An Insight into the Views of the
New President, Dr. Tisato Kajiyama

On November 7, the 21st President of Kyushu University, Prof. Dr. Tisato Kajiyama, commenced his term of presidency following the official announcement of his appointment by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. At a time when national universities are to be transformed into independent administrative institutions and when, almost simultaneously, Kyushu University is undertaking a process of consolidation and relocation of its campuses, Dr. Kajiyama has taken on an important and challenging role in steering the university. Q: Could you tell us about your school days? A: From elementary school to high school, I was unable to stay at any one school until graduation due to my father's work. I changed from school to school several times. Despite these changes, I made many friends at each school, many of whom have become my lifelong friends. In addition, I think the experience of changing from school to school has helped me to develop an independent spirit. I subsequently entered Kyushu University, where I studied Applied Chemistry. In my class there was a friend I had met at one of my high schools who at that time also lived near where I was boarding. This friend and I, together with a daughter of my landlord (who was a student of the Literature Department) decided that we would read as many books as possible as we had not had the opportunity to read quality books during our time at high school. So the three of us shared many different western novels and, in total, we read about three hundred books per year. Even now, many years afterwards, various phrases from those books still come to mind. In addition to this, I also joined a newly formed social dance club at the university. In this club, I developed an understanding of the relationships between older and younger people and I also made friends from fields of study different from my own. Q: After you finished your master's course at Kyushu University, you studied at University of Massachusetts. What was college life like there? A: This was the first time that I ever flew on an airplane. Before I went to the United States, I had studied about

American manners and customs, and of course, its language, but what I had learnt in Japan was very different from the real American lifestyle. Despite the differences in language and customs, I strongly felt that people's emotion and thoughtfulness were the same in both countries. Although the University of Massachusetts had originally been founded as an agricultural university, it was at that time considered to be the best university for polymer chemistry. On my way from the airport after my arrival, one of my seniors at school who had come to meet me told me, "Kajiyama, your English is pretty poor. You will need to study every day without weekends to earn a degree." After hearing this, I thought my college life was going to be very tough. However, as it turned out, my college life in Massachusetts was very enjoyable, perhaps because of my optimistic nature. During my stay in the States, I made some good friends, not all of who were Americans. Some of them were first class Japanese researchers who visited the University of Massachusetts. The friends I made are invaluable, and to this day, have provided me with much support and assistance. Q: What do you think about Kyushu University's campus relocation? Do you have any ideas that you would like to implement? A: I think the new campus should be a place where students can enjoy studying and campus life and, at the same time, be open to the public. In that sense, I would like the new campus to perform the function of a "town." For example, if possible I would like to build a dormitory that has a capacity of 4,000 people. During summer, the dormitory could be used as a hotel, and its cafeteria could be used as a restaurant. Participants at summer school programs and large-scale international conventions held by the university would be able to stay at the hotel and use its facilities. In the daytime, they would attend classes or meetings, and also walk around the campus and use the university's sports facilities. At night, we could open the university museum, screen movies that are not run in the cities and host a play or concert. These functions would not only be for the campus hotel guests, but also the general public would be welcome. Forecasting fifty years ahead, these are my thoughts on how the new campus should be constructed.