A new academic year will begin from tomorrow. During the last part of this academic year, we have seen the unexpected incident along the eastern seashore of Japan, since mid March. We do hope that the new academic year will end up with plenty of smiles. The following are recently taken photos near our university; Japanese magnolia (left) and the Umeda river (right) two kilometers from our university, where a shoal of carps are seen. Spring is surely coming.