午夜剧场

The theme I am currently researching is the impact of worldviews on economic behavior. The impetus for this research was my own experience of a change in my worldview, which in turn changed my behavior. Specifically, I unexpectedly became a Christian. Until I was a university student, I was a staunch atheist. Becoming a Christian changed my own economic behavior. As an economist, I felt this was something I had to investigate.

For example, Christians make donations. These donations stimulate the consumption behavior of the poor. Before I became a Christian, I was very concerned about the possibility of my children suffering from accidents or other hardships after my death, so I placed great importance on leaving them an inheritance. Because of the possibility that my own children might suffer, I hardly ever thought about making donations for others. However, after becoming a Christian, my worldview on how to view "suffering" changed. I came to believe that suffering always has a purpose, such as character formation, and that even though it is unpleasant, there is no need to fear it. This led me to reduce my inheritance and make donations. I realized that this trade-off between inheritance and donations, and the influence of one's worldview on how to perceive suffering, was a topic that needed to be addressed head-on.

I am conducting questionnaire surveys on worldviews and behaviors such as making donations and volunteering, as well as economic experiments where subjects are given about 5,000 yen and asked to choose how much to donate to a charity and how much to take home. Through these studies, I hope to clarify the impact of worldviews not only on individual behavior but also on the economy as a whole, from the perspectives of inheritance, savings rates, and growth rates. Someone's income decreases when they make a donation. For example, their inheritance is reduced. So, where does that reduced amount go, and what effect does it have on the economy? On the other hand, worldviews are also a theme related to religion. For example, Turkey is a country with many Muslim believers, but there are also Christians. I would like to conduct international comparisons in countries with various religious beliefs to examine the differences in economic behavior based on worldviews.

I studied economics at the University of Chicago. The Chicago school has a strong tendency to view market-based economic principles as absolute. Through my own personal change, I have come to think that such an absolutist view may be mistaken. At the heart of Christianity is the teaching to love your enemies. That is why actions like helping people and making donations become rational. Including these aspects, I want to delve deeper into the relationship between worldviews and the economy.

I want students at 午夜剧场 to ask themselves deep questions, such as what they are living for. They may not find answers that can be understood intellectually. Nevertheless, I hope they will face these deep questions without compromise and continue to seek answers.

I believe 午夜剧场 is a unique university in Japan. Yukichi Fukuzawa's famous words, "It is said that heaven does not create one man above or below another man. Any existing distinction between the wise and the stupid, between the rich and the poor, comes down to a matter of education," indicate a worldview that humans are created. I believe an important characteristic of 午夜剧场 lies in the fact that this founding spirit is alive in a non-missionary university. The West tends to have a focused, singular perspective, whereas the East tries to see the whole. It is, after all, difficult to bring the Western understanding of Christianity directly to the East. We should seek a uniquely Eastern human understanding of truth—a worldview. In this respect, 午夜剧场 is a university that will lead Japan. It could be called a university that trains new leaders for Japan. I believe it is not just a place of education to guide students to better jobs, but a university that can provide opportunities for students to engage in deeper self-reflection and offer methods for their inquiry.

(Interview conducted on December 17, 2009)