Congratulations on your graduation. To all of you who have recently received degrees from Chuo University, I am happy to celebrate your graduation and completion of studies at Chuo University. Furthermore, I commend you on your growth and hard work while studying at our university. Through a variety of studies, activities and encounters at Chuo University, you have acquired a large amount of knowledge and skills, which you have cultivated into wisdom. Now, upon your graduation, you are taking a big step forward, seeking a place to perform and utilize your wisdom in society. I would like to offer my sincere wishes for your growth and success.

According to our records, this year's graduation ceremony is the 130th ceremony from our foundation as Igirisu Horitsu Gakko (English Law School). This means that 130 ceremonies have been held in the 128 years since our founding. This number is due to a graduation ceremony held for transfer students in the year after our school's founding, as well as two years in which two graduation ceremonies were held in a single year due to social conditions. The graduation certificates and degrees conferred at each ceremony reflect each age, and are imbued with the meaning of graduating from university and the expectations from society. Now, what social meaning and expectations are contained within the degrees that you have received from Chuo University at the 130th graduation ceremony?

Today, society has greeted an age in which we must consider the form of environmental protection and limited resources on a global scale. It is necessary to revise a variety of systems and to construct a sustainable society. In Japan, our social structure is changing greatly due to the dramatic advance of globalization. Furthermore, the decreasing birth rate and aging population in Japan mean that many people have the opportunity to study at university. This trend is also known as universalization.

Chuo University is based on the founding spirit of fostering the ability to Apply Knowledge to Practice. Today, our university message focuses on developing active intelligence. Throughout the years, our university has focused on and existed together with society. We have changed society and produced outstanding professionals that support society. In addition to the traditional functions of research and education, modern Japanese universities are now strongly expected to cooperate with and contribute to society. Chuo University has had this relationship with society since our founding. Today, our university responds to the needs of society and modern times through FLP, internships, the cultivation of global professionals, support for volunteer activities and regional contribution. These activities were the foundation for your studies, activities and encounters at university. The degrees which you have obtained are more than a symbol of acquiring the necessary credits and completing the required courses. They are also a symbol of inheriting the history and tradition based on Chuo University's founding spirit, as well as a symbol of the ability to utilize your wisdom in modern society.

I hope that all of you are filled with pride and confidence at having graduated from Chuo University, and I wish that you will lead a successful life. Also, please come back to your alma mater whenever you have the opportunity. I hope that you will value human relationships that you have formed at university and relationships that you will form in the future. In closing, I give you my heartfelt wishes for health and success.