SpecialEditionIssued by： Kanazawa University Alumni OfficeNovember 27, 201８
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On Saturday, October 27, 2018, the 12th Kanazawa University
Homecoming Day took place at Kakuma Campus ablaze withautumn foliage. The event was a huge success, with 208 alumni
and their family attending the opening ceremony and 189 at thebanquet. The opening ceremony began with a rendition of thealma mater, with the Kanazawa University Choir members andattendees coming together to sing as one.

In his welcome address, Kanazawa University President
Koetsu Yamazaki reported on the university’s recent efforts.
First he explained the reorganization of the College of Humanand Social Sciences and the College of Science andEngineering as part of the educational reform. He thendescribed the admission policy reform to implement aCollege-based admission for arts and science majors in thesecond round of the entrance exam as well as for three
Schools in the College of Science and Engineering in the firstround of the entrance exam. Students admitted through thissystem are allowed sufficient time to explore various interests
before deciding on their major. In the areas of social
contribution and regional revitalization, President Yamazaki
noted that the university established the Kanazawa University◆ President Yamazaki delivering
Soltilo Field (synthetic turf field) in May 2018 in collaboration
the welcome address
with Honda Estilo, manager offormer national soccer player Keisuke Honda, and Kanazawa City. Open to the public, the newsoccer field is used not only by university students but also by local elementary school children
and adult players. This summer holiday season, the facility hosted a number of football matches,
attracting a whole range of users from different age groups and from all walks of life, testifying toour commitment to promote youth education and regional revitalization.

Under the title “Toward a University Loved by the Earthand that Shines in the World,” Trustee and Vice
President (in charge of educational reform of Liberal
Arts and Science, Finance and Hospital) Shigeki
Ohtake gave an update on the latest information
concerning the university including:1) Basic data of the university
2) Future vision and strategy
3) New YAMAZAKI Plan 2018◆Trustee Ohtake offering the latest information onKanazawa University4) Formation of a world-class research base throughadvanced research and creation of the university’s new signature academic domain via
integrated studies

On behalf of the guests of honor, Mr.
Tamotsu Yamade, chairman of theKanazawa
UniversityAlumni
Association, delivered a congratulatory
address, in which he noted that theselection of the Nano Life Science
Institute scheme as a World PremierInternational Research Center Initiativeby MEXT will provide Kanazawa
University with a firm foothold for ◆ Chairman Yamade (Class of 1954,
Faculty of Law & Letters) delivering his
congratulatory address
establishing a global
presence. The chairman then offered words of encouragement andexpressed his hope that the president and faculty members willcontinue to make concerted efforts for the development of theuniversity.

◇ Mr. Yuta Ichikoshi, a 4th-year student at the School of Regional
Development Studies, College of Human and Social Sciences“My Exchange Year in Finland”
University of Jyväskylä, Finland (April 2017 to May 2018)◇ Ms. Midori Suzuki, a 2nd-year student in the Master’s Programat the Division of Natural System, Graduate School of Natural
Science and Technology“My Life at the University”
Natural History Museum, Great Britain (August 2017 to February 2018)★ Their comments:
You will never know what studying abroad will mean to you until you
experience it.
I am thankful to KU for encouraging me to study abroad.

5) Development under the KU brand of future workers who can play a leading role on theinternational stage6) Establishment of an international collaboration network and promotion of “brain circulation”
7) Promotion of social contribution and social implementation through coordination between theregion and the wider world8) Promotion of strategic management via aggressive governance reform efforts
9) Promotion of innovative clinical studies and university hospital reform to enhance its function
as a core medical center◆ Mr. Ichikoshi (left) and Ms. Suzuki (right) at the briefing session

Turn to page 2

Alumni Newsletter No. 91 continued

For the special lecture, Project Professor Masataka Nakazawa of the Research Organization of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University (Trustee of Kanazawa
University [in charge of Industry-University Collaboration and Educational Reform]), gave a lecture titled “Kanazawa and I, and Research.”
His lecture was divided in five topics: I. My memories of Kanazawa, II. Road to invention of Erbium-Doped Fiber Amplifier (EDFA), III. Striving for a new EDFAbased optical communication technique, IV. Message to young people, and V. Ending remarks. In the talk, Professor Nakazawa set out in a readily comprehensible
way the evolution of optical fibers for optical communication networks that support information and communication technology today.
I. Regarding his memories of Kanazawa, the professor talked about his student days in the city, showing somepictures.
II. The road to the invention of the EDFA and III. Striving for new EDFA-based optical communication touched onthe painstaking efforts he made through trial and error in developing optical fibers and optical amplifiers thatenable information to travel long distances in optical communication systems.
IV. In his message to young people, Professor Nakazawa spoke passionately and based on his own experience
about the importance of devoting yourself to the tasks before you and continuing to “sharpen your sword” ofintelligence, which you can use to carve out a life for yourself, and reiterated that human intelligence knows noboundaries.
V. In the closing remarks, he emphasized that curiosity, passion and perseverance are what matters for successful
research and technological development, and the keys to success are a determination to forge your own pathin something you enjoy doing, finding the courage to not follow a course of study already pursued by someone
else and to squarely face up to the new.

◆ Prof. Masataka Nakazawa, Trustee of Kanazawa University
and Project Professor of Research Organization of ElectricalCommunication, Tohoku University (alumnus from theFaculty of Engineering, 1975)

At the 8th Kanazawa University Alumni Association Chairman

The evening banquet started with a toast by Chairman Yamade. Before the event,Meeting, there was a partial change of officers, and Chairman Yamade

the Kanazawa University Philharmonic Orchestra played “Always with Me” from theintroduced Dr. Munetaka Kunishima, Chairman of the Pharmacy

film Spirited Away and then followed the toast with the first movement of Mozart’s

Alumni Association, and Dr. Hiroyuki Tsuchiya, Chairman of Juzen
Alumni Association.Chairman Shigeyoshi Kanoh of the Alumni“Divertimento for String Quartet,” which helped create a joyful atmosphere.

Association reported that Chairman Yamade offered a congratulatory

Thereafter, alumni volunteers dressed in matching happi coats sang the university

address (read aloud by Chairman Kanoh as his proxy) at the diploma

song, “Kita-no-miyako” (“Northern Capital”), and “Nankagun” (“Troops Bound

conferment ceremony and also participated in the enrollment

Southward”), bringing the evening’s excitement to a peak.

ceremony and Kanazawa University International Award conferment
ceremony.

Lastly, Vice President Kanoh gave some closing remarks, saying he hoped to see
the same happy faces again next year on Saturday, October 26.

[New Alumni Association Officers (2017 Oct 28 to 2019 Oct 27) ]Chairman:

Tamotsu Yamade (Law & Letters)

Vice Chairs:

Takeki Ataka (Law & Letters), Shuro Kaneura (Education)
Takashi Nakanishi (Science), Shinichi Nakamura (Medicine)
Munetaka Kunishima(Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Kosuke Matsubara (Health Sciences)
Shigeyoshi Kanoh (Engineering)

Representative Trustee:
Shigeyoshi Kanoh (Vice President of Kanazawa University)◆第８回金沢大学学友会役員総会の様子

Trustees:

Nobuhiro Torigoe (Law & Letters), Hitoshi Sawano (Education)
Masayoshi Yamamoto (Science), Hiroyuki Tsuchiya (Medicine)
Ryo Matsushita (Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Taro Matsuzaki (Health Sciences)Masahito Segi (Engineering),

Auditors:

Mitsuhiro Tokuno (Law & Letters), Yasuo Iwata (Education)◆Alumni singing the university song and dormitory songThe campus tour took place on the morning of Saturday, October 27 in fourareas (1. School of Medicine, 2. inside the old castle, 3. College of Human andSocial Sciences and 4. College of Science and Engineering). A total of 63
people went on the tour.
In the old castle section, alumni strolled around the area looking at the place
where their undergraduate building used to be and the field they used to run
around on during their extra-curricular activities, noting the passage of time.

◆Vice President Kanoh delivering closing remarks◆Performance by the Philharmonic Orchestra■ The university will never hire a contractor to collect alumni’s information. If you receive such contact by TEL, etc., please be careful.
■ If you wish to include announcements/reports of alumni activities in a region, work, club, dormitory, etc., in “KU Alumni Newsletter,”please contact KU Alumni Office.