NEWSLETTER
NO.

30

2012 . 12. 11

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO
東京大学公共政策大学院

Contents

1 How internationalized GraSPP has become! [Nobue Nachi]
2 Murmurs and Musings, No.5 [Eiichi Hasegawa] ／ When West Meets East [Shaun Ketch]
3 International Student Interview No. 13 [ Mr. Jongwon Lee and Mr. Ilya Vasilenko]
4 Pre-Graduation Ceremony and Reception @ Kojima Hall and Capo PELLICANO Hongo, July 31, 2012

How internationalized GraSPP has become!
Nobue Nachi Senior Program Manager, International Aﬀairs Oﬃce
When I started to work at the then two-year-old GraSPP, there wasdriver at the Japanese consulate in Mumbai, I found out that I had

no student exchange program at all. “Japan cannot survive into thebeen mistaken for a local Indian employee. In Yangon, a personnext era without more students going out to see the world; thewho exchanged business cards with me said, “Oh, youʼre notTodai cannot survive without going global.” Thanks to such a sense

Burmese.” Even on a JAL ﬂight, a Japanese cabin attendant, whoof impending doom and enthusiasm of the faculty, GraSPP has

had been speaking Japanese to passengers in the seats behind me,

quickly become internationalized over the last seven years. We

switched to English when she came to my seat. There are many

have developed student exchange programs (with 7 schools), intro-

more such episodes.

duced double degree programs (with 5 schools), which were theSeptember 27, 2012 was the day when the ﬁrst ceremony forﬁrst for Todai, created the MPP/IP (the Master of Public Policy, Inter-MPP/IP degree conferment was held. It did not rain as forecast on

national Program), hosted exchange events for Japanese, Chinesethat day, and graduating students received their degree certiﬁcates.

and Korean students at the Campus Asia, and ﬁnally gained theI hugged one of the foreign students and congratulated her. To mylong-awaited formal membership in the GPPN (the Global Public

surprise, she, a woman in a beautiful hakama, ﬂashed her certiﬁcate

Policy Network, a network of the world's top-level graduate schools

at me, and said, “This belongs to you! I could not have come this farof public policy). Before I knew it, 83 out of 265 students enrolled inwithout help from all of you at the oﬃce!!” It was a particularly

the GraSPP had come from 30 diﬀerent countries and regions

tender moment since they were the ﬁrst graduates of the program.

around the world, and one-third of classes are conducted in English.

People often talk about developing global human resources.

Conversations of students walking through the hallway were not

Persons with a little international experience, however, are ubiqui-

just in Chinese and English any more, but have become multilingualtous. I will do what little I can together with my team to help ensure

quickly over last few years. GraSPP is likely to be the most activethat GraSPP will keep education people with a global vision and theschool in international exchanges among the graduate schools ofability to make contributions to the future world, and that we cansocial sciences and humanities at the University of Tokyo. We, thecreate the best environment possible for our students.

staﬀ members, had to inconvenience many people in the beginning because we had to do everything from scratch. We, however,persevered head on to achieve “hand-made GraSPP style internationalization” with the spirit of pioneers who are opening up wilderness.
In spite of the fact I work in such an international environment, I
am a genuine stay-at-home Japanese who has never left Japan for
more than 3 weeks. Yet, I have been mistaken for a person of nonJapanese origin since I was in my twenties. During the past severalyears, I often travelled to various countries in Asia with the profesin order to increase the awareness of the MPP/IP course and provide brieﬁng on scholarship programs. This might have contributed
to my becoming a person of even more uncertain ethnicity. InHanoi, I was asked if I was a Vietnamese. I was spoken to in Tagalogin Manila. After more than 30 minutes of conversation with theNEWSLETTER

sors of GraSPP and visited their central banks and ﬁnance ministries

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M

urmurs and Musings

5Eiichi Hasegawa Professor

My struggles with English

Even though I conduct my classes in English and assess students in English now, my Englishspeaking life did not start until I was 30. I have decided to make this confession in the hope that theGraSPP students might gain conﬁdence (or get appalled?) to know that “someone like this man
could master English!”After graduating from university, I entered the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). I
was “working like a dog” (Itʼs from the Beatles song. Do you know the Beatles?) In my 6th year at theMITI, I asked for a chance to study overseas. The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the US was generous enough to accept me. In
the beginning, however, people could not understand my poorly-pronounced English, and I could not understand their English. All otherstudents were younger than me. How embarrassed I was. How mortiﬁed I was. Nevertheless, I had no excuse since it was nobody but
myself who had chosen the path. So I drove myself into a corner, and read books after books with the help of a dictionary.
I was lucky that I was assigned to a post that required English after I returned to Japan. I travelled to the Pentagon every month during
the SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative) negotiations in which President Reagan was pressuring the Soviet Union with a challenging defense
plan (I will discuss the details of the negotiations in my class!). Later, I was posted to the United States and lived there for three years. Tradefriction was a hot-button issue back then, and my English was much better than it is now as I lived in English every day. I used to exchange
views and opinions or have a dinner with Mr. Timothy Geithner, who is the Secretary of Treasury now, and Ms. Condoleezza Rice, who was
the Secretary of State in the previous administration. United States is such an open country.
After my return to Japan, I was assigned to a post in charge of Chinese, Korean and Indian aﬀairs. I realized that English was the preferredlanguage in Asia as well. If you do your business in English during negotiations, the other party will treat you in a respectful manner.
Coming into this century, I attended the Senior Oﬃcialsʼ Meeting (SOM) of the APEC, and found out that the importance of English education was emphasized not only in Asian but also in South American countries.
My most memorable English-related experience was a direct conversation I was allowed to have with then British Prime Minister Tony
Blair in my capacity as the Cabinet Public Relations Secretary during the UK visit by then Prime Minister of Japan about the handling ofpress conference after the summit talks. I was struggling with drowsiness caused by the nine-hour time diﬀerence, and I knew I was talking
to the prime minister of the country where English was born. Prime Minister Blair, however, saved the scene by asking casually, “Which oneof you is the Japanese press secretary?” That was when I decided to “take the situation as it comes.” In the end, I managed to fulﬁll myduties. To honor your guest at a press conference ‒ I was impressed by Mr. Blairʼs style of hospitality.
Be it in industrialized countries or in developing countries, English is the common knowledge of the world. Japan is one of the few exceptions when it comes to English. If you cannot communicate in English, you are a minor league player in the international game. At workand socially as well, you will get ten times more friends if you can speak one foreign language; 100 times more if you can speak two. I say
this to the students: You bear the destiny of future Japan on your shoulders. Do not shy away from the struggle in front of you now. Theroad to success lies ahead of you.

No.

When West Meets EastNEWSLETTER

Shaun Ketch ( 2nd Year, MPP/IP)

2I ﬁrst studied in Japan as an undergraduate exchange student, and even though I took a few Japanese
language courses at my home school in the United States, I was certainly not prepared for life in Japan( Iʼm sure some of my classmates at GraSPP can relate! ). After many funny and distressing experiences
trying to adapt culturally to an exciting and new place, I ﬁnally struck a smart balance between stubbornly maintaining all parts of my own cultural identity and doing things the Japanese way. It was then that I started to feel at home in Japan( I hope my classmates can relate to this, too! ). After graduation, I went on to work for a Japanese law ﬁrm.
I always knew that I wanted to go to graduate school. I quickly determined that after living and working in Japan, my personal andacademic interests were now mostly Japan - centered. I then started looking for US -based schools that would allow me to study in Japan, andfound out about GraSPP after sending an email to Columbia University about graduate exchange opportunities in Japan.
While there are many schools in Japan that are international student friendly, GraSPP, to quote Dean Ito, “is the most cosmopolitan Japanese
campus, and provides both Japanese and non-Japanese equal footing in competing and cooperating on group projects.” I wholeheartedly agree.
My most cherished experience at GraSPP was the 2012 Study Trip to the Tohoku region. Although a year and a half had passed since thetsunami devastated northern Japan, reconstruction had yet to begin in many areas. We were allowed access to local mayors, hospital directors, NPOs, local business owners and residents, graduate students, and temporary housing leaders throughout the region. After identifying
which policy challenges remained in the region, our group̶a cohesive mix of both Japanese and international students̶were able to apply
skills acquired in the classroom to a real and sensitive event, and make informed recommendations to our alumni and colleagues.
As a second-year student at Columbia Universityʼs School of International and Public Aﬀairs (SIPA), I continue to study US-East Asia relations
and East Asian security under highly regarded specialists on the region. This dual program has provided me with an understanding of economics, diplomacy, and security from both Eastern and Western perspectives, and I hope that this understanding will allow me to help
strengthen ties between the US and Asia in meaningful ways after school. Though the dual degree is an amazing opportunity, I could have
easily stayed at Todai for year two. I already miss being on the Hongo campus. Iʼm sure the Gingko trees look amazing now! I also miss studying with the brightest and kindest the world has to oﬀer. Best of luck to all of my amazing colleagues at Todai!

International Student Interview(Republic of Korea)

MPP/IP course (2nd year)

Ilya Vasilenko(Russia)

MPP/IP course (2nd year)-What did you think of the classes?
I : I really enjoyed(Professors Katsuya Hihara, Masako Okano and Yuichiro Yoshida) with a lot of guest
speakers and ﬁeld trips. As far as the student presentation is concerned, student-teacher discussions could have gone
deeper to make them better had there been an opportunity to do a presentation sometime during the course. It is my
only regret because the subject matter was very interesting.
J : The MPP/IP course emphasizes economic subjects. This is what I have wished for, and I ﬁnd it stimulating. However, GraSPP
might be able to draw more on its strong points if the students acquired a basic knowledge of economics beforehand.
-Is there anything about Japanese people and the society that has surprised you?
I : What surprised me the most was that extreme competitiveness of the Japanese people and society. Although the country
has few natural resources and (both government and corporate) management is conservative and rigid, the nation hasnʼtcollapsed. Is it because fairness and honesty are the fundamental code of behavior in Japan?
Job hunting looks very diﬃcult in Japan. Students in Russia are not as much oriented toward big companies as in Japan.
Many think they can showcase their capabilities more in small companies that liked them enough to hire. So they take a
job in small or medium-size companies.
J : Personally, I think competition is a lot more intense in Korea. Everyone makes desperate eﬀorts in Korea because youʼllnever know when you might be ﬁred even if you are an executive in a big company like Samsung. The father of a friend ofmine is a Samsung executive. I hear he routinely arrives at work at six oʼclock in the morning. Because relative evaluation
is everything there, students regard their performance at school in terms of competition with others. Job hunting is ﬁercelycompetitive too. Many students want to work for big companies just like in Japan, but competition is more intense thanin Japan because the rate of advancement to university is extremely high and there are not enough big companies andmiddle-scale companies in Korea. This ﬁercely competitive society may be a cause that is making Koreans less considerateor empathetic to others than Japanese.
-What is your plan for getting a job?
I : Iʼm going to look for a job in Japan. I have a consulting ﬁrm run by Russians on mind. This ﬁrm operates as a conduit for
attracting Japanese technologies and companies to Russia.
J : I have been very fortunate and blessed to be able to study at Waseda University and GraSPP. Lately I have been pondering
what my mission might be. I think Iʼd like to serve at a high level for regional cooperation in Asia in return for all the support
I have received. It doesnʼt matter whether it is a government or an international agency. My choice will be an organization
where I can work to promote economic cooperation in Asia and to contribute to the growth of the Southeast Asia. Therewill be a wide range of choices. Whichever path (organization) I may take, I will be happy if I can ultimately accomplish myobjectives.
(Interview and text by editor)

NEWSLETTER

3No.

Jongwon Lee

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO-I heard both of you speak Japanese better I do.
Ilya (“I”) : In Saint Petersburg, where I have lived since I was four, I have always been in touch with the Japanese languageand culture. I watched movies like theand animes such as
on the internet withJapanese subtitles. I also had some friends among Japanese expatriates working for trading companies. The Japanese
Consulate General in Saint Petersburg is very active in cultural exchanges. They organize various events, such as aJapanese Film Festival and Japanese speech contests.
Jongwon (“J”) : When I enrolled in the School of International Liberal Studies of Waseda University, the foreign students
were required to take 6-credit Japanese language course. Because of that, speaking in Japanese for hours does not tireme out any more. I watchedtoo. The Wachowski brothers who directed the Hollywood ﬁlm
declared that they were inﬂuenced by this anime.
-Is there any culture or custom of Japan that you think is unique to this country?
J : I want to go to a maid café just once, but canʼt muster enough courage yet to do so. (“Me too!” says Ilya.) Other than that,Iʼd say, "cosplays" and Shibuya gals.
I : Drunks who sleep on the train on a Friday night. That's impossible in other countries at any rate. Of course, we havedrunks sleeping outside in Russia too. Some even fall once they get out of bars. Russians drink far more than Japanesepeople, although the number of non-drinkers is on the rise recently, even in Russia. I quit drinking too.

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Pre-Graduation Ceremony and Reception@ Kojima Hall and Capo PELLICANO Hongo

July 31, 2012

The word “internationalization” reminds me of mymother. Long time ago, a Pakistani family with a baby
moved in near my parentsʼ home. The baby was soadorable that my mother talked to the family everyday
saying (in Japanese) “Good morning. Isnʼt the baby cute?” When
she went to New York, she put all coins on her palm and extended
her hand to a young man at the deli counter as if to say “take what I
owe you from here” as she could not speak English. The young man
laughed and picked out what she owed out of her hand. To deal
with people with an open mind without preconceived ideas - it
may sound easy, but not always so. (Editor)

NEWSLETTER

Editorʼs
Postscript

4

NEWSLETTER ［Editor+publisher］GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
No.

30

THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO

東京大学公共政策大学院［date of publication］2012 . 12 . 11
［design］Masahiro ABiCo

7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan tel 03-5841-1710 fax 03-5841-7877

E-mail grasppnl@pp.u- tokyo.ac. jp

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