[Special Feature: 30 Years of SFC] SFC and Me: Insights from the 30th Anniversary Brought by "Minerva's Forest," and the Foundation for the 50th Anniversary

It has been exactly 17 years since I graduated from SFC in the spring of 2003. This academic year marks the 30th anniversary of SFC, a milestone year that began with the entrance ceremony following the renovation of Hiyoshi Commemorative Hall at Hiyoshi Campus, and the anticipation of the Tokyo Olympics this summer. For me, in this 18th spring since graduation, it was also a year to evolve, with great enthusiasm, a class launched in collaboration with the university last year. This class embodies the message "Minerva's Forest," which Hiroshi Kato, the first Dean of the Faculty of Policy Management, instilled in the Keio students of that time upon his retirement.

As a process, we collaborated with Keio students, alumni, and the Endo district of Fujisawa City where the campus is located. As a special SFC 30th anniversary course, with some alumni participating and collaborating, we were just about to open "Minerva's Forest"—a training camp-style class utilizing the SBC (Student Built Campus) that explores "living" through the themes of "creating," "guaranteeing," and "producing" food—when the global spread of "COVID-19 (hereafter Corona)" began, changing everything.

As infection prevention measures, all Keio University campuses were closed, graduation and entrance ceremonies were cancelled, and the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Furthermore, a new lifestyle began in which all classes were conducted "online."

Within that living environment, at the time I am writing this manuscript, the spring semester classes have just ended. Looking back on the classes held from the end of April to July, the "online-only classes and communication" were extremely suggestive. The reactions of the Keio students who took the classes were wonderful, and I couldn't help but feel that the curtain had opened on a new era.

Among the Keio students, some participated from remote islands, and new students who had just entered the university also took the course proactively. It became a daily reality to participate in all spring semester classes and earn credits without ever stepping foot on the SFC campus. Along with the recognition that I was able to accompany an attempt to provide a new perspective in university education, I felt I could see the same old "SFC-ness"—a constant cycle of problem discovery, proposal, and self-reflection—just as if we were offline.

I feel that the concept of "Minerva's Forest" was originally a form of "parental love" that Mr. Kato conveyed to Keio students, saying, "I want you to return to this Fujisawa and SFC to rest your wings when you are tired and swallowed by the waves of the times, and then relearn and move forward again."

However, even as a graduate, I spent most of my 17 years without being conscious of Minerva's Forest. In the fall of 2015, when I took over the position of Chairman of the SFC Mita-kai from my predecessor, I realized once again how deeply this awareness of Minerva's Forest was rooted in the hearts of my seniors, and how they still respect "SFC" as a place even after graduation.

Why do they feel that way? I wondered where this sense of familiarity, which is not found on other Keio University campuses, comes from, and as a representative of the Mita-kai, it became a source of great curiosity. Furthermore, since last year, both Deans have been SFC graduates, and the timing is approaching where the "visualization of collaboration between the school and its graduates" will become more apparent. With that awareness, I strangely feel that the distance to SFC has become closer than before. This was my own realization upon reaching the 30th anniversary.

That is why I felt more strongly that we could strengthen the collaboration between Keio students and the SFC Mita-kai. I felt that a hint lay in the realization of "visualizing connections," broadly speaking, brought about by the fusion of the online possibilities provided by the COVID-19 pandemic and the traditional offline methods. I believe that the environment brought about by this virus should become an asset that generates the next set of connections.

When I was a student, the evaluation of graduates I heard was, "Why do SFC students quit their companies so quickly?" Many seniors at top-tier major companies left early to found venture companies, becoming so-called "entrepreneurs." We didn't have the means to maintain connections like we do now, and there was less support for venture companies or fans linked by empathy on social media. Therefore, employment at top-tier major companies was the mainstream, but in reality, those seniors were starting to create "new connections" by utilizing the connections and networks they built at the companies they left. I believe that is the current reality where many SFC graduates are very active in numerous ventures and new businesses.

Most of the Keio students I shared classes with this spring semester were born around the time I was a student. It was very moving to see in their final class reports how they want to be as human beings 20 years from now and how they are utilizing their time now. The results will not appear immediately, but if we can realize it again 20 years from now—for example, at the "SFC 50th Anniversary"—then the awareness of "Minerva's Forest" will have continued. In this wonderful 30th anniversary year, I am convinced that I have returned to Minerva's Forest and am welcoming a new 2020.