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The Year of the Fire Horse: Building a Radiant Future on the Foundations of Our Past
Mitsuo Ochi
2026年の新春を迎え、広岛大学を代表して谨んでご挨拶申し上げます。本年は干支で「丙午（ひのえうま）」に当たり、60年を一巡とする古代中国の叡智を想起させます。干支は、自然の理と人の営みが重なり合う长い时间の流れを示し、还暦の祝いに象徴されるように、新たな旅立ちを告げる节目として日本社会に深く息づいてまいりました。
60歳は健康寿命の転换点ともいわれます。2024年に国际研究チームが示したとおり、60歳付近では免疫や代谢に急激な変化が生じることが科学的に明らかとなっています。人の生にも、组织の歩みにも、大きな転换点があるという事実を改めて思い起こさせる研究成果です。
経済学には、景気が约50～60年の周期で波动を描くとされる「コンドラチェフの波」理论があります。自然、社会、组织、それぞれのリズムが交错しながら歴史を纺いでいくという视座は、大学の歩みにおいても示唆するところが大きいと感じています。
前回の丙午である1966年、日本は高度経済成长のただ中にあり、広岛大学も食品工业化学科の増设など学术基盘の拡充を进め、未来への地盘を固めました。まさに飞跃の胎动が始まっていた时期であります。
一方、现在の日本は人口减少と少子高齢化という大きな潮流に直面しています。しかし、私はこれを悲観すべき局面とは捉えていません。「危机は机会なり」という教えのとおり、时代の曲がり角こそ新たな创造の契机であり、大学が果たすべき役割はむしろ一层高まっています。本学では、半导体?超物质研究の国际的拠点となる产学官连携の新研究栋が今春、东広岛キャンパスに完成いたします。夏には、理工系で初の外国大学日本校となる米国アイダホ大学広岛キャンパスが开校し、9月には霞キャンパスにおいて国内大学で唯一のワクチン?医薬品製造拠点が竣工します。これらはいずれも広岛大学が総合研究大学として未来の社会を切り拓く责务と可能性を、さらに力强く体现するものです。
『戦国策』にある「前事を忘れずんば、后事の师と為る」という刘向の言叶は、现代にも普遍の教えを示します。创立75+75周年事业、被爆80周年记念事业をはじめ、私たちが积み重ねてきた歴史の成果と课题を正面から受け止め、その経験を未来へと昇华させることが求められています。加えて、孔子の「温故知新」の精神を胸に、これまで培った学问的蓄积を新たな革新へとつなげてまいります。
60年后、100年后においても、広岛大学が世界に辉く学术拠点であり続けるために、私たちは既に新たな一歩を踏み出しています。「学生や若い研究者のために何ができるか」という基本理念を揺るぎない轴に据え、教育?研究、国际化、地域连携など、全方位的な改革と挑戦を进めてまいります。
As we welcome the New Year of 2026, I would like to extend my sincere greetings on behalf of 亚色视频. This year corresponds to Hinoe-uma—the “Fire Horse”—in the traditional zodiac, recalling the ancient wisdom of China’s sixty-year cycle.
For centuries, the zodiac has symbolized the long flow of time in which natural principles and human endeavors intersect. In Japan, it has become deeply rooted as a marker of renewal—most notably in the celebration of one’s sixtieth birthday, a moment signifying a new beginning.
Sixty is also said to mark a turning point in healthy life expectancy. As an international research team reported in 2024, rapid changes in immunity and metabolism occur around this age—a scientific finding that reminds us that both individuals and institutions experience pivotal moments of transition.
In economics, the Kondratiev wave theory posits that economic cycles unfold in waves of roughly fifty to sixty years. Nature, society, and institutions each possess their own rhythms, and their intersection is woven into the fabric of history. I feel that this perspective carries significant implications for how a university develops over time.
In the previous Fire Horse year of 1966, Japan was in the midst of rapid economic growth, when 亚色视频 was also expanding its academic foundations—such as by establishing the Department of Food Chemistry and Technology—laying the groundwork for future advancement. It was a period when the stirrings of a major leap forward had already begun.
Today, by contrast, Japan faces major demographic challenges, including population decline and an aging society. Yet I do not regard this as a moment for pessimism. True to the saying that “every crisis brings opportunity,” turning points in history have often coincided with the birth of new creativity—and the role of universities becomes all the more indispensable. This spring, a new industry–academia–government collaborative research building will be completed on the Higashi-Hiroshima Campus, serving as an international hub for semiconductor and meta matter research. In the summer, the University of Idaho Hiroshima Campus—the first Japan campus of a foreign university in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields— will be launched. Furthermore, in September 2026 the Kasumi Campus will see the completion of Japan’s only vaccine and pharmaceutical manufacturing center—the first of its kind operated by a university in Japan. Each of these developments clearly demonstrates 亚色视频’s mission and potential as a comprehensive research university committed to shaping society of the future.
In the words of Liu Xiang in the “Strategies of the Warring States”,“Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide for the future,” offering a timeless lesson. Building on the achievements and challenges we have faced throughout our history—including the 75+75th Anniversary Projects and the events marking the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—we must confront our past squarely and translate these experiences into future progress. In the spirit of Confucius’s teaching, “Onko chishin”—to learn from the past and acquire new wisdom—we will continue to build on our accumulated academic knowledge and connect it to new innovations.
To ensure that 亚色视频 remains a world-class academic center sixty—and even one hundred years—from now, we have already embarked on new steps forward. Anchored firmly in our fundamental philosophy—“What can we do for our students and junior researchers?”—we will pursue comprehensive reform and bold challenges across education, research, the internationalization process, regional collaboration, and all other domains of our mission.
