FUTI has grown steadily over the years and contributed to the globalization of UTokyo. Since its inception in 2007 FUTI has cumulatively supported approximately 120 UTokyo students to study in the US and 90 US students to undertake internships or studies at UTokyo, providing them with invaluable experiences. The programs were made possible solely because of the generosity of supporters. Articles in this newsletter:
We asked our donors in their 20’s and 30’s to tell us what makes them donate or why they donate. We hope that their messages will be inspiring to readers. It is often said that the “donation culture” is underdeveloped in Japan, whereas in the U.S. it is common practice to give to alma maters and charities, often starting with a small donation of $10 – $20, and increasing the amount as his/her earnings increase. We hope these messages will encourage FUTI’s supporters to contribute and make the 2019-20 campaign a success. FUTI Staff Ms. Minami Goto Film makerUTokyo, BA, 2015; Columbia University, MFA, 2018ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.- FUTI Scholarship (2016-18, Film/Creative producing, Master’s Program, Columbia University) I have donated because … When I was a FUTI scholarship student at Columbia University, I was supported by many of my predecessors in tangible and non-tangible ways. Since I like to support and give back to the younger generation, every year I give a small donation to FUTI. As a student, I was encouraged not only by the financial support but also by many people who believed in the value of my pursuit and offered me guidance. I cannot do much yet, so I want to start with what I can do. My message to first-time donors… I often hear my friends say, “Don’t you think donating is something that only rich people do?” or, “Aren’t you too young to donate?” However, I feel if you wait until you are older and able to save money, the changes you could have made in the meantime would not be realized. “Donation” may sound like a big deal, but it is not. I would encourage those who have never donated to take the first step and donate, saying to yourself, “just a little, let’s try this year.” Let’s make the world better, together, step by step. Tokuyou Li European Investment Bank Tokyo OfficeUTokyo, BA, 2017FUTI Global Leadership Award (2015, Berkeley Summer School) I have donated and would keep donating to FUTI because I have received more than I could gift back. In the past, with the support from the foundation, I had the opportunity to study abroad which helped to make who I am today. As a way to express appreciation for what the organization has provided me, would like to continue to donate. What’s more, even though I understand contributions that one can make in terms of its scale is very small and limited, but since I believe in by donating, you will be supporting young and talented leaders of next generations, and I would love to be part of that helping hands. For those of you who haven’t donated before and those who are same generation with me, why don’t we take a little pose here to think about how grateful for each one of us shall be. It is older generations who have invested in a lot for us and I feel like it is our time to start passing what we have been given to next younger and talented next leaders. (And of course we are right in the middle of our career…!) I firmly believe one simple but strong way to do so is by donating to this organization. We see huge contributions that FUTI is making to expand potential for students. So why don’t you join to together strengthen this great momentum? Eri Furusawa HR & A AdvisorsUTokyo, BA, 2016; Columbia University, MA, 2018ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.- FUTI Scholarship (2016-18, Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation) Having received higher education in both Japan and the U.S. – the latter made possible by the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.-FUTI scholarship – my donating to FUTI was not simply an act of giving back. While UTokyo is considered one of Japan’s most prestigious and competitive universities, the institution has much to learn from its global peers. I believe the most effective way to achieve this is through the exchange of students and researchers, and am hopeful that FUTI’s scholarship program will play a large role in enhancing the quality of education and research at UTokyo. Having met multiple FUTI members, all extremely passionate, driven, and thoughtful, I can confidently donate knowing that my contribution will be in good hands. Translation by FUTI staff Fumiya Uchikoshi Princeton University, Sociology Department, PhD programUTokyo, BA, 2015; MA 2017FUTI Global Leadership Award (2016, University of Michigan ICPSR) I have donated because the FUTI has made major contributions to the field of intellectual exchange on a global scale. FUTI supported my opportunity to study abroad, which was beyond my expectation. In 2016, I participated in ICPSR summer program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Throughout the course, I was able to not only obtain skills in applied statistical methods and modeling in the social sciences, but also establish the relationship with students in this program who share the interests, some of whom I still keep in touch with today. I believe the experience moved my research forward. FUTI’s commitment is not limited to scholarship opportunities: it also contributes to the generation of new scholars in many fields. Through continuous support and networking after the funding, recipients are able to maintain the connection with the FUTI and benefit from new opportunities that expand our capabilities. FUTI is a warm and inclusive community for the past recipients who live in the United States, where we exchange our ideas to make the world a better place. I hope that my small donation helps fulfill the mission and leads to the continuous development of the FUTI. Importantly, FUTI is a non-profit organization. This means that our continuous support is essential. One of the fundamental principles of our society to thrive is mutual recognition and reciprocity. Regardless of our age, status, or other characteristics, our support will help the FUTI keep thriving. Support from young donors, who recently started their career, is extremely important, I think, for the further development of the FUTI. I appreciate the potential young donor’s generous mind to…
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Fourteen FUTI alumni gathered at the FUTI Alumni Association kick-off party held at the UTokyo New York Office on September 28, 2019. The alumni came from six different states along the east coast where they currently work or study, and in addition to meeting each other, they met with the board and advisory committee members of FUTI. After a few words from Prof. Yamada, Prof. Kobayashi and Prof. Ojima on their experience in U.S. academia and their expectations for FUTI alumni, each of the alumni gave a presentation on their current research/work. We enjoyed learning about our peers working in a wide range of fields including architecture, art, biochemistry, biology, computer science, medical science, neuroscience, physics, political science, and sociology. We had the opportunity to discuss some ideas on developing and making use of the network such as mentorship programs, talk sessions, and regional coffee hours. More ideas are welcome at any time. We also plan to make the meeting annual, possibly extending it to other parts of the US and Japan. Please stay tuned! If you are an alumnus of the FUTI scholarship program and have not yet registered for the FUTI Alumni Association, please contact us at FUTIalumni[at]gmail.com. Authors: Y. Haba and S. Miyano, co-founders of the FUTI Alumni AssociationTranslation: FUTI staff Articles in this newsletter:
This past October, FUTI’s director, Dr. Shigenori Matsushita, received the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Computer Science Department of his Alma Mater, the University of Illinois. He received the same award from the Electrical Engineering Dept. four years ago. He is one of the “Computer Pioneers of Japan” as designated by the Information Processing Society of Japan. Dr. Matsushita graduated in 1959 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tokyo and worked for Toshiba as a computer design engineer. Although he was encouraged to go to graduate school and desired to do so himself since computer science was not taught on the undergraduate level at the time, he had to decide not to, thinking that he could not afford it. Japan was an impoverished nation after the Second World War when even the first salary at Toshiba was ¥12,500 or $35 a month. As chance would have it, he found out that although he could not afford the graduate study in Japan, he could study in the US by taking advantage of the half-time assistantship. Fortunately, the famed Digital Computer Laboratory at the University of Illinois (U of I) offered an assistantship for $200 a month allowing him to attend a computer sciences degree program in the Electrical Engineering Department at the master’s level. At this time, only the Digital Computer Laboratory existed and the Computer Science Department has not been established yet. During the one-year leave from 1962 to 1963 which he petitioned Toshiba for and was granted, he was able to fulfill the minimum requirements for the master’s degree at the U of I. He was also assisted by the Fulbright scholarship, created by Senator Fulbright. Shig felt, and still feels very much obliged to the US and the American people for enabling his advanced study entirely by means of American money, without which his study of computer sciences would have been impossible. Much later in the 1990’s he worked for a start-up company in Silicon Valley. Five years later in 1999, stock options grew to, in his opinion, a sizable amount of money. Again, this was American money coming from American investors. Matsushita felt that he should repay the US and the American people for the generosity extended to him when he was very poor, and discussed this with the late Professor Saburo Muroga of the Computer Science Department, University of Illinois. As Professor Muroga was planning to retire, he and Matsushita jointly established a fund, the Saburo Muroga Endowed Fellowship, which to this day still continues 20 years later. The Distinguished Alumni Award was given to show great appreciation for this and other contributions to the department. In addition, Matsushita also donated to Stanford University, the University of Tokyo and the Sugiyama Scholarship Fund in Tokyo to express his gratitude. As he still feels indebted to the US and the American people, he continues to contribute in the form of being a Director and Scholarship Committee Chairman of Friends of UTokyo, encouraging interaction between the two countries through scholarship programs awarded to qualified students at US universities and UTokyo who wish to study at UTokyo or academic/research institutions in the US, respectively. Dr. Matsushita states, “Since the Distinguished Alumni Award is just one of many awards, it is not necessarily worth publicizing on FUTI News. Of course, personally, I feel extremely honored that in addition to the Distinguished Alumni Award given to me four years ago for my contribution to the industry through promoting better relationships between companies in the U.S. and Japan, I received an award a second time for my gratitude and repayment to the US through the fund established twenty years ago and through my contribution to FUTI today. It may be worth noting on the FUTI Newsletter that wise investment in our youth by means of scholarships, as FUTI is engaged in, will get results in the long run.” https://ece.illinois.edu/alumni/awards/awardee/15-Matsushita https://cs.illinois.edu/about-us/awards/alumni-awards/top-alumni-and-faculty-honored-their-achievements Articles in this newsletter:
Every year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology celebrates the power of technology to radically improve the human condition with the Inclusive Innovation Challenge, a competition to award entrepreneurs doing work to build an economy that works for everyone. In October 2019 Asia Initiatives, an NGO founded by Dr. Geeta Mehta, UTokyo alumna and FUTI Advisory Board member, was selected as the Asia Region winner from among 1500 organizations, for its groundbreaking work with Social Capital Credits (SoCCs), the transformative community currency that people earn for doing social good and redeem for education, skill empowerment, microcredit, and more. What started from humble beginnings in the Tokyo home of Geeta Mehta quickly gained momentum to grow into a full-fledged 501(c)3 nonprofit serving thousands of women and their families across India, Ghana, Kenya, and the United States. Beginning with establishing microloan banking centers, the cutting-edge pro-women, pro-poor, pro-environment development strategy of the early 2000s, AI became a leader in the philanthropic space with the invention of SoCCs. SoCCs are powerful because they leverage the power of social capital to transform communities. The team at AI believes that the current sole focus on financial capital has lead to the loss of social and environmental capital. That’s where SoCCs come in. SoCCs are simple to implement and they make it possible to measure and capitalize on social capital, which every community can build and nurture. With SoCCs, thousands of people have lifted themselves out of poverty by building and leveraging social capital, and the work of women whose domestic and community labor goes unseen and unrewarded is finally recognized. According to one member of the evaluating committee, “SoCCs is one of the boldest and strongest ideas that I have seen in recent times. The impact to the bottom of the pyramid is scalable and evidence based. The project is a remarkable idea of some of the best minds in the world supported by a strong team. While the idea itself has merit to impact millions of lives, it also creates a new ecosystem of goodwill.” Articles in this newsletter:
Professor Alexander Coppock (Department of Political Science Yale University) May 28 2019May 29 2019 The 15th Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lecture was delivered at the University of Tokyo by Professor Alexander Coppock from Yale University. The lecture consisted of two talks: the first at Komaba Campus on 28th and another at Hongo Campus on 29th May. Professor Aleander Coppock is a rising star in the field of experimental survey research and a recent arrival at Yale. He received his PhD in Political Science from Columbia University and has taught at Yale since 2016. He is a resident fellow of the Institution for Social Policy Studies and Center for the Study of American Politics. His research focuses on how individuals incorporate new political information and whether persuasion changes the voters’ political opinions. He is also a member of the DeclareDesign, which provides software packages to diagnose research designs. His work has appeared in many leading academic journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Experimental Political Science. The talk at Komaba Campus on May 28th was titled “Persuasion in Parallel,” which was hosted by the university of Tokyo Center of Philosophy (UTCP). 20 participants from the University of Tokyo and other universities attended the talk. Following welcome address by Professor Nobuhiro Hiwatari (Institute of Social Science), Professor Coppock discussed his latest research on political persuasion. Contrary to the common wisdom that political persuasion is not effective and is inconsequential, Professor Coppock, drew examples from his own experimental survey results as well as those of others to demonstrate that people change their opinions in the direction of the given information regardless of their partisanship. Furthermore, he was able to estimate the extent and the duration of that effect. The estimation is made by measuring pre-treatment characteristics and then randomly providing subjects with persuasive information (or contrary information) as treatment and, then, by analyzing the post-treatment attitudes. Professor Coppock listed as an example the experiment by Chong and Druckman (2010). This study gave subjects pro or con information on the Patriot Act and analyzed the attitudes before and after the treatment, finding that the subjects given con information supported the Act less, while subjects given pro information supported it more. The results showed the same parallel patterns regardless of whether the subjects were Republicans and Democrats. Professor Coppock also explained his recent experiment on the federal minimum wages, in which subjects were assigned to watch either pro- or anti-minimum wage videos and asked their opinions afterwards. The results indicated that anti-video group increased opposition and provideo group support for federal minimum wages, regardless of their initial position on the issue. After one hour’s talk, the section of questions and answers was held, where interesting questions were raised, and an active discussion took place. The second talk titled “When to Worry About Sensitivity Bias: Theory and Evidence from 30 Years of List Experiments”, took place at Institute of Social Science (Hongo Campus) on May 29th. 19 scholars and graduate students from the University of Tokyo and other institutes attended the talk. Sensitivity bias in political surveys refers to the situation in which respondents give socially desirable answers (“social desirability bias”) to politically sensitive questions instead of revealing the truth. An accurate estimate of the scope and nature of sensitivity bias is critical to make the research reliable. Professor Coppock discussed three topics pertaining to the issue: 1) the reference group theory of sensitivity bias, 2) the sensitivity-variability tradeoff and 3) the effects of direct and indirect measurement on this tradeoff. He explained the reference group theory of sensitivity bias as an alternative to the dominant social desirability bias view, which explains sensitivity bias as a result of respondents trying to avoid embarrassment and project a favorable image to others. By comparison, the reference group theory examines whether respondents have a social referent in mind, whether they think their responses would be disclosed to social referent, what they regard as the preference of the social referent, and what their perceptions of the costs are for failing to give the desired response. Professor Coppock examined whether indirect measurement (list experiment) could mitigate the sensitivity bias and if so at what costs. He illustrated the logic of the list experiments by using a vote buying survey after the 2007 Kenyan elections (Ktamon 2016) as well as his own research. He explained how sensitivity bias was problematic in some topics such as authoritarian repression and vote buying, but not other topics such as prejudice, race, and religion. As a result of his meta-analysis of a large amount of past list experiments, he showed that although direct questions were biased they produced low-variance estimates, whereas list experiments were unbiased but they were approximately 7 times more variable than direct questions. Based on the persistence of the sensitivity bias-variability trade-off, he concluded that list experiments would be meaningful only when they are conducted with a very large sample size and when the sensitivity bias is expected to be substantial. The floor was open to questions during the one-hour talk, which was followed by further inspiring questions. Lively discussions continued over half an hour, making to the lecture a great success. The Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lectures are made possible by the financial support of the Friends of Tokyo, Inc. (FUTI) in cooperation with the McMillan Center, Yale University. * Dr.Yamakawa Kenjiro was Yale University’s first Japanese student who graduated with a Bachelor of Physics in 1875.After his graduation, he led an accomplished career as a renowned physicist and professor at the University of Tokyo.Later, he served as the President of the Imperial University of Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kyushu and devoted himself to thedevelopment of higher education in modern Japan. The Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lectures have been delivered byYale faculty members in Tokyo since 2013. Articles in this newsletter:
FUTI Annual Board and Advisory Committee Joint Meeting, September 28, 2019 (Saturday), New York Board members present: Masaaki Yamada (chair), Teruo Fujii, Sumiko Ito, Takatoshi Ito, Yuichiro Kuwama, Shigenori Matsushita, Iwao Ojima, Nobuko Sakurai Advisory Committee (AC) members present: Hisashi Kobayashi, Akiko Koide, Geeta Mehta, Yasuo Okamoto, Yuriko Suzuki, K.Y. Tung, Masako Osako (also as acting Secretary). Others present: Shohei Koide (Scholarship Committee), Tetsu Fujisaki (Observer), Yoshinari Ikiri (Observer), Yuki Haba (Observer) FUTI’s Annual Board and Advisory Committee joint meeting was held at the UTokyo New York office in New York, commencing at 1:30pm on September 28, 2019. After welcome greetings by Mr. Y. Yamada (chair), Ms. Osako, acting Secretary, presented the minutes of the Annual Board meetings held on September 29, 2018 and April 15, 2019. The minutes were unanimously approved by the Board. 1. Status Report of FUTI: M. Yamada The FUTI Board approved the resignation of Dr. Yamada as Chair and approved the election of Dr. Ojima as Chair effective October 1, 2019. Dr. Yamada also announced that a new collaboration was going to start between FUTI and the UTokyo NY Office. The Board discussed the nature of this partnership between the two organizations which is likely to result in mutual benefits. New members for the FUTI Board are proposed and approved unanimously by the Board: Takatoshi Ito, Professor, Columbia University Junji Takegami, Co-founder and advisor, Tiger Pacific Capital, LP 2.Recent Developments at UTokyo Using the slides, Dr. T. Fujii, Executive Vice President of UTokyo, introduced the university’s new vision, “Choosing our Future” and various programs and activities being undertaken by the university. Highlights include: UTokyo aims at developing an inclusive society utilizing “science, technology and innovations,” “social systems,” and “economic mechanisms.” The university encourages young people “wanting to solve social issues.” UTokyo’s goal is to develop a “new system” to achieve “sustainable development of human society.” In order to implement its vision, the university has initiated a variety of programs including, GLP-GEfIL, Go Global Gateway, and Taiken program, which are generating encouraging results. 3.Scholarship Programs Dr. S. Matsushita, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, provided updates on scholarship related matters. FUTI provided 17 Global Leadership Awards and 9 Ito Foundation USA-FUTI scholarship awards in 2019 (which included one Ikuei scholarship). With respect to English Proficiency Test scores (EPT), Dr. Matsushita recommended that the current EPT exemption for the “2nd year application” be removed and replaced by the notice that EPT scores of earlier years might be used. The Board concurred on the recommendation. Dr. Ojima suggested to promote scholarships to support graduate students, mainly Ph.D. course students, at UTokyo to carry out a 6- to 12-month period of research as visiting graduate students (i.e., no requirement to take courses or degrees) at a relevant US university’s research laboratory. Prof. Kobayashi will step down from the Scholarship Committee to be replaced by Dr. Koide effective AY2019-20. 4. Grant Programs Dr. M. Yamada provided updates on FUTI’s grant programs including an overview of the 2018-2019 recipients, the Columbia-UTokyo program and the Yale-UTokyo exchange of scholars under the Yamakawa Kenjiro Memorial Lecture series. 5. Financial Statements for FY 18/19 and Related Items Dr. Kuwama, Treasurer and Director of Financial Affairs, reported financial highlights for FY2018-19. Donation from individual donors totaled $59,876 only slightly below $61,021 a year earlier. Support received from Shintech and Ito Foundation USA was $35,997 and $200,000, respectively. FUTI gave $61,900 in FUTI Global Leadership scholarships, $179,500 in Ito USA-FUTI scholarships, and $19,500 as grants to universities. In respect to the IRS’s public support test (so-called “one-third rule”), Dr. Kuwama stated that the public support ratio for the FY2018 (ending in June 2019) was 31.8%. Dr. Kuwama stressed the importance of an active fundraising campaign with alumni in order to raise the ratio to the 33.3% level. 6. Report by the AC Committee Dr. H. Kobayashi, chair of the AC Committee, introduced three new ex-officio members who joined the FUTI AC. They are Yumi Nakayama (Satsukikai America), Katsuyuki Yamaguchi (NY Icho-kai) and Masako Osako (Chicago Akamon-kai). Dr. Kobayashi discussed various contributions AC members have made during the 2018-19 fiscal year, including supporting UTokyo’s Taiken programs (in DC and New York) and advising UTokyo students who visited New York, Berkeley, etc. Kobayashi said that he served on the Board and AC since 2007, and expressed his firm belief that any organization needs to have new blood coming in to replace old ones so as to remain vital. He requested to step down from the AC Chair as soon as President Ojima finds his replacement. 7. Report from FUTI Alumni Association Mr. Haba and Ms. Miyano, co-founders of the FUTI Alumni Association, reported on the establishment of the FUTI Alumni Association which is designed to form a network among 150+ FUTI scholarship recipients in the US, Japan and elsewhere. As of September 28, approximately 40 members have registered for membership. Mr. Yamada proposed budget of $5,000 to support the Association for 2019-2020, which was approved by the Board. 8. Outstanding Operational Issues for FUTI Prof. Ojima, next President of FUTI starting October 1, 2019, proposed the creation of a working group to re-examine the financial situation, organizational structure, and by-laws of FUTI as well as its relationship with the UTokyo NY Office. The group, to be headed by Dr. Kuwama, is expected to make recommendations to the Board at the 2020 Board meeting. Dr. Ojima also recommended assigning specific areas of responsibility to Board members in addition to the currently available “University Relations” designation. He recommended, for example, Dr. Matsushita to be the “Director of Scholarship Programs”. Dr. Ojima commented on the expected responsibility of Board members in terms of both financial and volunteering work. 9. Service Award Plaque presented to M. Yamada Dr. Ojima thanked Dr. Yamada for his outstanding service to FUTI since 2015 and presented him a “Distinguished Service Award” plaque. Dr. Kobayashi suggested that Mr. Yamada become honorary president of FUTI after the next year. ＊＊＊＊ 1. Appointment of Directors and Officers, Advisory Committee…
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