オックスフォード大学 リナカーカレッジ創立 50周年記念夕食会の 冒頭挨拶

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour for me to be given this opportunity to announce the opening of Linacre night. Tonight, this gathering is also graced with the presence of Her Imperial Highness Princess Akiko, the daughter of the late Prince Tomohito to whom all of us pay the most heartfelt tribute for his warm consideration extended to Linacre.

I matriculated to Linacre in September 1969 and stayed there for 2 years, reading for the Diploma in Law. Linacre was at the south of the War Memorial at that time, and was so small that our atmosphere was as intimate as a family. Dinner in College was so nice and delicious that all the other Oxford people were envying us.

I had many foreign friends as well as Japanese ones, and even now I am still in contact with some of them, like Mr. Juha Kuusi of Finland. In fact, I met him in Helsinki during my visit to foreign countries as the President of the House of Councillors of Japan, and we had a pleasant talk on the highly respected Finnish education on that occasion.

Linacre is so generous as to award me the title of Honorary Fellow of Linacre, with no other obligation than possibly giving lectures or the like if any occasion presents itself. Actually, I was given the precious opportunity to give a lecture on Japanese politics as well as a very smart afternoon tea on my last visit to the UK.

Linacre celebrates its 50 th anniversary this year, and we have already launched the fund-raising campaign recently. I am honoured to be appointed chairperson of the campaign committee. It is so important and responsible that I will not be able to fulfill the work without the help of my dear colleagues. Tonight, it is the kick-off occasion for this fund-raising campaign.

We are extremely happy to have with us tonight no less a person than the Principal of Linacre, Mr. Nick Brown, as the most powerful locomotive for the campaign. Thank you very much for daring to take such a long flight from the UK. We are enjoying our beautiful autumn with coloured leaves, yellow and red. The air is so cool and clear. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope all of you here tonight enjoy the meeting. Thank you for your attention.