On April 16 (Fri) and 17 (Sat), 2010, the 21st “Rokko Conference” was held at Kobe Portopia Hotel with approximate 40 “learned men and women” in the Kansai District as participants. The theme of the conference was “Strategies for the human capital development to revitalize Japan.” On the first day, I gave a sixty minute presentation on “Human capital development in the global age,” and Mr. Osamu Kaneda, Vice Chairman of IBM Japan, Inc. on “Human capital strategic issues from the standpoint of the corporate world.” Then all the participants, divided into four groups, made in-depth discussion on these topics. On the second day, Mr. Junichiro Koizumi, a former prime minister, gave an impassioned speech entitled “The path for Japan to take,” It is expected that the proceedings of this conference will be made available sometime in the future. Please click here to see a PDF file of the slides of my presentation.

The Opening Exercises (or the Entrance Ceremony) of the University of Tokyo took place at the Nihon Budohkan (http: //www.nipponbudokan.or.jp/), which is near Chidorigafuchi famous for its beautiful cherry blossoms.

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Following the ceremony for the undergraduate freshmen held in the morning, the ceremony for the graduate school’s entering students （both Master’s and Doctor’s candidates) commenced at 2 pm. I was told that the seating capacity is about 3,100 on the first floor and 7,800 seats for the 2nd and 3rd floors combined. Since the first floor was almost full of the students, and the second and third floors were approximately two thirds full by the parents, the total number of audience was estimated around 8,000.

Following the address by President Jun-ichi Hamada, and the speech by Prof. Hiroyuki Yamato, Dean of the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, I gave a congratulatory speech as a guest.

Then a recorded video of Astronaut Mr. Souichi Noguchi, an alumnus of the Aerospace Engineering Department, transmitted from the Space Shuttle was projected on the screen. Then after the “swear-in” by a student representing the entering class, all participants sang “Only One”, the school song of the University of Tokyo to finish the ceremony.

The entering graduate students: I wish to extend my congratulations to all of you. We are here to celebrate your successful achievement to have been admitted to the Graduate School of Todai, and I am delighted to participate in this wonderful Opening Exercises. Before I give my speech, however, I would like to know your background. First of all, those of you who graduated from the University of Tokyo last month: will you please raise your hand. Next, those who graduated from other universities in Japan are asked to raise your hand. Then, international students, please raise your hand. Female students, please raise your hand. Finally, those who worked in society for a while and are here to resume your study in the graduate study, please raise your hand. Thank you! Now I have a better idea about the composition of this entering class.

Now I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a few topics that I have been thinking about recently and I hope some of my comments will be of some help to your career planning.

As you may know, Japan became an economic power house within three decades after World War II. Yet, our economy has been stagnant for the past twenty years, namely since around the time when you were born, so that Japan’s economic growth rate during this period has been the lowest among countries in the industrialized world. Japan is now much behind the U.S. in such fields as information technology, software in particular. In the manufacturing industry and material industry, where Japan has excelled in the past, Taiwan, South Korea and China have caught up, and in some sectors they have surpassed Japan. Why did these things happen? Have you given enough thought to these situations?

I, as a Japanese citizen, have exchanged opinions on this problem with some of my friends and knowledgeable individuals. Different people give different explanations or excuses. Although this may sound somewhat offensive, I believe one of the main reasons is that many of our leaders are, regrettably, not so capable, lacking knowledge, insight and English ability that are so crucial for competing in today’s global world. The proliferation of the Internet, digitalization of products, and the rise of our industrialized Asian neighbors and India in today’s globalized environment , all these have fundamentally changed the framework from that of 20 years ago, in which we carry out product development, design, manufacturing and marketing. Japan is in a very difficult position today, precisely because most of the managers and staff in Japanese corporations are not sufficiently experienced in international business, nor are they well connected to, and directly communicate with, the leaders of other countries at a personal level so that they are not capable of mapping out effective strategies in response to this paradigm shift.

In this regard, I think that education and the system of the Japanese university are also responsible. If any of you who are present here, including the parents of the students, have read or remember about a book published by a Mr. Ivan Hall in 1998, entitled “Cartels of the Mind: Japan’s Intellectual Closed Shop” [1] , please raise your hands. It seems that this book has not been widely read by Japanese intellectuals, as I suspected. Mr. Hall is a Pro-Japanese scholar and journalist who, after having obtained his BA degree in history from Princeton University and his Ph.D. degree in Japanese studies from Harvard University , lived in Japan for 35 years, and taught at several Japanese universities. In his book, he critically points out how exclusive Japanese universities are against non-Japanese scholars. I think that the situation has not changed much even today, although it has been twelve years since the book was published. I would like to urge you to read this book: both English and Japanese editions are still available.

It is true that many outstanding foreign students can be found today on the Japanese university campus, as we find here, and this may give a false impression that Japanese universities have made great strides in internationalization, but in the essential aspect they have made little progress [2]. The Japanese university has not made a serious effort to enhance its vitality, creativity, and international competitiveness by bringing in top-notch researchers and educators from abroad. Instead, they appoint mostly Japanese nationals who have similar backgrounds and the same sense of values.
Then it becomes obvious that we cannot produce creative talents who can compete, or effectively collaborate, with foreign countries in the knowledge intensive industries, nor nurture future leaders who can lead Japan, equipped with a global vision and effective communication skills.

As you may know , many professional baseball and soccer teams in Japan today routinely recruit excellent players and coaches from abroad, and many foreign wrestlers play an active part in Sumo, Japan’s national sport. In the Winter Olympic Games held at Vancouver, many of the figure skaters from China, South Korea and Japan who won medals were trained by outstanding foreign coaches. Why don’t Japanese universities do similar things?

The highest recognition in the fields of natural sciences, medicine, economics and literature that corresponds to a gold medal in the Olympic Games is perhaps the Nobel prize. Japan has won 16 Nobel prizes, including two scholars who became U.S. citizens. This is one twentieth of the 320 Nobel prizes won by the U.S. , and Japan ranks 12th in the world in this respect [3] . Another interesting table found in the official Web site of the Nobel Foundation shows the number of Nobel prizes won by universities [4]. Kyoto University has won two, Todai, Nagoya University, Tsukuba University, the former Tokyo University of Education, and Kyoto Sangyo University each have won one. Harvard University alone has won 24 Nobel prizes. Princeton University, which has only 800 professors at all ranks has won 11 Nobel prizes . The University of Cambridge in the UK is among the top ten universities in the world , but the remaining nine are all U.S. universities . Of course, we cannot measure the quality or strength of a university just based on the number of Nobel prizes. But there is no question that the best universities of the world are overwhelmingly concentrated in the United States. This is because American universities and American society welcome foreigners and treat them equally regardless of their origins and give them opportunities to flourish. Consequently, outstanding scholars come to the U.S. universities from all over the world.

So what should you do? I believe that the next two to three years will be the most critical period in your life. You should decide what you really want in your life, and make a careful plan accordingly, and spend your precious time wisely. You should plan to make your experience at Todai as a spring board for your next big jump.

Those who are entering the master’s degree courses, please raise your hands. I strongly urge you to pursue your Ph.D. study at one of the top U.S. universities after having obtained your master’s degree here. A first-rate U.S. university engages outstanding professors, who offer well -structured lectures at the graduate level , and attracts the most brilliant and competitive students and researchers from all over the world. In U.S . universities, all Ph.D. candidates receive financial support in terms of either a fellowship or assistantship that covers your tuition and stipend [5]. You may find useful information from Japan Student Services Organization (JASS) [6].

By the way, how many of you know about TOEFL? Raise your hand. TOEFL stands for “Test of English as a Foreign Language.” Then what is the acronym GRE? GRE stands for “Graduate Record Examination,” and it is a test to examine the ability in math, English and analysis of a student who has finished the undergraduate-level study. Of course it is essential that you have excellent grades on your transcripts for undergraduate and graduate courses, and have strong recommendation letters from your professors at Todai. If you are an outstanding student of Todai, you will have a good chance to be accepted by a top U.S. university once your clear TOEFL and GRE, because it is widely known even abroad that Todai is a top-class university in Japan. At any rate, I urge you to take your first TOEFL and GRE tests at your earliest convenience to find out where your current ability stands, and then study accordingly so that you should be able to attain the passing scores by the time when your application is due. Because my specialty is in science and engineering, I tend to emphasize the strength of U.S. universities, but there are many excellent universities outside the U.S. , depending on your chosen field. It is of utmost importance for you to select a place that will provide you with the best environment for your study. If you wish to study, for instance, French literature or French history, you may want to choose France instead of America.

Those who are enrolled in the doctoral courses here: please raise your hand. I would like you to seriously consider seeking a post-doctoral fellow position at a U.S. university. In order to find an opportunity for a post-doctoral fellow appointment, you may have a chance to meet U.S . professors in the field of your specialty at international conferences. Don’t be shy! Introduce yourself to them, and follow up the meetings by sending them reprints of your papers. You should also prepare yourself to become proficient in presenting your ideas and writing scholarly papers in correct English. I should also call your attention to the JSPS ( Japan Society for the Promotion of Science ) program called “Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad.” [7]

Many of you who are enrolled in the master ‘s degree program may not pursue a research or academic career, but instead take a position in society upon graduation. Even though you may not have an opportunity to study abroad or gain international experiences in the near future, I strongly advise that you make a serious effort to study English while you are still a student so that you can write and speak English adequately. I believe that there will be an increasing demand in this globalization age for intellectuals who have a deep knowledge of international affairs, economics, history and culture, and have the ability to communicate fluently in English, the de facto international language, on matters of his or her own field of specialty.

You should feel confident that you are blessed with excellent brain and have worked harder than others so that you have been admitted to the graduate school of the prestigious University of Tokyo. I want you to further enhance your ability and aim to lead a worthy and challenging life by proactively confronting this era of rapid globalization. Don’t become one of “the frogs in the well that do not know the ocean.” As an old alumnus of Todai, I sincerely hope that you will become a competent leader of Japan— no, of the world, and heighten the reputation of Todai.

Finally, to the parents who are present, I express my hearty congratulation and respect for your successful effort to bring up your sons and daughters, who will hold responsible positions for Japan in the future. But your continued encouragement and support will be required for these young people to succeed in revitalizing Japan. In order for the University of Tokyo to become on a par with the top universities in the world, it will require adequate financial resources. As you may be aware, while the independent incorporation of the national university will encourage the autonomy and independence of the university, the amount of grants from the Government is likely to decline. The fund asset or endowment of Todai is approximately 25 billion yen. Added to this is the scholarship donation of
$20 Billion Yen, which will make the total asset approximately 45 Billion yen, or $ 450 millions. The endowment of Harvard University is about $ 35 billions, and that of Princeton University is $15.8 billions. In terms of the number of students, Todai holds 27,800 students, while Harvard has 19,100 and Princeton, only 7,200. Therefore, the amount of asset per student is approximately $ 2 millions at both Harvard and Princeton, whereas it is only $16,000 or 1.6 million yen at Todai. If we invest this amount as the principal and get a return of 4% per year, the amount we can spend per student is less than less than 65,000 yen.

According to NHK’s TV program “Close-up Today (Gendai)” broadcast on March 30, 2010, the total amount of contributions to charitable organizations in the U.S. is about 22 trillion JPY, while that in Japan is 700 billion JPY, i.e., one thirtieth of the U.S. The Asahi Newspaper of April 9th (Fri) , in its article related to the tax benefit policy for NPO corporations, reports “In the United States where the culture of charitable donations has firmly taken hold, donations made annually by individuals amount to more than 20 Trillion JPY, whereas the Japanese donate less than 300 Billion JPY.” If the latter number is correct, the Japanese charitable donation is less than one seventieth of that in the U.S. If the numbers reported by NHK are accurate, the annual donation per capita is 72,000 JPY in the U.S., while it is 5,500 JPY in Japan, i.e., the Japanese donates only one fifteenth of the amount of the American. According to the numbers reported by the Asahi Newspaper, the ratio is less than one fiftieth.

Initiated by the past president Komiyama, a foundation called “Friends of Todai Incorporated (FOTI)” was established in New York about three years ago, and started its fund-raising effort under the leadership of Mr. Junji Masuda, the president of New York Icho-kai , and I have been taking part in this effort to a limited extent. I strongly feel, however, that the alumni of Todai must be asked to significantly raise their consciousness to love their alma mater. I appeal to all alumni, alumnae and parents of Todai that If they are serious enough to wish their alma mater to prosper, every one of them must respond to the fund raising effort, and increase the amount of their gift by one to two orders of magnitude, outstripping the outdated notion of meager contribution. Incidentally, it is estimated that an American household contributes, on average, 150,000 to 200,000 JPY. A household with annual income $40,000 contributes as much as 5% to such causes as religion, education, culture, art, people in poverty, regions of natural disaster and other NPOs. Our alumni and friends of Todai: let us unite together to support President Hamada, the faculty members, trustee members and the development department in their effort to revitalize and globalize Todai!

Thank you for your attention.

I will post this speech and relevant references in my blog. For the benefit of non-Japanese students, I will post its English version as well.

Acknowledgments: I thank the following individuals for their valuable comments and suggestions: Ms. Masako Egawa, Dr. Gerhard Fasol, Prof. Tsunehiko Kameda, Prof. Shoshichi Kobayashi, Prof. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, and Dr. Masako Osako. Prof. Brian Mark’s careful editing of this English version is much appreciated.

References:
[1] Ivan P. Hall, “Cartels of the Mind: Japan’s Intellectual Closed Shop.” W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London (1998): Japanese translation 「知の鎖国：外国人を排除する日本の知識人産業」Mainichi Shinbunsha (1998).

[2] Hisashi Kobayashi, “Concerns about the insularity of Japan’s universities, poor performance of Japanese students and weakening competitiveness of Japanese industry” www.HisashiKobayashi.com

[3] List of Nobel laureates by country: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country

[4] Nobel Laureates and Universities:http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html

[5] Hisashi Kobayashi, “Research Management In US Corporate Laboratories and Universities (in Japanese),” Journal of IEICE, vol.92. No. 5, pp. 318-326, May 2009.

http://www.ieice.org/jpn/books/kaishikiji/index.html

[6] Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO):

http://www.jasso.go.jp/scholarship/long_term_h.html

[7] JSPS: Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad: http://www.jsps.go.jp/j-ab/index.html

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午前中の学部入学式に続き、午後２時より、大学院(修士及び博士 課程）の入学式が行われた。座席数は、一階が３，１００席、２階と３階が７， ８００席とのこと。一階は新入生で一杯、２階、3階も父母達で３分の２程埋ま り、参加者は総計８，０００人位と推定。

浜田純一総長の 式辞、新領域創成科学研究科長大和裕幸教授の式辞に続き、私が来賓として祝辞 を述べた。

その後、航空工学科の卒業生宇宙飛行士野口聡一 さんのスペース・シャトルからお祝いのメッセージのビ デオが映された。入学生総代による宣誓の後、参加者全員が東大応援歌「ただ一 つ」を斉唱し、閉会となった。

東京大学大学院入学式での祝辞。 小林久志

濱田総長、小島副学長，並びに理事の皆様方、本日、この栄えある祝典に、私を来賓としてお招き下さり、誠に有り難うございます。大変光栄に思います。

新入生の皆さん、おめでとうございます。東京大学大学院に見事合格されたあなた方の成功を祝福するこの素晴らしい入学式に出席させて頂き、大変嬉しく思います。お話をさせて頂く前に、皆さんのバックグラウンドを伺いたいと思います。先月、東京大学を卒業された方達は手を挙げて下さい。次に、日本の他大学をこの３月卒業された方達。次に、外国の大学を卒業した方達。International 　students: please raise your hands.　女子学生の皆さん、挙手を願います。Female students: please raise  your hands.  では最後に、一度社会に出て働き、この度、大学院に入学された方達、挙手を願います。どうも有り難うございました。今年の新入生の構成が大凡分かりました。

では、この機会に、最近私が考えております事を幾つかお話し、皆さんのキャリアの計画に、何かお役に立てれば幸いと思います。

皆さんご存知の様に、日本は第二次大戦後３０年足らずで、経済大国にまで伸し上がりました。然しこの２０年間、丁度、皆さんが生まれてきた頃から今日に至るまで、日本の経済は停滞し続け、世界の先進国の中でも経済成長率が一番低い状態にあります。情報産業、特にソフトウエアなどの分野では、米国に大きく差を付けられ、日本が得意であった製造業や素材産業でも、台湾、韓国、中国に追い付かれ、或る分野では追い越されています。何故でしょうか？　皆さんは、この問題を深く考えたことがありますか？

私も日本人の一人として、この問題に関し、最近友人達や有識者の方達と意見を交わし、又多くの関連記事や論説にも目を通しました。人によって答えは様々で、色々な理由や言い訳を聞きます．しかし、大変失礼な発言になるかとは思いますが、私は我が国のリーダー達の多くが、残念ながら力量不足で、今日のグローバルな世界で競争する為に必要な知識、洞察力、英語能力に欠けていることが大きな要因だと思います。インターネットの拡大と工業製品のデイジタル化、そして新興工業国としてのアジア諸国やインドの台頭に伴い、製品開発、設計、製造から販売までグローバル・ビジネスの展開の仕方が20年前とは根本的に変わってきています。このパラダイム・シフトに対応し、有効な戦略を立てるべき日本の経営陣と彼らのスタッフの中に、国際的に活躍した経験や、諸外国のリーダー達との人的繋がりを持ち、直接コミュニケート出来る人材の少ない事が、我が国が苦境に立たされている、大きな要因であると思います。

そして、これまでの日本の大学に於ける教育や組織にも責任があると思います。ご両親達も含めて会場の皆様方への質問ですが、アイヴァン・ホールという人が1998年に出版した「知の鎖国：外国人を排除する日本の知識人産業」という本［1］を読まれた方、或いは、話題になったのをご記憶の方は、挙手を願います。私の 予想通り、ホール氏の本は日本の知識人達には残念ながら余り知られていないようですね。  同氏はプリンストン大学の歴史学科で修士号、ハーバード大学で日本研究に関する論文で博士号を取られた後、日本に３５年間滞在され、幾つかの日本の大学でも教えられた親日派の学者、評論家であります。しかし、その著書で彼は日本の大学が外国人学者に対しいかに排他的であるかを、鋭く指摘しております。１２年経った今日も実情は余り進展していないと思います。英語版も日本語版も未だに手に入りますから、是非読んで頂きたいと思います。

確かに、私が学生であった頃に比べれば、先ほど挙手をして頂いてご覧になったように、多数の優秀な外国人留学生が見受けられ、日本の大学の国際化は進展したかのように見えます。しかし、本質的な国際化は遅々として進んでいないのです [2]。世界一流の研究者、教育者を積極的に引き込む事はせず、お互いに似たバックグラウンドと同じ価値観を持つ日本人学者のみで固め、その結果、大学の活力、創造力、国際的競争力の高揚に向けた努力が充分なされてはおりません。これでは当然，高度な知識が要求される産業で諸外国と競争、或いは協力が出来る創造的な人材を輩出したり、将来日本のリーダーに欠かせぬ国際的な視野と優れたコミュニケーション・スキルを有する人材を育成することは出来ません。

日本のプロ野球やサッカーのチームは、優れた外国人選手や、監督をリクルートし、日本の国技と言われる相撲ですら、多数の外国人力士が活躍している事は、皆さんご存知の通りです。ヴァンクーバーで行われた冬季オリンピックのフィギュア・スケートでメダルを獲得した中国、韓国、日本の選手達の多くは、優れた外国人コーチの指導を受けて育ったのです。　同様な事が、何故日本の大学では行われないのでしょうか?

自然科学、医学、経済学、文学の分野でオリンピックの金メダルに相当するのはノーベル賞でしょう。国別で見ますと［3］、日本は、国籍を米国に移された方二人を含めても、これまで総計16人、一位米国の320人の20分の1、世界で12位となっています。ノーベル財団のウェブ・サイトには大学別の統計表も載っています ［4］。京都大学が二人、東大、名古屋大学、旧東京教育大学、筑波大学、京都産業大学がそれぞれ一名です。この統計は、各受賞者が受賞の時点で現職の教授・研究者として所属していた大学名で仕分けした結果です。米国のハーバード大学は24のノーベル賞を獲得しており、教授の数がたった800人余りのプリンストン大学も11のノーベル賞を得ています。この統計で世界でトップ10大学の中、英国ケンブリッジ大学の他はすべて米国の大学です。勿論、ノーベル賞だけで大学の価値や強さを測る事はできません。然し、世界の中で最も優れた大学が圧倒的に米国に集中している事は疑いの余地がありません。これは米国の大学と社会が優秀な人間を分け隔てなく迎え入れ、活躍の機会を与えるので、優秀な研究者が世界中から集まってくるからです。

それでは、皆さんは何をすべきなのでしょうか？　今日から東大で過ごす二年間或いは三年間は、あなた方の人生に於いて最も決定的な時期になると思います。あなた方は人生で何を本当にしたいのかを決め、それに向けての計画を入念に立て、貴重な時間を賢く費やし、東大での経験を次の大きなジャンプへの跳躍台にして欲しいと思います。

修士課程に進学される皆さん、手を挙げてください。修士課程終了後は博士課程を米国の一流大学で目指すことを私は強くお勧めします。米国の一流大学は優秀な教授陣を擁し、大学院での講義も充実しており、世界各地から頭脳明晰な学生、研究者が集まり、競って勉学と研究に励むからであります。米国の大学では、博士課程の学生全員に対し，授業料と生活費を支給するフェローシップやアシスタントシップが充実しています［5］。海外留学に関する情報、支援に関しては、日本学生支援機構(JASSO)［6］に問い合わせるが宜しいと思います。処で、皆さんの中でTOEFLとは何であるかを知っている人は、手を挙げて下さい。TOEFL は　”Test Of English as a Foreign Language”　の略です．それでは、GRE が何の略語か知っていますか？　GRE とは、”Graduate Record Exam” の略で、学部学生として知って居るべき、数学、英語、解析力を審査する試験であります。勿論、一流の大学の大学院に合格するには、学部や修士課程における成績が優れ、東大の先生方からの強い推薦状が必要です。しかし、東大で優秀な学生であれば、TOEFLやGRE さえクリアすれば、合格する可能性は可なり高いと思います。東大が日本でトップクラスの大学であることは海外でも広く知られているからです。兎に角、出来るだけ早く、TOEFLやGREを先ず一度受け、自分の実力を見極め、入学願書締切りまでに合格点に達するよう、これから勉強して下さい。私の専門が理工系でありますので、米国留学を強調致しましたが、勿論アメリカ以外の国にも優秀な学部を持つ大学が多数存在します。あなたの専門にとって、一番優れた環境を提供してくれる大学を選ぶ事が肝要です。例えば、フランスの文学や歴史を専攻する方は、アメリカよりフランスの大学を留学先として選ばれるでしょう。

では、今日から東大の博士課程に進学される方、挙手を願います。皆さんには、東大で博士号を取得された直後に、ポスト・ドクとしての研究生活を米国の大学でされる事を真剣に考えて欲しいと思います。

ポスト・ドクの機会を見つけるには、国際学会等に出席した際、あなたの専門分野の教授と出会う機会があれば、積極的に自己紹介をし、その後自分の論文などを送っておくことです。今から自分の考えを英語で話す能力を体得し、正確な英語で論文を書く能力を培っておく事が肝要です。日本学術振興会(JSPS) の海外特別研究員制度の利用も是非検討して下さい。

修士課程の皆さんの多くは将来、必ずしも研究職やアカデミックなキャリアを目指さず、卒業後直ちに実社会に出て活躍されるでしょう。しかし海外留学や国際的体験をする機会がない方達も学生時代に、英語で不自由なく書いたり、話せる能力をしっかり身に着けてください。グローバル時代に益々要求される人材は、国際関係、経済、歴史、文化等にも精通し、自分の専門分野に関しては国際語である英語で不自由なくコミュニケート出来る知識人であると思います。

皆さんは優れた頭脳に恵まれ、人一倍努力することにより、今日ここに名門東京大学の大学院入学を達成された事に大いなる自信を持って欲しいと思います。皆さんの実力を更に高め、グローバリゼーションが急ピッチで進む時代に積極的に立ち向かい、やり甲斐のある人生を目指して欲しいと思います。大海を知らぬ井の中の蛙にならぬよう心掛けて下さい。将来、日本、否、世界をリードする人物に成長され、母校東大の評判を高めて下さる事を、先輩の一人として心から期待しております。

最後に、多数ご出席されているご両親の皆さま。将来の日本を担う人材である御子息、御令嬢を立派に育て上げられた努力に対し、心より祝福と敬意の念を表する次第であります。しかしこの若者たちが再び日本を盛り立てるにはこれからも御両親の励ましと後押しが必要であります。東大が世界でトップ・クラスの大学と肩を並べるには、当然ながら、それなりの資金が必要であります。しかしご承知の様に国立大学の独立法人化が進み大学の自主独立性が奨励される一方で、政府からの交付金額が減らされる傾向にあることは、皆さまもご存知の通りです。東京大学の基金資産は約２５０億円であります。それに奨学寄付金２００億円を加えても４５０億円即ち約４．５億ドルであります。これに対しハーバード大学の基金資産は３５０億ドル、プリンストン大学は１５８億ドルであります。しかし学生数は、東大が２７，８００人であるのに対し、ハーバードは１９，１００人、プリンストンは７，２００人に過ぎません。したがって学生一人当たりの基金資産はハーバード、プリンストンが共に、大凡２００万ドルであるのに対し、東大は、１６，０００ドル、即ち　１６０万円に過ぎません。米国一流大学の１００分の１という貧しさです。１６０万円を上手に運用し年４％のリターンを得たとしても、学生一人当たりに費やせる金額は６万５千円足らずです。３月３０日に放送されたNHKテレビの番組「クローズ・アップ現代」によりますと、米国のCharitable Organizationsが受ける寄付が年総額２２兆円であるのに対し、日本では、７千億円、即ち３０分の１であります。しかし４月９日(金)の朝日新聞に掲載されたNPO法人に対する税制優遇策に関する記事は、「寄付文化が定着している米国では、個人による寄付額が年間で２０兆円を超えるが、日本は年間三千億円に届かぬ。」と報道しています。この数字が正しければ、日本は米国の７０分の１以下です。仮にNHK番組の数字が正しいと、国民一人当たりの寄付額を計算しますと、アメリカ人が年間７万２千円を寄付するのに対し、我々日本人は、たった５千５００円しか寄付をしないという勘定になります。アメリカ人の、１５分の１しか寄付をしていないという事になります。朝日新聞の数字の方が正しいとすると５０分の１となります。

小宮山前総長のイニシアチブで、ニューヨークに、Friends of Todai Incorporated (FOTI) という財団が３年ほど前に結成され、ニューヨーク銀杏会会長の桝田淳二氏のリーダーシップのもとに昨年から寄付金募集の活動も始め、微力ながら、私もそのお手伝いをしておりますが、東大卒業生には母校愛の点で、大いに意識改革をして頂かねばならぬと痛感しております。母校東大の発展を願うのであれば、卒業生全員が寄付活動に参加し、寄付金額も従来の感覚から脱却し、一桁も二桁も増やせねばならぬことを、卒業生及び在校生のご両親の皆さまに、強く訴えたいと感ずる次第であります。因みに、米国の一世帯当たりの寄付金額は、年間１５万から２０万円と推定され、年収４００万円位の世帯でも、年収の約５％を宗教、教育、文化、芸術、貧困者、災害地等を支援するNPOに寄付しております。浜田総長の指揮下、東大の活性化、国際化に努力されている先生方、理事、および渉外部の皆様を、我々全員が結束してサポートしようではありませんか！

ご清聴有難うございました。

このスピーチと参照資料のリストを私のブログwww.HisashiKobayashi.comに掲載しますので、御覧になって下さい。外国人学生の皆さんのために、英語訳も載せます。

謝辞； この原稿を用意するに際し、貴重なご意見とご助言を下さった次の諸氏に感謝いたします。江川雅子、大迫政子、亀田恒彦、小林昭七、黒川清、ゲアハルド・ファゾル（Gerhard Fasol）、吉田洋一。

参照資料：

[1]  　 Ivan Hall, “Cartels of the Mind: Japan’s Intellectual Closed Shop. ”  W. W. Norton & Company, New York and London (1998)；  日本語訳：アイヴァンホール（鈴木主税訳） 「知の鎖国：外国人を排除する日本の知識人産業」毎日新聞社 (1998).

[2] 　 Hisashi Kobayashi, “Concerns about the insularity of Japan’s universities, poor performance of Japanese students and weakening competitiveness of Japanese industry”  www.HisashiKobayashi.com

[3] 　List of Nobel Laureates by Country：http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country

[4]　 Nobel Laureates and Universities：http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html

[5] 　小林久志　[米国の企業、大学での研究マネージメント]電子情報通信学会誌、2009年5月号。
http://www.ieice.org/jpn/books/kaishikiji/index.html

[6]　 独立行政法人・日本学生支援機構：留学生交流支援制度（長期派遣）

http://www.jasso.go.jp/scholarship?log_term_h.html

[7] 　日本学術振興会：海外特別研究員制度（JSPS: Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad） http://www.jsps.go.jp/j-ab/index.html

I found a year ago that English proficiency of Japanese college graduates, in terms of TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) scores, is the lowest among 27 Asian countries [3]. In July I came across with a New York Times article reporting that “Japan’s per capita gross domestic product (GDP)—a measure of economic prosperity—declined from third highest in the world in 1991 to 18^th last year, according to the World Bank. Average household income has also fallen from its peak in 1994 to a 19-year low of 5.56 million yen, or about $58,000, in 2007.” [4] As I confirmed this fact by Google and found that the standard living in Japan is now well below that of Singapore and Hong Kong [5], I began to consider and discuss with others to find what had gone wrong with my home country in the last fifteen years.

During my recent visit to Tokyo in October, I met with Prof. Kiyoshi Kurokawa (黒川清教授) of GRIPS (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies: 政策研究大学院大学) and other individuals, and commenced my dialog by email with many other friends. I started this effort by presenting my slides “Problems that Japan faces today (現在日本が直面する課題)” that outline my observations and analysis, searching for possible solutions [6]. Responses came from many colleagues, including my college classmate Mr. Michio Miyazaki (宮崎道生氏)[7]. When I initially prepared my slides [6] in early October, however, I was not aware of the latest Math and Science Scores of 4^th graders and 8^th graders reported in a news article [9] and related website [8] TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), which indicate that Japanese youngster’s performance has been steadily on the decline since 1995, slipping behind other major Asian countries: Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Another international test PISA (Program for International Students Assessment) of OECD [10] reveals an even alarming trend of Japan’s 15 years old students: they cannot read and comprehend math and science related problems. They rank 15^th in the world in 2006.

By understanding how the ゆとり教育 (“lax education”) [11] has ruined our precollege education, I reaffirm my long-held conviction that so-called 有識者who serve on various review committees for MEXT (文化省) and other ministries are not really taking their responsibility seriously. As for the university reform, it seems that 国立大学法人化 (incorporation of national universities) has not really changed the essential character of the Japanese universities: their academic administrators and professors have not secured true leadership to restructure Japan’s higher education nor reshape our precollege education. The performance evaluation system introduced in recent years exists just for formality (the most productive professors and deadwood are paid alike) and my Japanese colleagues are not serious enough to transform their universities to meet the challenge of this global age. They don’t seem to initiate actions to recruit top-rated scholars from abroad, as Singapore [25-26] and South Korea [28] have been aggressively doing, nor encourage their best and brilliant to study abroad. [27]

Prof. Kurokawa’s inspiring writings and blogs [12-20] also convince me that at the core of Japan’s problems—poor academic performance, declining competitiveness of Japanese industry, absence of leadership in every segment of Japan’s society– lie the insularity of Japanese intellectuals. The Japanese education system has failed miserably in producing independent thinkers or strong leaders with vision.

A friend of mine in Tokyo reminded me of the 1998 book Cartels of The Mind: Japan’s Intellectual Closed Shop by Dr. Ivan Hall [31]. I was surprised to find very few other Japanese friends knew this book despite its Japanese translation 「知の鎖国・外国人を排除する日本の知識人産業」appeared in the same year. One of the reviewers [30] refutes Dr. Hall’s criticism by saying that his analysis is largely based on Dr. Hall’s own unpleasant experiences and anecdotal notes of several foreigners in Japan. Nevertheless, I suggest every Japanese intellectual concerned about the future of Japan should read this book. It is disturbing to find no serious book review of this book by Japanese, although several American scholars or intellectuals reviewed the book [30a-e]. One newspaper article [12] quotes the catchy phrase「知の鎖国」but without referring to Hall’s book.

Recently Professor Teruji Cho (長照二教授) of the University of Tsukuba was dismissed from his position, because he refused the University President’s order that attempted to force him and his coauthors to withdraw the paper already accepted by a prestigious journal, Physical Review Letters. What is more disturbing is that other Japanese professors and scientific community are not raising a strong voice against the University, and this indifferent attitude of Professor Cho’s colleague in Japan annoys the scientific community outside of Japan. This incidence reminds me of the sad story of Prof. Kan, a Koren born historian, whose reappointment was cancelled unexpectedly in the midst of power struggle between two vice presidents (副学長) vying for the next president’s position, according to Ivan Hall [29,31] .

At this point of writing, I have limited information and input besides what I saw in NHK news and a couple of websites concerning the government ad hoc task force for project screening ( 行政刷新会議「事業仕分け」) besides the Ministry’s websites [33] , which I obtained from a friend in Japan. The budget cut of some large projects recommended by the task force team may unfair and unreasonable, and may possibly jeopardize progress of worthy long-term research projects. On the other hand, this sort of open review is the first time ever done to scrutinize pros and cons of costly projects. It’s wrong to make a blanket statement claiming all scientific research projects should be supported with no budget cut. Many people, especially those in academia and national laboratories, are well aware that most projects, both small and large, get funded in Japan without going through the kind of rigorous peer review commonly practiced in the U.S. [2]. Worse, some projects are initiated by one or a handful of bureaucrats and influential academics to create their own positions, disregarding whether or not the projects make sense scientifically and economically. So I find this task force approach quite refreshing and hope it sets a precedent to conduct such open and transparent discussions in the eye of tax payers from now on.

I have been advocating that all large project proposals should be written in English and be scrutinized by a capable peer review team that include foreign experts of the subject. By so doing, we can avoid unnecessary duplication of research efforts already being pursued elsewhere and also identify possible research partners or collaborators. It does not make sense at all to pour hundreds of million dollars to develop, for instance, a super-computer or a telescope, just for the sake of making a No. 1 device in the world, without thinking through whether such an expensive equipment can be jointly developed with international partners. We have to break the insular mentality of the Japanese academic and scientific community by assessing their proposals on large projects.

References:

1. Hisashi Kobayashi, “The Role of Higher Education in the Age of Globalization,”
   Keynote address at Conference on “Higher Education Reform in Japan and Germany: Taking Stock and Looking Ahead”, February 28, 2006.

   Abstract
   Slides: http://www.hrk.de/de/download/dateien/Vortrag_Kobayashi.pdf

2. 小林久志「米国の企業及び大学での研究マネジメント」電子通信情報学会誌、vol. 92, No. 5, May 2009, pp-318-326.

   http://www.ieice.org/jpn/books/kaishikiji/2009/2009051.pdf

3. アジアの英語教科書のレベルの比較・アジアの中学で接する英語の分量・IBT(Internet based test) TOEFL(2005-2006) の結果（アジア）English_education_and_TOEFL.pdf
4. “Economy Spells Trouble for Leading Party in Japan,” New York Times, July 19, 2009.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/world/asia/19japan.html?pagewanted=1
5. Type in Google: 国の国内総生産順リスト. There you will get many lists.
6. Hisashi Kobayashi’s slides: 小林久志「現在日本が直面する課題」Japan’s Problem-October-23-2009.pdf
7. Response from 宮崎道生and my reply, Parts 1 and 2:
   Miyazaki_Kobayashi_1.doc
   Miyazaki_Kobayashi_2.doc
8. 国際数学・理科教育調査 (TIMSS1995-2003): TIMSS-Wikipedia-Japanese.mht
9. “U.S. Math Scores Hit a Wall” (Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2009)WSJ-article-Math-Scores.pdf
10. OECD生徒の学習到達度調査：http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/PISA
11. ゆとり教育Wikepediahttp://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%86%E3%81%A8%E3%82%8A%E6%95%99%E8%82%B2
12. 頭脳呼べない「知の鎖国」、科学立国の危機･8、読売新聞2005年2月10日朝刊
13. 黒川清、新科学技術基本計画と大学改革: 「IDE 現代の高等教育」2006年5月、pp. 32-40.http://kiyoshikurokawa.weblogs.jp/jp/files/20060501.pdf
14. Kiyoshi Kurokawa: “Opening Japan Up to the World,” Science, Nov. 21, 2008.Kurokawa_Science20081121[1]-4.pdfAlso Kiyoshi Kurokawa’s blog 2008.12.10. “日本を開国へ、My Editorial in Science”, http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/2008/12/my-editorial-in.html
15. Kiyoshi Kurokawa: “How Japan can regain its Vitality” in The Japan Times, Oct. 18, 2009: Kiyoshi Kuokawa’s blog at http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/en/2009/10/interview-with.html,Or at a link directly to the above article.http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/eo20091018a1.html
16. Kiyoshi Kurokawa’s blog: 女性の社会進出はまだまだ遠い。なぜ？先端科学技術大賞の授賞式と『「最後の社会主義国家」日本の苦闘』http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/2007/07/post_4505.html
17. 黒川清「世界に通用する「個人力」がイノベーションの源泉だ」週間東洋経済2007.12.29-2008.1.5.
    http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/files/toyokeizai20071225.pdf
18. Kiyoshi Kurokawa’s blog: 2009.10.14. 「外から見る日本」への懸念
    http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/2009/10/post-1ef1.html
19. Kiyoshi Kurokawa’s blog: Asia Innovation Forum開催；「外から」日本を見る目
    http://www.kiyoshikurokawa.com/jp/2009/09/asia-innovation.html
20. 内閣府・アジア青年の家(Asian Youth Exchange Program in Okinawa): http://ayepo.go.jp/
21. Steve Job’s speech at the Commencement of Stanford University, 2005
    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA
    Text:  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1422863/posts
    Article: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/grad-061505.html
22. Steve Jobs: “Here’s to the Crazy Ones.”
    http://landship.sub.jp/stocktaking/archives/002342.html (UTube video at the end)
23. President Obama’s speech in Japan, Nov. 13, 2009: Video and article
    http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/11/13/world/1247465679794/president-obama-speaks-in-japan.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/world/asia/14prexy.html?ref=global-home
24. Philip Yeo, “Trying to Build a Knowledge Based Economy,” in Colloquium Celebrating the Retirement and 70^th Birthday of Hisashi Kobayashi, May 8, 2008, Princeton University.

    http://www.princeton.edu/kobayashi/colloquium/colloquium.html#yeo

25. “Interview with Chairman Philip Yeo,” SMA (Singapore Medical Association) News, Vol. 41, No. 11, Nov. 2008.
    Philip_Yeo_Interview.pdf
26. “Scholarship Awardees by Year,” Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research.
    http://www.a-star.edu.sg/People/OurScholars/ScholarshipAwardeesbyYear/tabid/346/Default.aspx
27. 19 New Foreign Professors join SNU (Seoul National Univerity)

    http://www.useoul.edu/news/news0101_view.jsp?idx=128918

28. Anne-Marie Slaughter, “America’s Edge: Power in the Networked Century,”
    Foreign Affairs, January/February 2009. pp.94-113.
29. Ivan Hall, Cartels of The Mind: Japan’s Intellectual Closed Shop, W.W. Norton & Co. (1998, 208 pages)

    http://www.amazon.com/Cartels-Minds-Japans-Intellectual-Closed/dp/0393045374

30. Book reviews of Ivan Hall’s book:
    • Japan Review.net: Interview of Ivan Hall by Victor Fic, January 26, 2002.

      http://www.japanreview.net/interview_ivan_hall.htm

    • “Apartheid Japan-Style,” Reviewer: J. Marshall Unger, Professor of Japanese, University of Maryland, in THE (Times Higher Education), July 17, 1998.

      http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=162709

    • “The ‘Keep Out’ Signs on Japan’s Professions,” Reviewer: Robert Neff, Nov. 20, 1997, Business Week.

      http://www.businessweek.com/1997/48/b3555038.htm

    • Review by Raymond Lamont-Brown in Contemporary Review. Oct, 1998.

      http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_n1593_v273/ai_21263221/?tag=content;col1

    • Review by J. Mark Ramseyer (Harvard University) , Journal of Japanese Studies, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer, 1999), pp. 365-368

      http://www.jstor.org/pss/133317

31. アイヴァン・ホール著（鈴木主税訳）「知の鎖国・外国人を排除する日本の知識人産業」毎日新聞社、1998年
    http://www.bk1.jp/product/01559075
32. 筑波大学・長照二教授不当解雇事件
    http://www.cho-teruji.org/
    http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/activism_non_profit/watch/v193181455GW86dGh
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXjMtoLujwQ&NR=1

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_L3-8Vi1X0&NR=1

33. 文部科学省：http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/kaikei/sassin/1286925.htm
    総務省：http://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_syokai/bosyu/yosan.html
    経済産業省：http://www.meti.go.jp/topic/data/091120aj.html

The PACRIM 2009 (Pacific Rim Conference 2009), for which I served as General Chair was held on August 23-26, 2009 was successful with more than two hundred participants, and many from Japan (over sixty), including Dr. Hideo Miyahara, President of NICT as the keynote address speaker.

I had a number of professional friends who participated in this conference and enjoyed the beautiful climate of Victoria.

Hisashi, Mrs. Miyahara, Masae, and Dr. Miyahara in front of our house:

Photo taken by Prof. Jack Wolf (UC San Diego) in our backyard: from left, clockwise: Dr. Roy Cideciyan (IBM Zurich), Masae, Hisashi, Prof. Eberhard Haensler (Technical University of Darmstadt), Mrs. Ingrid Haensler, Prof. Tsunehiko Kameda (Simon Fraser University), and Mrs. Toby Wolf:

Eco-cruise tour group photo: 2nd from the left is our tour-guide Brian:

I gave a keynote speech “An End to the End-to-End Argument,” at Conference: Visions of Future Generation Networks (Euroview 2009), held at the Univ. of Würzburg, Germany on July 27-28, 2009. Mr. Chip Elliot of GENI was another keynote speaker.

Abstract: http://www3.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/euroview/2009/data/abstracts/Keynote-Kobayashi-complete.pdf

Slides: http://www3.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/euroview/2009/data/slides/Keynote-Kobayashi-slides-handout.pdf

I presented a Plenary Session Lecture on “Queueing and Loss Network Models: Computational Algorithms and Asymptotic Analysis,” at the 12th WSEAS International Conference on Communications, Heraklion in Crete Island, Greece. Although it was not a high caliber conference, Masae and I enjoyed visits to historical sites such as Knossos Palace and a five day cruise to Aegean Sea.

I was scheduled to present a keynote address “A Future Internet and Network Virtualization,” at the 20th ITC (International Teletraffic Congress) Specialist Seminar at Hoi An, on May 18, 2009. However, the swine flu incidence forced me to cancel my Asian trip (Singapore, Vietnam and Japan), because my hosts in Singapore and Japan were concerned about my visit. I had to cancel lectures planned at , Singapore Management University, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, as well as my keynote at Hoi An, which was delivered by Prof. Tran Gia on my behalf.

TEXT: http://www.itcspecialistseminar.com/keynote.php

My interview article “Research Management in U.S. Corporate Laboratories and Universities ( 米国の企業及び大学での研究マネージメント),” appeared in Journal of IEICE (電子情報通信学会誌) Vol. 92, No. 5, May 2009, pp. 318-326. I explained how high quality of research and education of U.S. universities are maintained, and encourage Japanese students to go abroad and study and work in an environment where people are judged based on what they have done recently, not many years ago. In order to survive in the global age, we must bring in most talented people to take the helm of an organization, whether it is an industry or an academic institution.

ARTICLE: http://www.ieice.org/jpn/books/kaishikiji/2009/2009051.pdf

My article entitled “Partial-Response Coding, Maximum Likelihood Decoding: Capitalizing on the Analogy between Communication and Recording,” appeared in the History of Communications Column (edited by Prof. Mischa Schwartz) , IEEE Communications Magazine, March 2009, pp. 14-17.  In this article I emphasize the importance that a researcher should maintain his or her interest and curiosity broad enough, not just his/her current assigned field, because an idea developed in one field often finds its useful application in other disciplines. This is how I invented 30 years ago a highly dense and highly reliable digital scheme and its signal processing technique called PRML, which is now used in virtually all magnetic and optical storage devices.

TEXT: History_Communications_IEEE_March_2009.pdf