San Francisco

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On the morning of April 12, I gave a speech at the University of Tokyo Entrance Ceremony, met and talked with President Hamada and others, then headed to Narita Airport. The American College of Physicians (ACP) annual general conference was to be held in San Francisco, and I was to give speeches at the sessions, 'Meet the Professor' with a theme 'Why Fukushima Happened: What You Can Do from Tomorrow,' an hour long.

I attended the annual conference in 2011 but could not attend the one in 2012 because of my activities at the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission.

I arrived in San Francisco on the 12th, rested a while at the hotel and then went to the Moscone Center where the conference was held. This is my third time in California this year. The sky was a bright, clear blue and the weather was as beautiful as ever.

At my session, there were around 150 people in attendance, more than I had expected, with a lively question and answer session afterwards. Everyone had their own opinions and very high awareness. Mona Khanna, who I met at the annual convention in 2011, also participated. She has visited the Tohoku region last year and must have been concerned about the areas affected by the disaster.

In the evening, there was the Japan Chapter reception. Governor Kobayashi and many Fellows and members, as well as ACP board directors and chairmen attended, and it was a very friendly gathering. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Maeda to host this reception.

The next day was the last day of the convention and I dined with six people at Scala’s Bistro near Union Square. It was six o’clock on a Saturday evening and the Bistro was already fully packed.

Some will travel to Napa tomorrow. I will return to Narita on Sunday morning of the ACP.

 

From New Delhi

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Three days after returning from Rio de Janeiro, March 3, I departed for New Delhi for 2 day meetings. It had been a while since my last visit, and the airport was nicer and the city seemed to have changed. However, there have not been changes as major as the transformations taking place in China.

The main purpose of my trip was to give a speech at the “India-Japan Cooperation on Disaster Preparedness and People’s Network” conference, and to visit for meetings with the officials of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and its sub organization, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). My friend Dr. Sunil Chacko (1) organized the events.

The Indian government is enthusiastic about cooperating with Japan and since India uses nuclear power, there are many lessons to be learned from the Fukushima nuclear accident- thus they were kind enough to invite me. Professor Naruo Uehara, who was at Tohoku University and has been actively working on the recent disaster (we met twelve or thirteen years ago regarding a medical accident issues) also attended.

During the trip, I met with many high government officials. Japanese Vice Minister to India, Mr. Tsukada of the Foreign Ministry, who fully supported me at the time of the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize (1, 2) five years ago, spent much time on the conferences which was highly appreciated by the organizers.

The Indian government’s NDMA is an organization separate from the fire department, police, and military, and is composed of 11,000 people deployed in ten locations. After the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, under the leadership of Commandant Alok Avasthy, a team of about fifty were dispatched to the town of Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture, and were active in the first stages of disaster relief. We expressed our feelings of gratitude and greeted each member of the team, and gave my powerpoint presentation to Commandant Avasthy.

Interaction and communication that takes place outside of government is also one of the foundations of diplomacy. Activities not only between nations, but also on the everyday level are vital for developing good relations.

 

Congratulatory Address at University of Tokyo Entrance Ceremony

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The entrance ceremony at the University of Tokyo will be held on April 12.

I remember when we entered university, the season of the cherry blossoms was in full swing.

In Japan, the university entrance ceremony is the most important first step in students’ lives. Many of their family members also attend the ceremony.

At this year’s ceremony, I will be giving the congratulatory address. When I was asked, I was initially a bit surprised. Perhaps if you read my past column entries, you will understand why I was perplexed. But I was genuinely pleased, and it seems the times are changing.

The ceremony will take place at the Budokan arena. After the President of the University of Tokyo, Mr. Hamada, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Ishii, I will give my address.

To the new students, I would like to take these ten minutes to express my thoughts and feelings.

This is the link to my speech.

University of Tokyo 2013 Entrance Ceremony Speech

A video link will also be coming soon.

 

Los Angeles, UCLA and Reunion with Paul Terasaki

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After travelling approximately 24 hours from Abu Dhabi via London, I arrived in Los Angeles at 3 P.M. on March 20. I went directly to the hotel, rested a while, had a look around and had dinner.

The next day, I met with some exchange students studying at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs at the hotel. Afterwards, I went to UCLA to have a meeting with Vice-Provost for International Studies Cindy Fan and others for various appointments. In the evening, I attended the GOLD reception, which I also attended last year in Tokyo.

On the 22nd, I had a meeting with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block, and gave a lecture titled ‘Global Agenda in Post Fukushima’ in a small hall in the Royce Hall. The hall was filled up to its maximum of around 120 people. One of my mentors during my time in the U.S., Professor Charles Kleeman (in Japanese) was kind enough to come to the lecture with his wife.

Afterwards, I returned to the GOLD Conference to give my speech. On this day, Mr. Nakamura, the founder of Kopernik, gave the Opening Keynote speech, and I gave the Closing Keynote speech, similar to the format last year. Last year Mrs. Susan Roos, wife of Ambassador Roos of the U.S. was a great partner and gave the Closing Keynote speech.

In the evening, I dined with UCLA Chancellor Block and others at Scarpetta, a restaurant in the Montage Hotel, one of the premier hotels in Beverly Hills. Also attending were Ms. Irene Hirano, wife of former U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye who passed away recently, UN Ambassador Nishida, President Sakurai of the Japan Society, and Mr. Ralph Shapiro, who are all supporters of the UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. I am also one of the members, but was absent from the twentieth anniversary event last year because I was in the middle of my duties for the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC).

The next day was also a conference at the Montage Hotel. Afterwards, there was a reception in the top floor penthouse of Professor Paul Terasaki. Dr. Terasaki has made enormous contributions in the fields of human organ transplant histocompatibility and transplant outcomes. As I am a nephrologist, I have treated patients who have received organ transplants, and he was one of my friends during my time at UCLA. After achieving great success through the histocompatibility research, he gave a generous donation to UCLA, established the Japan Study Research Center, and is living a good retirement life. It is enviable.

As always, the sky was a bright, clear blue, and it felt nostalgic to be back in Los Angeles. I visited the Getty Museum and prepared for my trip home the next day.

It was a busy but relaxing four days.

 

NAIIC National Diet Hearing: A New Step Forward?

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The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) is the first independent investigation commission appointed by the National Diet in the history of Japan’s constitutional government. It had a mandate for six months, during which we faced an uphill battle.

Now, following our first recommendation, a special committee has been established by the Lower House, and the NAIIC Commission members were called to the committee hearing on April 8 from 9:30 A.M. to 5:30 P.M. Of the ten Commissioners, nine attended, with the exception of Mr. Oshima.

In late September 2011, six months after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the Diet passed the Act Regarding Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, and on December 8, nine months after the accident, the Diet officially announced the appointment of the ten of us as Commissioners (in Japanese).

On July 5, 2012, the Commission submitted the final report to the Diet. Nine months have passed since then and we have finally been called to a hearing.

In this day and age, the hearing session can be viewed online (in Japanese). The transcript is also available (in Japanese).

The first time for anything takes a while to get going. The NAIIC Commission members worked incredibly hard and made tremendous efforts. It was the first time for me to work on such a project and was quite exhausting.

How will this hearing be evaluated by the public? How will this develop in the future?

Two additional press coverages appeared.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130408p2a00m0na009000c.html

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201304090066

 

From Abu Dhabi – 2

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On the second day of the trip to Abu Dhabi, we visited the Department of Economic Development. We were received by Chairman Alsowaidi, who warmly welcomed the cooperation of business, government and academia. In particular, he was glad about my coincidental encounter with the Sakura Club at the Al Ain campus of United Arab Emirates University on the previous day. This meeting was possible thanks to the initiative taken by the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo, and the discussion proceeded to the topic of cooperation in research and development. Such meetings are fundamentally important for relations between countries.

The Abu Dhabi side gave a presentation called “Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.” For the Japanese side, Professor Kudo of Showa Medical University (gastroenterological) gave a presentation showing a video of theremoval of a polyp from a large intestine using an endoscope. There were also presentations by various companies and an introduction of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo.

I had another appointment and had to excuse myself for an hour, but our visit was reported in the local newspaper. I am sorry to say that I found the article had mentioned my title incorrectly.

As you may know, nuclear power plants are currently being constructed in Abu Dhabi and there are efforts to deepen relations with Japan and to learn from the recent accident.

Our meeting ended smoothly and we headed towards our next stop, Zayed University. This also has an astounding campus as well as state of the art facilities. Here too, there is a Japanese “fan club” sort of organization.

In the evening, out of the courtesy of Ambassador Kamo, I had dinner at the Ambassador’s official residence, the last time I was there was three years ago.

The next day was the final day of our trip. I met with the Dr. Laursen, the President of Khalifa University, where I am a member of the board. Afterwards, I joined everyone for a relaxed lunch and we started preparing for our return trip. In the evening, I was interviewed by a journalist who is working in Abu Dhabi under a two year contract. This interview piece is also available.

She graduated from Harvard College and invited me to a Harvard dinner gathering at the Park Hyatt Hotel. It is quite a pleasant hotel. There are many people here on business. Afterwards, I checked out of my hotel at 11 p.m. and headed toward the airport.

I will now travel to Los Angeles via London, a trip of twenty four hours in total. 

 

From Abu Dhabi – 1

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I visited Abu Dhabi after some time. This time I came with the purpose of developing greater university and Japan related networks in Abu Dhabi.

The twenty people or so whom I came with included Mr. Toyoda, the former senior officer of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Professor Nakano, the Director of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo, and others who have a deep relations with Abu Dhabi. My connection to Abu Dhabi and this delegation formed because I am a member of Board of Trustees of Khalifa University and also because I was a member of the President’s Council at the University of Tokyo, as well the Director of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo and I had wanted to further mutual relationships between universities. Although it has only been forty years, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have had deep relations, not just limited to the spheres of education and research. The United Arab Emirates is one of the main exporters and Japan is one of the main importers of oil. Last month, Minister Motegi visited the area and many agreements were made, with the involvement of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.

We arrived late at night and the following day we visited the campus of United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, which is the national university of UAE. Many Western universities and companies have opened research offices there and it is possible to see the vibrant teaching and research that is going on. They are especially passionate regarding the undergraduate education. It is disappointing that Japan is not participating in such activities. I learned that there is a club called the Sakura Club for students who want to know more about Japan and become friends with Japanese.

In the afternoon, we visited the main campus of UAE in Al Ain. It was ninety minutes by car. The weather was sunny and the temperature was a comfortable 25 to 27℃. We were shown the excellent campus. I have visited the medical school there three or four years ago. The medical school has ties with John Hopkins University. Here too, the undergraduate education is the core of the university.

We were scheduled to depart at five but as we entered the majestic building of the main campus, we came across a sign that announced “Sakura Club event” from five to six. As we quickly changed our plans and entered the auditorium, we saw that there were some Japanese female university students wearing kimonos and a woman who was performing a classical Japanese dance. This happened to be Mako Hattori and her team. We know each other and so we were very surprised to meet here by chance. Considering that around twenty Japanese men suddenly and unexpectedly came into the auditorium, they must have been quite surprised. This unexpected meeting made us very delighted and we all greatly enjoyed Ms. Mako’s explanation of the kimono and dance.

Also present were Ambassador Kamo and his wife, who took the post last November.

I met a student from Waseda University who is studying here for one year. She must have been surprised to say the least. She said her university life has been very fulfilling.

In the auditorium, the female students sat to the left of the stage and the male students sat to the right. This is the local custom.

We left after about half an hour, but it must remain in the minds of the students as a good memory.

Such unexpected meetings can occur in the most unlikely places.

 

HGPI Health Summit, then to Rio de Janeiro

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After returning from my Paris – Boston trip, I was in Tokyo for one week and was quite busy. On the 22nd, the Health Summit (1)of the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) was held. Both the panellists and audience were outstanding and was a great success. I received many kind words of thanks and support from many individuals. The panel was excellent, perhaps due to our focus on the challenges facing Japan two years after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto gave a greeting, and the wife of Ambassador Roos sat on the Gender Equality panel. Please see the HGPI website to learn more about the Health Summit. Reports will be uploaded shortly.

On the 24th Sunday, I took a thirty-hour flight to mid-summer Rio de Janeiro. For the past ten years, I have been deeply involved with the “InterAcademy Panel” as Vice-President and President of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ), and I was asked by SCJ and IAP to serve on the panel at the general conference.

This time I flew via Dubai, flying twelve hours from Narita to Dubai, stopping over there for two hours, and then flying to Rio de Janeiro for fifteen hours. Both flights were Emirates and were very convenient. I slept from time to time, watched a few movies and had a restful trip.

Rio was very hot, around 30 to 35C, but I was almost always inside the conference rooms and I was able to enjoy my time meeting with many friends. The main theme of the conference was “Grand Challenges and Integrated Innovation: Science for Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development”. I went to the conference venue for the last afternoon session of Feb 25th. Peter Singer of Grand Challenges Canada lead the session.

The next morning, I took a wonderful hour long stroll along the Copacabana beach. I spent the day attending the conferences, had dinner with Chairman Onishi of the Science Council of Japan and some others, and at two in the morning, took the Emirates flight back the route which I came.

With the multitude of changes occurring throughout the world, academia must not fall short of being highly aware of its role as an important actor. On this note, the closed session on the report by the Royal Society, “Science as an Open Enterprise 2012,” in which the Editor-in-Chief of Nature, Philip Campbell was a panelist (and also one of the commission members of the report), was excellent. The high awareness and active approach of British scientists, who continuously publish pioneering reports on new topics, is outstanding. The British government takes the same approach, for example, see the “Stern Report”.

By the way, this time n the flights, the movies which I thought were particularly good were “Chasing Mavericks” (US) and “All About My Wife” (Korea). Although it was business class, the screen was large and there was a good line up of movies. I have already seen academy nominated films such as “Lincoln” (congratulations on winning the Academy Award for Best Actor) some time ago.

However, I was disappointed that I could not take the “shower in midair”, since I did not ride first class on any of the flights between Narita and Dubai.

 

Distinguished Achievement Award by the Tokyo American Club

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I had the honor of receiving the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Tokyo American Club (TAC). It is an award that started in 1995 -see the list of awardees.

I was on the cover story of the January issue of “iTOUCH” magazine and as this was in the lounge of Narita Airport, I received emails about it from some friends. The title of piece of my interview was “The Protuding Nail” (pp. 23-27). There are some small, old pictures of myself and colleagues during my University of California days, which made me think fondly of those times.

If you read the article, it will be clear who recommended me. I would like to express my sincere thanks.

The day after returning from Boston, on February 18, I attended the celebratory event by the TAC. Minoru Makihara, the executive consultant of Mitsubishi Corporation, the wife of Ambassador Roos, and former Ambassador and Mrs Fujisaki, who had been the Japanese Ambassador to the Unites States until last year (although the Ambassador had to leave early), as well as many friends including those from GRIPS, HGPI and IMPACTJapan were kind enough to attend.

The awards ceremony began with my introduction, followed by my short speech, and a friendly discussion for forty minutes.

In my speech, I touched upon being a “decent” Japanese, as well as various individuals who were bridges between Japan and the United States, especially Beate Sirota Gordon, who passed away at the end of last year. I would be pleased if you would read a little about her.

Many happy things have continued for me.

 

AAAS Awards Ceremony

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On the morning of the 14th I departed Paris and headed to Boston. I attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Awards Ceremony on the evening of 15th to be awarded the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award.

It was a transit flight from Paris via JFK. As I was spending time at the lounge, I saw a tweet of Professor Ishii from MIT Media Lab who I recently met in January, “Got to JFK airport from Barcelona. 1 more jump to Boston.”  Wow! and I tweeted back, “Are we on the same plane ?AA 1790 to Boston?” and in 10 minutes I found Mr. Ishii walking in front of me. It was a funny coincidence and we ended up chatting for a while.

The road from the Boston airport to the hotel was very congested and it took over an hour to reach. Probably it was affected by the heavy snow from the previous weekend. After checking in, I met up with my friend and went for dinner.

Next day, after registering for AAAS, I headed to the venue and as I entered the exhibition hall I checked out the “Japan” booth. Some of the top programs including RIKEN, WPI were displayed and I had the opportunity to talk with various people. A bit away from those, I found the exhibition booth of OIST(1). I asked several staff from Japan to consider displaying them altogether from next year.

As I was wondering around the venue, it was very hard to decide which session to attend. Especially the Plenaries had been highly selected and hence were intellectually stimulating and eye-opening. MIT’s Professor Sheryl Turkle(1)’s “The Robotic Moment” was a thought-provoking lecture on the development of science and technology and the change in the lifestyle of humans, especially amongst the children in aged society. I am thinking of reading her review article.

The AAAS Award Ceremony gave out about eight awards and for each individual and the reason for the award was mentioned by the chairman Dr. Press. Upon receiving the award, the ‘shield’, from AAAS CEO Dr. Leschner, we needed to give a speech of about three to four minutes. My speech was well-received. Other than those who I have previously introduced on this website, including Dr. Bruce Alberts (Editor-in-Chief of ‘Science’)(1), Nina Fedroff (last year’s president of AAAS and this year the chairwoman)(1),  and Norman Neureiter(1), a couple more friends from Japan were also present. After the reception and the dinner with the committee of the award, I went for the after party with my Japanese associates.

Although I only spent two nights in Boston, from the positive appraisal of NAIIC by the world’s scientists and science journalists, I felt their gratitude towards the NAIIC team and empathy towards the people in Fukushima and their concerns on the future direction of the Fukushima incident. I would like to sense the trust and the state of Japan in this world of uncertainty.

At five o’clock next morning I headed to the airport and returned home from the seven day round-the-world trip. It was tiring indeed but I had fulfilling time both in Paris and Boston.