Category: Newsletter 13

At the Board meeting held on March 10, 2015, the FUTI Board elected Prof. Ken Furuya, Executive Vice President of UTokyo, as a new Director. Effective April 1, 2015, he succeeded Dr. Masako Egawa, former Executive Vice President of UTokyo, who had been an FUTI Director since February 2012. Ken Furuya (古谷　研) is the Executive Vice President of The University of Tokyo, following his appointment from April 2013 to March 2015 as Dean of the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences of The University of Tokyo. Furuya received his Bachelor’s degree in botany (1975), as well as his Master’s (1978) and Doctoral degrees (1981) in fisheries science from The University of Tokyo. He was introduced to biological oceanography as a graduate student at the Ocean Research Institute of The University of Tokyo, and has since been working on various aspects of plankton ecology in the sea and its role in marine material cycling. He became a full professor in the Department of Aquatic Bioscience of The University of Tokyo in 1999. His recent interests extend toward multidisciplinary research on advancing our understanding of ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystem dynamics for sustainable use of ecosystem services with particular attention to the high seas. Within this context, he is involved in joint work to evaluate ecosystem functions for ocean governance to maintain and manage ecosystem services. Furuya has served as a member of multiple international programs, including a member of the scientific steering committee of the Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Bloom (GEOHAB) program jointly initiated by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) for the International Council for Science (ICSU) and by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO, and as Chair of GEOHAB Asia. Articles in this newsletter:

Succeeding former President Junichi Hamada, Prof. Makoto Gonokami became the President of the University of Tokyo as of April 1, 2015 for a six-year term. President Gonokami was formerly the Dean of the Graduate School of Science and Faculty of Science. His specialty is optical physics. In his inaugural remarks, President Gonokami states: In the midst of rapid globalization, the presence of problems that should be tackled by humankind as a whole, including the depletion of natural resources, damage to the environment, world financial insecurity and poverty, is becoming ever more apparent. Handling such global-scale issues requires that a wide range of people share their knowledge and subsequently utilize their shared knowledge to cooperate and take action. Cultivating talented individuals who will take the lead in this sharing and utilization of knowledge is the most important duty of the University of Tokyo. In this regard, we must never cease to face challenges with courage, wisdom and a sense of responsibility. The driving force in developing these knowledge professionals is, needless to say, education that is among the most outstanding in the world. I would particularly like for students who have their hearts set on learning, as well as young researchers, to experience the excitement and joy of knowledge at the forefront of research. I want them to use that experience as a source of intellectual nourishment that reinforces within them the willingness to develop themselves significantly. I believe that to have the University of Tokyo serve as a place for these experiences would not only meet the expectations of the public who have entrusted the University with their support but also contribute to human society as a whole. For the complete text of President’s greeting, visit http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/about/president.html Related article http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/news/notices/notices_z0508_00004.html Articles in this newsletter:

The FUTI Award Selection Committee has selected nine UTokyo students and 11 U.S. students for this summer’s scholarship program. Five out of the selected nine UTokyo students will participate in various summer programs at U.S. universities, such as University of California, Berkeley, Harvard University, University of Michigan, Princeton University, and Stanford University; three will attend English language courses at Yale University, Columbia University, and U.C. Berkeley; and one will participate in the Global Summer Program (GSP) at Yale. Six are science or engineering majors, while three are humanities or social science majors. Five were undergraduates (three Sophomores, one Junior, one Senior), and three are graduate students (three M1, one M2) at the time of FUTI application submission. Seven out of the 11 U.S. awardees will conduct research as summer interns at UTokyo’s laboratories. Five of these recipients will participate in the University of Tokyo Research Internship Program (UTRIP), which is hosted by professors in the School of Sciences at UTokyo. Two are going to participate in the University of Tokyo Summer Internship Program in Kashiwa (UTSIP-Kashiwa) hosted by the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. In addition, two MIT students will take internships at UTokyo science laboratories. The selection process for FUTI awards was highly competitive. For instance, the four UTRIP participants have been selected from over 40 U.S. undergraduates, many of whom were top students from leading universities in the U.S. In addition to these internship students, two Yale students (both Sophomores) have been selected to participate in the Global Summer Program (GSP) courses offered by UTokyo. The FUTI summer scholarship award, a.k.a. the “FUTI Global Leadership Award (FUTI-GLA),” is designed to nurture future global leaders of Japan and the U.S. One of the selection criteria is a demonstration of leadership quality. List of Scholarship Recipients English Language Training Courses (3 UTokyo Students) Takato Masuda (Law School, 2nd Year): Yale University English Language Institute, English for Law Haruaki Tamura (Engineering, Master 1st): U.C. Berkeley Summer English Language Studies Yuki Haba (General Systems Sciences, Master 1st):Columbia University Summer Language Course Non-Language Training Courses at US Universities (5 UTokyo Students) Fahd Khan (Chemistry, Masters 1st): Princeton Research Collaborators Program, Princeton University Tokuyou Li (Science I, sophomore): U.C. Berkeley Regular Summer Session Sayumi Miyano (Law and Politics, Senior): Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), University of Michigan Daichi Tsuna (Science II, Sophomore): Stanford Summer International Honors Program, Stanford University Natsuki Furukawa (Biology, Junior):Harvard SummerSchool GSP at Yale University (1 UTokyo student) Hiroya Sato (Economics, Sophomore): “Moral Foundations of Politics” UTRIP at UTokyo (5 U.S. students) Susanna Elledge (U.C. Berkeley, Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Junior): Professor Takeaki Ozawa Elbegduuren Erdenee (Princeton University, Molecular Biology/Neuroscience, Sophomore): Professor Takeaki Ozawa Yuka Esashi (Reed College, Physics, Sophomore): Professor Kazuki Koketsu Hsu (Indy) Liu (Reed College, Physics, Junior): Professor Hirofumi Sakai Kenneth Wu (U.C. Berkeley, Nutritional Science and Toxicology, Sophomore): Professor Shu Kobayashi UTSIP Kashiwa Program at UTokyo (2 U.S. students) Masahiro Nakanishi (Brown University, Science, Applied Math and Economics, Sophomore) Maki Tohmon (Pomona College, Biology, Sophomore) GSP Program at UTokyo (2 Yale students) Claudia See (Biomedical Engineering, Sophomore): Nanoscience Carolyn Zhang (Electrical Engineering, Sophomore): Nanoscience MISTI Program at UTokyo (2 MIT students) Qiaochu Li (Material Science and Engineering, Ph.D. program 1st Year): Professor Takuzo Aida Krithika Swaminathan (Mechanical Engineering, Sophomore): Professor Yoshihiko Nakamura Articles in this newsletter:

The Award Committee of Friends of UTokyo (FUTI) has granted travel scholarships to Mr. Alexander Wiegman of Modesto High School, California and Mr. Kyle Smith of Summit High School, Oregon who will enroll in PEAK (Programs in English at Komaba) of UTokyo in the fall of 2015. The FUTI scholarship covers a round trip airfare between the student’s hometown in the U.S. and Tokyo. Mr. Wiegman is an International Baccalaureate (IB) student who enjoys near perfect SAT scores. He received numerous recognitions, including Science Olympiad Medals (at the state level) and the Outstanding Editor Award from Key Club (from the California-Nevada-Hawaii District). For further details about his activities, please visit https://linkedin.com/in/mrlogicalalex. At UTokyo, he intends to be enrolled in the “International Program on Environmental Sciences.” Mr. Smith is also an honors student with near perfect SAT scores. He studied Japanese for four years in high school. He has been active in a variety of extracurricular activities including the high school’s choral ensembles and Japanese National Honor Society (https://www.aatj.org/jnhs), holding executive positions in both groups. He intends to be enrolled in the International Program on Japan in East Asia at PEAK. Created in October 2012, PEAK comprises the first undergraduate degree programs at the University of Tokyo taught entirely in English. Through a highly competitive process, PEAK selected 75 students (including those with conditional offers) from 15 countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, New Zealand and USA for the entering class of Fall 2015. PEAK consists of the “International Program on Japan in East Asia” and the “International Program on Environmental Sciences.” (For details, see the PEAK website) With the addition of Messrs. Smith and Wiegman, the number of 2015 FUTI scholarship recipients will be 22. Nine are UTokyo students who will study at U.S. universities and 11 are U.S. university students who will participate in various summer courses or internship programs held at UTokyo or in the case of Messrs. Smith and Wiegman, in a four-year program at UTokyo. Articles in this newsletter:

You may recall that last year the  “University of Tokyo Day”was held on October 23, 2014 at Jones Hall of Princeton University.  The ceremony was participated by President Junichi Hamada, Dr. Masako Egawa (Executive Vice President of UTokyo and a FUTI Director) and several other delegates from the University of Tokyo.  Mr. Takeshi Komoto of JETRO New York Office, an alumnus of both universities attended and prepared the article below, which is being reproduced here for your information. **************************************************** President Junichi Hamada visited Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey on October 23, 2014 to participate an event to commemorate the strategic partnership agreement that both universities made in January 2013. In the welcome address President Christopher Eisgruber of Princeton University said, “Princeton University and the University of Tokyo had been already collaborating in a fascinating array of subjects, but we can solidify our relationship further by this formal agreement. I hope that both institutions will continue to grow as world-class universities through this partnership.” In return President Hamada had expressed his desire to see the partnership grow and flourish, and stated,”The University of Tokyo aspires to become a world-class university by capitalizing on our position as a foremost Japanese university. Our students must experience the world outside of Japan so that they can be exposed to diverse ways of thinking.” Dr. Masako Egawa, Executive Vice President of UTokyo and Provost David Lee of Princeton also reported on their internationalization programs at both universities. Professor Takao Someya (Engineering School of UTokyo) and Mr. Warren Rieutort Louis (Ph. D. candidate, Electrical Engineering Department, Princeton) reported on their progress in their collaborative research on “Sensing Skins,” and Professor Naoki Yoshida (School of Science, UTokyo) and Prof. Jennie E. Greene (Astrophysics Department, Princeton) reported on their collaborative effort in astrophysics research. As for the education program, Professor Jin Sato (Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, UTokyo) and Prof. David Leheny (East Asian Studies Department, Princeton) reported on the status of the exchange program for undergraduate students. In all the presentations, the great value of the partnership that enables both universities to learn each other’s strengths was acknowledged. In the Q&A session that ensued, various issues were brought up and discussed to improve the activities, and a lively discussion was exchanged concerning such topics as similarities between Japanese and American students in their attitude in classroom learning, as well as the difference in their customs to speak up or not to speak up in class. The delegation of the UTokyo included, in addition to President Junichi Hamada and Dr. Masako Egawa, Prof. Hiroaki Aihara (Executive Vice President), Prof. Takehiko Kitamori (Special Advisor to President). In addition, Prof. Emeritus Shukuro Manabe (Atmospheric and Oceanic Science, Princeton), Prof. Masaaki Yamada (Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, and FUTI Director of University Relations) and Prof. Nobuhiro Kiyotaki (Economics Department, Princeton) , Dr. Masako Osako (FUTI staff), and Mr. Takeshi Komoto (Executive Director, JETRO New York Office) attended to show their interest to support the event. Related articles: “Princeton celebrates international partnership with ‘University of Tokyo Day’.” http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S41/40/83Q40/index.xml?section=topstories http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/ Articles in this newsletter:

Princeton University (the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, PPPL) and the University of Tokyo (the Departments of Advanced Energy, Physics and Electrical Engineering) have initiated a joint educational activity in plasma physics for undergraduate and graduate students. The scientific focus is interdisciplinary within the field of plasma physics, and it is aimed at plasma physics that applies to basic laboratory plasma experiments, plasmas in space (in the heliosphere) and plasmas studied for fusion energy. Exposure of students to the research problems, common physics, and experimental and theoretical tools of both communities will provide them with educational experiences well beyond those received in the classroom. The new educational partnership program builds on a long and productive collaboration between senior researchers of both institutions. In this new program, undergraduate and graduate students become exchange internship students for a seven to nine week session in the summer. This year’s summer school hosted by Princeton started with one and a half weeks of classes in interdisciplinary plasma physics, followed by six to eight weeks of research training for undergraduates. The site of the summer school will alternate each year between Princeton University and University of Tokyo. We anticipate several undergraduate and graduate students participating from each university every summer. For a certain period, possibly in part overlapping with the summer school, we will organize intensive lectures for the students by senior researchers. –Masaaki Yamada, Ph. D. Princeton Plasma Physics Lab Princeton University

On May 25, Friends of UTokyo Inc. (FUTI) hosted, jointly with the NY Icho-kai and Satsuki-kai America, a lecture meeting by Prof. Kiichi Fujiwara, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, Policy Alternative Research Institute, UTokyo. The lecture meeting was held at a conference room of The Jin Law Group LLLP in mid-Manhattan. About 30 alumni and friends attended the meeting, which turned out to be a very stimulating gathering. After a welcome greeting by Ms. Ruth Jin, Esq., Prof. Fujiwara gave a talk titled, “From Free World to Rivalry: Power and Competition in World Affairs: The Middle East, Russia and China.” He commented that the global politics from 1991 to about 2000 may be characterized by expanding democratic governments and market economy, as exemplified by the former Communist nations in Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as South Africa, Thailand, or Indonesia. However, Prof. Fujiwara asserted that now global politics have entered a period of rivalry with the rise of Russia and China, which may aspire for regional hegemony, leading to lack of initiative in face of emerging disorder in the Middle East and Northern Africa. His talk was followed by a lively “Q&A” session with the audience that included his former students at UTokyo. They asked questions about the U.S. government’s policy regarding the Middle East, internal politics in China, the possibility of a third World War, and many others. FUTI’s Director, Dr. Yuichiro Kuwama, gave a closing remark. Articles in this newsletter:

“Go Global 2015,” a fair to encourage UTokyo students to study abroad, was held at the Komaba Campus on June fourth (Thu) and fifth (Fri), 2015. The objectives of the Fair are to convey to UTokyo students the significance and importance of studying abroad and experiencing different cultures, and to motivate and help them to consider overseas study opportunities in the early years of their undergraduate studies. This is the fifth year since this annual fair was introduced in 2011. The plenary session for general information was held on the first day. On the second day, individual counseling sessions were provided by representatives from various departments and divisions of UTokyo, foreign governments’ affiliated organizations, and NGO/NPOs (both domestic and abroad). In total, approximately 350 students attended the two sessions. In the plenary session, Dr. Ken Furuya, Executive Vice President of UTokyo, gave a welcome speech, followed by a talk by Reverent Shokei Matsumoto of Jodo Shinshu Honganji Sect Komyoji Temple. In his lecture titled, “Plunge into the World (sekai he no shukke),” he discussed study abroad and career development, utilizing his own overseas study experience as a base/illustration. His lecture was followed by a panel discussion by students who had studied abroad. For the individual counseling sessions, 34 organizations, including FUTI, set up their booths, answered individual inquiries and gave advice to the visitors. FUTI’s booth was visited by about 50 students during the three and a half hour period. Mr.Yoichi Yoshida (Deputy Head), and Ms. Azumi Tezuka and Mr. Tomohito Mitome (staff) of the Development Division at the Hongo Campus represented FUTI. Ms. Tezuka and Mr. Mitome report, “We were impressed that a sizable number of freshmen showed interest in gathering information about studying abroad, getting ready for future.” Their interest appears to indicate that the University’s policy, which encourages many students to gain some international experience has begun to permeate among the UTokyo students. “UTokyo students’ awareness has certainly changed over the last several years,” commented Mr. Yoshida. The number of students who visited FUTI’s booth increased from approximately 30 last year to 50 this year. They appear to recognize a feature of FUTI that ‘Alumni are supporting UTokyo from America’ and find appealing the FUTI provision by which students select the foreign university of their choice. These are considered an extra merit in addition to financial support. The Development Division staff received a variety of comments and questions such as “The amount of FUTI Scholarship seems generous so I will seriously consider it,” and “What is the selection criteria? Is the application competitive?” Reflecting UTokyo’s transition to the four-term system which makes it difficult to participate in summer programs, many students also asked questions regarding FUTI support for one-year study abroad programs or a winter program. The following is a list of the 34 organizations/units that set up the counseling booths on the second day. British Council Embassy of Canada to Japan Embassy of Australia in Japan/Government of Western Australia Education USA/Fulbright Japan CampusFrance – French Government Study Abroad Office DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst; German Academic Exchange Service) Education Deptartment, Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan Science and Technology Section, Embassy of Switzerland Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology Japan Public-Private Partership Study Abroad Program Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) Friends of UTokyo, Inc. VIA (Volunteer in Asia) SAF (The Study Abroad Foundation)/Tomodachi Sumitomo Shoji Scholarship Japan Infosys Ltd. IAESTE Japan (The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) INTRAX AIESEC in Japan ams AG Council on International Educational Exchange-Japan (CIEE) Never-ending International work Campus Exchange (NICE) Ministry of Foreign Affairs Recruitment Center for International Organizations Lund University (Partnership University) National Taiwan University (Partner University) University of Geneva (Parter University) The International Affairs Division of UTokyo The Go Global Office of UTokyo UTokyo Beijing Representative Office Hands-on Activities Program Promotion Team of UTokyo UTokyo Global Leadership Education Program The Career Support Office of UTokyo The School of Liberal Arts Globalization Office, UTokyo College of Arts and Sciences, UTokyo School of Engineering, Globalization Promotion Section, UTokyo Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, UTokyo –Written by Tomohito Mitome, Development Office, UTokyo Articles in this newsletter:

The comprehensive renovation of the Yasuda Auditorium at the University of Tokyo, which was undertaken from the academic year 2013 to 2014, was just completed. The renovation entailed upgrades in earthquake resistance and fireproofing, and making modifications for “barrier-free” accessibility. No change was made to the exterior appearance of the auditorium, but great care was taken in creating a safe and harmonious environment for hosting campus events. Launching a fundraising campaign, “The Yasuda Auditorium Renovation Project,” the University of Tokyo Foundation (Todai Kikin) sought support from a wide range of potential donors. As of the end of March 2015, the campaign collected ¥301,422, 668 (slightly over US$3 million) from 2,198 donors. On March 20th, upon completion of the renovation and about one week before the University’s annual graduation ceremony, major donors to the campaign and those of the Foundation ( i.e. Special Supporting Members who have donated ¥300,000 or more) were invited to attend a site-viewing party at the newly renovated auditorium. Nearly 2000 donors and their families participated. A special benefit given to major donors of this campaign was an engraved nameplate on the seats in the auditorium. The University of Tokyo Foundation reported with gratitude that the target number of requests for engraving was received for both ground and second floor seats. (Abbreviated from the original in Japanese. Written by Ms. Azumi Tezuka of Development Office, UTokyo)   Articles in this newsletter: