On March 25, 2021, the 2020 academic year Graduation Ceremony was held at the Okayama Prefectural Multipurpose Grounds Gymnasium (Zip Arena Okayama) to celebrate the graduation of a total of 3,139 undergraduate and graduate students. Due to the spread of the COVID-19, the ceremony had to be cancelled last year. However, careful measures were taken so that the ceremony could be held in some form this year. Anyone not a member of Okayama University, including parents and guardians of graduating students was asked to refrain from entering the venue. Additionally, the ceremony was held in two sessions to reduce the number of attendees and the seating arrangement allowed for large spaces between chairs to reduce risk of contact infection.

In the ceremony, President MAKINO Hirofumi presented diplomas and certificates of completion to 22 representatives of the undergraduate and graduate programs. He also presented the “Okayama University Kokusho Award”, which is given to students with excellent academic performance and outstanding character, to student representatives on behalf of 17 recipients.　

In his address, President Makino introduced a planning framework utilized in sustainable development initiatives called “Backcasting”, which involves thinking of a desirable vision for the future and then defining and planning activities and strategies that need to be implemented in the present to achieve said vision. The framework focuses on local initiatives to ensure that no one gets left behind as society attempts to tackle global issues. He stated that, “As we saw with the coronavirus, when a critical situation develops, it seems natural for people to focus on what is right in front of them. However, people become limited by their present-orientated mindset. In a world that is constantly changing, it is important for us to put present problems in perspective by considering our vision for the future.” Representing the graduates, IMURA Kasumi from the Faculty of Education and NOMURA Kazumichi from the Graduate School of Education in the morning session, KURAMOTO Tadashi from the Faculty of Science and ISHIHARA Masataka from the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology in the afternoon session.

After the ceremony, graduates took commemorative photos with family and friends and said a bittersweet farewell to their student life at Okayama University.