Category: Newsletter 8

The annual fundraising campaign in FY 2012/13 (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013) concluded successfully, although it did not match the huge success of last year. It showed a 5% decline largely due to the lower interest rates, affecting the dividends from Shintech Inc’s Trust Fund. Donations from individuals kept the same high level as last year. We are most grateful to the generous supporters for this year’s success, despite the difficult economic climate during this campaign period. By looking at the above chart, we can make the following observations. First, the donations from individuals, shown in green bars, sharply increased from the first two years to the last two years, i.e., $43,200 (42 individuals) and $40,192 (45 individuals) in FY 2009/10 and FY 2010/11, respectively to $62,005 (77 individuals) and $ 61,320 (73 individuals) in FY 2011/12 and FY 2012/13, respectively. Secondly, Shintech Inc’s Trust Fund, which earned dividends as much as 96,432 in FY 2009/10, have been suffering from the lower earnings from the US Treasury notes ever since. The dividends in FY 2012/13 were $70,076, a 9 % decline from $77,155 of FY 2011/12. The recent low interest rates are affecting the campaign significantly in a negative way, and we will have to find alternative strategies to make both ends meet. The pie chart shows a breakdown of the individuals’ donations by group or region. Out of the $61,320 donations from individuals, $30,500 came from 13 members of FUTI Board of Directors and Advisory Committee members; A quarter of the individual donations, $15,520, came from 17 generous alumni in Japan; $7,400 from 8 alumni in Chicago area including donation by the Chicago Akamon-kai; $5,300 from 22 members of the New York Ichokai (excluding those who serve on FUTI’s Board or Advisory Committee); $2,300 from 4 alumni in California. “We are grateful to Shintech Inc. and many generous donors here in the U.S. and Japan. In order to keep our public charity status, however, we should like to broaden the support base.  We sincerely hope that more alumni and friends will join us to help our younger generation gain global experiences by studying or doing internship abroad ” remarked President Hisashi Kobayashi. The list of donors is posted in “Campaign Result of FY2012-2013: Final Report” on the FUTI website. Articles in this newsletter:

FUTI’s Annual Board of Directors meeting was held in the morning of September 21 (Sat) 2013 at the Community Resource Exchange (CRE) Office’s conference room at 42 Broadway, New York, NY 10004. After President Kobayashi’s welcome greeting, Dr. Masako Egawa, Executive Vice President of UTokyo and Director of FUTI reported on recent news and developments at UTokyo (see below for a summary of her report). Then, Dr. Yuichiro Kuwama, Treasurer, reported on the results of the 2012-2013 fundraising campaign. The total amount of individual donations remain nearly unchanged, i.e., $ 61,320 (73 individuals) in FY 12/13 compared with $62,005 (77 individuals) in FY 11/12. The dividends from Shintech’s Trust Fund, however, went down as much as 9% from last year, i.e., from $77,155 in FY11/12 to $70,076 in FY12/13. Consequently an overall revenue decreased by 5%, i.e., from $139,160 in FY11/12 to $131,396 in FY12/13 (For details see a related article in this newsletter). He expressed his concern about the bleak forecast of dividend income of next year. Dr. Masaaki Yamada, Director of University Relations, reported on the 2013 summer scholarship programs, and research grant programs (For details see related articles in this newsletter). Dr. Masako Osako, FUTI staff, reported on the following three programs that UTokyo has recently introduced as part of its effort for globalization: PEAK(Programs in English at Komaba), UTokyo Innovation Summer Program, and “Taiken” Program. A majority of the Board members felt favorably about these programs, but their opinion is divided whether or not FUTI should provide financial support to participants in these programs. As for PEAK, most Board members felt that more information concerning the number of applicants from the  U.S. and their quality ought to be obtained before we can start evaluating the program. In the afternoon, a joint meeting between the Board and Advisory Committee (AC) was held. Following the report by Dr. Masaaki Yamada on the summer scholarship and research grant programs, Mr. Benjamin Frandsen, a Ph.D. student showed the video presentation of the Columbia-UTokyo curriculum development on “Frontiers of Condensed Matter Physics” prerecorded by Prof. Yasutomo Uemura (see video below). Message to Friends of UTokyo, Inc from Prof. Yasumoto Uemura The rest of the joint meeting was spent in briefing the AC members on the topics reported by Dr. Egawa, Dr. Kuwama and Dr. Osako at the Board meeting in the morning. In addition Mr. Shuta Kobayashi, Secretary, reported on the revised Bylaws, which defined the roles of the Advisory Committee and Special Committees (e.g., the Award Committee). In the final session the Board reappointed the current officers and directors and advisory members (including the newly appointed Dr. Tamura) for another year. Dr. Shigenori Matsushita was appointed as a new member of the Award Committee. Postscript: Summary of Dr. Egawa Masako’s report The following topics were reported by Dr. Masako Egawa at both Board meeting and at the Joint Meeting with the AC members: The original proposal by President Hamada to move the start of an academic year to September has been scrapped, and a “quarter- system” will be introduced, instead, starting in April 2015. This will easily accommodate UTokyo students’ plans to study abroad in the summer. It will also facilitate foreign students to come to UTokyo, since the third semester will begin in September. Switching from the current semester system to the quarter system will require a complete overhaul of the curriculum, and the University plans to place more emphasis on education, whereas in the past the University’s culture has been such that research is given priority over education. “UTokyo” has been chosen as the official abbreviation or acronym of “The University of Tokyo.” Currently such abbreviation as “Tokyo University” and “UT” are often used. The former is undesirable because it may not be clearly separated from Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo University of the Arts, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, etc. The acronym UT is used by the University of Texas and the University of Toronto. The acronym “UTokyo” can be confusing to non-Japanese. Foreigner sometimes misuse it as in “UTokyo University.” In Google search “UTokyo” appears as an international restaurant chain. As part of UTokyo’s globalization effort, various “Taiken Katsudo (Activities for experience) Programs” and the “UTokyo Innovation Summer Program” have been recently introduced. This is the second year of the Taiken Programs: this year there are 51 Taiken programs implemented in Japan and 24 programs overseas, including five in the U.S. Typically UTokyo’s local alumni groups provide arrangement to host UTokyo students (see a related article in this issue). This year the Taiken Program in India was very popular and drew many applicants.                                                  “UTokyo Innovation Summer Program” was initiated by Professor Hideyuki Horii of Civil Engineering. The program is  two week long, and accepts 30 UTokyo students and another 30 students from abroad. This summer program offers three components; design, discussion and field experience. There were 900 applicants from abroad for the 30 slots. The UTokyo-Princeton Strategic Partnership program announced earlier this year will fund three projects: “astrophysics”, “Japan study” and “sensor technology.” The University of Tokyo now participates in MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). “From the Big Bang to Dark Energy” by Professor Hitoshi Maruyama began on Sept 3rd and “Conditions of War and Peace” by Prof. Kiichi Fujiwara will start on October 15. The Alumni office wishes to establish a UTokyo alumni group in the Boston area and is searching core people who can help the effort. Articles in this newsletter:

The Award Committee awarded the 2013 FUTI Global Leadership Award (FUTI-GLA) to three UTokyo students and three students from U.S. universities, for their participation in the GSP (Global Summer Program). In addition, two UTokyo students were awarded for their enrollment in other summer programs . Together with the 11 awards already reported in Newsletter No.7, the total number of the 2013 Summer Scholarship awards amounted to 19, out of which 11 went to students from U.S. universities and 8 to UTokyo students. One of the UTokyo students reported in Newsletter No.7 as an FUTI-GLA winner regrettably had to withdraw from the program due to his visa situation. Introduced in 2010, the FUTI Summer Scholarship Program is designed to nurture future global leaders of the U.S. and Japan, and one of the selection criteria for the award is a demonstration of leadership qualities. Each recipient of the award will receive an FUTI Global Leadership Award certificate and a scholarship, ranging typically from $3,000 to $4,000, depending on the summer program and the financial needs of the recipient. U.S. students who attended GSP courses at UTokyo: Mr. Vibol Heng (Yale University, Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Senior): ”Nanoscience” and “Introduction to Japanese Language” Ms. Patty Lan (Yale University, Anthropology, Junior): “Japan in Today’s World” and “Introduction to Japanese Language” Ms. Jessica Wong (University of California at Berkeley, Junior): ”Sustainable Urban Development” and “Nanoscience” UTokyo Students who attended GSP courses at UCB (University of California at Berkeley) or Yale Mr. Satoshi Miyatani (Aerospace & Aeronautics Engineering, Senior): UCB course “The Summer Peace Institute” Mr. Kai Tamura (International Relations, Sophomore): UCB Course “Media and Global Protest Movements” Mr. Yasuaki Inada (Law, Sophomore): Yale course, “Sustainability and Institutions” UTokyo Students who attended Other Summer Programs Mr. Genki Takahashi (Agriculture, Senior): UCB Summer School, “Environmental Design & Architecture” Mr. Enkhtuvshin Turbold (Economics, Master 2nd year): UCB course, “English Language Studies” Articles in this newsletter:

In mid-July, Dr. Masako Osako, a member of the FUTI Award Committee, visited Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, to meet with four recipients of the 2013 FUTI Global Leadership Award. Sitting in Book Trader Café or Cask Republic (both being popular eating and gathering places for students in New Haven), the students talked to Ms. Osako about their life at Yale campus. The study is quite demanding, they say. They have to work on home work every day, prepare for classroom presentations, and participate in team projects.   At the same time, however, they are  gaining valuable international experiences through direct interactions with U.S. and other international students. Mr. Yasuaki Inada (junior in Law and Politics) is enrolled in a Global Summer Program (GSP), “Sustainability and Institutions.”  Ms. Nako Kondo (senior in International and Social Relations) is enrolled in regular summer school courses, “U.S. Strategy After the Cold War” and “Film, Video, and American History”. Ms. Kondo says, “The classes are challenging and interesting.  Instead of just giving lectures alone, the instructors try hard to get the students involved in discussion and work on team projects. After having got used to UTokyo’s lecture format given in large classrooms for the past two years, I find this environment very refreshing and challenging. I am learning how to think quickly and to speak up as often as possible. Mr. Junya Tominaga (2nd year Masters in Interdisciplinary Information Studies)  and Mr. Kohei Oyabu (2nd year Masters in Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering) are both enrolled in the English Language Institute (ELI)’s six week program, which is designed to help international students improve their English proficiency.  Mr.Oyabu says, “Learning to improve my English skill is certainly valuable. But my ELI experience has gone beyond the academic aspect; it has broadened my horizons for global understanding. I have got acquainted with two Islamic students in my class; one is from Indonesia and the other, from Iran.  We help each other in our study and travel together to Boston and other places. I have begun to understand the Islamic way of life through this personal contact. All the four students expressed their gratitude to FUTI, which made their experience possible and they hope that more students experience summer studies in the U.S. with FUTI’s scholarships in coming years. Articles in this newsletter:

On August 30, a reception was held for 14 UTokyo students who participated in the 2013 New York Region Taiken (Hands-on Experience) program for UTokyo undergraduates. Twelve students of the program visited UTokyo alumni at four corporations,  a law firm, a hospital, a university, an NGO, and the United Nations to learn firsthand about “work and career in the U.S.” spending five days. Also present were two students who experienced farming at an organic farm in Princeton, NJ for two weeks in a separate Taiken program.  Twenty four alumni and their guests joined the reception held in Wall Street,  which was organized by the NY   Ichokai and Satsuki-kai America.  Friends of UTokyo (FUTI) provided a partial support toward the cost of the gathering. Mrs. Nobuko Sakurai, a member of the FUTI Advisory Committee and a director of Satsuki-kai America, welcomed the students, the alumni and the guests, thanking the companies and the organizations who kindly accepted the students’ visits.  Mr. Yasuo Okamoto, Esq., also a member of the FUTI Advisory Committee and the President of the NY Ichokai commented, “We are pleased to help young promising students have a meaningful international experience.” Several other alumni gave “my message to students,” describing their various experiences in the U.S.,  followed by the students’ group who expressed their gratitude to the hospitality  and talked about the excitement that they experienced in the program. One junior student remarked: “I learned a great deal from the Taiken program. It gave me a valuable opportunity to think seriously about my future. I found every visit helpful in broadening my thoughts and horizons. I adore alumni who have achieved success by working overseas, which is also my goal.” UTokyo started the Taiken program in 2012 with the aim of fostering  “UTokyo students without borders” (Étudiants de UTokyo sans frontières) through experiencing diverse facets of international community.  This year, the program consist of  51 domestic and 24 international programs, of which five Taiken programs took place in the United States.  http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/stu01/h19_j.html Articles in this newsletter:

On July 11, 2013 a reception was held for the students who participated in the 2013 University of Tokyo Research Internship Program (UTRIP) , hosted by the Faculty of Science of UTokyo. This year, 28 undergraduate students were selected from all over the world. Among them were six FUTI awardees, who were selected from more than 120 U.S. undergraduate students who applied for the FUTI summer scholarship program. All participants conducted research as summer interns in UTokyo’s science laboratories. At the reception, Ms. Sachiko Soeda, Project Specialist of UTRIP, who coordinates the program, expressed her gratitude to Friends of UTokyo, Inc. (FUTI) which has doubled the number of awards from three of last year to six this year. Dr. Masaaki Yamada, Director of the University Relations of FUTI and Chair of the FUTI Selection Committee, who happened to be in Tokyo, attending an international conference on Plasma Physics, was invited to the Reception, met each of the six FUTI awardees. Dr. Yamada remarked “I am extremely impressed by the enthusiasm that the students show about their exciting research experiences, despite the very hot summer in Tokyo. This type of exchange program will significantly broaden the global views of participating students, and I feel that the FUTI effort has been rewarded handsomely.” He also encouraged the UTRIP students to return to UTokyo as graduate students in the future. The UTRIP is one of the best run summer programs, and the number of worldwide applications increased dramatically from 310 of last year to 430. The number of U.S. applicants doubled, i.e., from 62 of last year to 123 this year, and most of them were top notch students from leading U.S.  universities. Articles in this newsletter:

A “Welcome and Farewell Party” was held on Friday July 12 at Capo PELLICANO Restaurant in the Medical School Building of the Hongo Campus. The party was attended by 41 GSP (Global Summer Programs) students from abroad, five UTokyo GSP participants, two IARU Sustainability Program exchange students, and three UTokyo students of the UT-IRIS (University of Tokyo, International Relations Institution of Students), a volunteer organization which helps organize such exchange programs as GSP events. The party began with a welcome speech by Dr. Masako Egawa, Executive VP of UTokyo and a director of FUTI, followed by a toast by Professor Masashi Haneda, Vice President of UTokyo. Then, all students introduced themselves, similar to last year’s reception. A closing remark was made by Professor Takeo Fujiwara, Project Professor of the Center for Research and Development of Higher Education, who has been in charge of UTokyo’s GSP program since its inception. Dr. Egawa remarked, “The IARU GSP program serves as a flagship of short program at UTokyo,  as we aim to become a ‘Global Campus,’ and we have been reinforcing GSP activities. We sincerely hope that friendships and partnerships will be cultivated between UTokyo students and the GSP participants from abroad.” Mr. Vibol Heng and Ms. Patty Lan (both from Yale University) and Ms. Jessica Wong (from the University of California, Berkeley) who are recipients of the FUTI Global Leadership Award attended the event and enjoyed their conversation with Dr. Egawa and staff of the Division of International Affairs. The award recipients said they were grateful to FUTI for the valuable opportunity they experienced at UTokyo. Articles in this newsletter:

“Go Global 2013,” a fair to encourage UTokyo students to study abroad, was held at the Komaba Campus on June 6th (Thu) and 7th (Fri), 2013. The objectives of the study-abroad 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 oversea-study opportunities in the early phase of their undergraduate study.This is the third year since this annual fair was introduced in 2011. The plenary session for general information held on the 6th was attended by approximately 450 students. On the 7th, individual counseling sessions were provided by representatives from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Division of International Affairs, foreign government affiliated organizations, and NGO/NPOs (domestic and abroad), and were attended by about 300 students who made up, in total, about 1000 visits to the booths of the participating organizations. In the plenary session of the 6th Dr. Masako Egawa, Executive Vice President of UTokyo, gave a welcome speech, a staff of the Division of International Affairs gave general information of overseas study, and a staff of the College of Arts and Sciences introduced its “Globalization Office.” Then five students who had studied abroad reported on their experiences, and a panel discussion by them ensued. In the individual counseling sessions of the 7th , 24 organizations, including FUTI, set up their booths, answered individual inquiries and gave advice to the visitors. FUTI’s booth was visited by 39 students during the three and a half hour period, and Messrs. Yoichi Yoshida and Junpei Noda of the Development Division represented FUTI. Their impression was that while many students had clear ideas about their overseas study plans last year, many of students of this year were noticeably interested in having some experience of going abroad even for a short term, including study abroad. This change appears to indicate the University’s policy, which encourages many students to have some international experience whatever experience it may be, has begun to permeate among the students. Messrs. Yoshida and Noda received questions about the length, timing, and host institutions of overseas studies. They have found this year again that the students are favorably disposed toward FUTI’s Global Leadership Award program, which is flexible and not necessarily tied to specific institutions or summer programs. As Messrs. Yoshida and Noda showed FUTI’s website using an iPad, and explained about FUTI’s Directors, the students seemed to have felt familiar with FUTI. The following is a list of the twenty four organizations that participated in the event. IAESTE Japan (The International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience) Infosys Ltd French Government Study Abroad Office British Council DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst; German Academic Exchange Service) The Embassy of Switzerland in Japan The Finnish Institute in Japan Embassy of Canada to Japan Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan Embassy of Australia in Japan Friends of UTokyo, Inc. Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) UCSD FGL (University of California at San Diego’s Future Global Leader) Program VIA (Volunteer in Asia) Stanford Program Never-ending International work Campus Exchange (NICE) Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) International Monetary Fund (IMF) The International Affairs Division of UTokyo The School of Liberal Arts AIKOM (Abroad in Komaba) Committee of UTokyo The Beijing Office of UTokyo The Career Support Office of UTokyo The Go Global Office of UTokyo International Student Exchange Corner Articles in this newsletter:

Again this year, FUTI has provided a research grant of $10,000 to the research collaboration between Kavli IPMU (Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe) at the University of Tokyo and BCTP (Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics) at the University of California, Berkeley. The main goal of the grant is to promote exchanges of researchers in their early career (i.e., graduate students and postdocs) at Berkeley and Tokyo. Those from the Kavli-IPMU would benefit from having exposure to the active research environment in Berkeley with a broad spectrum of topics in theoretical particle physics. Having both research and cultural exposure will prove crucial for the development of the careers of young researchers in the global scientific community. Particularly, this should provide great opportunities for the UTokyo graduate students. As for the research objectives, the common interests between Berkeley and Kavli-IPMU students are in four major areas: Higgs and new physics searches at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider), large-scale structure and dark energy studies in large astronomical surveys, dark matter searches in underground experiments, and building a unified theory and new mathematics based on string theory. Each institution would try to match up visiting students with local researchers having similar interests, and encourage them to attend relevant seminars and lectures. With support from FUTI, students from Kavli-IPMU will be able to attend courses at Berkeley during their semester-long visit. A longer stay has been recognized to dramatically enhance fruitful scientific collaborations, and one of these collaborations has resulted in a very meaningful publication. Having learned that longer stays make exchanges more meaningful and successful, Kavli-IPMU plans to follow the same approach this year. Articles in this newsletter:

FUTI has renewed its research grant to the Columbia-UTokyo Joint LectureshipProgram led by Prof. Yasutomo Uemura of Columbia University. In 2011, as an outreach effort at Columbia and UTokyo, the “Frontiers of Condensed Matter Physics (F-CMP)” course was initiated based on live and video-recorded lectures for entry-level graduate students. In March 2013, with partial support of FUTI, 14 Columbia students went on a 10-day tour to Tokyo and Kyoto after taking the Japanese physics lecture course in the Fall 2012 Semester at Columbia via video broadcast under the guidance of Prof. Uemura. FUTI’s grant of this year is intended to support the travels of 6 graduate students (2 from UTokyo, 1 from Kyoto, and 3 from Columbia): just like the 2012 New York tour for UTokyo students and the 2013 Japan tour for Columbia students. They will engage in research collaborations with F-CMP lecturers and grad students from their counterpart. Additionally, in the Fall 2013 Semester, they are planning to organize a live lecture course (G6022) of F-CMP at Columbia. The lecturers will include a few members of the Columbia Physics Department, Prof. Uchida of UTokyo who will be visiting Columbia for two months, plus several faculty members of Rutgers University and Rice University. (You can view a video on this project prepared by Prof. Yasumoto Uemura below). Message to Friends of UTokyo, Inc from Prof. Yasumoto Uemura Articles in this newsletter: