes on all activities in various fields.

As for Japan, we are currently facing many serious challenges which other countries will one day also be facing: the falling birth rate, the aging population, and resource and energy problems, to name a few.

The more challenges there are, the more significant it is to study at graduate school. Keep in mind that each one of you is highly expected to make a contribution to the global society.
Therefore, I would like to ask all of you:
For what purpose did you enter graduate school?
Just to take a degree?
Please take some time and ask yourself.

My answer to this question is: to develop yourself, develop expertise, and develop global competence. Concrete goals may depend on individuals, but this is true for all of you. It is essential to take some time to consider how to spend your university life.

Kanazawa University also keeps moving forward! We are aiming to create a world-class educational and research center by training leaders of the global society, promoting interdisciplinary research, establishing international networks, and so on. Let me introduce some of our recent achievements; In 2017, Kanazawa University was selected by the Japanese government for　the “World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI),” a project to establish research bases with extremely high research standards. Through this project, we established the “WPI Nano Life Science Institute (NanoLSI)”

In addition, we established the NanoMaterials Research Institute in 2018 and the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Institute in 2019. We will train human resources who can contribute to the world’s academic development through advanced research and education utilizing the strengths of Kanazawa University.

This is a significant opportunity for Kanazawa University to show its presence to the world and contribute to regional and global communities! In such circumstances, I recommend that you take advantage of every opportunity to develop yourself.

Today is your first day as a graduate school student at KU. You are expected to study hard in order to establish fundamentals as a researcher or an expert in each academic field. However, please keep in mind that it is also essential for you to make new friends from all over the world, live your life together on this campus, talk and discuss together, sometimes even all through the night. I strongly believe that these experiences will be a precious treasure in your life. I encourage you to think outside the box and to tackle new challenges. Discover yourself through your campus life at Kanazawa University.

Again, it is our great pleasure to accept you as a member of our university. Be proud of studying at Kanazawa University with over 150 years tradition and history. Be proud of studying in a historical and creative city, Kanazawa.

Let me close my address by wishing for your growth as a skilled expert or researcher.

Thank you.

October 1, 2020
YAMAZAKI Koetsu
President
Kanazawa University