Illegal practices of scientists. Doesn’t Japan have unique issues?

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In recent years, the illegal practices of scientists are reported in media, newspaper – domestically as well as internationally.  Many factors could be considered as its background; such as global competition for achieving research results, sharp increase in research funds, stresses about the intellectual property or university venture, information disclosure, aspiration for honor, country’s prestige, etc..  There are just so many arguments going on such as the prevention and inspection of illegality by government, etc. that it is sometimes even disturbing.

These are not especially Japan-specific problems.  They are heard from everywhere – occasionally even cited in famous science magazines like Nature or Science.

What could be done to prevent these scandals? This is entirely the social responsibility of each scientists and scientists as a whole.  The Science Council of Japan published a book in collaboration with the Chemistry Fraternity on this problem.  I also feel concerned about the problem, and have repeatedly discussed it personally as well as through the action and messages from Science Council of Japan.

Upon the publication of the book I have written a forward, "To the people in scientific research" (in Japanese).  I appreciate it if you could spare time to read it.

I focused the discussion on the problem of social structure peculiar to Japanese society, which I have also repeatedly mentioned in my blog.  The biggest problem is surely the people who have the biggest social responsibilities.  Scandals of Association of Insurance Agencies and high government officials, illegalities of corporate executives, scandals involving politicians, etc. which repeatedly come out, all have the same composition.  It is excessively poor and the autonomous function is lacking anywhere in the organization and in the responsible people who form the organization.

Why it is so?  Even if the scapegoat is found and punished, nothing is changed.  Read this, and each one of us should think honestly and carefully about what to do and take action.

Beijing WHO, Discussion on medical policy with Dr. Uzawa at Tokyo and blog

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I arrived at Beijing from Abu Dhabi via Dubai on 24th October to participate in the conference of WHO Commission. This year’s conference was held at Geneva in January and at Vancouver in June.  We are working hard towards the release of the final report which is scheduled next year. Things being at this phase, the programs were mainly closed sessions by the Commissioners.

On 24th, Vice Minister of Health that commensurate with Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan (Photo1) hosted dinner.  The Vice Minister is a surgeon with specialization in liver transplantation etc.  I hear that even today, he sometimes does surgeries in the hospitals. Dr. Chen Zhu, my old friend, whom I have known through IAP etc. for more than 5 years, is the Minister of Health. Unfortunately, we could not meet this time.

Beijin012Photo1: Commissioner Yan Guo, Commission Chairman Sir Marmot, Vice Minister of Health and myself

26th was the final day of the conference.  Late in the afternoon, many flights from Beijing airport were cancelled due to fog.  Fortunately, my flight departed with just 1 hour delay and I reached Narita at 10:50 p.m.  However, there was neither a bus, nor a train or a taxi at that time of a day.  I couldn’t believe it!  Is this an international airport in the capital of a country of "Giant Economy"?

Next day 27th was a rainy Saturday as typhoon was approaching. I have attended the anniversary symposium of "Life and Medical Sciences" at Doshisha University organized by Dr. Hirofumi Uzawa, whom I very much respect (I have mentioned his name many times in this site, so please search it).  Dr. Uzawa wrote a prospectous of the symposium （PDF）which conveyed his great enthusiasm.  In it, he mentioned about my "University Hospital Revolution."  I was happy, honored and shy at the same time.  Not knowing so, I have arranged to give the book to all the participants so it turned out to be a good timing.

Uzawa013Photo2: With the always energetic Dr. Uzawa.

I really enjoyed talking with him.

Afterwards, the speech of both Dr. Uzawa and myself (the beggining of my speech was also used in the Lecture at Helsinki this August) was introduced in a blog (only in Japanese) very positively.  I was glad and sent comments of gratitude to the writer.

The aged Japan withdraws into herself

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A few weeks ago, several French journalists visited some 30 leaders of political, government, business and other sectors of Japan. They also visited me. A few days later I received emails from some of them telling that somehow most of interviewees were quite pessimistic about Japan, and it seem that I was perhaps only one who firmly recognized the problems and issues in Japan and what to do with them. One of them wrote in Le Figaro, September 25th issue (document #1) and its Japanese translation (document #2) is attached.

　#1　Original (French)

　#2　Japanese translation　"The aged Japan withdraws into herself"

Interviews with foreign press are of value and should be welcome opportunities for effective public relations.

Insufficient “Investment” Funds are not sustainable for new growth industries of Japan

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I was invited by JASDAQ and gave a speech on the 3rd of October. There were approximately 700 people participating. The people were over flooded with enthusiasm but I thought a little more vigour could have been better.  Why it was so is hard to explain but it left a docile impression.  The host, Mr.Tsutsui, director of JASDAQ and Mr. Izuka of THine Electronics, Inc. (THine) who participated in the panel were with me at Dailian also as I introduced to you a while ago in my blog (click here for article of the interview of Mr. Izuka in Japanese).  The panel members were Mr. Eikou Harada, president of MacDonld’s Holdings Japan, Mr. Mineo Fukuda, executive vice-president of Jupiter Telecommunications (J:COM), Mr. Testuya Iidzuka, director of THein and myself under the chairmanship of Mr. Tsutsui.

Japan invests extremely small amount to new or growing industries compared to economically larger countries such as in OECD (Figure1-2: why are these graphs not widely used and get known to the media?).  I get an impression of "slackness" under the influence of the economic growth driven by more than 30 years of mass-production of standardized goods since 1960’s, cheap energy sources like oil ( until the oil shock of 1974), culture of consumption, the logic drawn from the supplier side as Freeman and Perez put it "the paradigm 4."  The feeling is especially strong for these several years since the economic recovery this time came along with the economic growth of Asia, even though the basic restructuring of Japan’s framework is still far from accomplishment.  This could be dangerous.  Books like "Company rots from its head (published in Japanese only)" or "Tenacity of one finger decided the contest (published in Japanese only)" etc. by Kazuhiko Toyama points out the same problem.  Although the world is changing rapidly, it is not able to change as the past experience of success is becoming a barrier. People with vested interests who have the old experience of success are becoming too prominent in the high social status and forming the big opposing power.  What I feel is that although the field is still strong enough, the enterprises are not utilizing it enough.

Figure1: Poor Quantity of Fund Supply for venture ?1:  Transition of VC investment balance of Japan, America and Europe

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Figure2: Poor Quantity of Fund Supply for venture ?2: Venture Investments in 3 stages in various countries (GDP ratio) (1998-2001)

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Source: Investigation of investment trend for the venture capital 2005
Note1: Conversion for the United States is 1 Dollar=107 Yen
Note2: Conversion for Europe is Euro= 139 Yen

Regarding its social background, I write a lot about it in my blog.  My speeches can be also used as a reference.  In these 40 years, the framework has been completed using the 3 poles of Japan, America and Europe.  However, the composition is such that with the rapid growth of Asia, Japan in Asia is chased for the success.  To seclude in pride or relief is not an option.

The "investment" is not only about the country’s money or the tax system.  They are only policies that are intended to prime the pump. In Japan the "government, industries, bureaucracy" with "big vested interests" has become too accustomed to the old experience of success and the centralized indirect finance of the mega banks, that their mentality became used to "financing" but not "investment."  Even if financing is considered, the mental make-up is becoming such that they are not able to do the investment.  The "stakes which come forth" (a Japanese idiom for "brilliant people who speak up") with spirit of great entrepreneurship are so few in the Japanese society.  The situation is not good for new industries.  It is difficult to be competitive about the industrial structure and economic growth in the paradigm of the new Global era.  Since the industrial revolution, we saw the history repeat again and again in industry and economy.  The new generation (regardless of age) must come.

In the age of speeding information, the world knows much better about the Japanese situation.  Think carefully about the above 2 graphs.  How should it be interpreted?  I am afraid that, as usual, "too little too late" policies derived from the old narrow personal experiences and logic of vertically divided thinking will probably come up.  Can’t we change after all?  Recently Japanese isolation and Japanese sinking are discussed in the media.  Maybe it is so.   There are a bunch of people in the authorities who always count reasons for not doing something, who have never experienced a serious match.

Although the economic scale is 2nd in the world, Japan gives an "indifferent" or "irrelevant" or "nothing to do with" impression among the international society.  It is predicted that China will get ahead of Japan in the GDP by 2010.

I predict that talented people with high ideals will eventually go abroad to pursue their career.  It is a shame, but this is what global era is about.

After the speech, I headed to Narita and took off to Paris by the usual night flight.

Personal Message as a member of the President Council

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We live in a time of a rapidly globalizing and changing world. As the key players in nurturing the future leaders of the global community, many leading universities are urgently attempting significant and difficult reforms, in order to meet, indeed to anticipate and surpass the increasingly challenging needs of our global society. Various reports concerning the ranking lists of universities have become extremely popular with students and their families, as they seek the best opportunities to achieve their highest educational and career aspirations. Various stakeholders of society are looking hard for the best available talents. The internet and other means of modern communication, as well as the public relations strategies of universities, have all become crucial tools for their global target audience to evaluate each college and university for services that include faculty, student activities, vibrant dynamic course contents and potential future career opportunities. Yes, the time has come for future leaders to choose the best opportunities available to them. Universities now compete to capture the best and the brightest beyond national boundaries, so that the institution can become recognized as a top university of the world; the institution where global leaders, be it business, politics, education, research, social entrepreneurs, will be more likely to come from.

The University of Tokyo has long been considered the best in Japan and it is expected to become one of the leaders of all the world’s universities. Its reputation and position in the global ranking has been quite high reflecting in part, the history of Japan and excellent government support. However, in the new global world, its evaluation seems to be slipping down, not because of quality or quantity of courses, but rather due to an insular system and a lack of openness, particularly, in the undergraduate college, where future leaders of a variety of social sectors will be nurtured. In the paradigm of an information revolution that has made our world ‘flat’ as per Thomas Friedman, key elements of creative, innovative and strong leadership must be harnessed through heterogeneity and diversity. The undergraduate years are a great opportunity to build a multi-layered human network throughout the world and a significant portion of courses should be given in English in order to create an added value for students to use in their further studies and in their careers in the global marketplace. Such courses conducted in English would also facilitate the attraction and employment of international faculty members of the highest quality, another key element of any leading university.

I am privileged to serve the President Council with its unique membership that so well reflects the intention of President Komiyama. I sincerely hope, as other members do, that the University of Tokyo will continue to strive hard to become widely recognized, by its global peers, as a leading university of the world in the age of globalization. Systematic reform of universities does not have the luxury of time, as the global competition will become harder and harder and the University of Tokyo, as its history reflects, has to play a leadership role to other universities of Japan, consistent with being a leading economy of the world.

Kiyoshi Kurokawa, MD
Professor Emeritus, The University of Tokyo
Member of the President Council
September, 2007

From beautiful Hangzhou, city of West Lake

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From 20th to 22nd, I came to Hangzhou, which Marco Polo had described to be "The most beautiful city" in his book, "The Travels of Marco Polo" also known as Oriente Poliano (Reference: "About Hangzhou," "Culture of Hangzhou" and "How to make things enjoyable in Hangzhou").  The streets around the West Lake are marvelous with full of greens everywhere. When I walked around the West Lake town (about 12 km), there were many willow, camphor and platanus trees.  The streets lined up with willow trees were very beautiful. I was impressed with the affluent greenery of this city (Reference: Hangzhou flower garden ).

You might have seen on television etc. but a very rare phenomenon of high tides with the height of 2 to 3 meters running several hundred kilometers up from wide river mouth gradually till it becomes narrow is seen in Sentoko at around 15th August as per old calendar (end of September as per new calendar).  This phenomenon is also seen in the Amazon river. The timing is only a week from now; It is a pity that I have to return back immediately.

This time, I came for a keynote lecture ("Social policy for the aged society") at the annual conference of the Society of Internal Medicine in China. I met many old friends and we renewed our old friendship.  There were Prof. Thomson from Department of Medicine, Monach university, Melborne, Prof. Drazen, editor-in-chief of New England Journal of Medicine, Prof. Kohler, director general of Secretariat of International Society of Internal Medicine of Bern (Switzerland), Prof. K.N. Lai, director of kidney, Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong and Pro. Zhaori, chief editor of a Chinese science magazine "Chinese Medical Journal."  The host was Prof. Wang Haiyan (lady professor), president of Chinese Society of Internal Medicine, one of my old friends (Photo1).  I felt reformation and international developments for global era in progress everywhere and its dynamisms were great. It is just wonderful and inspiring.

20070921001_2 Photo1: At the reception, from left, Professors Lai, Drazen, Kohler, Wang, Thomson and myself.

Next day, Prof. Lawrence Tierney of UCSF, who attended my clinical lecture 2, 3 times in my Todai era and chief editor of "Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment" whom I helped for chapter "Abnormalities in body fluid" arrived.  As introduced also in "Learn in ‘Major leaguer’ "(Igaku-Shoin, 2002) by Dr. Matsumura Rishi, he is a wonderful teacher visiting Japan every year and traveling all over the world.  He will be visiting Japan for about one month from next month.

Maybe the readers of my blog are aware that I go to various places in the world but usually don’t go for sightseeing.  Regret to say I don’t have time for it.  However, this time, all the lectures other than those by invited lecturers were in Chinese, so Dr. Zhangfei Shou (working in related hospitals of Zhejiang University, School of Medicine.  Its Dean is Dr. Ba Denian whom I have introduced in my blog last week) took me to many places.  I am very thankful.

We went to Ling Yin Temple (Photo2 and 3), Fei Lai Feng near it (Photo4) and then to Six Harmonies Pagoda (here, "Six" means heaven, earth, north, south, east and west ) (Photo5).  Hangzhou is famous for producing tea and silk since long time ago.  It is a sister city of Shizuoka city in Japan. We also visited museum of tea "Chinese tea museum."  I felt relaxed in nature at this tea museum (Photo 6), it’s been a while since I had this feeling last time.

20070921002 Photo2 and 3: At Ling Yin Temple with Dr. Shou (The frame "Ling Yin Temple" at the gate was written by Mr.Jiang Zemin)

20070921003

20070921004 Photo4: At Fei Lai Feng with Dr. Shou

20070921005_2 Photo5: At Six Harmonies Pagoda with Dr. Shou

20070921006 Photo6: Tea farm

20070921007 Photo7: At West Lake with Dr. Shou

As like at Dalian last month, it is a pleasure to see an increasing level of exchange in academic and private sectors taking place between neighboring big countries.

The sites which I cited in my blog introduce many hands on blogs without limiting to official blogs.  If you are interested, search for the sites which have good information.

I will be visiting Beijing again to participate in WHO meeting.

To the World Chinese Entrepreneur’s convention from Kobe

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The World Chinese Entrepreneur’s convention was held for the first time in Japan in Kobe, and I was invited for a panel about healthcare.

Participants were Dr. Ba Denian, Medical President of Zhe Jiang University from Hangzhou, China (he has studied at Hokkaido University and also a member of Institute of Medicine), Dr. Edmund Lee, Professor of National University of Singapore and the leader of clinical pharmacology from Singapore, Dr. Maggie Ng from Hong Kong of the Juliana Chan Program who ran the RENNAL with me and the MC was Professor Masanori Fukushima of Kyoto University.  Time may not have been enough, but the discussion was good.  Regarding nation’s competitiveness, if I may say, it is a pity that Japan lags far behind from other countries. What is most important is not only researchers but for each and everyone to act based on an "entrepreneur spirit." As I keep saying, this is the core message of "innovation."

Well, in what language should I speak in this panel?  I was a little concerned, so I attended the reception the previous day and asked for advice to the organizer of the panel, and decided to speak in Japanese with English slides.  Of course there was simultaneous interpretation in Mandarin, English and Japanese. One of the participants, Dr.Ryuichi Morishita has quickly updated his blog about the Convention.

In the reception held the previous day, I met Mr. Yoichi Funabashi, former executive of the Nikkei Newspaper; Mr. Akira Kojima, former President of Philippines; Mr. Ramos; and friends and people related to Genron NPO.  Ms. Kanae Yamamoto, Ministerial aid of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry also showed up.  I also met with First Secretary Mr. Liu from the Chinese Embassy who is temporarily transferred from the Chinese Health Office.  Mr.Ramos wears glasses since he was President, but it doesn’t have lenses, it’s just fashion.  Also, he says that he always has cigars with him although he doesn’t use it recently. This is not to actually smoke, but to give an "impression."  Quite a man.

Photo

Photo  In Kobe with friends. From left, Mr.Kojima, myself, next to one is Mr.Ramos

Next morning, I met with the mayor of Kobe, Mr.Yada and listened to Kobe’s future bio plans.  They have built the groundwork, but how to make full use of it, that is the issue.  I would like to extend my gratitude for President Yan Hao and Executive Director Kyo of EPS which is becoming one of Japan’s largest clinical service provider.  Thank you very much.

I am leaving for Hangzhou from the 20th.

Speech at a wonderful young people’s meeting “Project 13%”

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Ken Shibusawa is one of my friends.  He is a businessman who studied at UCLA Andersen Business School and is recently popular known as Eiichi Shibusawa’s 5th generation.  The amount of information he sends out is substantial as in his blog "Alternative investment diary" (Japanese title:「オルタナティブ投資日記」) and "Thinking of Eiichi Shibusawa’s 『Analects and abacus』" (Japanese title:「渋沢栄一の『論語と算盤』を今、考える」).  Also he has recently published several books related to Eiichi Shibusawa’s philosophy. Please look it up at Amazon.

A while ago, in the afternoon of Sunday, September 9th, I was invited to talk at "Project 13%" which is run by Mr. Shibusawa and went to International House of Japan, a historic building in Roppongi.  About 150 people gathered mostly young people at a glance, and a lot of women. Most of them were entrepreneurs which is something unique for a lecture in Japan.  I found it a different society from the Red Herring which I recently introduced, but most of them seemed to share the same spirit.

The lecture began with my keynote speech.  I started by asking "Please raise your hand if you are 40 and above." Around 30% of the participants raised their hand and about 40% were women.  I began to talk about innovation referring to this point.

Shibusawa1

Photo1: My speech. Casual Sunday afternoon.

After my speech was Kaoru Iokibe (University of Tokyo) followed by Naoko Nishizawa (Keio University) and Masakazu Shimada (Bunkyo Gakuin University). It was a panel by young energetic 3 scholars.  Dr. Iokibe talked about "Shigenobu Okuma", Dr. Nishizawa talked about "Yukichi Fukuzawa" and Dr. Shimada talked about "Eiichi Shibusawa."  They each introduced the great predecessors, shared their opinion and went into panel discussion (photo2).  It is very encouraging to see such young and passionate scholars.  Dr. Iokibe who talked about Shigenobu Okuma turned out to be the son of Dr. Makoto Iokibe, Professor of Kobe University who later became the President of National Defense Academy in Japan whom I introduced in my blog in August.  No wonder, they have an uncommon surname and their academic field is similar.  They were all wonderful, but time was not enough.

Shibusawa2

Photo2: Panel. From left, Dr. Iokibe, Dr. Nishizawa and Dr. Shimada. MC was Mr. Shunichi Ozasa (Bloomberg TV)

The last part of the lecture was a talk session between Mr. Shibusawa and Dr.Hiroshi Tasaka, Professor of Tama University Graduate School whom I have recently introduced on several occasions.

Shibusawa4

Photo3: Dr. Tasaka (left) and Mr. Shibusawa

It was a wonderful sunny Sunday afternoon.  It’s been a while since I had a nice meeting, seeing a garden surrounded by shiny sunlight and refreshing nature.  I met a lot of people.  They all seem to have spent a happy afternoon.

There are a lot of blogs introducing this seminar of Project 13%, so let me introduce some of them (in Japanese only).

　「クロスワイズ代表取締役です☆」 (I am company executive of Crosswise corp.)
　「港区ではたらく女社長のblog」 (A blog of a female CEO in Minato-ku)
　「Capriのゆる～い日記」 (A loooooose diary by Capri)
　「team_yama with Toshi」         etc.

It’s exciting to see a lot of people full of energy.

Take care, to all the participants!

See you again!

From Dalian – attending New World Champions

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I’d been to Dalian from 5th to 8th September.

It was a conference of “New World Champions" that the so-called Davos Forum (World Economic Forum－WEF) over.  I have attended 7 consecutive years of Davos Forum that is held every year in January and I have also attended other conferences that the WEF preside over.  I think they are considerably familiar for the readers of my blog. Davos Forum of this January and conference at Singapore in June etc are as I have reported.  The conference hall in Dalian was a very big one.

The conference was a large successful meeting where about 1,700 people had gathered from 90 countries mainly from Asia.  Especially, the participation of young people and new enterprises was great, and was very much crowded.  From Japan, politicians like Jyunko Kawaguchi, Motohisa Furukawa and Keiichiro Asao, university people like Heizo Takenaka, Director Nagata of Ritsumeikan University, and Yoko Ishikura etc. were present.  Also, stakeholders from wide range of society, mainly business people such as Yoichi Funabashi, chief editor of Asahi Newspaper and Tamura, Administrative Vice Minister of the Ministry of Environment were there.  I also met Hiroshi Tasaka and Kumi Fujisawa whom I have introduced on this site recently.

Dalien20070908001_2Photo1  With Ms.Tsubouchi in charge of Geneva headquarters of WEF Japan at hall entrance.

Dalien20070908002Photo2 From left, Director Lee of WEF Asia meeting, Tsuchiya in charge of Geneva headquarters Japan, Ishikura, I and Takenaka.

Dalien20070908003Photo3  From left, Toru Takanarita the editor of Asahi Newspaper, I and Yoichi Funabashi the editor in chief.

I participated in two panels as a panel member.  First panel was “The Transformative Potential of Science and Technology in Asia”.  Mr. Graves, the chairperson of this session is related to the production of the program that used as its anchor Ms. Nonaka who later became Chairman of Sanyo electric and was a  topic and Ms.  Yoriko Koike, one of the star politicians of today. I exchange E-mails with him even after the meeting.  Wan Gang, the Minister of Science and Technology of China, is originally a scientist and also was the president of a university.  His opinion was also excellent.  Look it up on the site of weforum.org.

Moreover, the PR activity for “Table for Two” project which was planned by James Kondo our colleague, Furukawa a Democratic Party congress member, Nakata the Mayor of Yokohama, Chino of Itochu corporation and Young Global Leaders of WEF of Japan is also active and during this meeting Press Release to the world was also conducted.  Excellent!  It is a practical program based on groundbreaking idea of offering the surplus of the intake of nutrition which cause the obesity and diabetes in advanced countries to the malnourished children in developing countries through WFP (World Food Program).  I would encourage all domestic companies as well as international companies to participate and please introduce us to any interested companies.  Please read also my support message of this program.

Dalien20070908004Photo4  Furukawa the congress member of Democratic Party and I in front of a “Table for Two” poster.

On the second night of reception, Prime Minister Wen Jiabao came to greet and then excellent shows with good tempo in large numbers were performed one after another.

Dalien20070908005Photo5  “Thousand Armed Avalokiteshwara” by deaf young people in reception. Really excellent! Some of you may have seen it on television in Japan.

Dalien20070908006Photo6  A scene from the reception shows.

The second panel during dinner, in which I participated, was a session on Energy.  It was so nice.  I met Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, former Commissioner of (Unites States) Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC),  who had visited Tokyo Stock Exchange many times about 20 years ago  and who strongly supported my opinion related to nuclear energy, almost after one year.  I participated with her in BusinessWeek CEO Forum performed in Beijing last November in the same panel.

Dalien20070908007Photo7  Lady Judge, I and Ishikura.

Dalien20070908008Photo8  Prof. So (From Dalian. He used to teach in the Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University), Director Nagata, I and Tsukamoto the Director of JETRO.

There were various new encounters and reunions.  Friend’s circle extended and I also got dynamic energy, it really was stimulating three days.  Gained much more encouragement.  Our involvement in these activities also seems to have stimulated young people who participated from Japan which is very good.  As I always say, future is in the hands of young people.

Dalien20070908009Photo9  Dr. and Ms.Professor Schwab, Chairman of WEF and I at Japan reception.

Dalian is a very beautiful city.  Japan has constructed its infrastructure which is maybe the reason for the hearty welcome.  They show us the headquarters of Manchuria Railways, the laboratory of Manchuria Railways, and so on.  They are maintained beautifully and are located at the center of city.  About 4,000 Japanese enterprises are now operating in Dalian, and I think the contribution of Japan to expand its economy, employment etc. is considerable.  Most local staffs speak Japanese in the hotels etc.

I woke up at 5:30 in the morning on 8th and went to Chubu International Airport by 8:00 a.m. flight.  From Chubu International Airport travelled to Nagoya railway station by Meitetsu railway and then again travelled to Tokyo by Shinkansen. I arrived at the assembly hall of Japanese Society of Nephrology at 3 o’clock and did the memorial speech for its 50th anniversary.  After that, I immediately headed to Science Council of Japan and participated to the 2nd day of international conference “Sustainable Society” held every year. I gave the last (closing) speech from 6 o’clock.

Whew, I am hopping here and there busily.