Today it is my great honor to present degrees to 15 students from Hiroshima University. Congratulations. I would like to offer these heartfelt celebrations on behalf of Hiroshima University.
We hope that the academic degree that you have earned at this time and its academic values, along with all the valuable experiences you have built up until now, will be a bright light and an encouraging support in your lives. I am also confident that your excellent achievements will be a cornerstone of progress in academic research, which is the foundation of the knowledge-based society in the 21st century.

Due to the progress of globalization, human society is changing significantly. It seems that this sort of change will continue, even accelerate, and human society will become increasingly complex and diversified. Facing these intense changes of environment each of you must fulfill your duty given to you as a member of society, and contribute to the world.

I feel that last year’s Great East Japan Earthquake, which affected not only Japan but global society as well, illustrates new challenges on the serious consequences of natural and man-made disasters, and that human society has developed rapid progress in academic research but has neglected to include harmony with nature.  The human society developed by keeping economic growth as the highest priority in the 20th century, is being strained through the rapid progress of the globalization in the 21st century, and there are many new challenges we must solve. To overcome these issues, we must foster global manpower with the ability to accept diversity, and build a society based on new values, different from those of the 20th century. We must deepen our cross-cultural understanding and build a structure of global peace with “coexistence” as our goal. I think people in the 21st century should have breadth of mind, care for others and should aspire to create a spiritually rich future society full of hope. You are all central to these human resources!

I sincerely hope that all of you who have learned and accomplished a high level academic research at Hiroshima University will take advantage the skills you have developed,  polish your ability to apply them, grow as personalities and as members of society and that you will become promising manpower, able to support the global and local community and to contribute to our future society.

Once again, congratulations on your graduation and best luck for the future.

 January 17, 2012

Toshimasa Asahara
President, Hiroshima University