The Asian Plaƞorm for Global Sustainability & Transcultural Studies
Kyoto University

AGST Newsletter

Featured in this issue:‐ International Collaborative Courses in GSE“International Business and Nation States” &“Historical Approaches to Business and Economics A”‐ HeKKSaGOn Spring School 2018 in Kyoto at GSL“Integrating Transcultural Studies in HeKKSaGOn” (2018/04/16‐21)‐ International Collaborative Courses in GSA“Advanced International Agribusiness: Creating Competitive Advantage”‐ Interview with AGST project professors
Prof. Joost Jongerden, Wageningen University, the Netherlands‐ News from AGST
and more

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018

From Graduate School of

Economics: International Collaborative Courses

International
Business andNation Statesby Prof. Ben Wubs

Erasmus University
RotterdamDuring the seven lectures, Prof. Wubs used chronological and com‐parative approach to present the dynamic roles that multinationalfirms and states play in the process of globalization.

First, Prof. Wubs made a brief introduction on MNEs and FDI. MNEs are
considered to be a countermeasure in face with the unreliable international
market, while FDI is the main measurement of multinational activities.
Second, the main internationalization process was divided into five periods: “First Industrial Revolution(1800‐1870)”, “Modern Imperialism (1870‐1914)”, “Crisis and Rebirth (1914‐1945)”, “New Global Economy(1945‐1990)”, and “Last twenty‐five years (1991‐now)” as epilogue. In each stages, some typical events wereselected to depict the time feature. With such a clear thread， students could lucidly understand the char‐acteristics of world business and developing trends in diﬀerent historical contexts. Prof. Wubs implied thatnew types of monopolies and advocation can be originated by firms and nations in order to meet with thenational demand of FDI, which also infers its counterforce on shaping world pattern.
Through taking this course, students were able to be equipped with a long‐term perspective on the devel‐
opment of international business and the interactive relationships among nations. Also, Prof. Wubs includ‐
ed abundant historical events of Netherlands, which was fresh and interesting for attendants who are notfamiliar with this country.
In the end, some of the students had opportunities to show their current researches in the class, receiving
valuable comments from Prof. Wubs and classmates.

A

s a Business historian, Prof. Peter Miskell intended to give students an in‐depth look ofthis discipline itself in both theoretical and practical ways, as well as illustrate the basic
quality that a Business Historian should have.

Six sessions were given in three days. On the first day, class discussed from theoretical perspec‐
tive， starting from the deep comprehension of “History”, then transited to “Business History”,
telling the similarities and diﬀerences between these two fields，and made a compact overview
of the evolution of the latter discipline.

Historical Approaches
to Business andEconomics A
by Prof. Peter Miskell
University of Reading

On the second day, Prof. Miskell stood on the crossing point of history and other social science
subjects, setting forth the attitude that researchers should have and possible choices when fac‐
ing with confusion.
On the last day, some practical guidance was given in detail. Prof. Miskell elaborated the development
status of Business History in the world nowadays from various dimensions, including the diﬀerencesamong countries and languages, the information of related journals, etc. These detailed and accurate infor‐
mation is highly beneficial for students who aspire to step into this field.
In the end, students were required to present their own understanding and comprehension on this disci‐pline with free forms. Rather than only conducting lectures, this course was more like a two‐way discus‐sion. Prof. Miskell were willing to hear diﬀerent voices from students and answer their questions. All of thestudents enjoyed the relaxed class atmosphere and enlightening course contents.
Yameng Zhao
Master’s course student, Graduate School of Economics

Report from GSE

I

n January 2018, the Graduate School of Economics organized an English brush‐up course for its
graduate students. Its primary objective was to help students improve their presentation skills.
Eleven students, from Japan, China, Indonesia, and the United States, participated in thecourse. Divided into two groups, the students practiced their presentations in small groups.

The course covered various aspects of making a presentation, such as how to maintain an appro‐
priate posture, how to keep presentation slides simple, and how to organize their ideas. Partici‐
pants learned these techniques by actually giving a short presentation. After receiving feedback
from peers and an instructor, they presented their research in a mock conference setting. Progress
was notable—compared to their initial presentation, all participants looked more comfortable presenting their ideas to an audi‐
ence and were able to communicate their message more clearly. Students are expected to present their work at an international
conference in order to improve their research and help advance their future career.

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018

From Graduate School ofLetters: HeKKSaGOn Spring School 2018

HeKKSaGOn Spring School2018 in Kyoto

Integrating Transcultural
Studies in HeKKSaGOn(2018/04/16‐21)As part of their ongoing cooperation in education and research, the two HeK‐
KSaGOn partners Kyoto and Heidelberg University deepened their collabo‐
ration by establishing a new joint degree master programme in Transcultural
Studies. The first cohort of students have enrolled in the programme in April 2018. In
conjunction with the establishment of this new major, the Graduate School of Let‐ters of Kyoto University invited twenty two students from the six HeKKSaGOn insti‐
tutions to participate in a spring school for advanced MA students and doctoral can‐didates. The spring school seeked oﬀers students the opportunity to engage the per‐spective of transculturality by studying with experts who have established this fieldof inquiry.

The spring school took place from April 16 to 21, and invited up to nine scholars from each HeK‐
KSaGOn university to participate in theoretical lectures, methodological workshops, and appliedfieldwork within one of the three following research foci:Knowledge, Belief and Religion (KBR): This focus investigates the dynamic histories, circulations
and practices of knowledge, beliefs and religion. It highlights relations between, and entangle‐
ments of, political and ideological, social and cultural, linguistic, and artistic aspects. Of particularinterest are disciplines such as philosophy, history and art history, religious studies and philology,
and anthropology. This focus emphasises the engagement with a variety of resources and sources,from archival, to textual to visual and material matter.
Society, Economy and Governance (SEG): This focus explores complex histories of globalisationand transregional connectivities. Key themes here are the social, political, and cultural dimensionsof market dynamics and networks, the shaping and governance of social systems (e.g., civil socie‐ty), consumer cultures, transregional migration, demographic change, global governance, and ur‐banisation processes.
Visual, Media and Material Culture (VMC): This focus deals with the production, proliferation, andreception of images and objects as well as their collection, display, and reconfiguration with a viewto the human agency involved. Transculturality also addresses the enmeshing of visual technolo‐gies, institutional practices, placemaking, and im/mobility in ways that cut across bipolar asymme‐
tries. Interdisciplinary conversations and research‐based projects help reach into literary, linguis‐tic, musical, performative or ritual dimensions of creative cultures.
Wako Asato
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Letters

Report from GSL

T

he Graduate School of Letters organized CATS (Courses on Asian and Transcultural Stud‐ies) Teaching Staﬀ Workshop on March 30, 2018. The Joint Degree Master Program inTranscultural Studies (JDTS) have seen its first students in this academic year and the
CATS are now oﬀered as a Top Global Course certificate program.
At the workshop, Dr. Björn‐Ole Kamm who is the coordinator of the
JDTS program introduced about “Transcultural Studies” and its “Three
Study Foci”, and then teaching staﬀ involved in CATS and the JDTS
clarified structural, educational and practical aspects of the two programs and discussed the upcoming
academic year.

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018

From Graduate School of

Agriculture: International Collaborative Courses

Advanced International
Agribusiness: Creating
Competitive Advantage
by Dr. James Lockhart &Dr. Wayne MacphersonF

rom February 2nd through the 7th 2018, a 4 day intensive seminar was taught
by Dr. James Lockhart and Dr. Wayne Macpherson from the Massey Business
School at Massey University in New Zealand. The course entitled “Advanced
International Agribusiness: Creating Competitive Advantage” was organized as part of
the Japan Gateway: Kyoto University Top Global Program through the Division of Nat‐ural Resource Economics at the Graduate School of Agriculture (GSA). This special
course, designed to be worth 1 credit, comprised of 6 sessions with field trips to the
Kyoto Central Wholesale Market and a special tour of Kyoto Co‐op in Shimogamo.

Massey Business School, Massey
University in New Zealand

Dr. Lockhart and Dr. Macpherson co‐taught a very insightful and discussion filledcourse investigating the value systems within the agri‐food sector focusing on exam‐
ples within the New Zealand, United States, and Japan context. Throughout thecourse, Dr. Lockhart and Dr. Macpherson opened up questions around who within theagri‐food value system holds bargaining power and where value and wealth was added or lostalong the commodity chain. One of the key questions we pondered over throughout the course
was: How do we make the pie bigger for the farmer? How can we build more wealth and capture
more value for the farmer when most of the bargaining power lies with the consumer and otheractors within the value system?

Using the Z‐form value systems model, the course identified where value was created and de‐stroyed from the farmer to the consumer. We looked at various examples of appellation on how
value of agri‐food products could be created through regionalization and branding (i.e. Cham‐pagne or Manuka honey). We were fortunate to attend two field trips. Our first field trip was to
Kyoto Central Wholesale Market to observe the auctioning that takes place every morning for
fruits and vegetables coming in from diﬀerent prefectures and countries. We also had a special
visit and tour of Kyoto Coop, a consumer cooperative grocery store in Shimogamo. These two field
trips allowed for us to deepen our understanding of how time, distance, processing facilities, dis‐tribution centers, and shelf life impact the value of the product and where wealth is created anddestroyed as it travels from the producer all the way to the consumer. By observing the store oper‐
ations and asking questions to the managers of Kyoto Coop, we deepened our analysis aroundconsumer behavior and consumer lifestyles of those in Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.
We drew connections between consumer behavior within diﬀerent contexts and the value system
to formulate ideas and opinions on how the food system could be designed to build more wealthfor the farmer and producer. The course concluded with each student reflecting on their own re‐spective countries to write a paper on a consumer market of our choice and identify where com‐
petitive advantage was created or destroyed. Dr. Lockhart and Dr. Macpherson’s course opened up
the opportunity to think more critically about solutions to issues surrounding the current global
food system and commodity chains as consumers in developed countries are shifting their deci‐
sions beyond taste, price, and convenience to also include health and wellness, safety, social im‐
pact, and experience.
Chika Kondo
Masters Student
Graduate School of Agriculture

Report from GSA

I

n addition to the lecture course featured above, another international collaborative course
was held at the Division of Natural Resource Economics in the GSA during the fall/wintersemester of the academic year 2017‐2018. The course, held from February 28th to March 2nd,
2018, was taught by Prof. Etienne Montaigne from Montpellier SupAgro, France.

The three‐day course, entitled “Wine Economics and Market Chain,” was designed to provide
students with a basic understanding of the history of the European and French wine sector with aparticular focus on tracing how the region’s wine market laws and regulations have evolved in
response to changing social and economic circumstances and to introduce them to some analytical tools, such as the “filiere”
analysis or market chain analysis, that have been developed in the tradition of the French agro‐food and rural economics.

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018

Interview with AGST Project Professors
Dr. Joost Jongerden
Assistant Professor, Wageningen university
The Netherlands+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kyoto University and Wageningen University’s gradu‐
ate students come together for a two‐day workshop to
discuss international rural development issues+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

S

tudents and faculty
members from Kyo‐to University andWageningen University (inthe Netherlands) met atthe fourth annual Interna‐
tional Graduate Workshop
on Food, Farm and Rural
Development that allowed
Master and Doctoral stu‐
dents to present their re‐search, solicit feedback
and exchange ideas.
Many of the presentations touched on the theme related to “thereconstruction and rediscovery of the rural”, stated Professor Bettina
Bock, from the Rural Sociology Group of Wageningen Universi‐ty, during her closing remarks. For Professor Bock, it was encourag‐ing to see students engage in this area and to be aware of the“continuum between the rural and urban”, as this is something thatmany industrialized countries have forgotten and need to become
more familiar with.
Professor Bock and other professors working on food and agri‐
cultural issues also attended the workshop and, through sharing
their experiences and insights, they imparted wisdom and advice on
how students could improve their research.
After the workshop, Professor Joost Jongerden, one of the work‐
shop’s main organizers who is also a member from the Rural Sociol‐
ogy Group and the Center for Space, Place and Society
at Wageningen University, took the time to share his thoughts
about the workshop and describe Wageningen University’s collabo‐
ration with Kyoto University. As a Project professor of the Asian
Platform for Global Sustainability and Transcultural Studies at Kyo‐to University, he has been working extensively to create opportuni‐
ties for collaboration between the two universities.

Q1: This is the fourth annual workshop organized by Kyo‐to University and Wageningen University. What do you thinkof this year’s workshop?

Over the last two days, I was pleased to see many high‐quality
presentations and to witness some interesting and constructive dis‐cussions that followed them. I think we must keep in mind the chal‐lenging task that these students face, which is to work with complex
theoretical frameworks in order to explain various issues and phe‐nomena. During the workshop, it was clear that these students aremanaging to do that very well and should be commended on theireﬀorts.

Q2: What did you find the most interesting or inspiring
during the workshop?
Professor Jongerden: It was interesting to see how almost
all the presentations communicated a very strong common andshared interest in revaluing the countryside, which was noted byProfessor Bettina Bock. I also found it inspiring to see students en‐
thusiastically and constructively engage with others’ research andtry to grapple with various perspectives in a rigorous way.

Q3: How do you think the workshop can be better?
Professor Jongerden: There were a couple of new things
introduced during this workshop that I think might be worth con‐tinuing. For example, I liked Professor Dirk Roep’s suggestion about
asking the presenter to explain to the audience what they would likefeedback on. I think this proved to be more beneficial for the pre‐senter, compared to the more common, haphazard approach where
the audience tends to have more sway over what aspects of the re‐search and/or presentation are discussed during the Q&A. I thinkthat by putting the onus on the presenter to formulate the questions
or problems, increases the chances of a more purposeful discussion
in way that allows the presenters to collect tangible ideas for im‐
proving their research. So perhaps we should consider including thispractice for next time.
Another point related to the Q&A… I think we should look at
having shorter, more focused presentations to ensure that Q&A
sessions are not cut short. I noticed on a couple occasions that once
there was a nice momentum going during the Q&A and key issues
were discussed, time was up. So, this is another potential area thatneeds to be looked at when preparing the schedule.

Q4: Could you explain the nature of collaboration be‐
tween Wageningen University and Kyoto University?
Professor Jongerden: Our collaboration goes back about 15
years ago, which has mainly comprised of exchanges between facul‐
ty members. Then, after a few years, our collaboration intensified
and was eventually formalized. For the past 10 years, our activities
have spanned many fields of study with a focus on promoting ex‐change and education through workshops like this one, as well as
conferences, seminars and student exchange programs. To advancecollaboration, one idea is work more together on research. Hopeful‐ly we will see this come to fruition
over the near future.

Professor Jongerden: I think the overall objective wasachieved, which is to promote exchange between students and fac‐ulty, and to encourage graduate students to further develop theirresearch. For making this exchange possible, I would like to thankthose from Kyoto University (both the Graduate School of Econom‐
ics and the Asian Platform for Global Sustainability & Transcultural
Studies).

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018

Tsilavo Ralandison
Senior lecturer
AGST,CPIER(Interviewed on 11th May 2018
at Kyoto University)News from AGSTTop Global Course
The AGST Top Global Course is a cerƟficate programme which isprovided by AGST and it aims to equip students with the skills
and knowledge necessary to contribute to sustainability by allowing them to explore key concepts, issues and potenƟal soluƟons from various perspecƟves and to do so in an academic andreal-world seƫng.
Top Global Course students are given a variety of opportuniƟes
such as taking intensive courses taught by visiƟng scholars andsubject maƩer experts as well as other courses taught in English
across the AGST member graduate schools. Students are also
encouraged and supported to conduct research under internaƟonal co-supervision at a partner university.
We put specific period for applicaƟon as follows;
July & August for the students who enrolled last April
January & February for the students who enrolled last October
To learn more about the Top Global Course and the submission
process, please visit:
hƩp://agst.jgp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/top-global-course

AGST Working Paper Series

To learn more about the AGST-WPS and the submission process, please visit:
hƩp://agst.jgp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/working-paper-series.
QuesƟons about the AGST-WPS can be sent toagst[at]mail2.adm.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Information from GSE
See AGST website for details.
hƩp://agst.jgp.kyoto-u.ac.jp/topics_pg

Information Session for
AGST TOP GLOBAL COURSE
When?
Where?
Who?

in the Graduate School of Economics(except EA course students)

The AGST Working Paper Series (AGST-WPS) is a collecƟon ofresearch works produced by faculty members, researchers andstudents from the GSE, GSL and GSA as well as their partner
universiƟes.
The aim of the AGST-WPS is to widely circulate research outputs
in a way that promotes scholarly discussion and solicits feedback. All papers included in the AGST-WPS have undergone arigorous review process.
Topics covered in the AGST-WPS relate to the six AGST modules: Environmental Policy and Rural Development Studies(Module 1); Business History and Industry Policy Studies(Module 2); Developing and Emerging Economies Studies(Module 3); InternaƟonal Trade and Financial Studies (Module4); Business Management and AccounƟng Studies (Module 5);
and Asian and Transcultural Studies (Module 6).

July 10, 2018 | 12:15‐12:45
8th floor meeting room

Call for entries
Overseas Challenge Programme
When?
Where?
Who?

June 1‐25, 2018
International Aﬀairs Oﬃce, GSE
GSE students who are highly moti‐
vated to study abroad

We invite any faculty member, researcher, or student (doctoraland master’s) from the GSE, GSL and GSA, as well as their partner universiƟes, who has conducted research that is related to
one or more of the above-menƟoned modules to submit theirwork to the AGST-WPS.

Published by The Asian Platform for Global Sustainability & Transcultural Studies (AGST)
Edited by
AGST Head Oﬃce (Graduate School of Economics)
Faculty of Law and Faculty of Economics East Bldg., Kyoto University
Yoshida‐honmachi, Sakyo‐ku, Kyoto 606‐8501 JAPAN
Phone: 075‐753‐3476
URL: https://agst.jgp.kyoto‐u.ac.jp/

AGST Newsletter | Spring/Summer 2018