NEWSLETTER
NO.

27

2012 . 4 . 2

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

Contents

1 ERES Open Forum 2011 “Development and Funding of Housing Linked to Nursing Care and Assisted Living“
2 International Symposium: "Green Innovation and the Future of Japan" ／ 67th Public Policy Seminar
3 Student Interview [Miss Haruka Kuwahara]
4 Open Symposium: "Perspective on Medical Innovation and Systems related Healthcare" ／ Topical News

ERES Open Forum 2011

Development and Funding of Housing
Linked to Nursing Care and Assisted Living‒ Improvement of productivity in services for seniors and excellent social capital stock‒

Nobuhiro Naito Project Professor

Keiichi Ozawa
Deputy Vice-Minister of Land,
Infrastructure,Transport
and Tourism

With the backing of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and the Association for Real
Estate Securitization, ERES Open Forum 2011 was held on October 21, 2011 at Yasuda Auditorium with about
800 participants. The forum was held as a part of the research and exchange activities under the sponsoredlecture series "Envisioning Real Estate Securitization (Mitsui Fudosan)" (ERES), and drew participation from aspectrum of practitioners and researchers from government agencies, welfare industry, nursing care industry,ﬁnancial industry, real estate industry, construction industry, consultancies, and universities.
The forum opened with host's greetings delivered by Visiting Professor Yoshitsugu Kanemoto, and greetings from guests delivered by Deputy Vice-Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi

Masanobu Komoda
President of
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd

Ozawa and by President Masanobu Komoda of Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd. This was followed by the opening
keynote address, "The Economics of Aging Society in Metropolitan Regions", by Susumu Takahashi, Chairmanof the Institute, Japan Research Institute, Limited. The presentation took a broad perspective on topics such as
the need to develop high value-added industries in metropolitan areas by exiting the previous growth model
for major cities that relied on population inﬂux, and instead capturing the excess demand in the nursing care,child care, and education ﬁelds accompanying the aging of the population and the rising rate of female labor
force participation.
I presented a case study research on "Social Housing Investment through the Utilization of US Capital Markets", proposing "social investment funds" as a new form of public-private partnership utilizing market func-

Susumu Takahashi
Chairman of the Institute,Japan Research Institute, Limited

tions. Subsequently, Tomoo Matsuda, Senior Research Fellow of the Platinum Society Center, Mitsubishi
Research Institute, Inc., introduced senior communities on a university partnership model as an example of"American Large-Scale CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Community)", pointing out the importance of intellectual stimulation and multi-generational interactions in senior life.
The session ended with a panel discussion on "Development of Housing Linked to Nursing Care and Its
Issues" by Professor Tetsuo Tsuji (Institute of Gerontology, the University of Tokyo), Kisaburo Ishii (Director,
Urban Renaissance Agency), Hitoshi Kobayakawa (President, Gakken Cocofump Holdings Co., Ltd.), andTakashi Fujimura (General Manager, Shinsei Bank Health Care Finance Division), moderated by Project Profeskets toward land and funding in the development of "comprehensive regional care" core facilities and"services-inclusive housing for the elderly", the panel discussed the role of the Urban Renaissance Agency andthe signiﬁcance of health care REITs in implementing these plans.
Recordings and materials from the conference are available at
http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ERES/forum/2011-10-21/index.html.

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sor Atsushi Yoshida. Recognizing the importance of public-private collaboration and utilization of capital mar-1

International Symposium:"Green Innovationand the Future of Japan"
Jun Izawa Visiting Researcher (INPEX Corporation)
The international symposium "Green Innovation and the Future of Japan" was held on
November 8, 2011 at Koshiba Hall. The symposium came under the aegis of the INPEX Corporation sponsored lecture series "Energy Security and Environment" , initiated in April 2010.
In his keynote address, former IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka raised the issue of theadverse eﬀects on the world economy of high oil prices trending at over US$100 per barrel,
and noted that energy conservation is the most eﬀective measure that can be taken by consuming countries. He pointed out that Japan has the lowest proportion of renewable energy
within primary energy among the OECD countries, and that the keys to coming closer to parwith the US and Europe lie in connecting the Eastern and Western Japan power grids, in international cooperation, and in the use of storage batteries.
In the subsequent ﬁrst session, Itaru Yasui, Vice-Rector Emeritus of the United Nations University, discussed ideas for smart grids of the future. These are based on a combination of
power generation that makes use of hydro, geothermal, and CCS (carbon dioxide, capture andstorage) fossil fuel, stable power supply networks using fuel cells, and heat supply networks
using means such as city gas. Separate from these, the power source for electric vehicles
would focus on electricity from unstable natural energy sources. In the next session, Kazumasa Kusaka, former special advisor to the Cabinet, noted that while there is much room forreducing CO2 emissions in developing countries through the introduction of Japanese technology, the speciﬁcations of the technology can be too high, especially in the case of someemerging markets. This may instead make lower prices the key for adoption, he noted.
In the symposium, many interesting ideas were presented on future policy options and on
the possibilities for actions aimed at corporate business expansion, based on a variety of
global warming countermeasures. We are deeply grateful to everyone who participated andsupported the symposium.

67th Public Policy Seminar
The 67th Public Policy Seminar was held on November 29, 2011 at the Large Conference
Room in the Faculty of Law Building 4 with Nippon Steel Corporation Chairman Akio Mimura
as presenter.
Despite the concept of a company as belonging to its shareholders, Mr. Mimura, whose
wish is to make the company one in which employees work with pride, conducts management under the belief that the company should not
be possessed by the sort of shareholders like day traders.
Dealt a blow by the Plaza Accord of 1985, Nippon Steel Corporation undertook thorough business rationalization involving a 75% reduction of its workforce. Asked by the union at the time to spell out the direction in which the company was heading, Mr. Mimura keenly felt theneed for a corporate philosophy indicating the path down which the company should proceed. Corporate management must secure stability
in management while it considers growth, he noted, and what is vital for this is recognition of and response to crises. As an illustration of
Nippon Steel Corporation's crisis response, the company ﬁrst announced a medium-term vision and undertook rationalization following the
NEWSLETTER

Plaza Accord. Subsequently, when Mittal Steel (Netherlands) conducted a hostile takeover of Arcelor (Luxembourg), Nippon Steel Corpora-2tion responded by forming a soft alliance with POSCO (South Korea), Sumitomo Metal Industries, and Kobe Steel (both Japan). At the present,with Japan's demand-led growth having peaked while emerging economies achieve development, Nippon Steel Corporation is scheduled tomerge with Sumitomo Metals Industries in October 2012 to raise its international competitiveness.
Mr. Mimura also commented on the signiﬁcance of Japan's participation in TPP and on his hopes for students. The seminar encouraged
rethinking of the ideal form for companies and of the relationship of companies, society, and the state.

When did you decide to join the assembly?
I have always been a political person, raised in a household where we talked about topics in the newspaper. When I entered
GraSPP, I was vaguely aware that there was an election coming up in three years. However, to become an assembly member I
thought that I ﬁrst should gain experience in society. I became interested in ﬁsh while talking classes in the Ocean Policy Unit
and I also wanted to work in Niigata, so I found employment at a ﬁshmarket in Niigata Prefecture.
What made me think of running in the election was the Great East
Japan Earthquake. I impatiently decided to return to my hometown.
Tsunan was heavily damaged, with splits in the paths between ﬁelds.
Around the border with Nagano Prefecture were many residences
partially or completely destroyed; The area faces many other problems
too, such as industry and the declining birthrate and aging population. I
felt an acute desire to make changes in the town.
There are a lot of issues I want to tackle. The ﬁrst is reforming theassembly. I'm considering a live Internet stream of the assembly so thatpeople can observe its proceedings at any time. The entire town isUsing an illustration of a daruma dollto conserve campaign funds

GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO-Congratulations on your election to the municipal assembly of Tsunan-machi (Nakauonuma-gun, Niigata Prefecture).

already equipped with optical ﬁber. I'm thinking of a trial on Ustream in
March. I also want to put eﬀorts into agriculture. I come from a part-time
agricultural family, and from April I'm an "agricultural gal". There is
Koshihikari rice grown in and certiﬁed by Tsunan, and Tsunan's Casablanca lilies are famous. Casablanca lilies from Tsunan were among thedecorations at the wedding reception of kabuki actor Ebizo Ichikawa
and Mao Kobayashi. We have many other local specialty products too. I
plan to think of ways to raise the income of farmers. Given the declining
birthrate and aging population, I also think that the time has come toconsider immigrant workers. Tsunan already has women from Thailand,
the Philippines, and Indonesia who have adapted to life in the town,
and I'm thankful to them for coming here.

Student Interview

10

No.

Haruka Kuwahara
Legal Policy Division, 2nd Year

Heading to a traditional ﬁreﬁghters' ceremonyin the morning-You spent a year studying abroad as an undergraduate at Oregon
State University, didnʼ t you?
It's on the West Coast, so had the appeal of being close to Japan. The
people were nice and many of them had new ideas. It felt to me like an
atypical part of America. I didn't have money, so instead of a dormitory, I
shared an apartment with three Americans for $300 a month.
I wrote a lot of papers and brushed up my composition skills. In
preparing papers, the teaching assistant (TA) was a big help. I waslaughed at by the TA, who told me "your papers are unique". I guess thelogical development of my writing was typical Japanese style.
-What GraSPP classes made an impression on you? Do you have anyother comments regarding GraSPP?

Handmade election car, The Haruka

The Case Study (Modern Administration) class of Professor Hiroya
Masuda, who pushed me forward when I ran for election, was vital. In Professor Masuda's and Professor Akira Morita's joint(currently Senior Oﬃcer, Transport Safety, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), I was able to heardirectly from people active on the front line of practical work, which made it a very valuable class.
GraSPP was a necessary place for me to become an assembly member. In the past there have been many graduates who
became bureaucrats, but an increasing number of students are becoming politicians. I think GraSPP will become an institution like the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management. (Interview and text by editor)

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Public Management I class, I learned the topic from the basics. In Maritime Industry Policy under Professor Tomoharu Hase

3

Open Symposium:"Perspective on Medical Innovation and Systems related Healthcare"
Satoko Nishimura Visiting Researcher
The Sompo Japan sponsored lecture series' open symposium

Obayashi (Editorial Writer, Nikkei Inc.) commented on the ideal form

"Perspective on Medical Innovation and Systems related Health-of health care provider systems, the promotion of IT in medicine,care" was held on October 13, 2011 in the Faculty of Law No. 25

and the importance of mechanisms for appropriately evaluatingclassroom. The symposium aimed to create an opportunity to think

medical value, on top of safety regulation, price regulation, andabout how innovation in medical care can be incorporated into

regulation of the number of beds.
In the second part of the panel discussion, Professor Hisao Endocontemporary Japanese society.
Following opening remarks by Professor Takao Shimizu(Gakushuin University) spoke about the importance of implement-(Executive Vice President), the keynote speech was delivered bying the concept of cost-eﬀectiveness in setting prices, as well as

three experts. First, Koji Hachiyama (Deputy Director, the Medicalthat of developing the supply-side environment, due to the unlikeli-

Innovation Promotion Oﬃce, Cabinet Secretary) introduced theness of insurance systems becoming tools for industrial develop-

government's initiatives to achieve quality and cost-eﬀective medi-

ment. Yasushi Kodama (attorney; Visiting Professor, University ofcal care to create a growth industry. Professor Larry Shapiro (Dean,

Tokyo) used comparisons with regulations for other forms of busi-

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis) used cases

ness to propose that strengthening information production func-of personalized and preventive medicine through genetics totions regarding regulations for health care, an uncertain technol-

explain how issues of ethics, regulations, and health care econom-

ogy, is an eﬀective measure. Kazuyuki Sugimoto (Chairman of the

ics are involved. Jaime Caro (Senior Vice President, United

Board of Directors, Mizuho Research Institute) voiced the necessity

BioSource) gave examples of countries employing health technol-of eliminating disparities and uneven distribution and of making

ogy assessments, in a discussion of the diﬃculty of striking a con-health care system management eﬃcient, through the review ofsensus between individual patient beneﬁt and public beneﬁt inhealth care provider systems and insurance systems. In closing

institutional design, and the importance of continuing the discus-

remarks, Dean Kuniaki Tanabe stated that it is vital for universities tosion among the public.

debate health care problems, which have a great impact on the

In the ﬁrst part of the panel discussion, Professor Yoichiro Matsu-

public's lives.

moto (Executive Vice President) brought up the realistic challenges

Despite the length of the session, nearly 300 persons participatedof ensuring safety when rapidly introducing new technologies intofrom within and outside the university. We would like to express

society. Yosuke Ozawa (President, Japan Tissue Engineering Co.,out thanks to everyone who participated in and cooperated withLtd.) oﬀered a critical analysis of the environment in Japan. Tsukasa

the event.

Topical News
Homecoming Day

Shoko Yamamoto, International Public Policy Division, 2nd Year

Homecoming Day was held on October 29, 2011. The following points set this year's event apart as
special: (1) Alumni were given an introduction to MPP/IP courses started in 2010; (2) Current students'
volunteer activities related to Great East Japan Earthquake reconstruction were reported, and a fundraising drive was held. To boost participation by current students, posters with photographs were placed
everywhere in the Administration Building No.2. The eﬀort was rewarded, and we are grateful to themany foreign students and the larger than usual number of teachers who attended. The Alumni Association looks forward to seeing everyone again next year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------A new book by former Professor Shinichi Nakabayashi of the Graduate School of Public Policy (currently
international consultant economist, IMF-Singapore Regional Training Institute), titled "The Economics of
G20: International Coordination and Strategies for Japan's Growth" (Chukoshinsho) was released on January 25. The book's main theme is "How should Japan act at G20 summits, with their conﬂicting international interests? What ﬁscal, monetary, and economic cooperation policies should Japan take amid therise of China, the euro crisis, and other turbulence in the world economy? This book explores ideal formsof policy coordination and international contribution amid the ﬁnancial crises, and oﬀers strategies forJapan's growth." This is a must-read for students with an interest in international political economy.

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Editorʼs
Postscript

4

A rare event: I enjoyed tiramisu handmade
by a male student. I was taken in by the lightly sweet
taste with just the right touch of liquor, and most of all,by the gentle sprinkling of cocoa powder performed on
the spot. While unexpected aspects of students always
surprise me, this may have been a once-in-a-lifetime
experience. (Editor)

NEWSLETTER
No.

27［Editor+publisher］GRADUATESCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY
THE UNIVERSIT Y OF TOKYO
東京大学公共政策大学院［date of publication］2012 . 4 . 2［design］Masahiro ABiCo

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

E-mail grasppn l @ pp.u- tokyo.ac. jp

http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp