New director of Hiroshima University’s Institute for Peace Science shares hopes at press conference
Feb. 3, 2014
by Tsutomu Kanayama, Staff Writer
Hiroshima University has appointed Tsuneo Nishida, 66, the former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, to the post of director of the university’s Institute for Peace Science. Mr. Nishida will assume the role in April. On January 28, he held a press conference at the Higashihiroshima campus and said, “Building on my experience of working at the forefront of diplomacy, I will seek to send new messages about peace studies that will have substantial impact.”
Mr. Nishida, who has served as deputy-director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Japanese ambassador to Canada, said that he will make active use of his network of colleagues and other personal contacts.
He said that, despite Hiroshima’s appeal for a world without nuclear weapons, the world is moving in the opposite direction, toward military expansion and nuclear proliferation. “The university must make strong and practical proposals, based on Hiroshima’s unique perspective, that amount to more than mere words. I intend to do my very best,” he said emphatically.
Hiroshima University has invited Mr. Nishida to serve as a specially-appointed professor and part-time director of the institute. Toshimasa Asahara, president of Hiroshima University, also attended the press conference and said that the institute will increase the number of teaching staff from the current one to five in April, in order to expand and strengthen its activities.
(Originally published on January 29, 2014)
Hiroshima University has appointed Tsuneo Nishida, 66, the former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations, to the post of director of the university’s Institute for Peace Science. Mr. Nishida will assume the role in April. On January 28, he held a press conference at the Higashihiroshima campus and said, “Building on my experience of working at the forefront of diplomacy, I will seek to send new messages about peace studies that will have substantial impact.”
Mr. Nishida, who has served as deputy-director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as Japanese ambassador to Canada, said that he will make active use of his network of colleagues and other personal contacts.
He said that, despite Hiroshima’s appeal for a world without nuclear weapons, the world is moving in the opposite direction, toward military expansion and nuclear proliferation. “The university must make strong and practical proposals, based on Hiroshima’s unique perspective, that amount to more than mere words. I intend to do my very best,” he said emphatically.
Hiroshima University has invited Mr. Nishida to serve as a specially-appointed professor and part-time director of the institute. Toshimasa Asahara, president of Hiroshima University, also attended the press conference and said that the institute will increase the number of teaching staff from the current one to five in April, in order to expand and strengthen its activities.
(Originally published on January 29, 2014)
