Announcement

On 13 March 2022, a round-table discussion entitled “Passing on the Spirit of Dr. Nakamura” was held in the Cute.Commons in the Central Library on the Ito Campus of the University, organised by "The Kyushu University Dr. Nakamura Tetsu Project: Passing on the Spirit of Dr. Nakamura to the Next Generation".

The late Dr. Nakamura Tetsu (1946–2019), University Professor of the Institute for Advanced Study at Kyushu University and an alumnus of the Kyushu University School of Medicine, dedicated 35 years of his life to medical care, irrigation, and agriculture in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan. To share his spirit, resolve, and work with future generations, in March 2021, Kyushu University launched "The Kyushu University Dr. Nakamura Tetsu Project: Passing on the Spirit of Dr. Nakamura to the Next Generation". At the heart of this project are the Dr. Nakamura Tetsu Memorial Archive, the Nakamura Tetsu Digital Archive, and the Nakamura Tetsu Memorial Lecture Series.

　　　This round-table discussion was planned as an opportunity for those who have been directly or indirectly involved in the activities of Nakamura Tetsu to meet, discuss and share various viewpoints with the younger generation and the teaching staff of this project, who have just started their efforts to connect them with each other.

　　　About 30 people of various ages, positions and distances participated this roundtable discussion, including people from the Peshawar-kai, which has taken over Dr. Nakamura's will and continued his projects after his death, former workers who dispached to Pakistan and Afghanistan, friend, members of the media who have covered Dr. Nakamura for many years, the university student group “Tetsu-en-kai”, which has started to work on activities to connect the aspirations of Dr. Nakamura, and the “Peshawar-han” at his old school, Fukuoka High School, Teachers to convey the message in the form of classes, and also Kyushu University teaching staff involved in the project.

Prior to the meeting, Dr. Masaru Murakami, Chairman of Peshawar-kai, gave a report on recent Peace Japan Medical Services (PMS) projects in Afghanistan. He reported on the very severe hunger and starvation situation in Afghanistan due to the severe drought for long time and economic sanctions following the political change in August last year; that despite these various difficulties, local medical, agricultural and irrigation canal projects are continuing; and he spoke about how the activities are continuing from the perspective of the local people, with the motto of Dr. Nakamura: "Just as water is for both good and bad people, we will work together with anyone, no matter what happens to the world, with full force for those who have nowhere to go to live humanly here", as they work together with the PMS to provide emergency food aid. For more information, see the Peshawar-kai webpage.

http://www.peshawar-pms.com/topics/20220216.html(External link-Japanese)

　　　Paticipants were divided into four groups, and they were talk each other deepen their understanding of Dr. Nakamura through their own approaches.

In the last part, in response to one of the questions from the younger generation - "I would like to hear about Tetsu Nakamura's student days" - a friend from university days, Dr. Nobuyoshi Miyazaki, Chairman of Hisayama Ryoikuen, who has been involved in the treatment of severe mental and physical disabilities, talked about Nakamura's student days and about Nakamura as a Christian.

　　　Dr Miyazaki said that even though the fields are different, Dr. Nakamura's writings and films are inspiring and cheering him a lot, and that he and everyone else here has this in common.  In Their student days, they talked about their aiming for a target/patient-centered medical care based on the Bible. Target means the sick, the disabled, refugees and the needy. Since then Nakamura had told that they should do what is natural, not what is vain or pedantic, and that those who overlook people who are lying in front of them must be very strange.  Dr.Miyazaki told that Dr. Nakamura had continued this for 35 years, and this is what have generated a lot of sympathy, and what have led to medical and water activities in the area. And he also said that this falls in his mind as a very natural thing.

　　　The various images of Dr. Nakamura Tetsu, current activities in the field and how to pass on his will and work could not be discussed in the short time available.However, it was time to reconfirm that one of the roles of this project is to connect people who concerned about this and involved.

In his closing remarks, Executive Vice President Toshiya Naito（At that time）, on behalf of the project, said, "Rather than passing on Dr. Nakamura to future generations only as a great man, we will use his actions, thoughts including his worries, trial and error, and such things as an opportunity to discuss and exchange various thoughts. He also said that he hoped that Kyushu University could play a role as a hub to connect various activities related to Dr Nakamura, and that he hoped that the participants and the He expressed his gratitude to those involved in the project.

*A Japanese transcript of this round-table discussion will be available later in the Nakamura Tetsu Digital Archive.

The Dr. Nakamura Tetsu Memorial Archive, located in Cute. Commons, where the event was held, has a leaflet in English, which was just completed at the end of February, with the cooperation of the Peshawar-kai/PMS Support Unit, the Faculty of Arts and Engineering of Kyushu University and the Science Communicators of the Public Relations Division of Kyushu University. When you visit the Central Library, please feel free to stop by.

Contact Us
"The Kyushu University Dr. Nakamura Tetsu Project: Passing on the Spirit of Dr. Nakamura to the Next Generation"
Digital Repository Section Electronic Resources Management Division Kyushu University Library
744, Motooka Nishi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581,
TEL: (+81)092-802-2459  / Email: pj_nakamura★jimu.kyushu-u.ac.jp (★→＠)
URL: https://www.lib.kyushu-u.ac.jp/pj_nakamuratetsu
Twitter：https://twitter.com/pj_nakamura