A Bright and Energetic Next Generation

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Last week, Ken Endo of SONY CSL, the breeding ground of crazy and eccentric individuals, stopped by my office along with Mr. Dai Tamesue and Mr. Sugahara of RDS. He came to announce that he has started a venture business in order to continue the research he had been conducting at MIT on prosthetics.

I have known him since he was studying for a PhD at MIT. I have supported him at See-D (in Japanese) and others.

While he has been active in promoting events that support people in poverty who use prosthetics due to accidents or land mines, he has also working with Paralympic athletes to further push forward the possibilities of humankind. One of his professors at MIT is Hugh Herr, who gave an astounding presentation on prosthetics at this year’s TED talk. With this technology, it may be possible for Paralympic athletes to surpass the record set by Olympic athletes. This was recently the case in the match between a computer and professional Japanese chess player (in Japanese).

Mr. Sugie of WHILL also came to visit, the first time since he moved his base to Silicon Valley. WHILL is a venture business that was set up by young engineers from four major Japanese companies. They introduced me to Mr. Hasegawa of WINGLE (in Japanese), which supports children who have unique talents that are less compatible with conventional educational methods.

Also, Mr. Matsuda of Teach for Japan, who I introduced on this site just recently was featured in the Globe section of the Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese).

There are many amazing individuals who are active in a wide spectrum of areas.

A New Academic Year Brings New Leaders at ‘Teach For Japan’

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Teach For Japan (in Japanese) is a program that allows highly motivated young individuals to teach and help students who are from less privileged social community.　And through this groundbreaking program, these young teachers are able to impact society in a new way, to nurture young individuals and develop themselves into new leaders. Indeed, this program is able to accomplish so much from those who have gone through. Indeed, graduates fresh out of Ivy League colleges like Harvard and Yale are increasingly making the U.S version of this program their top choice.

Don’t you think that this is great? Mr. Yusuke Matsuda has been working hard to bring this program to Japan, as I have introduced here in my blog a number of times (1, 2).

In the face of problems and adversity over last years, an unexpected 15 students fresh out of graduate school or undergraduate programs, as well as people who previously had ordinary jobs, started working as members of TFJ in places like Tokyo, Nara, and Osaka. They would be teaching at elementary and junior high level schools in localities where there is a need to overcome the obstacles posed by an underprivileged social standing.

This evening, I was participating in the send-off party for these new participants. The strongest impression I had was that both those being sent off and the ones doing the sending off are very passionate and highly motivated.

In the short speeches each of the new teachers made, there was talk of various backgrounds, of  motivations for joining the TFJ program, of the trials faced in the three-week preparatory course, and of the fervent wish to help the children who needed their services.

It was a very moving and inspiring two hours. Among the participants, there were people who, after working in Tohoku in disaster relief operations as well as in NGOs, felt that education was the way forward and therefore had decided to step up to the challenge of the TFJ program. There was also a student who started thinking about the problems facing Japanese society after witnessing the social problems of South Korea during time spent studying there, as well as people who, after working for a few years, recognised problems that they felt needed to be addressed.

I strongly believe that it is the continued efforts of young people like these that will fundamentally change Japanese society, and although still in its nascent stages, it will act as a nucleus for bigger things to come.

I would really like to ask each one of you , my readers, to do whatever you can in order to help.

Two Days of Back to Work

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We enjoyed a long new year’s holiday before starting work in 2014. There must be many had to be back to work early in the year.

On the 6th, I attended several New Year’s gatherings.

On the 7th, I had a crazy schedule. At 8 am I had a seminar with thirty students from the Harvard Business School, who were brought by Professor Hirotaka Takeuchi. It was very fun and engaging. The main topic was the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) and we had discussions regarding its political and international significance and the status of the governance of Japan.

The afternoon was filled with various meetings. One was with an individual who is aiming to become a professional bilingual (Japanese and English) journalist. Another was an interview with a graduate student from the Harvard Kennedy School for her dissertation, introduced to me by her professor. Another was with an individual who is developing a new education program. This was followed by meetings regarding my keynote lecture for the Science Council of Asia, to be held in June in Kuala Lumpur.

In the evening, I had two engagements, and the last was with Dr. Graham Fleming, the Vice Chancellor for Research at UC Berkeley as well as a few other people. I was out until past 11 pm.

On the 9th, I head to Boston.

Abroad in November -3: To Abu Dhabi

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The Etihad flight took off from Narita at night, taking me to Abu Dhabi. I was going to attend the Global Agenda Council (GAC) that was being hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

It is already around my 6th year attending this council. Just like last time, I was staying at the magnificent Yas Viceroy Hotel. The council was to meet in a conference room adjacent to the venue of the recently held F1 races.

Until late in the evening, I was kept busy with my work, as I visited Khalifa Univesrity of Science, Technology and Research (KUSTAR) where I am currently a trustee. I mainly met with various people in relation to this post. As my work was starting to wind up, news came in that the plane due to leave Narita and fly in early the next morning with many of the delegates from Japan on it had suffered from mechanical failure and had been cancelled. I took the opportunity to have a relaxed meal with my local friends.

One of the co-chairs of the hosting side of this GAC was Nasser Al Sowaidi, the chairman of the Department of Economic Development who I had met earlier in March, and I exchanged some greetings with him.

On the second day, I was the chair for the Japan Council and I used the opportunity to hold talks with the China and Korea Councils, as well as the Council for ASEAN. On the third day, I was a panelist in a discussion where the panelists first discussed the topic in question, before the floor was divided up into groups and talked about the pros and cons, after which we had the Q&A sessions. It was a very enjoyable program.

The group which was delayed because of the cancelled flight reached a day later. Although they weren’t able to participate in the full program, they must have been tired. But they seemed fine as well.

Details about this delayed group can be found on Yoko Ishikura’s blog posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). As one may surmise from her entries, she is super-busy, yet she manages to find the energy and time to make entries in her blog. I am really awed by her passion.

At night, I met up with Ikuo Okamoto (Wikipedia page in Japanese) after a long time, and along with Jun Murai and Inakage of Keio University, we went to the Emirate Palace for dinner.

My stay in Abu Dhabi didn’t end there. The day after the GAC, I went to KUSTAR with Mr. Satoshi Sato, who had worked with me on the NAIIC. We gave a seminar on focused on the work on the NAIIC and the current affairs surrounding nuclear energy to an audience keen to know more, for UAE is currently building nuclear power plants. Many people in nuclear power-related organizations of UAE were in attendance, and the seminar was a lively one.

I would like to note that the Abu Dhabi government is pinning high hopes on KUSTAR. This I gathered from the plans I was told about after my talk. After dinner, I headed to the airport, from where I finally started on my way home. A long trip that started in New York finally coming to an end!

To Guam University

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I visited Guam from October 13th for four days and three nights. I was invited by Dr. Robert Underwood, the President of Guam University, whom I met at the Pacific Science Association two years ago and have kept in touch with since. The main industry of this area is tourism and the largest number of tourists are from Japan.

Professor Ko Nakajima of emergency medicine at Tokai University and Mr. Ichida of Birdlife International came along for the program to conservation program of the Guam rail (in Japanese) (1). The color of the beak is different from that of the Okinawa rail, but they are very close.

The next day was the Presidential Lecture series where academic and administrative staff as well as students participated and gathered in the lecture hall. There were many engaging questions and we had a fun time. The board and senior members of the university, including Dr. Kurashina, an emeritus professor of the University of California Berkley had a dinner and Governor of Guam Mr Calvo joined with us.

The next day, I had a seminar with the students, which many academics also joined, and we all enjoyed the discussion. Afterwards, I met with Guam council members and was able to hear their opinions.

There is a connection with Okinawa, so I talked about the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology OIST.

The next day, although there was a typhoon headed towards Japan, my flight in the morning departed as scheduled and I was surprised when I saw the water rising in northern Chiba before landing in Narita.

The typhoon swept through a while before but it was clear that there was significant damage.

To Various Places

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After attending the Mansfield Foundation’s U.S.-Japan Nuclear Working Group convention, I flew to Okinawa to attend the meeting of the board of governors at the OIST.

It was to be a three days two nights meeting (the 2nd , 3rd and 4th of October), but because I was feeling not well, I returned to Tokyo on the second day and participated through video-conference on the 4th. Although there is still a lot left to be done, I feel that it is wonderful that we have accomplished so much in so little time. I feel that this tenth anniversary will mark some big changes as well.

The next day, the 5th, I participated in the  Japanese Society of Nephrology’s ‘Panel Discussion For Gender Equality’ (link in Japanese), after which I headed to Kyoto for the STS forum (5th to 8th October). This event too was celebrating its tenth year in existence. With more than a thousand participants and with Prime Minister Abe giving the opening speech, the forum was off to a great start.  I was on the panel for ‘Education and ICT (Information and Communication Technology)’. I met with many friends and colleagues at the forum, and I also had the good fortune of meeting people from the Qatar Foundation who were attending for the first time. We had the opportunity to have a conversation and I also managed to provide them with the names of some researchers who would be able to cooperate with them.

On the 8th, after returning from Kyoto, I had a dinner with an executive of a foreign capital enterprise, and on the 9th and the 10th, I was invited to the 35th anniversary celebrations of Oriental Giken, where I lectured and shared the stage with Ken Kornberg, the architect who designed OIST. Ken is the son of Arthur Kornberg, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Roger, one of his brothers is a Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry. Another brother Thomas is an outstanding scientist in the field of molecular biology.

The next day, I went to a discussion with the Liberal Democratic Party about the form that a new Nuclear Regulatory Commission would take. After this meeting, I headed to a workshop organized by IOCA, a group that I met at the summer course on Global Health organized by HGPI. This workshop was getting some good reviews from among various organizations, so I wanted to take a look.

At night, I was invited to the Swiss Embassy, where I met with Honorable Doris Leuthard, one of leading Swiss politicians who is the Minister of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications portfolio, and I talked about nuclear energy.

Again, I was busy as always, but if I am asked what I have accomplished, or what I have contributed, I would be forced to pause and think.

San Diego

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I came to Coronado, the city next to San Diego. The first reason was to attend the Cell Society meeting. This is the third of the meeting in the past but was unable to join last year because I was in the middle of my duties with the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC). It is not my area of specialization but I have come to participate in its first meeting. There have been many results in the clinical cases of adipose stem cell that are interesting from a medical point of view.

In the field of stem cell research, the breakthrough finding of “iPS” by Nobel Laureate Dr. Yamanaka is also a promising area. Although the approach differs from that of modern medicine and some of the findings of the molecular and genetic analysis cannot be accounted for by logical explanations, it is very safe and there are no other effective methods of treatment but we can get results through this approach.

In the West, where modern science was established, until roughly one hundred years ago, there were forms of treatment, such as blood transfusions and phlebotomy that would be unthinkable today. It was also around one hundred years ago that the blood types of ABO were discovered. In research, it is often times the case that new discoveries are made through such experiences.

I made some time to meet with approximately twenty young Japanaese people from Japan who were in San Diego for study abroad programs, research and business. There were many students in undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of California San Diego this gathering was organized around Dr. Maki (PhD) (in Japanese). They are all very bright and seem to be feeling the changes in their awareness that come with living abroad and are in the process of contemplating their future careers. Japan is not the only place where they can become successful and the fact that they are Japanese will not change. I look forward to their next career choices and achievements.

The following day, I gave a seminar at UCSD. It was organized by the UCSD School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IPRS) and the Rady School of Management. IPRS Professor of Japanese Business, Professor Ulrike Schaede (until last year, Professor Hoshi had been in charge) moderated the seminar. As the topic of the seminar was the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, it was not only students who were in attendance, but also professors and some Japanese who have been living in this area for a long time. Since two and a half years have passed since the accident and the recent situation has been reported widely throughout the world and there was a lively question and answer session.

In addition to students, there were many people from Japan as well as people from CONNECT (1). After the seminar, there was a reception on the terrace, where we could see a lovely sunset, typical of southern Californian. Afterwards, we had dinner at the local favorite, Sushi Ota, and I had some delicacies such as the sea urchin.

It is very important for young people to gain more experiences abroad and to expand their career choices.

My Commencement Speech at the Autumn Graduation Ceremony at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)

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The autumn graduation ceremony at GRIPS is made up of mostly foreign students (seventy percent of the students are foreign students who come from over sixty different countries). The diversity and uniqueness of each country shines through and is awe-inspiring and is a rare sight in Japan. The ambassadors and staff members from embassies of the students’ countries often are present at the ceremony.

This year, the graduation ceremony was held on September 17th. The program includes the conferment of diplomas, the Dean’s award, the President’s address, and the valedictory speech.

I was chosen to give the Commencement speech. I am grateful for this opportunity. It is my third time this year to give a commencement speech. In April, I gave the speech at the entrance ceremony at the University of Tokyo (although it is not the graduation ceremony, I believe it has the same significance as graduation ceremonies in universities abroad), and in July have the speech at the graduation ceremony at the United Nations University (1).

In recent years at GRIPS, one person has been chosen to give the commencement speech. Last year, it was given by the executive director of ASEAN, Surin Pitsuwan (the speech can be viewed here).

The speech for the 2010 graduation ceremony was given by Haruhiko Kuroda, who has been paid much attention recently by the world on ‘Abenomic’ as head of Bank of Japan and he was the President of the Asian Development Bank at the time.

It is my hope that my wishes and congratulations that I have poured into the commencement speech (video is here) will reach outgoing student hearts.

I am always filled with a feeling of awe at graduation ceremonies, from which young people take off and carry the future on their shoulders.

This is a privilege that comes with being involved in education.

Philadelphia-1: Visit to Swarthmore College

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Philadelphia was the first place that I lived in the United States (and my first time abroad). I was a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania for two years. It is over forty years ago. It was there that I had the inspirational encounter with Professor Howard Rasumussen, my boss at the time, who had a major influence on my future.

I departed from Haneda Airport on September 9th and arrived in JFK in New York City and took a three hour drive by car towards Philadelphia. I checked in at the Union League (1) which was built with the goal of supporting President Lincoln 150 years ago and is affiliated with the Republican Party. There are portraits of past presidents from the Republican Party.

After resting briefly, I headed towards Swarthmore College, where I met with President Rebecca Chopp. It has been three years since our last meeting.

Swarthmore College is a prestigious and top ranking Liberal Arts College in the US and is nearby Bryn Mawr College (where Umeko Tsuda (1 in Japanese, 2 in Japanese, 3) studied), and Haverford College (where Akira Irie, a well known professor of history at Harvard University and is an alumni of my high school, studied), together with which it comprises the Tri-College Consortium. There is a bus that runs between the three colleges.

I met with President Chopp, three Japanese women on the faculty, Kozue Tsunoda, Yoshiko Shiro, and Atsuko Suda (I have the impression that among the Japanese who have active careers abroad, many are women, thus I felt it was again the case this time). I also met with Dr. William Gardner, who teaches Japanese Studies (he has lived in Japan on the JET Program). We talked of many things for about an hour.

There are just under 400 students each year at this university. In their freshman year, all students live in on-campus dormitories and afterwards about ninety percent of students live in dormitories. There is no graduate school. As the students here are very talented and study hard, and the education level is very high, graduate schools welcome them with open arms.

This university is only a few kilometers away from where I used to live, so I went around the area, but everything had changed, with little remnants of the past. Only the train tracks remained the same.

It was a beautiful university campus and a nostalgic place for me. Time flies by quickly.

Down With a Summer Cold for a Week

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On the 29th, I made a day trip to Karuizawa, reaching my destination, the Old-Karuizawa Golf Club at noon. Feeling somewhat tired, I declined the invitation to play a round of golf and instead chose to rest in the club-house. It was a strange situation, me sitting in the lounge watching a beautiful and inviting golf-course.

After everyone enjoyed their game of golf, they came back and attended my hour-long speaking engagement. I also met Mr Takenaka, a colleague at GRIPS, as well as his parents. I also met the former president of Tokyo University, Mr. Komiyama, besides many others.

Returning at night, I still felt the same lethargy. I slept early. The next day, a Sunday, brought with it a high fever, at times reaching 40℃. I went to my neighborhood general practitioner, my friend, for a consultation, and was given an intravenous drip and told to rest. Monday also saw a high fever hovering around the 40℃ mark. To the doctor again. Although I was sick, I did not feel sick. I cancelled all my appointments for the week. Wednesday brought a respite, and I felt a bit better.

On Thursday, I had a meeting in the morning with the representative ministers from the EU. The meeting lasted about an hour, during which I briefed them exclusively about the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and its current situation. This is understandable, given the current situation. A few more meetings and I was done, and I reached home at 3 pm,  back to bed. I was supposed to visit the New Ise Jingu Shrine this week, but I was forced to cancel this trip.

I recuperated on Friday and Saturday; I felt much better. But all the same, it was one nasty summer cold.

On Sunday, 1st September, I took the Shiinkansen to Hiroshima in order to attend the celebrations and my invited special speech that would be accompanying the unveiling of a new hospital building at the University of Hiroshima. It’s been a while since I  met many of my friends in the medical profession. I returned the same day.

On Monday (the 2nd), I went to Shonan Village (Shonan Kokusai Mura) to attend a 3-day program, the ‘U.N University Global Seminar’. I met The rector of the University, David Malone, as well as the honorary chairman of Shiseido, Yoshiharu Fukuhara. I was to give the first keynote lecture, ‘Global Agenda, Post-Fukushima’. Most of the people attending were undergraduate as well as graduate students, with women making up more than 70% of the audience. Nice! The foreign students and faculty also helped make the atmosphere more lively. I talked animatedly, and the questions flew in from the audience. And of course, it was all in English.

I do not know how exactly to describe this open and uninhibited atmosphere; but I love it. This informal exchange of opinions and ideas.

The keynote delivered after mine was by Akiko Yuge, director of the UNDP Representation Office in Tokyo. She was very articulate, and had a response to every question. After attending the reception, I returned home, while the participants stayed on; they were lodging together.

It felt that a week had ended at last, giving way to a new week. I had plenty of rest as well.