Newsletter No. 29
Mr. Masatoshi Ito, Honorary Chairman of Seven and i Holdings, Passes Away
A major supporter and long-time benefactor of FUTI, the honorary chairman of Seven & i Holdings, Mr. Masatoshi Ito, has passed away of old age on March 10, 2023 at the age of 98, just a month short of his 99th birthday. As the founding director of the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A., he generously donated every year to FUTI, and has become a “pillar” of the FUTI mid- to long-term study program since establishing the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI Scholarship in 2016. Looking back at how his daily life was filled with vigor even in his advanced age, we realize what an extraordinary person he was. We would like to honor him with thoughts and prayers filled with heartfelt gratitude. In Japan, Mr. Ito was also founding chairman of the Ito Scholarship Foundation which helped many high school students go to college, and college students to continue on to graduate school through its scholarship programs. Mr. Ito was born in Tokyo in 1924. While Japan was a poor nation at the time, he received support from his relatives, which helped to fund his education at a technical school of commerce. He was grateful of the support as he believed that the education gave him the drive to advance his life and career. As a sign of gratitude, he established a foundation to support advanced education using the assets he gained from his business successes. After the Second World War, his involvement in the family business, a clothing store in Kitasenjyu called Yokado, led to its expansion through the motto, “A business that will make customers happy”. In 1958, he became the president of Yokado, later to become the publicly traded retail giant, Ito-Yokado. After showing interest in the American convenience chain store, 7-Eleven, Mr. Ito opened in 1973 Japan’s first convenience store, Yōkusebun, which later became Japan’s largest convenience chain, 7-Eleven Japan. In 1991, Ito-Yokado bought out 7-Eleven from its American parent company, and also established Denny’s Japan bringing the U.S. restaurant chain to Japan. In his writings and conversations following his successes, Mr. Ito encouraged the younger generations, urging “Let’s keep an adventurous spirit without being afraid to take risks.” We would like to take this advice to heart and live everyday with this mantra.
Dr. Chihiro Kanagawa, Important Supporter and Benefactor of FUTI, Passes Away
Photo credit: Asia Nikkei On January 1, 2023, shockwaves spread through FUTI as well as the industrial communities in Japan, as the renowned executive, Dr. Chihiro Kanagawa, the Chairman of the Board of Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., passed away at the age of almost 97. In 1992, the Emperor of Japan honored him with the Medal of Honor with Blue Ribbon for his contribution to development of the Japanese industry. He led Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. to acquire large world market shares in silicon wafers and polyvinyl chloride among others. Dr. Kanagawa is an important benefactor for FUTI, making significant contributions which enabled FUTI’s scholarship and research support programs. He was a 1950 graduate from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) and received a doctoral degree from the Graduate School of Engineering at UTokyo in 2011 for his dissertation entitled, “Management in the Polyvinyl Chloride Industry: Strengthening Business and Management of a Commodity Chemical Business”. In 2009, responding to the UTokyo community’s request, he encouraged Shintech Inc., a subsidiary of Shin-Etsu Chemical in the US, to give a substantial donation to FUTI. Dr. Kanagawa had greatly expanded and strengthened Shintech Inc. since the 1970’s, and was installed as its President in 1978. Shintech’s donation to FUTI has continued annually since 2009. Its generosity inspired and encouraged UTokyo alumni to donate to FUTI. The donor-contributed fund has supported almost 200 students at UTokyo and universities in the US to study or conduct research abroad. FUTI will forever be grateful to Dr. Kanagawa for his generosity. He will be greatly missed by the many lives he touched.
A Great Star has Fallen: Mourning the Loss of Former President Hisashi Kobayashi
Prof. Hisashi Kobayashi, former President of Friends of UTokyo, Inc. (FUTI), has passed away on March 9, 2023 (JST) at the age of 84. The death of such a significant figure came as a surprise. As he was dean emeritus of Princeton University’s School of Engineering, flags were flown at half-staff for a week at the university. We mourn the loss of Prof. Kobayashi who devoted himself to the establishment and growth of FUTI. Born in 1938 in Tokyo, after graduating from Toyama High School, he attended the University of Tokyo, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1961 and master’s degree in 1963 in electrical engineering. Subsequently, he was engaged in designing radars at Toshiba, Inc. before receiving a scholarship from both the US and Japan in 1965 to study at Princeton University where he earned his PhD degree in only two years. For the next 15 years, he worked for the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, and, for four years after that, led the initiative to establish and serve as the first director of IBM Research – Tokyo. In 1986, he was appointed Sherman Fairchild University Professor at Princeton University, where he also served as Dean of Engineering from 1986 to 1991. His exceptional mathematical ability and unparalleled focus have enabled him to solve a succession of problems which led to countless accomplishments. For example, for his work on dramatically increasing the speed at which a computer can record on a hard disk, he received the Technology Award from the Eduard Rhein Foundation in Germany in 2005 and the C&C Prize from the NEC C&C Foundation in 2012. After Friends of UTokyo (then Friends of Todai) was founded in 2007 in New York with the initiative of then UTokyo President Hiroshi Komiyama (2005-2009), Prof. Kobayashi was instrumental in the early stages of its development while serving as FUTI’s president from 2011 to 2015. The scholarship program which started in 2011 was also initiated by Prof. Kobayashi. With youthful passion and enthusiasm, he devoted himself to helping the young generation in Japan and the US to become global leaders of the future, thus laying a strong foundation for the organization. With the exception of the short period in the last days of his life, Prof. Kobayashi led such a healthy life that he did not have a need for a family physician. It was his plan to enjoy his retirement in Honolulu, but one day at his residence he suddenly became ill. Although, with the help of several friends, he was able to receive cutting edge treatment at the University of Tokyo Hospital, it was not enough to bring him back. It is with deep admiration and gratitude that we reflect upon his significant contribution to the digital age and the exceptional vigor with which he lived life. Prof. Kobayashi’s vision and belief for FUTI will remain and live on. In this time of sorrow, we would like to turn our feelings of grief into encouragement and hope. He will be remembered forever in our hearts and prayers.
FUTI Scholarship Recipient, Ayu Yoneda, Selected as an Astronaut Candidate by JAXA
On February 28, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced the selection of two astronaut candidates, Makoto Suwa, 46, a disaster prevention specialist at the World Bank, and Ayu Yoneda, 28, a surgeon at the Japanese Red Cross Medical Center. The two candidates were selected out of 4,127 applicants after a series of exams and will join JAXA on April 1 for two years of training, according to JAXA’s February 28 press release statement.
Newsletter No. 28
Passing of FUTI Advisory Committee member, Dr. Sadaoki Furui
It is with great sadness that we report the passing of Dr. Sadaoki Furui, member of the FUTI Advisory Committee, on July 31, 2022. Dr. Furui was an internationally-renowned leader in the field of speech processing and played an important role in improving natural communication between humans and machines. He was 76 years old. Dr. Furui received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Tokyo in 1968, 1970, and 1978, respectively. He joined the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) Laboratories in 1970 where he worked on speech analysis, speech recognition, speaker recognition, speech synthesis, speech perception, and multimodal human-computer interaction. From 1978 to 1979, he also served as a visiting researcher at AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey. In subsequent years, he was a Research Fellow and the Director of Furui Research Laboratory at NTT. In 1997 he became a Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he later served as Dean of the Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering. Upon retiring in 2011, he was named Professor Emeritus. After moving to the United States in 2013, he served as President of Toyota Technological Institute at Chicago (TTIC) (2013-2019) and as Chair of its Board of Trustees in Chicago (2019-2021). Dr. Furui authored and co-authored more than 1,000 papers and books in the fields of speech recognition, artificial intelligence, and natural language processing. He received numerous awards and honors for his outstanding contributions, including the designation of a Person of Cultural Merit (Bunka Korosha), Medal with Purpose Ribbons (Shiju Houshou), and the Okawa Prize. Additionally, he was the recipients of numerous awards from various associations and organizations including IEEE, ISCA and NHK. As a member of FUTI’s advisory committee (2020-2022), Dr. Furui demonstrated an unwavering commitment to not only improving the quality of education at Japanese universities but also inspiring younger generations to become globally-minded. He was a frequent presenter at events organized by FUTI and UTokyo alumni associations in the US. Most recently, he gave online lectures titled, “Recent Developments and Future of Artificial Intelligence (AI)” in July 2020 and “University and Society in the time of AI—Reflection on my Experience as President of Research Institution in the U.S.” in October 2021. During these talks, Dr. Furui often shared his views about the challenges faced by Japanese Universities on the increasingly competitive stage of global academia. For example, he stressed “Until now, the main focus (of education in Japan) has been on having students memorize factual knowledge, but since knowledge is now readily available in any number of forms, it is increasingly important to hone students’ ability to apply and utilize knowledge with creativity.” His assertions frequently served as a catalyst for involved discussions among inspired audience members ranging from university president/administrators to graduate students. Our hearts go out to his wife, Mrs. Hikaru Furui, his family, his colleagues, friends, and former students around the world whose lives were enriched by the warmth and kindness of Dr. Furui. By Masako M Osako, Member of the Board, Friends of UTokyo, Inc.
Newsletter No. 27
UTokyoNY Lecture: “Self-organization as a New Principle for Materials Design and Synthesis”
In commemoration of Professor FUJITA Makoto becoming the first recipient of “The Ojima Distinguished Lectureship Award” established at Stony Brook University, a commemorative lecture will be held at the University of Tokyo New York Office (UTokyoNY). Date Monday, May 2, 2022, 18:00-20:00 [NY time].(Tuesday, May 3, 2022, 7:00-9:00 [Japan time]) Contents ① Opening remarks: Mr. MASUYAMA Masaharu , President of UTokyoNY② Greetings from FUTI: Mr. OJIMA Iwao, President of FUTI ③ Lecture: “Self-organization as a New Principle for Materials Design and Synthesis” by Professor FUJITA Makoto ④ Q&A Session⑤ Greetings from the University of Tokyo: Mr. TSUDA Atsushi, Executive Officer and Vice President of the University of Tokyo⑥ Closing remarks: Mr. MASUYAMA Masaharu, President of UTokyoNY Method/Format Online webinar (Zoom)Please register through the following URLhttps://u-tokyo-ac-jp.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BfMwQmGHR0Ki2-jOc8sGPg Language Japanese Host: UTokyoNYCo-hosts: FUTI, New York Ichokai, Satsuki-kai America, University of Tokyo Office of University Development
Newsletter No. 26
