2023 University of Tokyo Undergraduate Entrance Ceremony Address

Source: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/about/president/bmessage202303.html

Shunsuke Mabuchi, Head of Health Systems and Pandemic Preparedness, Global Fund

Summary

At the University of Tokyo's entrance ceremony, alumnus Shunsuke Mabuchi delivered an address. Drawing on his experience in the private sector, Mr. Mabuchi has been active in infectious disease control and the education sector. In his speech, he spoke about his work on Ebola outbreak response and other experiences, conveying that taking risks and embracing challenges leads to growth and contribution.

He also emphasized that life is finite, and that the risk of not contributing to the world by not challenging oneself is far greater than the risk of failure — urging the young graduates to stand up to the world's problems. He closed by quoting his favorite poem, "The Road" by Konosuke Matsushita, and expressing his hope that the four years at the University of Tokyo would be fulfilling years of walking their own irreplaceable path.

Key Points

Risk is not the act of challenging — it is the risk of not being able to grow, of not being able to contribute to society, and of remaining in the status quo. In an age of uncertainty and instability, the best minds are called to confront the greatest problems.

Solving problems requires not just expertise, but the combination of experience and skills across multiple disciplines. By bringing together different experiences and skills — cultural anthropology, the pace of consulting, and more — it becomes possible to tackle problems in new ways.

Each person has their own irreplaceable path. It is important to find that path, set your heart on it, and walk it diligently. To do that, gaining experience in diverse environments is crucial. Time is limited, so proactive action is necessary to achieve personal growth and contribute to society.

Reflection

The Importance of Continuing to Search for Your Dream

The phrase "Dreams can only be found by those who keep searching and keep acting" stuck with me.

What is the work that makes your heart tremble? What is it that you want to devote your life to, regardless of how others evaluate you? These are questions that no one else can answer for you. They can only be found through experience and dialogue with yourself.

When you graduate from university and enter society, the feeling that "no one is going to guide you — you have to carve out your own life yourself" becomes more acute. In Japan's educational system, many people who performed well in school and advanced to good universities never really thought about how they wanted to live. Those who drifted through university life through part-time jobs and club activities often hit this wall when they enter the workforce, and I have seen many who struggled with it.

I believe the four years of university are a preparation period for entering society. Freed slightly from the tracks you've been following, it's the ideal time to explore your interests and deepen them. Being able to act relatively freely without major constraints is also one of the great privileges of university life. Once you join a company as a working adult, it often becomes harder to do that.

I hope students use this time not just to casually pursue whatever seems fun, but with an awareness of the long life ahead after graduation — thinking about how they want to live and acting accordingly.

In his address, Mr. Mabuchi spoke about entering university with the resolve to "decide what to dedicate my life to." If more students pursued their university years with that kind of mindset, I believe more young people would find what they want to do, take that first step as professionals, and embrace challenges.

One more thing: the multiplication of experience and skills can make you "one of a kind."

At times, you might wonder whether what you're doing now will be a useful experience for your future. But whether it becomes a good experience or not depends entirely on you. That's why it's important to believe in your own choices and give everything you have. Even if it ends in failure, putting in full effort adds to your accumulated experience, and later those experiences combine to create the "one of a kind" that is uniquely you.

I hope more young people find their dream and walk the irreplaceable path that only they can walk — and I want to be that way myself.

This AI column is produced by TIMEWELL.

The Future of AI-Transformed Event Management: The Latest Services Balancing Efficiency and Originality | TIMEWELL

Event management involves a wide range of tasks, and improving efficiency while maintaining quality is an ongoing challenge. In recent years, event management systems leveraging generative AI have emerged, fundamentally changing the way events are run. This article explores the future of AI-transformed event management while introducing the latest 2026 service, TIMEWELL Base.

The Potential of Generative AI in Event Management 7 Generative AI Services Transforming Event Management Are There Limits to Generative AI Alone? Essential Elements for High-Satisfaction Events Next-Generation Event Management Realized by TIMEWELL Base

The Potential of Generative AI in Event Management

Generative AI learns from large amounts of data and generates new content. In event management, it can analyze participant attributes and behavioral data to propose optimal event content and promotional strategies. It is also expected to contribute in various ways, such as automated responses via chatbots and real-time satisfaction analysis.

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7 Generative AI Services Transforming Event Management

Generative AI-powered event management systems are already appearing in large numbers. Here are seven representative services.

1) Peatix Analyzes participant attributes and past behavioral data to suggest optimal event promotion and pricing. Also supports free events and is known as Japan's largest event platform.

2) EventHub A system specializing in lead generation, capable of automated delivery of follow-up emails based on participant behavior analysis. Also offers rich features for managing meetings and material distribution.

3) EXPOLINE A system specializing in large-scale online events, featuring AI-powered participant facial expression and voice analysis for satisfaction surveys. Also supports interactive content delivery.

4) Cvent A large-scale event management system used globally. Supports multiple languages and includes AI-powered participant matching features.

5) SHANON MARKETING PLATFORM An integrated management system compatible with both online and offline events. Features AI-equipped chatbots for participant support and advanced analytics.

6) EventRegist Automates everything from registration to reception and survey collection with AI. Its unique recommendation feature suggests optimal sessions to participants.

7) CLOUD PASS Enables smooth reception via QR codes and AI-powered participant behavior analysis. Provides data useful for measuring event effectiveness.

Are There Limits to Generative AI Alone?

Generative AI makes a significant contribution to efficiency and data analysis, but high-satisfaction event management cannot be achieved with AI alone. Communication that creates empathy with participants, design that expresses the brand's worldview, and the nimble responses of on-site staff all influence event quality. The future of event management demands a combination of generative AI and human strengths.

Next-Generation Event Management Realized by TIMEWELL Base

TIMEWELL Base makes it possible to enhance participant satisfaction while reducing the burden on organizers. It is a powerful event management solution that delivers on "increase participant satisfaction, reduce preparation effort." By using AI for efficient preparation and strengthening communication through interest tags, it creates a high-value event experience unlike any other.

It also features the ability to create reviews of past events. The firsthand feedback obtained through event reviews can be applied to future event planning. TIMEWELL Base can be called a pioneering presence in the future of event management.

Generative AI holds tremendous potential for improving efficiency and utilizing data in event management. At the same time, human-to-human communication experiences are essential for delivering high-satisfaction event experiences. TIMEWELL Base, which combines the strengths of generative AI and people, is a compelling option for realizing next-generation event management.

Ota City's SDGs Side Job Platform for Local Revitalization: Mr. Naito on the Initiative and Its Results

Ota City has launched a side job platform to support local shopping streets and factories in achieving the SDGs. Through this platform, experts in various fields support local businesses through side work. Here, we spoke with Nobuhito Naito, a participant in the platform, about the content and results of his involvement.

The Ota City SDGs Side Job Platform as a Place to Realize His Passion for Community Support

Can you tell us about your background in joining the Ota City SDGs initiative?

Mr. Naito: Since my main work took me into the Tohoku recovery support effort, I've had an interest in community support, and I've been involved in pro bono activities for Tohoku recovery and NGO support in Southeast Asia. I'm still doing local revitalization support centered on primary industries using ICT in my main work, and I was thinking about whether I could also contribute to the community where I live. That's when I learned about the Ota City SDGs side job platform, and I applied with a sense of genuine resonance. Ota City has many shopping streets, and I felt it was a place where I could put my skills — built through extensive community involvement — to good use.

Were there any expectations or concerns when you joined?

Mr. Naito: I did have some concerns about what kind of people I would be supporting and whether my skills would be well-utilized. But after the first meeting, listening to the leadership of the Ota City Chamber of Commerce and Commerce and the city officials, I came to feel that I could approach this by leveraging my past experience. I was also a little worried about online communication since I live some distance from Ota City, but with online communication having become the norm since COVID, we were able to proceed without any major issues.

Content and Results of the LINE-based Shopping Street Support Project

Can you tell us about the projects you're involved in?

Mr. Naito: I'm working on a shopping street support project that uses LINE in the Ota City SDGs side job platform. With four members, each managing their own assigned stores, we've been working alongside them for four months — thinking together about how to use LINE for customer acquisition, increasing repeat customers, and improving operations. We set goals based on each store's situation and advise on how best to use LINE.

Were there any particularly memorable episodes or moments of achievement in the project?

Mr. Naito: The store owners participating are using LINE while also running their main businesses. I was impressed by how seriously they engaged with everything — they really worked on the tasks we gave them.

As the LINE-based system for each store came together and visible results like increases in the number of friends emerged, we both felt a sense of achievement. For a store that ran a referral campaign, word initially hadn't spread even to people nearby, but by continuing persistently, the referral coupons began to be used, and we both felt that pursuing the initiative had been worthwhile. On the other hand, despite various efforts, some stores fell short of their target growth in follower numbers, and we were reminded of how challenging it can be to grow an audience.

The Effect of Community Contribution and Skill Utilization Through Side Work

What impact has participating in the Ota City SDGs had on you personally?

Mr. Naito: Being able to support business owners in a capacity different from my main work, using what I've learned, gave me confidence. Talking directly with store owners and actually building systems for the stores feels like skill acquisition relevant to my main work as well — I think it has been a plus for both my main job and my side work. Also, through two years of conversations with shopping street owners, I've reaffirmed that I genuinely enjoy talking with people in local communities, and I've found myself more interested in and engaged with my own community — that's something I gained beyond just skill development.

What would you like to work on in the Ota City SDGs going forward?

Mr. Naito: Through two years of experience with the Ota City SDGs side job platform, I've built trust with local store owners and made progress through LINE-based store support. Going forward, I want to organize key points for onboarding so that I can support stores introducing LINE for the first time more smoothly. I also feel that this type of initiative is needed not just in Ota City but in other regions as well. It would be great to work with ONE X, which provides the administrative support, to spread this model to other communities.

Reading PR TIMES & IDEAS FOR GOOD Articles Vol. 6

Today's featured press releases and news:

Tabechoku raises approximately 1.3 billion yen in Series C, strengthening regional partnerships with six regional bank-affiliated venture capital firms to support sales expansion for producers. (https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000178.000025043.html)
Bengoshi Dot-com concludes a business partnership agreement with Recruit, launching joint development of SaaS product "termhub" to support legal terms management. (https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000224.000044347.html)
Would complying with speed limits earn you lottery tickets? Sweden's "North Wind and Sun" rule. (https://ideasforgood.jp/2022/06/10/speed-camera-lottery/)

Hello, this is Shun from ONE X. Again this week, I'd like to share notable articles from PR TIMES and IDEAS FOR GOOD. The first press release covers Tabechoku's fundraising round. The company raised approximately 1.3 billion yen through a third-party allotment share issuance, with Jafco Group Co., Ltd. as an existing investor along with Shinsei Corporate Investment Co., Ltd. and others as recipients. Currently, producers registered on Tabechoku's farm-direct platform tend to be in their 40s and 50s, but there are calls for support from older producers. The fundraising is aimed at strengthening support for those older producers, hiring engineers and experienced executive talent, and strengthening corporate partnerships and marketing.

The second press release covers Bengoshi Dot-com's business partnership agreement with Recruit. Through this agreement, they are beginning joint development of the SaaS product "termhub" to support legal terms management. With revisions to Japan's Personal Information Protection Act, managing terms of service and privacy policies has become more important than ever. In this context, "termhub's" management system enables everything from approval applications to posting and updating of website terms to be managed in one place. This aims to contribute to building a society where companies maintain honest relationships with users by reducing the burden on legal departments.

The final news item covers "The Speed Camera Lottery," implemented in Sweden, where complying with speed limits could win you lottery prizes. The system rewards drivers who follow the law with prizes. Thousands of posts on Facebook from Austrian communities talked about discovering the Speed Camera Lottery, and it apparently generated a significant response.

My thoughts on the first press release: I find the aspect of strengthening support for older producers very interesting. Currently, the impression is that mostly tech-savvy younger producers are registered, but by supporting older producers, platform awareness should grow, more options for producers' sales channels should emerge, and food waste should decrease — I'm hopeful it will bring us closer to a more sustainable state.

My thoughts on the second press release: Legal terms and privacy policies are critically important yet often not discussed openly in conversations about a service. Legal department burdens related to such matters have become even heavier with legal revisions. I'm paying attention to this because of the potential to resolve those challenges.

My thoughts on the final news item: Most systems penalize violations, so this initiative is very interesting. From a collective psychology standpoint, it does seem like it would motivate people to follow the rules. It reminds me of the common social media strategy of "give a gift to some of those who follow" — the psychology of someone following that account feels similar.

Writer: Shunya Hamamoto

This AI column is produced by TIMEWELL.

The AI-Powered Presentation Revolution: What Makes Genspark Innovative?

AI-powered presentation creation tools exist in abundance, but they come with several limitations. In particular, the need to combine multiple tools to create high-quality materials and the restrictions on data formats have been persistent problems. Genspark's AI Slides were developed to solve these challenges, and they deliver impressive performance.

For example, while many other tools can only handle text data or Word documents, Genspark can incorporate Excel, PDFs, and even YouTube videos as source material. To create a presentation, the AI first conducts research, then organizes the information, builds a structure, and generates slides. The particularly groundbreaking aspect is the ability to handle everything from the initial research and key point extraction to structure creation all at once.

Genspark leverages ChatGPT to automatically conduct research and compile the necessary data. In terms of data compatibility, it handles every format including Excel, Word, and PDF — taking over all the work that previously required handling numerous data formats. For business professionals, this level of efficiency sounds almost too good to be true.

The Remarkable Versatility of Genspark AI Slides The Business Future That Genspark Enables Conclusion

The Remarkable Versatility of Genspark AI Slides

The ways to use Genspark's AI Slides are diverse. First, let's look at slide generation from prompts. By simply entering a prompt like "Five-year outlook for the generative AI industry," the AI independently conducts research and creates specific slides almost instantly — no need to go through ChatGPT or other separate tools. The AI handles research, information organization, and presentation creation in a unified workflow.

Genspark also supports transcription of YouTube videos into slides. When you have the AI analyze a video, it uses speech recognition technology to instantly convert audio from the video into text, then generates a presentation with key points extracted. This feature is extremely useful for meeting summaries, market analysis, and educational applications. It dramatically reduces the effort of turning video content into documents — making it invaluable in business settings where video content is prevalent.

Finally, there's the case of converting ChatGPT content into slides. Genspark's AI Slides take information gathered in ChatGPT and further process it to instantly create visually excellent materials. The ability to quickly turn expert opinions and market research results into presentation materials is a major advantage.

The Business Future That Genspark Enables

In this way, Genspark's AI Slides dramatically reduce the cost of creating materials while enabling high-quality output. The emergence of this tool will dramatically improve the speed of information communication in business, potentially transforming the very nature of how business is conducted.

The key is its versatility and convenience. Being able to complete everything from data analysis to material creation in a single tool has implications that could shake the foundations of how business work is done. Accurate, rapid AI-generated materials will shorten meeting preparation time and make it possible to devote more time to strategic thinking.

Summarizing the advantages of Genspark AI Slides, the following points stand out in particular:

Dramatically reduces time and effort in creating materials
Compatibility with diverse formats and high-quality output
Fact-checking functionality to ensure material reliability

Conclusion

Genspark's AI Slides are attracting attention as a tool that fundamentally changes the concept of presentation creation. This technology, which organizes complex information in an instant and gives it form as materials, has the potential to greatly transform the overall efficiency of work — especially for business professionals.

Maximizing the benefits brought about by the evolution of AI technology and achieving efficient, effective information communication will be the required skill of future business. The evolution of AI slides, expected to play an increasingly active role in the business world, cannot be overlooked.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHvE_41wreE

Streamline Event Management with AI | TIMEWELL Base

Struggling with managing large-scale events?

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Track Record

Adventure World: Managed Dream Day with 4,272 participants
TechGALA 2026: Centrally managed 110 side events

Key Features

Feature	Impact
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Low-cost payments	4.8% transaction fee (among the lowest in the industry)
Community features	65% of attendees continue networking after events

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2023 University of Tokyo Undergraduate Entrance Ceremony Address