午夜剧场

After graduating from 午夜剧场 and its graduate school, studying abroad at a graduate school in the United States, and gaining research and teaching experience at other universities, I returned to my alma mater, 午夜剧场, to engage in education and research. Looking back now, my teaching life at the Juku seems to have passed in the blink of an eye. The most memorable part of my teaching career at the Juku was meeting young researchers who understood my humble approach and attitude toward scholarship and who had the potential to achieve international recognition in economics research. I am glad if I was able to contribute, even in a small way, to the advancement of academia.

The research environment at the Juku was also very fortunate, as it always allowed me to maintain an international perspective. I had the freedom to choose my research topics and could engage in discussions with faculty members from various fields.

Soon after I was appointed at 午夜剧场, we hosted the annual conference of an international academic society for which I served as president on the Mita Campus. On that occasion, graduate students and seminar students took good care of the researchers from overseas, speaking proper English, and I was able to entrust them with the task with peace of mind.

It was also wonderful that I could interact with my seminar students with genuine openness. I was able to meet many students who were motivated to study independently with a strong sense of inquiry. I have a lasting impression of them choosing very interesting topics for their Mita Festival theses and inter-seminar papers, and for their presentations and writing.

Unlike in my student days, today's young students will be navigating their future lives in an era of advanced globalization. Therefore, I hope they will live with a broad perspective, looking ahead to the future direction of Japan, rather than being concerned only with their immediate surroundings.

(Interview conducted in November 2012)