Graduation address for the September 2023 academic year
To all the graduates of the September term, congratulations on your graduation! We can only imagine the joy of your parents and guardians who have eagerly awaited this day. On behalf of Tohoku Gakuin University, I offer my heartfelt congratulations.
This summer was an extremely hot one. Here in Sendai, the average temperature in August was 4.2 degrees higher than last year, and we experienced unbearably hot days. It was so hot that we had to keep the air conditioner on 24 hours a day or we would collapse from heatstroke. While humanity has gained a convenient and prosperous life through the Industrial Revolution, we have neglected to take measures against the waste heat and waste products that result from this lifestyle. As a result, global warming has progressed rapidly since the latter half of the 1980s, and these hot days have left us with a sense of urgency that deep down we may have finally reached a point of no return.
As you all know, the Paris Agreement, concluded in 2015, established the following framework: to limit the rise in the Earth's average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the average temperature of the Industrial Revolution by 2050, and to achieve this, to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the main cause of global warming, by 45% by 2030. Currently, Green Transformation (GX) is progressing, including the electrification of transportation such as electric vehicles, the decarbonization of electricity such as wind power generation, a review of dietary habits such as food waste reduction, the protection of the natural environment through afforestation, and the cleanup of industries and carbon removal by capturing CO2 and burying it underground. Solving the problems of waste heat and waste products that lie behind convenience has become a necessary condition for the survival of humankind.
In Christianity, the destruction of the natural environment seen in global warming represents the failure of humans to manage the heavens, earth, and all things created by God—that is, nature—despite God entrusting them with this responsibility. Today, I would like to discuss Shozo Tanaka, who was an early denouncer of the folly of humans destroying God's creation and confessed that humans should live in harmony with nature, in accordance with God's creation.
From now on, we will refer to him as Shozo, who was involved in the Ashio Copper Mine Pollution Incident, which is considered Japan's first pollution incident. The Ashio copper mine in Tochigi Prefecture had been open since the Edo period to provide materials for currency, but in the Meiji era, it was redeveloped by Furukawa Ichibei to provide materials for Japan's industrial revolution, such as electric wires. At the time, there was no consideration for waste products, and harmful substances such as exhaust fumes, toxic gases, and toxic water were scattered into the surrounding area. In particular, the pollution reached the lower reaches of the Watarase River, causing severe damage to farmers, such as rice crops withering and dying.
Shozo was a local politician who spearheaded the farmers' protest movement, appealing to the Diet about the truth of the pollution, and when his pleas were not heard, he resigned from his position as a member of parliament and appealed directly to Emperor Meiji. After spending time in prison, in his later years he moved to Taninaka Village, which had been forcibly abandoned to make way for a reservoir along the Watarase River, and continued to expose this first pollution incident in Japan until he died at the age of 71 while visiting his supporters. When Shozo died, all he had was a single drawstring bag. It contained only an unfinished manuscript, three diaries, and a combined copy of the Imperial Constitution and the Gospel of Matthew. It is said that 300,000 local farmers who admired Shozo attended his funeral, which was held at a local temple. Shozo was not a Christian who attended church, but as can be seen from his belongings, it was clearly Christian teachings that supported him throughout his later years.
Shozo's view of God is expressed by the phrase "the greatness of utmost sincerity." Sincerity means that His sincere heart is all-encompassing and vast. God is "the greatness of utmost sincerity," that is, a God of universal love, in that He shines the sun and sends rain everywhere, without bias and with broad scope. God is the God who created heaven and earth and governs the constancy of their cyclical movements. Modern people, suffering from climate change, lament the extreme weather. Have we forgotten that the God who created heaven and earth is, in fact, "the greatness of utmost sincerity"?
For Shozo, water and air held a particularly important significance. He believed that the foundation of his faith lay in his intuitive understanding that water and air were gifts from God. Only by sincerely accepting the importance of water and air can one come to know God. Modern people, who pollute water and air with greenhouse gases and cause rising sea temperatures and high temperatures, must return to the importance of water and air, otherwise their prayers of thanks before meals will not reach God.
Finally, he confesses the sin of humanity for destroying nature. He says it is the sin of forgetting heaven and earth, letting them become desolate, and neglecting to restore them, and that this sin must be atoned for with gratitude to heaven and earth. He laments the damage caused by floods, saying, "The destruction of mountains and rivers is caused by the destruction of people's hearts, and if you look at the riverbanks you will see traces of tears, and where people's tears flow, people and crops are swept away." But Shozo does not give up. The more he walks through the disaster areas, the more he "becomes infinitely afraid and terrified," but on the other hand, he emphasizes the importance of research, saying that he must study more deeply. "If there is anyone who says that it is too late to regret now, I would say with certainty that if you regret, you will surely find a way to deal with it." With these words, Shozo met his death.
As graduates of Tohoku Gakuin University today, you will be the future leaders of society. While you will live in a convenient society, you must also confront the challenges of waste heat and waste products. Otherwise, global warming, where this year is hotter than last year and next year will be even hotter than this year, and the damage from floods caused by climate change will only worsen. You will take on the responsibility of developing technologies and businesses to solve these problems, and at the same time, you know that God created heaven and earth and brought richness of spirit and the blessings of nature to humankind. You also know the hope that, as Shozo said at the end, "If there is anyone who says it is too late to regret now, I would say with certainty that if you regret, you will surely find a way to deal with it."
Tohoku Gakuin University is a university founded on the principle of character education based on Christianity, and its school motto is LIFE LIGHT LOVE, derived from the fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and saved humanity. LIFE represents the importance of life and individual dignity. LIGHT represents illuminating the world with the knowledge and skills learned at the university. And LOVE represents building relationships of mutual love and service. I pray that your long lives ahead will be blessed by God and contribute to the survival of humankind. With these words of congratulations, I offer my best wishes. Congratulations on your graduation.
September 29, 2023
Haruki Onishi, President of Tohoku Gakuin University