NY Ichokai’s 12th Annual Reception Held
On February 15, 2013, the New York Icho-kai, an association of UTokyo alumni in the New York region, held its 12th annual reception attended by 178 persons (including some spouses). H.E. Ambassador to the United Nations, Tsuneo Nishida gave a speech about current developments at the United Nations. Ms. Mari Maeda, a professional announcer and the wife of Mr. Keigo Hatashima (Law School, Class of ‘06), served as a volunteer MC (master of ceremonies). FUTI President Prof. Hisashi Kobayashi reported on FUTI’s support for UTokyo’s internationalization effort through FUTI’s summer scholarship program for U.S. and UTokyo students. He urged the alumni at the meeting to respond generously to FUTI’s fund raising campaign. His speech was followed by a slide presentation by Ms. Masako Osako, an FUTI staff, showing FUTI scholarship students studying at UTokyo and U.S. universities. You can view the slide show by clicking here. Singing by the NY Ichokai male chorus group and dancing by Mr. Hatajima brought the party to life. After the closing remark by the NY Ichokai President Mr. Yasuo Okamoto, all the participants sang together “Tada Hitotsu” (Only One Thing), a rooster’s song of UTokyo.
The Ito International Research Center Awaits You!
The Ito International Research Center（Ito Center）opened in April 2012. The Ito Center was established to promote UTokyo’s cooperation with society and its exchange with the international community. It was named after Mr. Masatoshi Ito, Honorary Chairman of Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. and his wife, Mrs. Nobuko Ito, who provided donations to UTokyo to fund this project. The Ito Center, designed by the University of Tokyo Professor emeritus Masao Kohyama and constructed by Kajima Corporation, is located on the site previously occupied by the Gakushi Kaikan (the University Alumni Association Hall) Annex, adjacent to the Akamon (or Red Gate). The Center has a classic outer appearance, embracing a refurbished brick-warehouse originally built in 1916, and stands harmoniously with alongside adjacent buildings. The Ito Center contains a variety of facilities. These include Ito Hall (with a capacity of 500 people) and Event Space on the second basement floor; galleries on the first basement floor; meeting rooms and Faculty Club on the 2nd floor; and a conference room and a seminar room on the 3rd floor. These facilities are suitable for reception as well as for various meetings of academic societies, alumni and study groups. UTokyo World Café (TWC) and Greater UTokyo Juku (GTJ), which are both programs for alumni to promote their life-long learning, are holding their meetings in this facility. Especially pleasing to the alumni are the restaurant and café on the first floor and the faculty club on the 2nd floor. The restaurant becomes crowded by Hongo students, professors and local residents during lunch and dinner time. Compared to other eating spots in the Hongo campus, the Ito Center’s restaurant is more up-scale with the price of lunch ranging from 1,500 to 4,500 yen, and that of dinner from 3,000 to 7,000 yen: they are all course menus. The faculty club is perfect for a party of 40-50 guests. This salon with a cocktail service is frequently rented out to groups such as various Komaba alumni groups. This snug space of brick structure in Hongo awaits your visit in the near future! For inquiries, call 03-5841-0779 (weekdays, 9 am to 5:30 pm), fax to 03-5841-0932, or email to itocenterml.adm.u-tokyo.ac.jp. Visit its website www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ext01/iirc/ By clicking here, you can read the speech text (in Japanese) delivered by Mr. Masatoshi Ito at the Inauguration Ceremony held on May 22, 2012, which you may find quite moving. Articles in this newsletter:
Book Review："America Knows that Japan’s Economy Will Revive" (in Japanese)
“America Knows that Japan’s Economy will Revive (in Japanese)” (Kodansha Press, January 2013, 271 pages, ISBN978-4-06-218151-8) by Professor Emeritus Koichi Hamada of Yale University, who is also Director of FUTI, is drawing a great deal of interest and is among the best sellers. Its main message is that if Japan increases currency in circulation by monetary easement, the prices of goods will go up and the value of the Japanese Yen will go down due to the supply-demand relationship; thus, export-oriented industry will gain more profits than the loss that import-oriented business will suffer. But the Bank of Japan failed to act, so criticizes the author. The first “arrow” that Prime Minister Abe proposes among the three arrows of his “Abenomics” is “Bold monetary easing policy,” which Prof. Hamada has been advising Mr. Abe for some time. Thus this book is attracting a great deal of attention. According to the book reviews of amazon.co.jp., most reviewers give him five stars, but some economists and economic critics oppose the author’s arguments. Table of Contents Preface―As a “Final Lecture” of my fifty years of research life. Introduction: An open letter to my former student, the Governor of BOJ Chapter 1: Country that ignores common sense known in economic theory for 200 years Chapter 2: Economic policies for BOJ and the Ministry of Finance Chapter 3: Japan’s economy discussed by Economic geniuses Chapter 4: Economic theory can save Japan, nevertheless Chapter 5: Shock of St. Valentine’s Day, 2012 Chapter 6: Policies absolutely necessary before increasing taxes Chapter 7: Trap of “Government and Media Compound” Final Chapter: Japan can revive soon now. Postscript―To regain the “Beautiful Country” In page 265 of the Postscript, Professor Hamada refers to FUTI (Friends of UTokyo, Inc.) Articles in this newsletter:
Book Review: Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap: "Why Did Japan Stop Growing–Policy Options for Japan’s Revival" (in Japanese)
Dr. Takeo Hoshi, Professor of Stanford University and a member of the San Francisco Akamon-kai, and Prof. Anil K. Kashyap of the University of Chicago published their latest book (written in Japanese): “Why Did Japan Stop Growing—Policy Options for Japan’s Revival” (Nihon Keizai Shinbun Co. Press, 207 pages, ISBN978-4-532-35547-0) in January 2013. This book is based on their two reports (in English) published as NIRA (National Institute for Research Advancement, Japan) Reports: “Why Did Japan Stop Growing?” (January 2011) and “Policy Options for Japan’s Revival” (June 2012). The authors state in the preface: “The present stagnation of Japan’s economy is not a simple economic downturn, and what is required is not an ordinary policy for economic stimulation. The reason why Japan’s economy has been stagnant is neither a consequence of the Great Earthquake disaster, nor a ripple effect of the global financial crisis. The Koizumi government is not to blame for the instability of Japan’s economy. Even the collapse of the bubble is not the fundamental cause of the stagnation of Japan’s economy.” In the September 12, 2008 issue of the Wall Street Journal, just before the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the authors published an article entitled “A Blueprint for Reforming Japan.” In that article the authors proposed five policies that the Japanese Government and the Bank of Japan should implement. First, drop the policy to protect businesses that have lost competitiveness, which the authors refer to as “zombie firms”; second, reduce agricultural subsidies; third, introduce a tax identification number system; fourth, reform the immigration policy; and fifth, expand the monetary policy to end deflation. Most of these proposals are carried over to this book. This book explores the causes of the slowdown of Japan’s economy from the long term perspective, and proposes policies that are required to make Japan’s economy to revive and grow again. Included at the end of the book is a nine page commentary “What have we learned from the lost two decades?” by Motoshige Ito, Professor of Economics, the University of Tokyo, and President of NIRA. He praises the authors’ “high quality analysis” of policy issues and endorses the authors’ conviction as well as their specific prescriptions to regain the health of Japan’s economy. The real challenge the country faces, however, is the difficulty in implementing these policies, says Ito. Regrettably, the Japanese economists have not fulfilled so far their important duty as scholars to enlighten and persuade the general public, politicians and bureaucrats. Prof. Ito criticizes Japan’s scholars (and perhaps including himself) for their insufficient effort. Table of Contents Preface Part I Why Did Japan Stop Growing? Part 2: Successes and Failures of Economic Policies—Examination of the Koizumi Cabinet Part 3: Policy Options for Japan’s Revival References Commentary: “What Have We Learned from the Lost Two Decades?” -Motoshige Ito Articles in this newsletter:
February 2013 Special Issue of Journal “Mathematical Seminar” (in Japanese) in Honor of Shoshichi Kobayashi
The February 2013 issue of Journal “Mathematical Seminar” (in Japanese) is a special issue in honor of Shoshichi Kobayashi of U.C. Berkeley, who unexpectedly passed away on August 29, 2012. He was an emeritus professor of mathematics at the U.C. Berkeley and was the oldest member of the San Francisco Akamon-kai (the alumni group of UTokyo in the San Francisco region). This issue traces the achievements of Prof. Kobayashi since his early days, whose contributions to differential geometry and the theory of complex manifolds have been internationally well recognized, and influenced many mathematicians not only in Japan but also in the world. Table of Contents [Critical Biography] Recollection of Prof. Shoshichi Kobayashi―Takushiro Ochiai Remembering my big brother Shoshichi―Hisashi Kobayashi My friend Shoshichi Kobayashi―Akio Hattori Memory of my friend Shoshichi Kobayashi―Ichiro Satake， Some conjectures and solutions in the Kähler geometry―Keizo Hasegawa From theory of curved surfaces to differential geometry ― Yoshiaki Maeda Holomorphic mappings and complex manifolds: Kobayashi’s metric― Junjiro Noguchi Geometry with spacious symmetry―Makiko Tanaka Achievements and legacies of Prof. Shoshichi Kobayashi: Kobayashi-Hitchen correspondence―Toshiki Mabuchi Articles in this newsletter: