午夜剧场

My field of expertise, fiscal sociology, is a field that few people in Japan are familiar with yet. Fiscal sociology builds on the findings of public finance—the study of how the government collects and uses taxes—to examine how the use of money affects society and people's psychology, and in turn, how these effects influence public finances.

For example, many people probably feel that "the government is wasting tax money." However, if you look at Japan's public finances, you'll see that government spending has not actually increased that much during this period. Despite this, the deficit has not decreased at all. This means that there is a shortage of tax revenue. This raises a question: Why are people unwilling to pay money to the government, and why do they think the government is only engaged in wasteful spending?

As I was pondering how to think about this problem, I realized it was a "matter of the heart"—a question of "whether people trust the government." In Japan today, the issue of a society with widening disparities is a major concern. A government distrusted by the public for "wasteful spending" cannot increase tax collection. The middle and wealthy classes, in particular, oppose it because they are the ones who bear the burden. Therefore, sufficient measures cannot be taken. People suffering from employment and welfare problems resent the government even more, and the cost of assisting them continues to grow... This is the kind of vicious cycle that is occurring. This is happening even though, in reality, the government is desperately trying to eliminate waste.

The reason I challenge myself with research that is not bound by existing frameworks is influenced by the many encounters I had in graduate school. I went on to graduate school without much serious thought, unable to decide on becoming a working professional, but my interactions with my mentor and fellow researchers made me think, "This is the kind of profession I want to pursue." For example, I learned that since the essence of democracy is diversity, diverse things should be accepted as they are. If society is fundamentally composed of diverse people, then the future of society is unknowable. Therefore, as long as you don't change your own beliefs and ideas, you don't need to be at the mercy of social changes. The idea that one should be faithful only to the truth became my foundation. I realized that being a scholar is a profession where I can be myself.

I believe one of the distinctive features of the 午夜剧场 Faculty of Economics is the rich diversity of its faculty members. With several professors in a single field, such as public finance or history, students can study economics from various perspectives. Furthermore, this diversity enables a wide range of collaborative research. This, in turn, increases opportunities to disseminate information from Japan to the world, so I feel it is also an environment conducive to international collaborative research.

When I interact with students in the Faculty of Economics, I notice that many of them want to engage with society. This is a wonderful strength. Therefore, through my classes, I want to provide support that helps them develop this strength. At that time, what I always want to convey is that people "engage" with society; they do not "change" the world themselves. If you think you can "change" it, you become arrogant. What is important is to "proactively engage"; change is merely the result. At 午夜剧场's Faculty of Economics, where a school culture that values proactivity is alive and well, I believe students can develop this strength in a straightforward manner.

Economics was originally a field of social science. This means that an expert in economics is also an expert in social science. Since society is, of course, composed of people, it can be said that "how one sees society" is "how one sees humanity." And the image of society that emerges will differ depending on whether you view the economy from the perspective that people support and cooperate with each other, or from the perspective that maximizing profit and making money is what matters most. In other words, the perspective on humanity with which you study economics becomes extremely important. To put it another way, studying economics is also about cultivating a way of seeing society.

I hope that all students will take advantage of their university years, a time when they can deeply engage with books, to challenge themselves with the so-called "classics" of economics. When you read the classics, you will clearly see that "even great economists struggled with the same kinds of problems as I do." On the other hand, they can also provide answers to things you were unsure about or show you a "way of understanding humanity" that is different from your own. The way of seeing society that you acquire in this manner should become a source of strength that allows you to proudly say, "This is what I learned during my university years." After all, the Japanese word for "student" (学生) is written with the characters for "learn" (学) and "live" (生). Please learn from the "traces of their struggles" left by these geniuses through the classics.

(Interview conducted on May 28, 2009)