Being second to none in a certain field nurtures the confidence needed for becoming a pathfinder
———You majored in economics at the University of Tokyo and continued your studies at Stanford University where […]
———You majored in economics at the University of Tokyo and continued your studies at Stanford University where you received a master’s degree in statistics and a doctorate in economics. Kawai：After finishing my undergraduate studies at the University of Tokyo I went to Stanford for graduate work in economics. But statistics was so interesting that I earned my master’s degree in that field. Then as a doctoral student in economics, I went to the Brookings Institution where I completed my dissertation. After that, I joined the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo in 1986 where I taught graduate courses in international finance. My next move came a decade later with the Asian financial crisis of 1997 when I was invited by the World Bank to work on the financial crisis as chief economist for the East Asia and Pacific region. I continued at this post for three years. Ever since I first applied to Stanford University, I had always wanted to work for an international organization. So I thought my dream had come true when I got this offer from the World Bank. As an academic researcher, I was limited to vicarious experiences gained through reading and understanding what others had written. The very exciting thing about working for the World Bank was that I was in a position to experience everything firsthand. ———From there, you moved to the Ministry of Finance as Deputy Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. Kawai：Actually, I got the offer several months after returning to the university having finished my work at the World Bank. The invitation to move to the Ministry of Finance came from Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda, the current Governor of the Bank of Japan, who in those days was Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs. I guess I could not refuse the offer! (Laughter) So, I spent two years at the Ministry of Finance before returning to the Institute of Social Science. Soon thereafter, Mr. Kuroda was appointed president of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and again on his invitation I moved to the ADB and after 18 months I became Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). In March 2013, Mr. Kuroda became Governor of the Bank of Japan, and a new appointment was made to the presidency of ADB. By this time, I had spent seven years as dean of ADBI, and I resigned to join the Graduate School of Public Policy. Currently, I am Representative Director of the Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia, an organization pursuing research aimed at promoting economic exchange between Japan and the countries of Northeast Asia. The research focuses on China, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, and Russia. We follow economic conditions in these countries to identify potential areas for cooperation in infrastructure development, trade and investment promotion, and energy in Northeast Asia. Research in this region requires economic approaches that are backed by a keen awareness of political and geopolitical realities. Another goal that we want to pursue is the training of young experts in this area. ———From the perspective of GSDM, working at the top or near the top of the World Bank and ADB has put you in positions of global leadership. Can you share with us what you believe are the requisite capabilities and training methods for serving in such positions? Kawai： I can’t say that I started my career with the idea of becoming a global leader. But GSDM students are given that opportunity. However, you cannot become a leader by just thinking about it. There are certain accomplishments to be achieved and actions to be taken. First, what you need to achieve is a mastery of your field of choice. The aim should to be able to say, “I am second to none in this field.” This becomes the source of self-confidence. The most important thing is this confidence in yourself, because without this confidence, you cannot start on what you want to do. Second, you have to constantly prep yourself for making the optimal decision at crucial junctures in life. Imagine you face a number of viable options. My advice is to reach a decision after considering which choice would maximize your future options. For example, after I got my PhD in the United States, I decided to work in academia because I judged that this would expand the scope of my future options. As it turned out, after teaching at a Japanese university, I moved on to an international organization and assumed a high-level post where I was charged with supervising the work of numerous economists. Third, you have to be prepared to grab the chances that appear before you. In my case, I had the chance to work for the World Bank, followed by two invitations from Mr. Haruhiko Kuroda to join the Ministry of Finance and later ADB. I have to say that I am where I am today thanks to the opportunity of coming to know Mr. Kuroda who is a wonderful boss. Fourth, the ability to communicate and debate in English is crucial. Along with that, it is very important to have an appreciation for foreign cultures, in particular, an understanding of the American way of thinking. When you step out into the world, you meet a lot of people who are always saying, “Me, me, let me do it.” Japanese individuals must have well-defined opinions and be able to state these opinions clearly and convincingly. Without this, you cannot even stand on the debate stage. Fifth, even more important is developing the capacity for logical thinking and the ability to express those thoughts lucidly, an absolute requirement in convincing others. The requirement for being a leader in any organization is the commitment to constantly hone these abilities. GSDM students are given the opportunity to develop excellence and confidence in their field of choice. There are many PhDs in the world, which means this is only the starting line. So, make sure you do a good job and earn your PhD. The next step is so important—find a job in your field of specialty and become confident in that field. I believe you can go a long way in the world if you have achieved these requirements.
Fostering Human Resources Capable of Recognizing Their Connection to the World and Solving Problems
Interest in Indiana Jones led to a career in world history education. ——— Your CV says that you were a history […]
Interest in Indiana Jones led to a career in world history education. ——— Your CV says that you were a history major in college, did your graduate studies in education and that you were formerly a high school teacher. What field of history did you study? Hanai：I studied the Old Testament. When I was a fifth grader, I saw the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and became a fan of Indiana Jones. It turns out Indiana Jones was actually a biblical archeologist. There is a scene in the movie where he is shown reading an ancient Hebrew inscription, and I decided right then and there, “This is what I want to do.” So, I went to Tsukuba University and studied oriental history. As a high school student I tutored younger students, and in college I had a part-time job at a cram school. These experiences taught me the joy of teaching others what I myself had studied and set me on the course of becoming a teacher. As an undergraduate, I was a history major, and my plan as a graduate student was to study the pedagogy of teaching history. After completing my studies, I worked for six years as a world history teacher. But there came a point where I felt I had exhausted everything that I had accumulated during my undergraduate and graduate studies. There was a great thirst within me for further study and fresh input. With an eye to returning to my teaching career, I entered the Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo and chose the problem of conflict resources in Congo as my research topic. ——— Why Congo? Hanai：I should start by explaining why I chose to study conflicts and disputes. During my third year in college, I travelled to Israel to see the land of the Old Testament. During my stay, I accidentally found an opportunity to visit a Palestinian refugee camp where I met an Old Testament scholar who was working for a NGO to provide support and assistance to the residents of the camp. She said to the members of our group, “You cannot be of any use here. But what I want you to do is to go back to Japan and share what you have seen here. With more Japanese people supporting our efforts, we will be able to provide the people here with greater assistance. That’s why we want you to convey what you see here to people back in Japan.” This helped me realize there are different tasks that people can perform, each according to his or her position and situation. With that in mind, when I became a high school teacher, I took up the subject of regional conflicts in contemporary history. The lesson that I tried to convey to my classes was: “These are the things that are happening in the world today, and there are things that we living in Japan can do.” However, after a number of years of teaching, I began to experience some doubts. Sure enough, I am teaching my students, “we are connected to events taking place in faraway places in the world.” But has anyone taken the trouble to really ascertain the truth of this statement? This question gradually grew to occupy my mind and heart. How can I “connect” myself to the world? ———I have to be honest. I don’t feel really connected to the rest of the world. Hanai：Yes, that is the point. That is when I decided to undertake research on how we are involved with conflicts in faraway corners of the world. When I enrolled at the Graduate School of Public Policy in 2008, I had already come to believe that the most serious disputes were to be found in Africa and focused my research on Africa. At around that time, I came across a developmental education text that addressed the problems that tantalum, a rare metal used in cell phones, is connected to the conflict in Congo. As I studied these materials, I became preoccupied with whether this was a confirmed fact. My investigation centered on the questions of what was happening in Congo. How was the United Nations responding to the situation? What were NGOs and corporations doing? And what was the government of the United States or the Japanese government doing? To determine what each actor had done, I followed the long string of relations and developments from Congo to Japan. The conclusion that I ultimately reached was that we are all in fact connected. Feeling that my research had satisfactorily resolved my questions, I wrote my doctoral dissertation and completed my graduate studies. My dissertation was published as a book on November 20 last year. Japan today does not know how to be “afraid appropriately.” Hanai：Recently, I have been thinking that Japanese society today does not know how to be “afraid appropriately.” What I mean by “not knowing how to be afraid appropriately” is that Japanese society is unable to properly differentiate between things that should be feared and things that do not have to be feared. The media stirs up the sense of fear and insecurity in the public with pronouncements such as “The economy is in recession, the economy may collapse at any time, and Japan is in deep trouble,” or “Terrorism is going to make its way in Japan.” Maybe this is the cause, but I find that students are petrified by fear and are overcome with the sense that “I don’t want to become a victim of terrorism,” and “I don’t want to see my life destroyed.” As a result, there is a very strong sense of wanting to protect and defend their personal territory. The world of education must take on the task of very carefully analyzing this way of thinking. But the problem is that social science education has been unable to do this. ——— Two years have passed since you joined GSDM. What do you feel about GSDM? Hanai： It will be two whole years in March 2017. I am really enjoying myself. Many things happened during the first year. During the second year, I started a new Student Initiative Project and it was great fun to work together with the students to realize what they wanted to do. I derive a great deal of pleasure from working with and helping others. Basically, you can only live your own life. But helping others means that you can experience things that you could never experience alone. There is a much enjoyment to be gained from sharing these experiences. Studying world history allows you to learn what many generations of people have gradually built up over the ages and to experience things that would be impossible to experience in any single lifetime. I love world history and I love being engaged in education. For me, these two pursuits are equal and parallel. ———You don’t have to become Indiana Jones anymore? Hanai： In earlier years, this was my most earnest wish, but these days I am feeling quite satisfied with where I am. First of all, recently I have come to feel that I am connected to the world even while living in Japan and can engage in meaningful activities that affect the rest of the world. I want to continue my research on conflict resources in Congo. Another thing, I want to pursue the kind of education that I have in mind. So, my conditions are simple: to be able to study the problem of conflict resources and engage in education, and finally to be able to commute from home. (Laugh) Just as long as these simple conditions are met, I am prepared to go anywhere and to do anything.
Cultivating International Human Resources Who Can Bridge the Gap between Theory and Practice
Mapping out a career ——— You graduated in Latin American Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. As […]
Mapping out a career ——— You graduated in Latin American Studies from Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. As a student, did you have any ambitions or future occupation in mind? Nishizawa: Ever since I was a high school student I had wanted to work outside Japan, and around the time of my third year as an undergraduate, I started to think about my ideal future career path. I was increasingly attracted to the idea of a career that would allow me to move back and forth between the worlds of university and international business. I thought that I would like to retain a position as a researcher at a university, while at the same time working for an international organization, or somewhere else outside the university, every few years. I gave it lots of thought, and in the end decided to stay on for graduate studies in the economics field with the aim of becoming a researcher. However, I was shocked to find that graduates in the years above me seemed to be geniuses. I was suddenly acutely aware that I was not cut out to be a researcher, so I gave up the idea of trying to become a scholar, and instead decided to look for a job. I sought out a financial institution that had a particularly strong presence in international business, and eventually joined the Export-Import Bank of Japan (which currently trades as the Japan Bank for International Cooperation). photo: Masahiro Shida Travelling the world with work ———What work did you do when you first joined the bank? Nishizawa: For the first three years after joining the bank I was in the overseas investment research institute —in other words, the research department. At that time there was no Internet like there is today, so all we could do to gather information about overseas was cut articles out of newspapers, or go through written materials we received from news agencies. I subsequently received government funding to study overseas, acquiring a master’s degree in economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States. After that I returned to Japan and for two years became involved in work relating to loans for African countries. Then, in 1990, just before the collapse of the Soviet Union, I was temporarily assigned to Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so I unexpectedly became involved in diplomatic work. As it turned out, this was the beginning of a lifetime of temporary assignments for me. I ended up working in what was then the Ministry’s Economic Cooperation Bureau for nearly three years, handling financial assistance following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and work relating to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, among other organizations. When I returned to the Export-Import Bank of Japan, I was charged with Central Asia-related work. But less than a year later, in January 1994, I was offered another temporary assignment, this time to fill a post in the International Monetary Fund (IMF); I interviewed for the position in February, and moved to Washington to take up the assignment at the end of August. ———And then you went on from the IMF to work at the World Bank as well? Nishizawa: Yes, that’s right. At the IMF I was responsible for dealing with the debt problems of heavily indebted poor countries and my work was mainly related to the group of creditor nations known as the Paris Club. Then, while I was doing that job, in July 1997, the Thai baht crashed, setting off the Asian currency crisis. It was at exactly that time that I was offered another temporary assignment, this time to the World Bank. I eventually returned from the World Bank to the Japan Bank for International Cooperation at the end of 1999, after which I spent ten years dealing exclusively with Asian countries, working in the sections handling country credit investigation and financing, as well as surveys and research. My relationships with Indonesian and Thai counterparts in particular grew stronger, and those relationships still continue today. Early ambitions realized ———You now have a professorship at the University of Tokyo, so haven’t you actually achieved your original ambition of finding work that would involve moving back and forth between international organizations and universities? Nishizawa: Yes, I really have, although it was more by luck than design. I feel very lucky to have been assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to have worked at the IMF and the World Bank, and also to have been offered posts at universities—especially considering I actually gave up at one point ! ———So—to move on to a slightly different topic—did you find that the economics knowledge you acquired as a student differed from what was needed in actual business. Nishizawa: Yes, of course there is a difference between the two. I think that when you are a student, you can study economics, but it doesn’t really seem real, and you can’t understand it fully, unless you have a considerable amount of interaction with the real world. So I imagine it must be fairly frustrating for students who want to learn something that has meaning outside academia: it is only when you go out into the real world that you finally understand that what you were learning as a student was just the condensed essence of reality. I think that if you go back to learning economics after being knocked about in the real world for a while, your research is more likely to be underpinned by strong motivation and a keen awareness of wider issues. In that sense it is a good idea to go out into society at large, then return to university, in my opinion. Linking theory to real-world issues ———So, from that perspective, is there anything you try to do when teaching classes? Nishizawa: I always just try to help students to take an interest in real-world issues and to have their own opinions. ———Finally, do you have any advice for students? Nishizawa: First, I would like them to raise their own awareness of wider issues by interacting with the real world. If they do that, then when their academic knowledge deepens, they will be strongly motivated; I want them to acquire that sort of knowledge backed up by a strong sense of realism. I think that today’s Japan needs human resources who can bridge the gap between theory and practice. Without them Japan will rapidly sink into oblivion within international society. I would like to see the students taking full advantage of programs such as this to develop into international human resources who can bridge the gap between theory and practice. And my second piece of advice regards connections with other people. I think it is important not to think only in terms of personal advantage and disadvantage, but to do a job conscientiously, taking every opportunity to be as helpful as possible. And it is also good to spend time with a broad range of people irrespective of their nationalities or fields of endeavor. As the GSDM program is a melting pot of human resources, I think the students are very lucky from that point of view. As they continue spending time with lots of people, somebody, somewhere, might give them a chance. Or does that sound too corny? It is no good relying on others all the time, but a wide network of people is a very valuable asset.
An encounter with a new world is a chance for self-growth
Q: Your area of specialization is International Political Economy (IPE). When did you start becoming intereste […]
Q: Your area of specialization is International Political Economy (IPE). When did you start becoming interested in this field? Iida: Back when I was a student, the idea of forming economic partnerships based on the Pacific Rim concept, a forerunner of today’s TPP, was just starting to appear here and there, mainly in academic societies. For my Master’s dissertation, I did a rather orthodox study tracing the evolution of this idea. Later APEC was formed, and now the TPP is coming about, so it was in a sense a pioneering idea. At the time, there were people disparaging my choice of topics, asking what sense it made to study such a nebulous idea. Looking back now, though, it seems like a rather important thing to have been doing from a future standpoint. Q: When did economics enter into your studies? Iida: I think it goes back to when I went to the US and encountered IPE, which was a relatively new field of study at the time. This was something that merged politics and economics. It wasn’t just a matter of someone in political science knowing a little about the economy from studying it in their spare time. There was a strong emphasis on its being a truly interdisciplinary field, so I thought this was something I really should study in earnest. In that sense, Harvard was a terrific environment, as the same building had a political science department in one wing and an economics department in the other wing. So if you just walked over to the next hall and “violated the airspace,” you could run into the likes of economist Jeffrey Sachs. There wasn’t much of a threshold between the two, and you could easily sit in on lectures. In terms of number, I attended lots of lectures in those days. I feel I was lucky in that regard. Q: In GSDM terms, you experienced what it is like to cross over into other areas of knowledge. Was your being in the US a big factor? Would you have had the same opportunity if you had stayed in Japan all that time? Iida: I think it’s logical to assume I would not have. I should point out, though, if I may, that becoming a scholar was not the only thing on my mind. In fact, I had other reasons for wanting to go to the US. At the time, Japan was the second largest donor country to the United Nations, but we heard a lot about how Japan contributed only money and not people. Being just a simple youth and I felt a strong sense of responsibility about how, if that was the case, Japanese should contribute far more. I had always had a strong desire to work in an international organization and was not thinking about becoming a scholar. Not that I had given up on the idea of an academic career, but I had this really innocent notion about going out into the world and being active as a Japanese, so in fact I went to America. As it turned out, I later settled down on an academic path. I guess that’s why I’m rather interested in practical matters. Q: In your view, how should GSDM students, especially those in the sciences, take an interdisciplinary approach encompassing science and liberal arts, including the field of International Political Economy (IPE)? Iida: I’m not sure whether it’s my personality or just circumstance, but I have crossed over disciplines many times up to now. This has led to immense enrichment of my own field of study, while also giving me a sense of growth as a human being. The feeling of liberation was like that of a frog in a well that suddenly discovers there’s a whole wide world out there. That’s why going outside your own discipline has many different merits, not simply for your own field of study. That GSDM has built this approach into its educational program is for me something to be envied. I want GSDM students be successful for this reason. Q: I very much agree. So much so that if GSDM had existed back when I was a student, I would have wanted to enter the program. Iida: Absolutely. Which is why I hope students will take full advantage of the opportunities offered and achieve growth. Sitting in on the lectures of various instructors is important, but especially vital is interacting with students in different fields of study. In my Harvard days I had many contacts with others in the economics field; but when you study overseas a community of Japanese students tends to form, and there I associated with people in all kinds of fields, like sociology and archeology. All the things they talked about were completely new to me, so it was all very fresh. If possible, it would be even better if your associates included not just Japanese but people from other countries as well. That kind of interaction among different cultures is definitely a good thing that I would like to encourage strongly.
Study how the market economy works, to discover your own connections to society
Q: You are active in a wide range of economics fields. If you had to name your area of specialization, what wo […]
Q: You are active in a wide range of economics fields. If you had to name your area of specialization, what would that be? Iwamoto: I describe it as “public finance.” This involves a very wide variety of areas, so when conducting research on public finance the studies naturally tend to spread to many other fields. I’m the type of person with wide interests, who sticks his neck into many different things, so yes, I suppose I have studied quite a lot of areas over the years. I write one paper about one topic, and if that comes together well I go on to the next theme. That kind of style has resulted in my writing papers on a variety of subjects. In that sense, I may have a harder time than others in narrowing down just what it is that I specialize in. Q: It’s rather unusual, isn’t it, for an economist to take up so many different topics? Iwamoto: Perhaps, though I wouldn’t say that’s either a good or bad thing. In trying to define economics, rather than defining the discipline by the object of study, the economy, it is more common to define it as the economic way of thinking. There are many people who apply the economics thinking approach to targets other than the economy. This is seen as the contribution economics makes to society. I find myself sympathetic with that thinking. Q: It’s rather unusual, isn’t it, for an economist to take up so many different topics? Iwamoto: Perhaps, though I wouldn’t say that’s either a good or bad thing. In trying to define economics, rather than defining the discipline by the object of study, the economy, it is more common to define it as the economic way of thinking. There are many people who apply the economics thinking approach to targets other than the economy. This is seen as the contribution economics makes to society. I find myself sympathetic with that thinking. Q: It’s important for GSDM students studying natural sciences or social sciences other than economics, to know the basics of economics, right? Iwamoto: In carrying on with our daily lives, we are propelled by the market economy. A feature of the way the market economy works is its use of knowledge. The knowledge of each individual is limited, but each one possesses separate knowledge; so when you put together all the knowledge of the human race, it’s an enormous amount. The market economy functions by making use of that knowledge as a whole. Take this ballpoint pen in front of me, for example. I have no knowledge about how to make such a pen. Yet if I hand over some money, I can buy a ballpoint pen. The person who made this pen, on the other hand, has technical knowledge about pens but does not have the knowledge I possess. In other words, I am helped by the knowledge of the person who made this pen, while the person who made this pen is helped by the knowledge of various other people. Each of the individuals acts without knowing about the other individuals, but the market economy functions in such a way that the pen properly gets to where it is needed. By knowing how this works, we come to realize that our own work and activities are being aided by the knowledge of people we do not know at all. Q: What other benefits do you see to having GSDM students learn the basic of economics? Iwamoto: I think it’s good to have them learn the economic way of thinking. It should prove highly useful also in the future for students in the sciences. To put it in simple terms, the economic way of thinking is, first of all, learning to be aware of costs. A hugely important concept in economics is “opportunity cost.” That is, no matter what you do it entails costs. Generally, people think of costs as monetary expenses; but there are also costs that are not monetary, and these are very large. A student taking a doctoral program, for example, during the three years in school has to forego the income that could have been earned by working all that time. That’s quite a large amount, so it’s important to use that time effectively. Another example is carrying out experimentation to make something, which requires costs for each of the materials. Besides the costs that we can see with our eyes, it’s important to grasp the invisible costs. Also, basic to economics is the approach of looking not just at costs but seeing these together with the benefits of what will result, in deciding ultimately what to do. In the field of operations research, applicable to decision-making in a wide range of fields, initially it was people in mathematical economics that made major contributions. Second, each one of us, day after day, is involved in the economy as we use money and work to earn money. Yet when we look at the economy not from this individual viewpoint but get an overview of the workings of the economic system in society, or try to analyze it objectively, we learn that things look different when the viewpoint changes. I think, too, that by studying the workings of the economy, students gain the ability to look objectively at the various research activities they themselves are involved in. For someone in the sciences, I would expect them to be able to see the impact on society from the research they have conducted or what they have created, not just within the scope visible from their own research, but to go beyond that and try to obtain an objective overview of that impact. I believe that this applies not just to economics; studying social sciences likewise gives students various new ways of looking at things.
An Application-Driven Search for New Materials
Q: How did you get into carbon nanotube research? Maruyama: I started out in a completely different field, con […]
Q: How did you get into carbon nanotube research? Maruyama: I started out in a completely different field, conducting doctoral research on turbulent heat transfer in mechanical engineering. Even at that time, however, I was of a mind to try something new; and it so happened that I ended up studying abroad at Rice University, home to Richard Erret Smalley, winner of a Nobel Prize in 1996 for their discovery of fullerenes. Although I had no particular awareness of fullerenes, when I returned to Japan in 1991 after a two-year stint at Rice, it was right at the time when it became possible to synthesize fullerenes in macro quantities in the laboratory, so I decided to give it a try. Q: Why did you choose to focus on single-walled rather than multi-walled nanotubes? Maruyama: Multi-walled have their own appeal from the standpoints of thermal and other dynamics, but what I find really interesting is that single-walled nanotubes can become semiconductors. When carbon fiber is made very thin resulting in a semiconducting nanotube, it is not just a metal, or even the ultimate metal, but something that seems to turn the world upside down. This is the fascinating thing about single-walled nanotubes that makes me intent on studying them. Q: On the one hand there’s the scientist’s spirit of pursuing the interesting, and on the other the engineering aspect of looking for practical applications. Do you have a problem reconciling these seemingly opposite poles? Maruyama: I think both of these are in pretty good balance, so no, it’s not really a problem for me. After all, engineering has long been my field, including my doctorate. Someone in engineering will eventually come to think about practical uses, so even if we run off in the direction of pursing our fascinations, at the same time we have in the back of our mind the thought that at some point we will start considering methods of application. The notion of wanting to make use of something basic to do something practical is quite natural, I feel. It’s the opposite that is hard. It is actually difficult for someone who reaches a certain age after thinking only about applications to suddenly turn their attention to physics and science. Along with your interests, you also have to study the basics. The basics are the hard part. Q:You devised an alcohol chemical vapor deposition technique to synthesize carbon nanotubes. The applications for this appear to have been narrowed down lately to energy uses. How did this come about? Maruyama: If anything, my original fascination has been with materials. The mechanical engineering classes I teach, however, are about energy, so that has become my mission. Another reason is that many of my senior colleagues in the laboratory are in the energy field, and in the course of working with them the topic of current application needs arises. In the field of energy or solar cells, when someone says, “Isn’t this an interesting property?” it’s only natural to want to give it a try. Also, given my age, I have less than 10 years left to work as a researcher, so that might be another reason for narrowing down the applications. Q: When you say you have less than 10 years left as a researcher, are you back-calculating? Maruyama: Yes. Up to now I’ve been allowed to do whatever I like, so now I feel I need to come up with something concrete. In that sense, I believe engineering has to lead to something relevant to things, to a certain extent at least. It’s a bit different from science in that way. Of course, if a time comes in the future when something new can be created, it might be OK to abandon that ideal. Still, I’ve come this far with carbon, which is so much a part of me that it would be hard at this point to give it up. From the standpoint of applications, though, there’s no guarantee that this will turn out to be the best approach; so looking at the applications aspect could lead us in an entirely different direction. Q: Finally, I’d like to ask you to say a few words to the students in the GSDM program or thinking about entering it. Maruyama: I can’t avoid paying most attention to science students. As research proceeds, there will inevitably be relevance to applications and to society; and here there are things that need to be learned. In that sense, I believe today’s students are really good at communication. My first time in the US was spent at Professor Smalley’s lab. The language barrier and cultural differences made things tough. In that regard, today’s GSDM students will be sent abroad even if they themselves don’t have that intention, so I believe they are blessed with a wonderful environment. Even so, it is up to the students themselves to discover something of interest in that environment. Too much of a good thing is likely to make them feel overwhelmed, and I suppose students may find themselves challenged. In any case, I definitely would like GSDM students to make the most of the opportunities and the environment to pursue their studies. My hope is that they will try various things and do what they are capable of doing.
Addressing Energy Issues by Studying Social Systems as a Whole
Q:The title of your PhD thesis dissertation was Integrated Energy Systems. What sparked your interest in the f […]
Q:The title of your PhD thesis dissertation was Integrated Energy Systems. What sparked your interest in the field? Matsuhashi: One of my advisors was a pioneer in the field of control engineering. By the time I was in graduate school the field was more or less mature and there were not many new directions left to research. My advisor told me: “The control of social and regional systems is going to be much more important than controlling motors and machines in the years to come.” and he shifted his focus to work on finding solutions for global warming problems and ways of optimizing energy systems. This was when I was working toward my doctorate. In 1988 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was formed, and the idea of cutting CO2 emissions by 20% was raised for the first time at the Toronto meeting. The trends in the wider world just happened to coincide with my doctoral thesis, and I’ve been in the field ever since. Q: Was it not a heavy burden to work on integrated energy systems as a student at the time? Matsuhashi: I actually found it a lot of fun. There were some macro issues involved. The standard approach in optimizing energy systems is to draw up a model of energy systems and try to minimize costs as much as possible, so even from that early stage I was working on trying to reduce CO2 emissions while keeping costs as low as possible. Q: You have involved systems in your research from quite an early stage. Today it is common for people to learn the elemental technology as students and broaden their interests to include policy issues later. What do you make of that development? Matsuhashi: In a sense, I suppose my research involves aspects whose concepts are close to public policy. The simplex methods involved in mathematical programming and linear programming are important concepts in my classes, and the idea of duality theory or duality is extremely important. In my lectures I try to get students to look closely at formulae and equations one by one: “If we plot quantity on the horizontal axis, and price on the vertical, we can see the duality between volume and price.” In terms of public policy, this might involve looking at the cost benefits of a technology being pursued: will it be introduced into society, is it going to be feasible, and so on? This is one of the core lectures that everyone attends, and I believe it is part of the basic body of scholarly knowledge in electricity that everyone possesses or at least ought to possess. When you talk about public policy or the GSDM approach, people often picture a world that is quite far removed from pure science, but I think in that sense, a framework for studying policy and systems already exists within engineering as a discipline. Q:So you think that political policy approach is an integral part of engineering as a subject? Matsuhashi: I think that’s right. I’ve included policy-related aspects in my research for a long time, and I think those aspects make an important contribution as part of a fully rounded system. Whether incorporating those aspects into teaching from an early stage is a good thing or not is a more difficult question. In the classroom, students are studying the elemental technology, and I think it’s extremely important for them to look at things from a policy perspective after doing that. I think that it’s not a bad thing to try looking at the overall systems, or to look at the policy aspects and implications of the subject, to put it in GSDM terms. This, however, is a minority approach in universities though, and is not that common. photo:Ryoma.K Q:Do you feel there are limitations to carrying out research that incorporates political policy within the field of electrical engineering only? Matsuhashi: Somewhat, yes. With electricity, the subject itself has a solid system of its own that students need to master first of all. To attempt to study policy on the vertical axis, so to speak, while studying the science at the same time on the horizontal axis would be quite difficult, and the students’ imaginations may not be able to keep pace. In that sense, I believe that considering social systems as a whole is probably something that can’t really be done simply from within the discipline of electrical engineering alone. Q:If it were possible to do master the horizontal and vertical axes at the same time, and build on that, you’d produce some interesting and well-rounded graduates in the future. Matsuhashi: I agree. I don’t say that everyone should aspire to do that, but at GSDM we are educating the leaders of the future, and you do want your future leaders to possess those qualities and that kind of roundedness of education. Indeed, GSDM expects this of its students. Energy is a subject that brings together science and the humanities, as recent developments show. I definitely hope that people aiming to become leaders of society will have that kind of thinking, and I hope that the efforts GSDM is undertaking to bring together the humanities and science will continue for long.
Creating Systems to Solve Healthcare Issues
Q: How did you become interested in public health? Kobayashi: When I began my studies as a medical stude […]
Q: How did you become interested in public health? Kobayashi: When I began my studies as a medical student, I read various kinds of books, and one of the things that struck me from the reading was that the continuing development of healthcare technology was needed to solve medical problems. Another thing that struck me was that what matters is whether the necessary healthcare technology is being made available to people who are sick or others in need. My feeling was that we were still rather weak as far as both research and systems were concerned. I’ve always enjoyed traveling and during my time as a medical student I traveled all over Japan, thinking about the healthcare situation in remote areas. After graduation I went to Okinawa, where a lot of the smaller islands are quite remote from the main cities. But there, if anything, the systems for delivering healthcare were quite well established. So there again I became aware of how important it is to ensure that the proper frameworks are in place. Q： You incorporate economic approaches into your research. This must have been quite pioneering for the time. Kobayashi: From my student days I was interested in how wider systems related to healthcare provision, but the medical department didn’t have any faculty who could teach economics. After four years as an assistant at Teikyo University, I spent a year doing research at Harvard. During that time I audited two classes on public economy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. These were extremely useful in helping me to understand economics. After returning to Japan, I started to put what I’d learned into practice using empirical data. Another major problem in Japan at the time was that it was almost impossible to get access to usable data. Now the government has taken the lead in digitizing statements of medical expenses prepared by medical institutions for health insurance purposes and other documentation and is creating a system to make this information available to researchers. There are still plenty of limitations, but the situation is a lot better than it was. Q：Your specialization is public health, which is translated as “kokyo kenko igaku” in Japanese at the university. But the word “public” can also be translated as “koshu” instead of “kokyo.” Is there any difference in meaning between the two translations? Kobayashi: “Koshu eisei,” which means public health or hygiene, is extremely important historically as the wording used in the Constitution. But the word “koshu” has a slightly old-fashioned feel to it nowadays. Since it’s the term used in the Constitution, though, that gives it a kind of authority. Public health means quite different things depending on time and place. For example, even today in developing countries health conditions can be improved by installing water and sewage systems and disposing of garbage and refuse properly. But this doesn’t apply to modern Japan. You have to start by addressing the reality. In this, the situation is the same as with clinical medicine. But whereas clinical medicine deals with individual patients, public health is concerned with groups. The situation differs depending on what kind of groups you are dealing with, as well as place and time. photo: Masahiro Shida Q：What are some of the issues that students starting a career in public health should be aware of today? Kobayashi: I think individual preferences are important. If people follow their aptitudes and interests, that will naturally lead to positive results in the future. At the moment, a lot of our students in public health at the University of Tokyo are medical graduates, but that’s not necessarily the case in other countries around the world. In the School of Public Health at Harvard, for example, many students have an economics, engineering, or political science background. Subjects like public policy and public health are interdisciplinary fields, so I think that something like GSDM, which acts as a virtual framework for cross-sectional research across various fields, is very useful as a gateway to that. Q： What kind of training do you think students of public health will need for the future? Kobayashi: The field is becoming extremely diverse and complex, so I think for both graduate students and undergraduates it would be a good idea to put a system in place so that students are encouraged as a matter of course to spend a certain amount of time working professionally after completely their studies before returning to research institutions, in order to give them time to charge their batteries. The Department of Public Health at the University of Tokyo does perform that role at least partly. Around 30% to 50% of our students have several years working experience, and some have ten years or more. To make the curriculum more accessible for people like this, we have prepared a course that can be completed in one year, which is already functioning. I think creating more innovative educational frameworks in universities is going to be extremely important in all kinds of spheres in the years to come.
Requirements for Working on the Global Stage
photo:Ryoma.K Q:Professor Yoshikawa, you have been globally active through projects such as rural electrificat […]
photo:Ryoma.K Q:Professor Yoshikawa, you have been globally active through projects such as rural electrification in Myanmar. Tell us how you achieved this success. Yoshikawa: I joined the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (now the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry) after graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. I was initially assigned to the Nuclear Industry Division at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in 1981 and dealt with nuclear fuel cycle affairs other than power generation. I learned the basic rules of being an administrative official there. Five years later, I was given the opportunity to study in the United States for two years. Upon my return, I worked for two more years in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry before I was loaned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1990 to 1993 as an economic secretary at the Japanese embassy in Tehran. From 1998 to 2001, I worked with JETRO in New York. I was then involved in the WTO Doha Round until 2006, when I started working for the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the OECD secretariat in Paris. I worked for IEA and OECD for five years before returning to Tokyo. Q: I understand you applied for the opening at IEA; was it always your intention to work abroad? Yoshikawa: I took an examination in Paris at the beginning of 2006. I was appointed Head of Country Studies Division at IEA, and then moved to OECD just under two years later. In 2010 I returned to IEA from my position as Deputy Director at OECD. Certainly, as a young man, I had entered public office with the hope of working on the international stage, but I did not have any of these specific positions in mind. If I had known beforehand, I would have prepared myself better when I was young. For example, I would have studied French and worked as an intern at an international agency. I think it would have been helpful in improving my credentials. photo:Ryoma.K National Interest and Contribution: What Value Can You Add? Q:You have been active in various global sectors; which of your aptitudes have made this possible Yoshikawa: I was prepared to believe that this was the only way of life for me. It is extremely important to strike a proper balance between how you can contribute at a conference—in other words, what value you can add—and how to protect national interests in international negotiations. Many Japanese officials that attend international conferences are highly capable note-takers with clear minds and proper awareness of the issues at hand. However, it is crucial to go beyond taking notes and persuade other parties, or at the very least make them take notes instead and report Japan’s views back to their home country. Today, Japan no longer enjoys the type of power or influence that once effortlessly attracted world attention; hence, individual strength and a change in mindset are fundamental. The ability to speak a universal language and apply global methods in debate is essential; that is, to participate in discussion in English that is evidence-based with proper methodology. An academic background is even more desirable. Therefore, it is vital have the ability to deliver concise and adequate argument in an international language and to nurture people with such ability. Persuasive, Concise, Unambiguous Communication Skills Q:So this is not merely a language problem? Are there also issues with data and logic? Yoshikawa: Exactly. It’s not even a problem of debating skills. Even if you are no orator, you still have to successfully persuade people in broken English, which is fairly difficult. Hence, I want students gain a sound grasp of fundamentals. I often tell GSDM students that they must set research objectives based on interaction with society and what specific use the research will have. Even for science students, considering links to society can be viewed as a requirement for global leaders. Given my experience of working with truly talented people from Japan and elsewhere at WTO negotiations, OECD and IEA, I must admit that it may be difficult for us to develop such people at GSDM, simply because they are so exceptionally gifted. However, we can at least convey the basis for their thoughts and actions and their mindsets, and I think this is what’s really important.
Devise Your Own Solutions: Become a Leader that Builds Society
photo:Ryoma.K Q: Professor Sakata, tell us how you arrived at your current research style of using network ana […]
photo:Ryoma.K Q: Professor Sakata, tell us how you arrived at your current research style of using network analysis to examine innovation and advanced technology. Sakata: The original intention of my research was to analyze social and economic phenomena as objectively as possible to provide effective support for the design of government policy and the decision-making process in corporate organizations. Based on my reflections on 20 years of experience as a government official, I felt that some information was not fully utilized in policy design and decision-making, even though abundant information is readily available. This has harmed the quality of the decision-making process and the development of more appropriate policies. Often, the fundamental direction of a policy is sound, but somehow its final design is flawed. I hope to contribute to rectifying this process by offering new techniques and methodologies of my own. I have always maintained that passion for the subject is pivotal to research. You could also call it keen interest or concern. As my research mainly focuses on social or economic phenomena, knowledge of areas such as economics or business management is essential to deeper interest in and understanding of the research subject. On the other hand, information engineering and web engineering are the most effective tools for objective analysis of these phenomena. Consequently, without saying which is better or which should be prioritized, I think that the progress of my research is made more efficient by the mastering of both disciplines. Q:What advice would you give to students considering entering GSDM? Sakata: I have been involved with students from the University of Tokyo for almost seven years, and I have not seen another university anywhere else in the world with so many talented people gathered at its door. I would love to see these students becoming leaders of society one day. One quality that I have always considered to be especially important in becoming a leader of society is versatility. If you are prone to weakness, it becomes apparent to other members of the team. In the real world, for example, you can say “I have learned information engineering,” but you may also be faced with legal or labor issues when engaged in larger projects. Marketing is also essential. A person who depends on others for everything outside his or her field of expertise is bound to fail as a leader. In this sense, one of the tasks of GSDM is to cultivate leadership qualities in outstanding students with profound expertise. To this end, I would like to see students taking initiative when faced with different types of challenges without succumbing to their own weaknesses before the goal is reached. photo:Ryoma.K Q:What message would you give to students currently enrolled in GSDM? Sakata: First, one must consider that research, or graduate school learning as a prerequisite for research, does not provide you with all the solutions. There are no ready-made answers. Hence, you must be prepared to devise your own solutions. Something that does fit with your gut feeling may be wrong no matter what the professor says; even if something is right, in many cases it might not be the exact answer you are looking for. Thus my first suggestion would be, by all means adopt a critical and proactive approach to your research or learning. Second, although this might sound commonplace, I would urge students to find joy in their research and exchanges with fellow researchers. My personal feeling is that research that one does not enjoy rarely produces positive outcomes. Furthermore, I hope that you may all one day taste the exultation and excitement that comes when something you have discovered or pioneered attracts widespread attention. The obstacles that await in the working world will be much more challenging than the writing of a doctoral thesis. Hence, I believe that this experience at GSDM will give you the courage and strength to tackle challenges smoothly when you move beyond your studies.