On June 29, 2016, The 2^nd Liberal Arts Seminar titled, "Ask Mr. Masayoshi Takemura: Election and Politics, Where Does Japan Go Forward?" was held at the Active Learning Room in the General Education building.

From this academic year, the Liberal Arts Education Division, the Organization for Promotion of Higher Education and Student Support (ORPHESS) has been putting a special emphasis on better liberal arts education, and enhancing the Gifu University students' awareness about the importance of liberal arts education. The 2nd Liberal Arts Seminar was part of continued efforts of the ORPHESS to increase recognition of liberal arts among the students and the staff of Gifu University.

Mr. Takemura spoke of the youths' readiness for the next Upper House Election, among other things, and gave some instructions to the audience about how they can put politics and election in perspective. During his speech, he quoted many of his own experiences as senior politician. His core message was: "Whenever you need to think things through, multiple viewpoints and different ways of thinking will help you resolve issues not only in political affairs but also in any fields throughout your life."

After his speech, the participants asked Mr. Takemura many questions and he answered each of them very carefully and in detail.

When the seminar ended, one student commented, "After listening to his story, I want to study much harder about the election systems, international affairs and history of Japan." Another student said, "I felt the need to accept various interpretations about history of Japan."

The participants of the seminar were enlightened by Mr. Takemura's speech, which is quite timely in the midst of growing interests in politics among the Japanese youths.

The ORPHESS plans to host a number of similar seminars, and the students' active participation in the seminars is highly recommended. They will offer a rare moment to study the subjects that the students can encounter and discuss only in Gifu University.