To Tunis: Japan-Arab Economic Conference

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In the evening of December10th, I left Narita via Dubai to Tunis in order to attend the 2nd Japan-Arab Economic Conference held in Tunis on the 11th and 12th.  The arrival time at Tunis was shortly after noontime.

I felt a cool breeze as I left the airport, and I thought that Tunis was a nice place.  Since I had seen H.E. Hatano, former ambassador to UAE, in Dubai, I headed directly to the Carthage remains from the airport.  I enjoyed a nice tour with Mr. Ohashi, a long time expert of middle eastern business of Mitsui & Co. He kindly guided me around with a full explanation of the sites (he is quite informed about this area, and said that he recently stayed in Tunis for a week…)

Here, we encountered Mr. Ohata, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, and delegates.

After stopping by at several sight seeing spots, we arrived at Sidi Bou Said (Ref.1), our final destination.  It was a lovely old town with white walls and beautiful blue windows and doors.  We had tea at the so called oldest coffee shop in the world, relaxing, as the time went slowly by.  Tunis is in the Mediterranean Culture zone, both geographically and historically.  Time pass slowly here.  I must admit that a workaholic lifestyle, competing only for higher GDPs, has some problems.  Here, you can feel the long history of culture.

The reception was held at Ramada Hotel, the venue of the conference and our accommodation.  About 300 people came for this conference from Japan.  The head of the Japanese delegation was Mr. Okuda of Toyota, and I had the honor of seeing and greeting many leaders of Japanese business.  Mr. Maehara, Minister of Foreign Affairs, also participated this year.  I had an impression that many Japanese from business sector came to the reception.

The conference hall was packed the next day.  It must have been hard to keep on schedule since there were many different sorts of people who gave speeches.  It started with the Japanese Ministers Maehara and Ohata, and then the Ministers of Arabian countries and many important people gave speeches.  I imagine that it was hard work for the secretariat. There were a number of collaborative projects were signed and announced, giving hope for a series of of good outcomes in coming years.

I tried to illustrate Japanese activities to the participants by briefly explaining relationships of Japan and Arabs. In these illustrations I included an introduction of the STS Forum, the panels on education, human resource development, science, and technology.  After having a slightly late lunch, I packed my things and headed for the airport.  I arrived at Doha via Dubai early in the morning of 12th.

Somehow, this travel was quite a busy one.

From Dubai: Global Agenda Council

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On November 27th I headed for Dubai to participate in the Global Agenda Council (Ref.1,2) of the World Economic Forum.  Though a majority of the participants were in other Councils, about 20 people came from Japan including Drs. Heizo, Takenaka, Akihiko Tanaka, and Yoko Ishikura .  The program spanned 4 days, with 3 of those days having tightly packed schedules. Unlike past forums this was arranged with precise detail. The reason for this was because the objective was to recommend how to create networks for Global Risk Response for all kinds of anticipated risks in the world.

Since I was the Chair of the Japan Council, my schedule was packed.  Chairs were asked to arrive one day earlier to be present at the overall briefing.  There was no free time. I had to understand how everything worked, how to move the system, attend Briefing sessions, participate in other important Councils, etc.  My role was very demanding in a way.

The forum occurred at the same time that North Korea emerged as an issue. Because of this we had to be more sensitive about things, which made me feel more tired than usual.

However, this situation was also a good opportunity.  Particularly, being able to exchange views with Councils of China and Korea on political issues, economic climate, growth of China was a rewarding experience.  The Chinese Council Chair was Mr. He Yafei, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Korean Council Chair was Dr. Moon Chung-In (Ref.1), Professor of Politics at Yonsei University whom I have known for long time.  Having discussion not only with the Council members, but also with those two Chairs and hearing suggestive words and genuine thoughts and feelings was truly something I appreciated.

The reception in the evening of the second day was held at the terrace of Burj Khalifa Tower, the tallest building in the world.  Gazing at the soaring tower, seeing the view, meeting people…was quite a nice experience.

The third day of the meeting was BBC World News Debate, a wonderful 70 minutes discussion hosted by Mr. Nik Gowing, the well known anchor person of BBC.  I think you will have an opportunity to see this on television sometime in the future.  The participants included Mr. Kevin Rudd, former prime minister of Australia and minister of foreign affairs of current administration, Ambassador He of China, Ms. Malini Mehra, Ms. Louise Arbour of International Crisis Group, and Mr. James Cameron of Climate Change Capital.  I was particularly impressed with Mr. Rudd’s 20 seconds spontaneous speech to people behind the television camera.  Ability to take such flexible actions is one of the qualities required of good politicians.

One of the lessons I learned during these 3 days is the importance of making visual as possible the problems we are discussing.  At the Design Council, I had a glimpse of the wonderful works of Professor Toshiko Mori of Harvard University Design School.  I understand that Design Council and Innovation Council members helped problem solving processes of other Councils, and the results were fantastic.

Now, we all have lots of homework to do and issues to be addressed for the coming year.

It was a full, packed 4 days with lots of learning.  I left Dubai and arrived safely at Narita on the evening of December 2nd.

Recommendation for Taking a Leave of Absence from School, AIESEC: An International Internship Support Organization, Support from a High Official of the Ministry of Education

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Japan’s insularity or closed mindset is now becoming so evident that we can no longer wait for social structure reform to resolve this problem.   Many media reports as well as opinions from various fields in the society continuously point out the seriousness of the Japanese closed, insular mindset.  This problem, however, is not new at all.

This way of seeing refers not only to the youths, but as well as to the adults.  While many intellectuals point to the students as being inwardly focused, I believe that parents have a strong influence, and therefore should be held accountable for passing on these unprogressive mindsets.

As Japan grew in economic strength and prosperity combined with the publication of  'Japan as Number One' , National pride also grew. The baby boomer and subsequent generations accustomed to this status had to adjust their attitudes into a more defensive stance as the Cold War ended in 1991 followed by the Japanese economic bubble bursting in 1999.  Not to mention the advent of the internet, globalization, a dynamic restructuring of 14 city banks, the bankruptcy of Yamaichi Securities, a skyrocketing national deficit and stagnating GDP.

Therefore, I suppose, current college students grew up without being given any sense about a positive economy. (in Japanese)

All of the things I’ve said so far are the same as what I have written here so many times.

For a change, let me introduce you to some examples of the wonderful activities of college students who took leave of absences from school (Ref.1,2,3,4,5). 

And here is my small report on AIESC, an international internship network run by college students.

However, I regret to say that there are millions of obstacles that must be overcome in order for these kinds of activities to flourish.  For example, in many private universities, they charge various fees of students even on leave.  From my point of view such conduct is deplorable.  Being supported while traveling and experiencing the world is taken for granted in other parts of the world. Such attitude makes Japan’s unwillingness to encourage international experience that much more evident. I ask all university related persons to be quick in crafting ways to stop these kind of disgraceful procedures.

Staggering economy is bad enough, but with high education fees combined, I must say that Japan is a nation that neglects future human assets.  We cannot expect any positive future for a nation like this.  Not only university administrations but Japanese government will also have to do a better job .

Just recently, I had an opportunity to see Japanese students from AIESEC Japan (sadly, this site is only in Japanese…), a Japanese branch of AIESEC the world wide student run organization working to promote international internships.  Now, we are trying to find how to empower their activities, make this organization known to people, to gain support.  Of course it goes without saying, companies will also gain a variety of great merits by providing support to such students’ activities.

If the website of AIESEC Japan is written in English as well as in Japanese, their activities will contain broader perspectives.  For instance, not only can they send students abroad, but they will also be able to offer international students internship opportunities at Japanese companies.  The problem is that the current system fails to take into account the needs of the counterparts.  We discussed this issue also in specific manners.

Recently a high official at the Ministry of Education (I won’t say the specific name) who I have once worked with started a blog (in Japanese).  From his blog I could see how he supported my ideas, or is helping students in his own way (Ref.1) ( both links are in Japanese).  I was thrilled to discover this.  He also gave a wonderful lecture (in English) at a recent meeting (in Japanese) that included much of his own thoughts. I was told that the lecture was well received by the audience for its originality and strong message, all very unlike typical government officials.  I would like to express my sincere gratitude to this official for supporting my views.

I am aware that there are many more people who understand and support my ideas besides people in the Ministry of Education, but on a whole, it seems that making policy takes more than understanding.  I do understand that there are many reasons and conditions particular to the posts they are in.

It must also be understood that another problem lies in the fact that educators in junior high schools, high schools, or universities are far from doing their best in nurturing talents for the global age(Ref.1,2, 3 in Japanese), (Ref.4,5 in English).  We must not forget that the trends of the world moves rapidly.

As for the argument on whether it is good or not that active officials write a blog, I think there is nothing wrong with it because the blog is a tool to express personal views.  It’s a way to interact with a diverse community, and besides, what they write on the blog is far from being a secret.

GEW2010@GRIPS, Communications in Broken English

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I reported about the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) several times last year (Ref.1).   This year, the event is being held from November 15th to 20th and 100 countries from all over the world participateA variety of GEW events will be held in Japan, too.

My home institution, GRIPS, collaborated with Nikkei Newspaper to focus on Design Thinking. On Tuesday, November 16th we invited young professionals with the entrepreneural spirit who were working actively at places  such as TEDxTokyo, D-Lab Japan (in Japanese) , See-D, Soket, and Kopernik (in Japanese) to gather at GRIPS in the for a practical Workshop.  The event started at 7pm and all participants quite enjoyed it for 3 hours.

The guests included many young, hot ‘role models’ of entrepreneurs such as Mr. Kota Matsuda (in Japanese), current member of the House of Councilors and the founder of Tully’s Coffee, Japan (in Japanese), Mr. Kohei Nishiyama of Imaginative Life (cuusoo seikatsu) and Elephant Design, and Mr. Magnus Jonson. 

Other events for this weak are planned and organized by the initiatives of Impact Japan.

These activities are part of an ongoing process ? a 24hours a day, 365days a year of effort -  of connecting the activities of young innovators, of people who’s creative thoughts and actions drive society into new directions. This conference introduces them to worlds beyond Japan or their native land, expanding their networks and perspectives. Although the internet is a strong connective tool, it is just as important, if not more, to share time and space with others who pursue common values and dreams. The internet in combination with these conferences expand possibility of expanding in multiple orders, not just additional ones.

I ask you to support them.  I ask that you help to cultivate future paths for youths. They are the fundamental structure and basis for the future of our Nation.

By the way, the communication tool during this event was broken English. There were no interpreters.  Everyone did a splendid job in making themselves understood.  Yes, you can do it!  You were all truly wonderful.

As Serbian IT entrepreneur, Sinisa Rudan put it: "We are taught to take business rationally, to focus on profit. However, I suggest that if you feel a particular project is good for you ? even a non-commercial one ? take it, because it will advance your skills or expand your network, possibly bringing you other, more-profitable projects. Choose projects you love. Do your business from the heart, and business comes to you!" (Quote from GEW website, http://www.unleashingideas.org/)
 

 

 

‘Book Return’ Project: Let’s Support Learning For All

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I assume that you remember my postings on ‘Learning for All’ (Ref.1).   Mr. Matsuda and his colleagues are working hard every day.

I think this activity will become one of the major movements for creating a positive cycle of change in Japan for the future.  If you look at Teach for America’s 22 years of history  in the United States, it is quite clear that the outcomes stemming from it are extraordinary.

Raising funds to support Teach for All is a very difficult task.  Hard work does not necessarily mean enough funding.

Because of this, Mr. Matsuda and his colleagues have been trying to think of ways to lessen the expenses. One idea is the Book Return Project  (in Japanese).  This project is basically about recycling used books.  As you see at their web site (in Japanese), the books can be of any category.  If you have more then 5 books to give, the Yamato Transport will come to your place, pick them up and will deliver them to the Project collect.  All you need to do is fill in the form and call the organizer.
 
What a beautiful idea this is to support the future of less priveledged children.

Such small things accumulated become a forceful power in making children’s future bright.

Here is my message of support to Learning For All:
By teaching, you teach yourself.
Education for poor youths, by youths.
Through this youths will grow to become true leaders.

Learning For All – Anyone can participate in this fantastic project. By participating you are taking part in that which will trigger a positive cycle for the future by educating children and nurturing youths to become leaders.

From Dhaka ? The Dragon Cherry Blossom’s Great Achievement!

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Very late yesterday evening I received an e-mail from Mr. Saisyo (Ref.1). If you recall, he is the founder of the Bangladesh Dragon Cherry Blossoms (in Japanese) (Ref.1). With the partnership of the Grameen Foundation, Dragon Cherry Blossoms help impoverished Bangladesh high school students try for the area’s top university, Dhaka University. Mr, Saisyo and his colleagues help prepare the students for the entrance exam, and according to his email, he’s had an amazing experience.

Mr. Saisyo’s email read:  “We are receiving phone calls from the villagers like mad.  Most of the calls are to tell us how surprised they are of the successes we’ve had and to shower us with congratulations!!!  It seems that the whole village has been thrown into a whirl of excitement.

“The entrance exam was for the B course (humanity) at Dhaka University. 36,000 students took the exam and 3,000 passed.  From Dragon Cherry Blossoms, 13 students sat the exam, and 1 student, Boran Udin Heral, passed and scored in 1276th place.

“A student at a top-ranked high school passed at 2300th, and a student of an elite prep school passed at 1500th.  Our Heral, from our village, passed at the score of 1276th!  This is a huge accomplishment!

“13 students took the exam and 1 student passed from our Dragon organization.
1000 students took the exam and 50 students passed from a major prep school called UAC.
2000 students took the exam and 180 students passed from a major prep school called UCC.
This shows how well our students competed against the major prep schools.

“Two more entrance exams are scheduled at Dhaka University;
C course (November 26th)
D course (December 3rd)
Dragon students will challenge both!

‘Heral proved that nothing in the world is impossible.  He will without doubt become a role model for the village children next year, and eventually a thousand and then ten thousands students will follow.

‘Heral is the first case in Bangladesh to have passed a Dhaka University entrance exam through e-education study!  Mahin, my partner, exclaimed,  ‘E-education will change human life!!!!’”.

Mr. Saisyo explains the intense academic competition in Bangladesh as follows:

“I talked with the local university student team and a reporter from a major newspaper who is specializing in education issues.  In Bangladesh, I learned,
730,000 students take the High School Certificate (HSC) exams.
530,000 students pass the HSC and go on to sit University entrance exams.
Out of those 530,000, 290,000 of the students receive an A rank .
But Universities only have the capacity for 107,000 students.

“Among these 107,000 seats, 70,000 are offered by private universities  Students from farming village can not afford to pay the high tuition of private universities.

“ With these facts I have come to understand why it is that so many talented students compete for the very limited seats at National Universities.”

It was just two years ago when Mr. Saisyo came to my office for advice. Since then he’s taken a leave of absence from Waseda University for two years, and endured many challenges and struggles.  And today, he is celebrating a true accomplishment and a tremendous success.

By putting his passion to work, Mr. Saisyo proved that nothing is impossible in this world.

So, you see, youths today are not as bad of a place as you think.

The Job Fair in Boston: An e-mail from a local observer

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On October 20th I reported about the job fair in Boston for Japanese companies to recruit bilingual (English and Japanese) young professionals.

In this regard, I received an e-mail from someone who had been at the Forum both this year and last year. The person said this year’s experience was completely different from last year’s.

The person wrote the following: “I was astonished. By just strolling along the streets of Boston, I felt that something was different from last year.

“I thought that this Job Forum was a U.S.-Japan Career Forum, focused on English-Japanese bilingual professionals. But, throughout the city I saw mostly Chinese and Korean people carrying plastic bags distributed at the Job Forum.  I even saw some Western people, which made me think that this Job Forum has now become a place for Japanese enterprises to recruit professionals from all over the world.  I was told that these non-Japanese people do not necessarily speak Japanese.
 
“I had an opportunity to listen to a Japanese person who had interviewed with some companies. This person said, ‘there was a time when it seemed that I was the only Japanese in the interviewees’ lines.’  Given this information, I think that current companies are shifting their recruitment strategy; from limiting to Japanese students studying abroad, to accepting any good talents regardless of their nationalities.

“I also talked with one of the people in charge of recruiting the students. When I asked what was his/her impression of this year’s Job Forum was, the person replied that the overall preference was changing from hiring Japanese to hiring non-Japanese.

“Apparently going abroad and broadening one’s views is not enough any more.  Companies are seeking people who are capable of enhancing ‘their own unique talents’, and this trend is getting stronger every year. Which means, it seems to me, that the key word is probably not ‘quantity’ but ‘quality’.  Recent Japanese media seem to be concerned only about the number of students studying abroad, but we have to understand that ‘the issue is not about numbers but about what students do with their life after going abroad.”

The observations from this individual are very important and valuable information to us.  However, though this impression is based on the Job Forum itself, we also have to consider extending those observations outward toissues existing in Japan regarding conventional Japanese employment and working style.

In Japan, University of Tokyo is regarded as the top university. But let’s admit that the students are selected by just one entrance examination: the T-scores.  What we should really care about is how to help students discover their potentials, and nurture their unique talents while they are within the university to become true assets of our society. In other words, we must be able to distinguish between between the person who ends in Todai, with the person who starts from Todai. (in Japanese)

Furthermore, we must admit that it is not good to linger on the conventional habits of companies providing informal employment offerings exclusively to students in the 3rd year of college, or of limiting recruitment to newly graduated students only.  Also, we need to closely monitor how the companies, especially the top ones, treat those bilingual talents after they are hired.

Students and youth, I want you to know that confining yourself within Japan will not broaden your perspectives for your future.  Why not collect your courage and take a leave of absence from school (Ref.1, 2). Go abroad for a while. Explore for even a few months. By doing so, there is a good chance for tapping new potential and talent within you. Taking time to travel more extensively -  maybe for about the length of a year – to broaden your perspective and refine who your are is so important.

Youths’ futures lay ahead of them.  I don’t see any promising future in any Society or Nation that is not willing to carefully and patiently nurture its younger generation.  Elders must encourage and support youth. They must refrain from oppressing their future by getting in their way.  There are no excuses for interrupting a young person’s potential. That you are older or wiser should only be an excuse to withhold your meddling and to support from a distance by encouraging exploration of opportunities.

The See-D and D-lab Activities Continue

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Previously, I introduced the event called ‘Technologies Appropriate to Local Needs Will Save the World’ . It was held in July by the students’ initiatives of D-Lab at MIT and Kopernik, (in Japanese).

Their activities later developed into sending students to East Timor in order for them to see the place firsthand -  to feel the situation, identify the issues, search for solutions, and craft plans for possible projects.  The results of their observations and analyses were displayed and presented at GRIPS, my home institution, on October 22nd.

Participants commonly reacted with surprise to experiences in East Timor.  Much of this reaction was reflected in their work. They described the proposed projects with strong emotion ? with a passionate drive to introduce solutions to the issues they observed.

To have a discussion about their plans was part of their objectives and was also included in this event. Together, with the participation of commentators and Professor Yonekura of Hitotsubashi University (Ref.1), an avid supporter of this sort of activity, triggered not only great excitement, but also materialized great learning opportunities to all who participated.

A review  of this gathering is available at Kopernik, and ‘here’ (in Japanese) and ‘here’ (in Japanese)

Like the lively discussion that took place at this conference, I advocate for analyzing ideas in a serious but positive manner. Where there is room for support or opinion do so cautiously. Give constructive criticism that encourages the students to further think about the problems and tasks at hand. Refrain from merely providing the solution, especially since you don’t know if different sorts of creative solutions will emerge from those students, youth, or young professionals.  Provide support, but without too much meddling.  And most importantly, never discourage the youth. If you do so, the only service you will provide is to chill their passion. Encourage youth by helping them see for themselves the world around them. Be silent but strong for them, and remember that our future lies in their hands.

As for the young individuals you gathered in the conference room to discuss East Timor, each and every one filled to the rim with passion for what they spoke about. We need this sort of energy to be felt more.

 

Welcoming Mr. Kohei Nishiyama at the Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus

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This semester, I am conducting a course on ‘Innovation in Globalization’ at Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus. (Ref.1)

As I have previously reported here, I recently was traveling outside Japan for a duration of two weeks. Because of this, Dr. William Saito  and Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama (in Japanese) kindly helped me with my course and delivered exciting lectures to the class in my absence.  Just after the October 13th class, I called from Seattle and thanked them.

This week, on October 20th, my guest was Mr. Kohei Nishiyama of Elephant Design.  He delivered  a very stimulating lecture about his business and on how he founded such an innovative enterprise that incorporates unique global vision and processes.

If you are interested in hearing this lecture or another from previous weeks, all of the lectures from my class are online in Japanese. They have all been extremely informative and I recommend that you take time to watch them.
・ Dr. William Saito
・ Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama
・ Mr. Kohei Nishiyama

After class that day, I went to PASONA’s head office in Tokyo to give a lecture at the joint session by Osaka University Graduate School and PASONA Career Juku.  This was again a very exciting session.  Mr. Nanbu, the CEO of PASONA, is a wonderful business leader.  He designed a program to support young professionals find jobs by providing them opportunities to learn business skills through hands-on experience.  By providing such opportunities, Japanese youth gain invaluable knowledge about what they want to do in their professional life. It is important to participate in this sort of activity in anyway possible.

Supporting and encouraging Japanese youth to build their careers is crucial for the Nation to prosper.  Elders must never try to discourage youths from dreaming. The more repressed children and students are, the less chance there is of this portion of our population to reach their full potential. If a country is dominated by adults who only want to fit youth into a preconceived box, limiting opportunity and growth, then the future of the country will not be promising.

So I encourage you all to invest in our young people.

Boston Career Forum: Companies in Japan Recruit Japanese Bilingual Professionals

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In Boston, on October 22-24 Japanese companies will hold a Job Fair to recruit bilingual (Japanese and English) young professionals. For 20 years this event has supported people dedicated to their goals, believing that where there is a need, there is a business.

Their invitation reads as follows;
? 130 companies and institutions will gather for 3 days from October 22nd (Fri) to 24th (Sun) to recruit university students, graduate school students, researchers, and professionals from all over the world.
? While we understand that many of you plan to remain in universities as researchers or faculties, many top companies in and outside of Japan gather here to offer variety of positions not only to new graduates but also to people in specialized fields, engineers, and researchers.
? This Forum is a great opportunity for those who consider working for private companies as part of their career.
? We have travel scholarship for participants who are traveling from long distance.  Please check the web site below for information and registration.
? It is a great pleasure for us to offer you variety of career information and opportunities.

The list of participating companies and information on travel scholarship are posted on the website.  Similar events are also held in London, Tokyo (Summer and Winter), and Los Angeles this year.

A little more about the event:

What have some of the outcomes of Job Forum been over the past 20 years?  How have the jobs been of the people who found opportunities through the event? Just recently I heard that even now, Japanese companies have had young non-Japanese professionals sit idle at their desks everyday from 9am to 5pm in order to “get them used to the Japanese business system” rather than utilizing their talents or qualifications.  This is hard to imagine but it happens.

Excluding Western companies, I am curious how these companies have treated people and whether those people have been held outside the standard “seniority-based promotion system”. Or, were these talented people subjected to those rules, where time spent in employment counts more than your performance?  I hope not!

I understand that it is a very difficult time now for students in Japan to find jobs.  People have different views on this issue, perhaps believing that education’s sole purpose should be to enter directly into the work force. But I think what we need now is to broaden basic awareness.  I wonder what Japanese companies expect of students. Ater they have made informal offers to students during their third year at university, how do they expect the students to spend rest of their college career?  Are they expecting them to start preparing for the new job?  Do they expect them to stop exploring their interests? I certainly hope not!

I hear that even at the University of Tokyo, the parents accompanying students to the graduate school education briefing demand explanations and methods on how their children should find employment after graduation. (in Japanese). What kind of society is this?  Both parents and students are lingering to other people’s support.  They are by no means independent, self supporting individuals.  Regarding this issue, I recommend reading the blog posting (in Japanese) by Professor Iiyoshi of MIT who specializes in education and authored ‘Learning by the Web (Web de Manabu).  We must recognize that the Japanese society of ‘life long employment and huge pensions” is quite over.

The media reports that the number of researchers studying abroad is also declining (in Japanese), (and I intend to analyze this on another occasion…).  In the meantime, I think it is a good option for young people today to go abroad for higher (graduate school) education and to pursue careers showcased in overseas recruitment seminars as I have introduced to you above.

The younger you are, the more potentials and options you have for your future.

‘Because This is the Time of Uncertain Future, Be More Courageous’ is my message to you.