As a new professor in charge of English education, I officially joined the Faculty of Economics at Ritsumeikan University in April 1998, where he remained until the end of the 2003 academic year when I moved to the newly established Faculty of Information Science and Engineering on the same campus in 2004. The work related to the new computer-assisted language education system for first and second-year students of both the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Business Administration (construction and maintenance of the system using JAVA Script, and development of teaching materials) was performed while getting help by Prof. Ken Matsuda of the Faculty of Letters, who came to the Biwako-Kusatsu Campus once a week for the first year, and by a TA hired by the Language Center. The rest of the time and effort was spent with the help of the TA student who was proficient in programming. Sometimes, however, it took so long to find and solve bugs in the program that I had to go home after 11:00 p.m. This was not surprising, as I was responsible for providing such a unique online English language education system that combined the latest in English language instruction and technology (an online program that provided basic computer literacy and general English language learning). I was also in charge of the student affairs office, one of the executive committees of the department, for a year, and also attended weekly meetings as a member of the university entrance examination committee, making three sets of different entrance exam questions, and serving as a member of the steering committee of the Language Center (now the Language Education Center) at the time.

1998年4月から正式に立命館大学経済学部に加わった英語教育担当の新任教授の一人として所属し、同キャンパスに2004年4月に新設された情報理工学部へ移動するまで在籍した。経済学部と経営学部所属の学部1～2年生対象の新コンピュータ支援語学教育システムに関わる業務（JAVA Scriptでのシステム構築と維持管理、教材開発）は、最初の一年は特に文学部の松田憲先生に週1回のペースで琵琶湖草津キャンパスまで来てもらい、それ以外は言語センター予算でTA雇用したプログラミングのできた学生の協力を得ながらも膨大な時間と労力を費やさざるおう得なかった。プログラムのバグの発見と解決に作業時間が伸びて帰宅時間が11時過ぎになることも時々あった。最新の英語教育とテクノロジーを組み合わせた特徴ある英語教育システム（コンピュータリテラシーの基礎教育と一般英語学習をさせるオンライン・プログラム）の提供をしたするには、その責任者として当然ではあったとも言えよう。その他にも学部執行部の役職の1つである学生主事も1年間担当したり、大学入試問題作成委員として毎週会合に出席しながら3セットの入試問題作成をしたり、当時の言語センター（現言語教育センター）の運営委員の業務も担当したりして、忙しい日々を送っていた。

In March 1997, I gave two presentations at the TESOL ’97 International Convention and Exhibition held in Orlando, Florida, USA, with travel support from the NTT Foundation, one of which was a seminar-style presentation with several research colleagues I had met through the past conferences. The first two people I met there were Prof. Ken Matsuda and Dr. Yoshimasa Tsukuma (then professors at the Faculty of Letters, Ritsumeikan University, and now professor emeritus), who were conducting cutting-edge research on computer-assisted language learning. Just as the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Business Administration of Ritsumeikan University were about to move from the Kinugasa Campus in Kyoto City to the Biwako-Kusatsu Campus in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture in 1998, I was informed that they were looking for a faculty member who had been conducting research and practice of computer-assisted learning. Perhaps with some advice from Professor Mikihiko Sugimori (then Professor at the Faculty of Policy Science, now Professor Emeritus), with whom I had been in contact through academic activities, Prof. Ken Matsuda and Prof. Mikihiko Sugimori visited me at the Language Center of Toyohashi University of Technology and asked me to apply for the open faculty position. Having struggled alone at a national technological university, it was a good opportunity I could not have wished for, to move to one of the famous private universities in the Kansai region, where I would be treated well in a new environment. I was invited to give a lecture once in order to have my character evaluated, and then I was interviewed. As a result, I was hired as a professor by Ritsumeikan University and started a new professional career in April 1998.

1997年3月に米国フロリダ州オーランドで開催されたTESOL’97国際研究大会にNTT基金の旅費援助をもらい２つの発表をしたが、その1つは学会を通じて知り合った数人の研究仲間とのセミナー・スタイルであった。そこで初めてお会いしたのが、最先端のコンピュータ支援言語学習を研究実践していらした松田憲先生と津熊良政先生（当時の立命館大学文学部教授で現名誉教授）のお二人であった。ちょうど立命館大学の経済学部と経営学部が京都市の衣笠キャンパスから滋賀県草津市の琵琶湖草津キャンパスへ1998年度から移転するにあたり、コンピュータ支援学習の研究実践している教員を探しているとの情報を得た、かねてより学会活動を通じて交流のあった杉森幹彦先生（当時政策科学部教授、現名誉教授）からの助言もあったのか、松田憲先生と杉森幹彦先生が豊橋技術科学大学語学センターを訪問してくれ、教員公募に応募するように依頼された。国立単科大学で孤軍奮闘してきた身としては、新しい環境で待遇も良くなる関西の有名私立大学の1つへの転職は願ってもなかった機会であり、喜んで応募した。人物評価をしてもらうため、一度招待講演をさせてもらい、面談をしてもらった結果、1998年4月から経済学部教授として採用され、全く新しい職場で働くことになった。

I resigned from the teaching staff of Kawaijuku Gakuen Nagoya College of Foreign Languages (now Trident College of Foreign Languages, Hotel, and Bridal) at the end of November 1981, and was hired as an assistant of Humanities and Social Engineering as of December 1, 1981. Although it was difficult for me to be promoted to a new position at a national university without an opening post, I was finally promoted to a full-time lecturer position in May 1985. Thanks to the help of my senior professors, I was promoted to associate professor four years later, and I worked there until the end of March 1998, while also belonging to the Language Center. At the Language Center, I played a central role in the establishment of the new Language Laboratory and the installation of PC systems for self-study. I was fascinated by Apple computers and the software they provided for language teaching, so I was basically responsible for managing the new language laboratory, which had 60 state-of-the-art Macintosh computers controlled by a language laboratory management system provided by Sony at the time. I was basically in charge of the system maintenance, and since there was not much given as the annual budget for maintenance and management, I did most of the work of upgrading the OS version, etc. for each computer by myself. Naturally, I spent a lot of time staying at the university and worked a lot of overtime because of the enormous amount of work I had to do outside of my teaching responsibilities. Looking back, I can say that it was a time when I was young, had gained practical research experience using the latest computers, and was passionate about language teaching and computer technology, so my energetic days were tireless. The self-study system on the first floor of the Language Center also provided students with a combination of Apple and Windows computers to help them learn.

河合塾学園名古屋外国語専門学校(現トライデント外国語・ホテル・ブライダル専門学校）教務職員を1981年1１月末で退職し、1981年12月1日付で人文社会工学系の助手として採用された。秋ポストがないとなかなか昇任できなかったのが国立大学の人事であるが、1985年5月にようやく専任講師に昇任できた。諸先輩の先生方のお陰で、4年間後に助教授に昇任でき、語学センターにも所属したりしながら、1998年3月末まで勤務していた。語学センターでは、語学ラボラトリの新設や自学自習用PCシステムの設置に中心的な役割をした。アップル社のコンピュータと語学教育に役立つソフトウエアに魅了されていたもこともあり、語学ラボラトリの新設では、当時のソニーが提供してくれた語学ラボラトリ管理システムで60台の最新Macintoshコンピュータを制御していたが、私が基本的に責任者となり、毎年の予算から与えられる維持管理費はそれ多く多くなかったので、OSのバージョンアップなどの1台1台ずつ対応する作業はほとんど一人でこなした。当然、授業担当以外の膨大な仕事をするため、大学にいる時間が長くなって、サービス残業も多かった。今振り返ると、若かったこともあり、最新コンピュータを使っての実践的な研究経験を積み、語学教育とコンピュータ・テクノロジーに情熱を注いでいたので、エネルギッシュな日々を過ごしても疲れを知らない時期であったとも言えよう。語学センター1階の自学自習システムもアップルのコンピュータとウインドウズのコンピュータを併用して学生たちへ学習に役立つサービスを提供していた。

Having been a member of tennis clubs in junior high, high school, and college, and having primarily played tennis when it came to exercise, I had never really been involved in playing golf until I was in my 40s, or rather, had little interest in the sport. During a fall inter-office tennis match, I ruptured my Achilles tendon of the left foot, had surgery, and just as I was about to begin rehabilitation to regain muscle strength by removing the cast, I had the unexpected misfortune of rupturing it again, having surgery, and recovering, twice. It took me a year before I was able to play a tennis game again, but not as well as before. In the midst of all this, I encountered golf, and instead of learning the basics at a golf school, I hit the ball at will and learned how to play golf. Next, I began to participate in several annual competitions of golf enthusiasts at my workplace. Of course, I didn’t get very good at it because I didn’t have any formal basic training, but I thought it would be nice to enjoy the natural beauty of the golf course even if I was the self-driven style of playing golf.

中学・高校・大学とテニスクラブに所属し、運動と言えばテニスを主としてやってきていたので、40代になるまでゴルフにはあまり縁がなかったというか、あまり関心がなかった。テニスの秋の職場対抗戦で、左足のアキレス腱を断裂し、手術をしたが、ギブスを外し、筋力回復のリファビリを開始しようとした矢先に、再度断裂・手術・回復と2度も予想だにしていなかった不運に遭った。テニスゲームをできるようになるまで、1年間はかかったが、以前のようにはプレイできなくなっていた。そんな中、ゴルフと出会い、ゴルフスクールなどで基本を十分に学んでいなく、打ちっ放しで気ままに自己流で打ち、基本的な打ち方を学んだ。次第に職場のゴルフ愛好者たちの年数回のコンペに参加するようになった。もちろん、正式な基礎トレーニングをしていないので、それほど上手にはならなかったが、自己流でも自然豊かなゴルフ場で楽しめれば良いと考えてプレイした。

I have played golf in and out of the country at every opportunity, but when I stayed in the Gold Course in Australia and Vancouver, Canada for an extended period of time as a research student, I enjoyed playing golf with my then-interested partner using a golf set that I procured locally. I used a Bridgestone golf set that my now-deceased father bought for me. Even though it is quite old, I still have it in my son’s apartment while he is stationed in Florida, USA, and I use it when I visit during the holiday season. More than five years ago, I found a new, inexpensive golf set at a local Golf 5 and purchased it for domestic use, but that set has also been taken to my son’s apartment, so I regret that I can’t even go hitting the ball now.

これまで機会あるごとに内外でゴルフをしてきたが、研究留学で長期滞在したオーストラリアのゴールドコースやカナダのバンクーバーでは、現地で調達したゴルフセットを使って、当時は関心のあったパートナーと楽しんだ。今は亡き父が買ってくれたブリジストン製のゴルフセットを使用していた。かなり古くなった今でも米国フロリダに駐在中の息子のアパートに置いてもらっており、ホリデイシーズン訪問時には、使用している。もう5年以上も前になるが、格安の新しいゴルフセットを地元のGolf 5で見つけ、購入して、国内で使用していたが、そのセットも息子のアパートに持っていってしまったので、今は打ちっ放しにも行けないのが残念である。

When I was a faculty member at the Toyohashi University of Technology, I played a second match after playing my first match and then judging the next match at a tennis workplace match on a November weekend when it was getting quite cold, but I tore the Achilles tendon in my left foot, perhaps because my body was cold and my preparation was insufficient, or perhaps because the load on my foot was too great from past years of intense exercise. Perhaps it was because I was cold and did not do enough preparation, or perhaps it was the heavy load on my leg from years of strenuous exercise, but I ruptured the Achilles tendon in my left foot. Fortunately, one of my tennis friends was a registered nurse, so she immediately called an ambulance and I was rushed to Toyohashi Municipal Hospital, which had good surgeons at the time, and was immediately hospitalized. A few days later, I was hospitalized after having the first surgical operation in my life. Despite having a normal appetite, the hospital food was so bad that I got tired of it after a few days. I satisfied my appetite by having my wife eat instead and eating lunch boxes that she bought for me. In addition, although Toyohashi Municipal Hospital was newly reconstructed after that, I was discharged from the hospital after a week of stay and decided to recover at home because his hospital room at that time was shared with a paralyzed in-patient who was paralyzed in a car and a motorcycle accident. Naturally, I could not walk around freely for about five weeks, and it was inconvenient to use crutches for everything I did. So I asked my wife to drive me to and from classes, and I spent most of my time at home except for going to my classes.

豊橋技術科学大学で教員をしていた頃、かなり寒くなってきた11月週末のテニス職場対応戦で、1回目の試合をした後、次の試合のジャッジをした後、2回目の試合をしたが、身体が冷えていたのに準備運動が不十分だったのが原因か、あるいは長年の激しい運動で足への負荷が大きかったせいか、左足のアキレス腱を断裂してしまった。幸いにテニス仲間に正看護士がいたので、すぐに救急車を呼んでくれ、当時としては良い外科医がいた豊橋市民病院に運ばれ、即入院した。数日後、人生初めての外科手術をしてもらい、入院していたが、食欲は普通にあるにもかかわらず、あまりに病院食がまずく、数日で飽きてしまった。代わりに妻に食べてもらい、買ってきてもらった弁当を食べたりして食欲を満足させたりもした。またの後の後市民病院市民病院は新しく立て直されたが、当時の古い病室はオートバイ運転での交通事故で半身不随の入院患者と一緒の共用部屋であったため、1週間で退院し自宅で回復に努めることにした。当然、自由に歩き回るのができない5週間あまり、何をするにも松葉杖が必要で不便ではあったが、車での送迎を妻に頼み、担当授業に行く以外、自宅でほとんど過ごし、妻には大変迷惑をかけたと今さながら思う。

I started playing soft tennis at Yokokawa Junior High School, switched to hard tennis at Utsunomiya Higashi High School, and was able to participate in the Inter-High School Tournament held in Gunma Prefecture as a representative of the Tochigi Prefecture in my junior year of high school, and has good memories of winning the first round match against the Kumamoto Prefecture representative team. After entering the Faculty of Education at Utsunomiya University, I continued to play tennis as a club member, and although I was about the third-best doubles player, I was able to play well in the North Kanto Five Universities’ League (a league of Utsunomiya University, Ibaraki University, Saitama University, Gunma University, Takasaki University of Economics, etc.) to some extent. Since the tie-breaker style was not used in those days, I sometimes experienced double matches that lasted more than three hours. I remember the one-week summer camp at Lake Yamanaka, where the main purpose was to train the freshmen members, as a good memory, even though it was painful. I think we played well in the prefectural and city tennis tournaments.

宇都宮市立横川中学時代から軟式テニスを始め、栃木県立宇都宮東高校時代に硬式テニスに乗り換え、高校3年時に群馬県で行われたインターハイに栃木県代表として参加でき、2回戦では負けたが、1回戦で熊本県代表チームに個人戦でもグループとしても勝利した良い思い出がある。国立宇都宮大学教育学部へ進学してもクラブ活動としてテニス部に所属し続けたが、ダブルス３番手ぐらいの実力レベルであったが、北関東五大学リーグ（宇都宮大学、茨城大学、埼玉大、群馬大、高崎経済大などのリーグ）ではある程度活躍できた。当時はタイブレーク・スタイルではなかったので、ダブルの試合でも時々３時間を超えるものも経験した。一年時生メンバーを鍛えるのが主目的の山中湖での１週間の夏合宿は辛くも良い思い出として覚えている。県や市のテニス大会でもそれなりの活躍ができたと思う。

While studying at the University of Kansas Graduate School in the U.S., I was so busy with my studies and occasionally played tennis with friends on the university’s tennis court (made of concrete). Two months after returning to Japan, I moved to Nagoya, where I had never lived before, and began teaching English at the Nagoya College of Foreign Languages (now the Nagoya College of Foreign Languages, Hotel, and Bridal), which was owned by Kawaijuku Gakuen. I played tennis at a certain tennis club in Nagakute where the school was a member. I won a few singles tennis tournaments at this tennis club, and I still have a trophy commemorating my victory.

米国のカンサス大学大学院留学中は勉強に忙しく、時折、大学のテニスコート（コンクリート製）で友人とやったりはしたぐらいである。修士課程を修了し、帰国2ヶ月後に一度も住んだことのなかった名古屋へ転居し、当時の河合塾学園が経営する名古屋外国語専門学校（現トラインデント外国語・ホテル・ブライダル専門学校）で英語教育活動を始めたが、土日は休日であり、学園が会員となっていた長久手にあった某テニスクラブでプレイしていた。このテニスクラブ内でのテニス大会ではシングルスで何回か優勝し、現在でも優勝記念のトロフィを持っている。

After working at the Nagoya College of Foreign Languages for just over three years from August 1978 to November 1981, I moved to the Toyohashi University of Technology as an assistant in December 1981 and then joined the faculty tennis club at the university until he left Toyohashi, Aichi in March 1998. I enjoyed participating in Toyohashi City tennis tournaments and inter-office tennis tournaments. However, I was so busy with work that I could only play one or two days a week, and perhaps because of my lack of practice, I could only win up to about the 16th best in the city tennis tournaments. The top prize winners were, of course, tennis club coaches and active student players.

1978年8月から1981年11月までのわずか3年間余の名古屋外国語専門学校での勤務後、1981年12月より豊橋技術科学大学へ助手として転職したが、その後、1998年3月に愛知県豊橋市を去るまで、大学の教職員テニスクラブに所属し、豊橋市のテニス大会や職場対抗テニス大会などに参加して楽しんだ。しかし、仕事ガ忙しく、週１～2日しかできないような状況であったので、練習不足のせいからか、市のテニス大会では、ベスト16ぐらいまでしか勝てなかった。上位入賞者は、当然ながら、テニスクラブのコーチや現役の学生プレイヤーばかりであった。