UCLA
Ryo Ikesu 0. はじめに 2021年9月からカリフォルニア大学ロサンゼルス校 (UCLA) 公衆衛生大学院の修士課程 (疫学)に留学している、池洲 諒 (いけすりょう)です。１年間の総まとめの報告書として、これまでの２回の報告書に続く形で書きたいと思います。 1. 2021年９月から10月(第１回報告書より) 略歴 2016年に東大医学部を卒業し、２年間の初期臨床研修を経て、公衆衛生の研究の道に進みました。留学前は東大の博士課程に在籍していましたが、博士号を得る前にもっと研鑽を積みたいと思い、東大を休学して留学を決意しました。 渡米・生活セットアップ 9月20日がオリエンテーション開始日だったので、9月13日に渡米しました。渡米にあたり、新型コロナウイルス感染症のワクチン接種 (これはUCLAのrequirementで、私は医療従事者として6月時点で完了していました)や、入国前3日以内の陰性証明書 (新型コロナウイルス感染症)が必要でした。そのほかに渡米前に済ませておいてよかったと思うのは、現地で使うSIMカードの入手と銀行口座の開設 (とデビットカードの取得)です。大学の寮 (家具付き、電気ガス水道インターネット完備、キャンパスから徒歩15分) に当選していたので、渡米後に住居を探す必要はありませんでした。 寮はStudioタイプと呼ばれる、日本でいうワンルームのような間取りです。ベッド・勉強机・冷蔵庫などは備え付けですが、石けん・食器・シーツなど自分で調達しなければならないものも多くて手間取りました。Amazonや量販店通いでなんとか取り揃えましたが、Amazonで頼んだテレビのスクリーンがバキバキに割れていた時は、孤独感もあいまって悲しくなりました (返品。結局現在はテレビなしの生活)。また、自炊に使う日本の調味料は、LA歴の長い日本人の方に日系スーパーに連れて行ってもらって調達できました。１週間ほどで衣食住は最低限のレベルを整えることができ、無事にオリエンテーションに臨むことができました。 授業 私は今学期３つの授業を履修しています。UCLAではこの秋から対面授業を解禁していますが、公衆衛生大学院はクラスの人数に応じて適宜オンライン授業を取り入れています。私の場合、対面授業は１つのみで、ほかはZoomで受講しています。日本の多くの場合と違って、授業では学生の継続的なコミットメントが求められる印象です。成績は期末試験の結果のみでなく、毎週の確認テスト・２週に一回のペースで出される宿題・中間試験の結果も総合して決まります。授業内容はそこまで高度ではないですが、このようにして学生に基礎をたたき込んでいるのかな、と感じます。最初は細々とした課題の多さに戸惑いましたが、最近は徐々に慣れてきました。 研究 UCLAに留学するにあたり、授業にとどまらず、積極的に研究の機会を得たいと考えていました。私の主な研究関心は因果推論 (主に観察研究のデータを基に変数間の因果について考察する)・健康の社会的決定要因・医療政策で、これらに造詣の深いfacultyとの研究の機会を探っています。留学１ヶ月目の進捗としては、(様々な先生・先輩方の助けを借りて) そうしたfacultyとのミーティングの機会を得ることができました。また、それとは別にリサーチアシスタントの機会もいただきました。まだまだ芽は出ていませんが、積極的にアクションを起こして前進したいと思います。 2. 2021年11月から2022年１月(第２回報告書より) 12月に最初の学期が終わり、今月(１月)から二学期目が始まりました。2回目の留学報告をさせていただきます。 米国での生活 昨年11月、Thanks giving明けの時期にWHOがオミクロン株をvariant of concernに指定しました。各国が国境管理を厳しくする中、年明けに米国への再入国で苦戦することを懸念して、私は12月の日本への一時帰国をキャンセルしました。留学以降、妻 (在日本) とは離れて暮らしており、突発的に一時帰国をキャンセルに至らしめた今回の騒動には辟易としています。 案の定、米国内では新型コロナウイルスの新規感染者数が急増し(全米で一日100万人を記録)、今学期から大学は閉鎖され、授業はすべてオンラインに逆戻りしました。ワクチンの追加接種について大学からの要請があり、また米国では２回目接種から６ヶ月経過後から追加接種が可能であったことから、先日追加接種をしました。インターネットで近隣の薬局での接種を簡単に予約でき、当日は保険証とID (パスポートなど)を持参すれば接種を受けることができました (日本のように接種券が送られてくることはありませんでした)。 授業 先学期の授業３つは無事に終え、成績はA+が２つ、Aが１つでした。 今学期は４つの授業 (疫学、統計学、プログラミングなど) を履修しています。授業内容は先学期よりも少し発展的ですが、個人的にはまだ余力があります。ただ、先学期と違って少人数の勉強会グループができたので、英語のよい練習になっています。 研究 先学期にミーティングをしたfacultyとコミュニケーションを取り続けるよう努めたところ(要求されてもいない研究計画書を送るなど)、12月に彼女の下でのリサーチアシスタントのオファーをいただきました。留学序盤からのリサーチアシスタントに追加で２件目ですが、年末の帰国をキャンセルしたこともあり時間的には余裕がありました。幸い発表できそうな結果も得て、現在は学会発表 (共著、Asian Americanの認知症発症に対する教育の予防効果について) に向けて抄録作成をしています。共著ながらもUCLAでの研究として１つ形になりそうであることに安堵する一方で、今後は自身が筆頭著者として研究できるよう、先行研究などの研鑽を積みつつ機会を伺っています。 その他 UCLAには、Language exchangeプログラムといって、勉強したい言語を母語とする学生同士をマッチングさせるプログラムがあります。私も登録し、つい先日日本語を勉強中のアメリカ人 (材料化学の博士課程学生) とマッチしました。研究ミーティングなどで使う英語の微妙なニュアンスやミーティングでの作法に困ることが多いので、英語コミュニケーションの暗黙知のようなものを学べれば、と意気込んでいます (逆に私は日本語を満足に教えられるのでしょうか)。 3. 2022年２月から６月 ３月中旬までが冬学期で、１週間の休みを挟んで３月末から６月上旬が春学期でした。 生活 ２月頃からリサーチアシスタントとして関わるプロジェクトが次々と佳境を迎え、授業の課題も多くなりました。そのため、春学期が終わるまで、課題・試験勉強・研究で多忙でした。特に冬学期は講義もオンラインのため自室にこもりがちで、合間にキャンパスをジョギングすることが唯一の息抜き、という生活でした(春学期は対面授業が再開されました)。せっかくロサンゼルスにいるにもかかわらず観光を楽しむ余力がほとんどなかったので、それは今後の課題にします。 授業 冬学期の授業の成績はA+が３つとAが１つでした。特に印象に残っているのは、疫学の授業です。疫学は、(ざっくり言うと)ある集団から抽出したデータを用いて何かしらの曝露要因(例: 放射線被曝)と健康指標 (例: がん発生)の因果関係を評価する学問ですが、授業では「どの集団が関心対象なのか」を常に明確にするように叩き込まれました(そうでないと、データで検討している曝露要因と健康指標の因果関係の妥当性を吟味できないからです)。言われてみれば当然なのですが、課題や試験では折に触れてこの点を意識していることを試されました。良し悪しは別として、こうした基礎の叩き込みを日本で経験しなかったので、新鮮でした。 春学期は３つの授業を履修しました(疫学、統計解析、プログラミング)。総じて課題が多く、常になにかの締め切りに追われる状態が学期中続きました。課題の度に友人たちとディスカッションの機会を設けて理解を深める、というスタイルで乗り切りました。この一年は必修科目に指定された基礎的な講義を中心に受講したので、次の一年はより自身の興味に合わせた講義(発展的な因果推論、医療政策など)を受講する予定です。とても楽しみです。 研究 今年に入ってから、リサーチアシスタントを２件続けています。データ解析、学会抄録・論文の執筆、研究プロポーザル作成などの経験をさせてもらっています(第二著者の論文が複数進行中です)。研究スキルの面で学ぶことがある以上に、それぞれのprincipal investigatorが履修・研究・キャリアに関してアドバイスをくださるので、とても有意義です。本当は学期中に第一著者としての研究も進めたかったのですが、授業の負荷もあって後手になってしまいました。これまで学んだことを生かして、夏休み以降に腰を据えて取り組みます。 今後について 2022年９月からは、博士課程の学生としてUCLAで勉強・研究を続けることになりました。私の所属する修士のコースでは、１年目の成績が一定以上であれば、(修士号取得を経ずに)２年目の秋学期から博士課程へ編入することができます。元々は２年間の修士課程を終えて東大に戻って博士号を取得するつもりでしたが、１年弱過ごす中で、UCLAの研究環境で研鑽をつむことが自身の成長につながると思えてきました。１年目の成績が編入のための要件を満たしていたため、いろいろな方からアドバイスをいただきつつ、編入を決めました。当初予定していたよりも長い期間UCLAで修業することになりますが、公衆衛生の分野でインパクトのある研究をするための基礎を身につけるべく、精進を続けます。 4. さいごに この１年間ご支援を頂きました東大友の会と米国伊藤財団の方々に、感謝申し上げます。１年目の留学生活をなんとか走りきれたのは、日頃の温かいご支援のおかげです。今後とも、ご指導ご鞭撻のほど、何卒よろしくお願いいたします。
Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, North Carolina State University
By Yui Omori 0. Acknowledgement I am sincerely honored to have been selected as the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A.- FUTI scholarship recipient. Knowing that I was selected has offered me much relief this semester and has allowed me to focus more on my studies. Again, I really appreciate your support. 1. Studio Projects During the spring semester, I focused on developing a site for people with a range of cognitive and physical disabilities. The studio site was located in a rural setting just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. The design for the site required sensitivity and thoughtful consideration for a diverse user group with varying physical and mental abilities. The most challenging part of the project was trying to accommodate this diverse group of people and offer a variety of opportunities for interaction both on-site and in the surrounding neighborhoods. For example, some of the users are hypersensitive to the presence of others and external stimuli while other users are not. Thus, balancing the extent of “isolation” and “integration” was the key to solving this contradiction. 2. Landscape History I had also taken a class on the history of designed landscapes this semester. I really enjoyed learning about different landscapes throughout the world and “traveling” through time. Especially my final individual project delved into the 3,600-year-old Santorini eruptions and tsunamis and how these catastrophic events led to the collapse of a civilization. What is intriguing is that these mega-disasters may not only be the reason for the collapse of Minoan Crete due to the evidence of a hundred-year gap between the disasters and the collapse. It is particularly important to note that tsunamis generated by volcano-related earthquakes are rare phenomena. On the one hand, the Akahoya eruption in Japan 7,300 years ago killed over 7 million people, leading to the decline of the Jo- mon civilization. Additionally, recent research found evidence of tsunamis generated by volcanic eruptions. Knowing and understanding these rare natural events of the past can perhaps contribute to our (understanding of, response to?) modern natural disasters such as the Hunga Tonga Hunga tsunamis that occurred this past December. This gave me new insight and posed additional questions in my coastal disaster research; how landscape architects can pass the lesson learned from the past disasters with different times and places to people all over the world and future generations. I will concentrate more on coastal infrastructure design next school year, and I will keep the possibility of compound disasters of volcanic eruptions and tsunamis in mind. Lastly, I would like to once again express my sincere gratitude to FUTI.
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)
By Yuxiu Lin Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain. My one-year study at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University has come to an end as we had our Commencement ceremony on May 18th. This was the first in-person Commencement in three years and more excitingly, we had Hilary Clinton come to our Commencement to receive an honorary degree and she responded to our calls for her speech by sharing impromptu remarks! For me, it was a year full of opportunities and growth. Every time when I talked with friends and colleagues that I am doing an internship at UN Women and working on a capstone project while being a full-time student, they were surprised at how I was able to manage time to work on so many things at the same time. Balancing all tasks and work is not easy, but these experiences became incredibly valuable and rewarding as I look back. In my internship, I have created and kept an updated contact database of 2700+ partners and helped on-time launch of big events at UN Women including International Women’s Day and Commission on Status of Women. My capstone team conducted research on the existing landscape of ESG sovereign risk providers and provided a recommendation for an alternative evaluation framework through a qualitative and quantitative methodology which allows us to identify five sovereigns with the most progress in environmental performance and policies that have contributed to strengthening their performance and draw inferrals from data to determine policy results. This whole year makes me realize that we need to learn to adapt to the unexpectedness and move forward rather than passively standing still. The pandemic has lasted for more than three years and there is no clear future on when humanity can see an eradication of Covid-19. Simply waiting for Covid-19 to end is too impractical and instead we should learn to live with it while doing what we can including wearing masks and getting vaccination to minimize the possibility of getting infected. Life will go on regardless of whether we can eliminate the virus or not and history tells us that humans have demonstrated the ability to learn to well adapt to the environment thousands of years ago. To conclude, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Ito Foundation U.S.A and Friends of UTokyo, Inc., who enabled me to complete my education at Columbia University and have so much rewarding memory and satisfaction with my stay in New York. I am excited to see what life will bring to me next but my goal of helping address large social and environmental problems will never change. As our SIPA Dean Thomas Christensen said at the Commencement, SIPA graduates will not only do well but also do good in their future paths.
MIT Sloan School of Management
By Akihiko Izu In May 2022, I completed my life-changing years at one of the most innovative places on the planet: MIT Sloan School of Management. While working as an M&A lawyer in Tokyo for six years, I realized that good business lawyers have an in-depth understanding of how companies make decisions and also can imagine what will occur after transactions are concluded. My goal was to cultivate these capabilities to help companies make appropriate decisions and protect them from potential problems. As MIT is recognized as one of the most entrepreneurial environments in the United States, I leveraged its entrepreneurial ecosystem throughout the MBA program. At business school, I took many entrepreneurship classes, such as New Enterprises, Entrepreneurial Strategy, and Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams. In particular, New Enterprises is the most famous entrepreneurship class at MIT, and is taught by a serial entrepreneur, Bill Aulet. In this class, teams of students are guided through a 24-step process to build a startup. The most valuable thing I learned from this class was how to identify pain points and resolve them, as without paying customers, startups cannot succeed. Our team conducted over 200 interviews to identify real pain points, and eventually discovered that US law enforcement agencies are struggling with inter-agency collaboration. By taking Entrepreneurial Strategy, which is a class that focuses on startup strategies, I learned that the key to success in startups is how to determine which path to take. Since startups do not have enough resources to try multiple options, they often need to make tough decisions. With this mindset, I became more serious about the choices I made for my startup. Through Entrepreneurial Founding and Teams, I learned how early-stage startups handle issues among co-founders, investors, and employees. In early-stage startups, there often is a lot of drama between stakeholders, and as such, identifying the criteria for how to make difficult decisions involving stakeholders is of critical importance. Alongside my academic learning, I received a lot of valuable advice from my mentors at MIT, and I also started a company with two MIT students, one of whom I met at an entrepreneurship event at MIT. Our later startup received $20,000 in non-dilutive funds from MIT Sandbox which helped us get off the ground, and our startup later won second place at $100K Accelerate (a pitch competition). In addition, our startup was selected as the 2022 cohort of MIT delta v (an accelerator program). In combination with academic knowledge, the MIT ecosystem has supported both myself and other students who seek to develop a strong foundation in business. After spending two years in such a robust entrepreneurial environment, I have decided to continue developing my startup in Boston after graduation, with the mission of making communities safe and connected by deploying cutting-edge tools for public safety stakeholders. In the course of establishing my startup, I have had to make countless important decisions and have become able to imagine new business strategies. Without MIT’s ecosystem, I would not have developed the skills to do so. I would like to express my gratitude to the ITO FOUNDATION U.S.A. and Friends of UTokyo, Inc. for supporting my entrepreneurial journey at MIT. By leveraging this invaluable opportunity, I hope to develop my capabilities further and contribute to the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Japan in the future.
Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) & Master of Business Administration (MBA), 2022 Harvard Kennedy School & MIT Sloan School of Management
By Tomohito Okuda I can’t believe I am about to finish my three years in the US. I am very satisfied at the same time as I start to miss my amazing classmates. In addition to a wide range of hard skills in public and business administration that I wanted to learn, I could enhance various soft skills and learned some life lessons. This report highlights three major learnings that seem to overarch my experience during my study in Boston. Those are about uncertainty, diversity, and belief. The scholarship program helped me concentrate on studying and pursuing an exciting career path, particularly by removing the post-degree financial constraints. Learnings Learning #1: Embrace the beauty of uncertainty. Our information for decision-making is almost always limited. Sometimes it’s due to a lack of experience or knowledge (e.g., most government officers have a limited understanding of businesses), or it could be due to the complexity of the issue (e.g., the effect of climate change). However, nothing emerges if you stay within the boundary of known information. That’s why we continue learning, that’s why we develop theories and test them, and that’s why we employ conceptual frameworks to digest information when we face complex problems. It’s tempting to plan and control everything, but that strategy is vulnerable when we have many unknowns. I failed many times by doing so in group works in classes and my start-up. In contrast, successful entrepreneurs often handled such uncertainty very well, and are very open to tackling uncertainty. Throughout the experience during the three years, I became much more open to uncertainty, but I need to embrace it more. This is a simple but very important lesson that I want to keep for the rest of my life. Learning #2: Believe to increase the probability of success. An MIT professor taught this lesson in his final lecture, referring to the saying “believing is seeing.” If you believe in a successful result in a challenging task, you change your behaviors, which increases the probability of success. It sounds like nonsense, but this logic reminds me of many examples in my life. 15 years ago, I never thought I could enter the University of Tokyo or Harvard. I updated my belief thanks to the positive influence of my professors, friends, and colleagues, but it was ultimately myself who believed in my path. People sometimes call it optimism, but it is an important quality that opens a new door. For the same reason, you should question others’ opinions when they are simply projecting themselves without considering the external validity of their experiences. You can believe anything unknown, but you should wisely use the available evidence and distinguish them from unsupported views. Learning #3: Internalize diversity. One of the most interesting cultural differences I found in the US was the debates between some of the extreme opinions that I had rarely seen in Japan. Gender, race, or even school policies related to Covid are some of the examples. For example, no one stands up suddenly and says “I would like to point out the teaching team of this class consists of men only” in a classroom in Japan, but I saw such incidences three times in Boston. When I face those experiences, I usually tried to (1) analyze the causes of the difference (cultural difference, diverse society, etc.), (2) listen to others, and (3) think about my opinion. Until recently, I believed this was enough, but I noticed I needed one more step: (4) analyze how to reconcile when my opinion is different from someone’s seemingly logical opinion. We need solid normative principles to solve these problems, as I experienced so acutely when the opinions on schools’ Covid policies differed among students. Should we maximize the utility of society, stop people when their principles harm each other or employ another principle? We can’t blindly advocate diversity and inclusion, but we should develop our ability to internalize them and communicate with each other. Some people might call this ability “leadership,” and I believe it is more and more required as diversity increases within counties and organizations everywhere. I believe all those learnings are valid regardless of the sectors or generation. Fortunately or unfortunately, I also believe those learnings are very “personal.” They might resonate with someone with similar experiences, but they do not easily settle in one’s mind if they lack personal experiences to associate with. This is a strong justification for my choice to study in the US for three years, including the period that was most severely affected by the pandemic. I feel fortunate to gain a wide range of experiences to appreciate the lessons. Looking forward This fall, I will join McKinsey Nairobi to continue my journey to seek a better way to develop basic infrastructure in developing countries. At McKinsey, I can contribute to the high-level decision-making of governments, donors, and companies in Africa. Given its enormous presence in Africa, I can’t imagine any better option to achieve my desire to provide advisory work to the public sector in the next few years. This career choice would have been much more difficult but with the support of the Ito Foundation USA and Friends of UTokyo because the financial constraint is one of the major barriers in this field. People often associate McKinsey with the image of a high salary, butits salary is surprisingly lower in Kenya than in the US or Japan. To avoid misunderstanding, this doesn’t mean the selection process is not competitive or the quality of work is sacrificed. It is extremely difficult for non-African, non-native speakers to get those limited positions. Given the unfairly low salary and high competition, I might have made a different decision if I had a large debt to go through the dual degree program. The removal of the financial constraints encouraged me to take on another challenge to make the biggest impact to society. I recall a strong message given by someone at a conference at MIT: If you don’t
サマースクールレポート
By Hanjun Song 今年の夏はイェール大学のサマープログラムに参加しました。授業は“Death Penalty, Wrongful Convictions and Best Practices in Criminal Justice”であり、主にアメリカ刑事司法システムにおける死刑制度や、冤罪について議論が展開されました。 授業を履修した学生には私以外全員ネーティブでしたので、TOEFL のテストで 107点とった英語力があるはずですが、ネーティブと法律関連のディスガションをするときはやり英語力が足りない部分があると感じました。一回につき、予習内容として 140ページくらいの英語の文献と 2 時間ほどの動画を見る課題が課され、つまり週 280 ページの文献と 4 時間くらいの動画資料があるというかなり重みのある授業でした。東大の授業と両立することが若干大変だと感じましたが、それなりに知識と思考力を身につけたと思いますので、参加して良かったと思います。 この授業を通じ得たことは 3 点あります。 一つは英語力の向上です。上記のようにこの授業で求められる英語の読解力はかなり高度なもので、しかも法律関連文献が多いため、用語も普通の文献よりも難しかったです。また授業ではディスガションが多く、しかもイェールの学生はみんな優秀なので、議論について行くのも大変でした。しかし、この授業を通じて自分も英語の実践力が一段階向上したと思います。以前では、英語で学術議論が怖かったり、ディスガションする前に下書きを書いたりしていましたが、今は下書きを書かなくても、自分が考えているものをそのまま伝えることができるようになりました。そういった意味で、この授業を通じて読解力のみならず、英語のスピーキングという実践力かなり向上したと思います。 もう一つは、自分の進路に関して、より明確になったことです。自分がこの授業を履修する前から、法律には関心を持っていました。しかし、大学で国際法を一応体系的に学んだとはいえ、専攻は法律ではなく、国際関係論でしたので院進の際に法律に進むのか若干戸惑うことはありました。しかし、この授業を通じて、法律はどれだけ人の役に立つか、を実際に裁判官（授業の教授は裁判官ですので）の話を聞くことで感心しました。なので、自分もこの分野をもう少し深く勉強し、世の中の多くの脆弱な立場にある人々を助けるのに使いたいと思いました。 3 点目は、死刑制度そのものについてより深く考えました。死刑のある国（中国） に生まれ、大学の留学先（日本）結局死刑制度のある国ため、たとえ周りに死刑制度 に反対する人がいても、自分が死刑制度を支持すること自体はそんなにおかしいでは なかったですし、自分もそれほど自分も主張に違和感を持ったことありませんでした。しかし、この授業では私以外全員アメリカの死刑のない州で育った人だったので、授 業では私以外死刑を支持する人はいませんでした。自分がこんなに極端の少数派にな ったことが初めてでした。このことをきっかけになぜ自分は死刑を支持するのか、ま た死刑を支持することは、人権の保護に長らく携わっていきたいと考える自分他の主 張に果たして相容れないものなのかを深く考えました。考えた末、やはり相容れない ものではなく、自分も結局今で死刑を支持するという今までの立場とは変わりません でした。しかし、以前よりも、この問題の背後にある倫理問題、人権保護、政治問題 についてもより理解が深まりました。
The Courage to Ask Radical Questions
By Hien Le This summer (2021), I was lucky to be selected as a participant in the University of Tokyo Summer Research Internsip (UTSIP). Under the supervision of Professor Motoharu Onuki, I had the opportunity to work in his lab as part of the Graduate Program in Sustainability Science – Global Leadership Initiative (GPSS – GLI). Although the program was cut short from its original format due to the universal COVID-19 situation, I was able to cherish every single moment of the program. As prompted by my exploratory qualitative project, I crossed paths with many brilliant minds. From contemplating the mechanisms of the non-material contribution of nature to humans’ wellbeing to exploring the wonderful initiatives on adapting coastal cities to flooding-induced sea level rise, I was able to see a world bigger than my familiar confines of academic interests. The students in GPSS – GLI, who graciously accepted my invitations of interview, have inspired me endlessly about what is possible, and also consolidated my faith in the power of knowledge. Professor Onuki, my main supervisor, was nothing but purely supportive and patient in guiding me through the process of taking ownership of my research. For the first time ever, I designed a research project from scratch, and I have learnt an invaluable lesson of asking questions. With a Vietnamese educational background, I was initially very intimidated to put forward my thoughts, especially those that are beyond the norm – encouragement from teachers to contribute to class discussions was a rare commodity in my public-school setting. I used to hold a similar impression of other East Asian education systems, in which creativity at times may be stifled. However, during my many conversations with Professor Onuki, never did he turn down my inquiries. He insisted that I was able to express my ideas and stand my ground. And so did my advisors, Annie Cao and Sadaf Taimur, whose unparalleled open- mindedness and wisdom were testimonies to the power of asking questions in scientific research. I feel so hopeful about a better and brighter future of education in this part of the world, where I have long set my heart on serving along my professional path. This entry is also a dedication to my peers with whom I was blessed to befriend. Their diverse interests and backgrounds helped me grow, and spark hope about a better world. Although my biggest regret is a missed chance of discovering Japan and conducting in-person research at Kashiwa campus (hence no pictures of study scenes to keep as mementoes), I have learnt and grown so much over the program. Lastly, I would like to thank UTSIP and Prof. Motoharu Onuki again for this precious opportunity, thank Annie and Sadaf for their dedicated guidance, thank FUTI for your generous support, and finally thank all the friends and the people I met for such a sense of empowerment, and a lively idea of my future-self as a researcher and scholar.
Harvard Medical School Summer Student
By Sumiya Kuroda 東京大学医学部医学科の黒田澄哉と申します。私は今回FUTIのGlobal Leadership Awardを頂き、今年6-8月にかけてHarvard Medical SchoolのWei-Chung A. Lee先生の研究室を訪問しました。当初は、実際に渡米し現地にて研究活動を行わせていただく予定でしたが、COVID-19の感染拡大が収束する見込みが立たず、最終的にリモートで研究プロジェクトに参加することとなりました。 ・留学に至るまでの経緯 私がLee先生に初めてお会いしたのはおよそ1年前になります。当時私がお世話になっていた研究室の先生が、米国で面白い研究をされている先生としてLee先生を紹介してくださりました。近々その二人の先生でZoomミーティングを行う予定があるということで、私も飛び入り参加させて頂き、Lee先生と実際に研究内容などについてお話しすることができました。その際Lee先生からsummer studentの募集を検討しているということを伺い、冬にCVなどをお送りしアプライした結果、今回迎え入れてくれることになりました。 ・留学先での研究内容 Lee先生は神経科学がご専門で、神経細胞（ニューロン）がどのように互いに接続し回路を形成しているのか研究されています。この神経回路の配線や動作原理を明らかにすることができれば、新しい仕組みの人工知能やロボットの開発につながることが期待できます。 今回私は、運動制御を担う神経回路を調べるプロジェクトに参加させて頂きました。このプロジェクトではモデル動物としてキイロショウジョウバエを扱っています。キイロショウジョウバエは、その小さなサイズにも関わらず、餌を巡って互いに闘ったり速いスピードで走ったりと高度な運動を行うことが可能な生物です。Lee研究室では電子顕微鏡を用いてこのキイロショウジョウバエの神経組織を観察し、筋肉に情報を伝えている「運動ニューロン」を全て3次元再構築していました(Phelps JS, et al : Cell, 184(3) : 759-774, 2021)。しかしながら、この運動ニューロン自体がどのような種類の情報を処理しているのかは未だ分かっていません。 そこで私はこの運動ニューロンに情報を伝えている神経回路の3次元再構築に挑戦しました。3次元再構築には、Neuroglancerと呼ばれるソフトウェアを使用しました。これは、サーバーに保存された電子顕微鏡画像にリモートからアクセスしたり、3次元再構築された神経細胞の形をインタラクティブに校正したりすることが可能なツールです。またプログラミングの経験もあった為、Pythonを使ってこの神経細胞の構造情報を解析することにも取り組みました。 8月後半にはジャーナルクラブやデータトークで発表する機会もありました。プレゼンテーションの作成にあたっては、「いかにイントロダクションで聴衆を惹きつけるか」といった点を強く指導されたことが印象に残っています。今までそのような点を意識したことがなかった為大変勉強になりました。データ解析の技術的なスキルのみならず、研究を行う上で必要な能力全般を向上させることができた3ヶ月だったと思います。 最後になりますが、今回こうしてリモート留学を行い貴重な経験を得ることができたのは、Global Leadership Award を頂いたおかげです。ご支援くださった方々には大変感謝しております。本当にありがとうございました。
UC Berkeley Summer Session
By Shotaro Beppu First and foremost, I thank FUTI inc. to support my short study abroad program without which I could not have done. I attended one class (4 units worth) during UC Berkeley summer session C (6/21-8/13). MATH 104, Introduction to Analysis, is an upper-division mathematics class where Berkeley students are exposed to a rigorous proof-based class for the first time1. The topics covered correspond to this wiki page (Real Analysis). The class was online due to the pandemic. It was an ideal opportunity for me, a former humanities student majoring in engineering, to obtain rigorous training to prepare for advanced mathematics such as Lebesgue measures and complex analysis. It was also a chance to strengthen my graduate application to the U.S. in related fields such as economics and statistics as taking this class and obtaining an A is a good signal that one is adept at mathematics. The class was quite intensive. This is partly because the class covers the same material in the course of 1 and a half months that would be done in a usual semester. Thus, the timeline looks like below for each week (for me in Japan). I may have felt the class being more intensive since the class schedule directly intersected with UTokyo’s spring semester, but this is one of the main advantages of online classes and I am thankful for that. Monday 7-10 hours depending on the difficulty, solving the rest of my homework each week due Tuesday 16.00 in Japan. The homework was quite hard (maybe because I did not form study groups but judging from questions at the office hours people more or less struggled as I have) since one has to complete a proof which I didn’t have experience with and some of the questions were quite conceptual and hard to grasp in a short period (such as compactness for me). Tuesday1 hour of Office Hours (2.00-3.00 in the morning…). This was mainly about the homework.2-4 hours solving the rest of my homework each week. 1 hour of lecture (Recordings) Wednesday1 hour of Office hours (which I did not attend) 1 hour of Discussion (6.00-7.00 in the morning) 1 hour of lecture (Recordings) Thursday1 hour of Discussion (6.00-7.00 in the morning) 1 hour of lecture (Recordings) Friday1 hour of office hours (which I occasionally attend) 1 hour of Discussion (6.00-7.00 in the morning) 1 hour of lecture (Recordings) Sat/SunCatching up with whatever materials for classes at UTokyoPreparing for mid-term (at the beginning of week 4) or the final (at the end of week 8) As you may have already noticed taking this class was different from a typical UTokyo class. One that I was hugely impressed with was the amount of time spent on exercises. The discussions which took place three times a week were where we gathered as a group and solve questions related to the topics covered. At the end of each section, the lecturer (who was by the way fantastic and very helpful to someone like me) and we went through the answers together. For those of you who plan to take the class really should attend this as much as possible (although there were recordings of the materials from last week). I have two reasons for this; one is that it forces you to solve problems which are sometimes hard if you are busy, and you can ask questions directly to the lecturer at that time. The second is that the materials covered are most useful for preparing for exams. I remember that one of the problems worth 20% of the final exam (so 10% in the total grade) could only be solved by what we learnt in the discussion session (if I am not mistaken. At least the main insight was not in the lecture nor class handouts). I would also strongly recommend going to the office hours which you can do nothing even if you are there but ask questions any time. It is also good because you could listen to what others are asking. This was an ideal time for asking questions about homework and other questions I solved. With these two supplementary classes, discussion and office hours, I think one learns a lot and naturally achieve good grades. One thing I was surprised by was that the time for these is not pre-specified and staying in Japan, some of it was impossible for me to attend (office hours at 3 in the morning). So, I suggest you contact the lecturer beforehand to check for the time because I could have easily gotten a horrible time schedule in Japan (I was fortunate). Another notable point was the amount of feedback you get. For every homework and both mid-term and the final, you get feedback accompanied by grades. One can request a regrade which I benefitted once hugely. The feedback itself is crucial for classes like this because one can improve on constructing a proof the next time. These feedbacks are often hard to get in UTokyo classes because the only assignments are the final exam and those grades come out a month later with no feedback. There isn’t much feedback on weekly assignments either. The class also gave me a place to experiment with how I should study mathematics in the future. Before, I struggled with these mathematics classes since I did not know how I could utilise proofs presented during lectures to solve problems or come up with proofs on my own. Now, I realise proofs in class are a great way to further your understanding and for solving other questions on your own, provided that you study in a way that fits you. For me, writing down the theorems on paper and drawing the relationships of the theorems (there were a lot I can tell you that) encountered was a good way to grasp the material. For most of the important theorems, I remembered the proof or the outline of proof at least and this was itself sometimes
University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute
Akiko Uemura The Friends of UTokyo, Inc.-Ito Foundation long-term scholarship most kindly guided my studies at the University of Tokyo Historiographical Institute, as a Foreign Visiting Researcher of early modern Iberian-Japanese interactions. Specifically, this scholarship most generously supported my doctoral investigations, concerning the (re)presentations of Japan and the Japanese, according to texts created and/or edited by members of the Company of Jesus-a prominent Catholic order within early modern evangelization of Japan. Thanks to the FUTI-Ito Scholarship, my research and analytical skills have been developed, during the last quarter of 2022. For instance, my analyses of the main primary sources for my doctoral dissertation have been augmented by the Historiographical Institute’s vast collections of Jesuit letters, which refer to early modern epistles penned by members of the Company of Jesus, in this case those mainly in Spanish and Portuguese. The volumes of Jesuit letters consulted include those that have been recently edited and published from the Historiographical Institute itself as Jesuit Letters Concerning Japan, as well as volumes of unedited manuscript facsimiles, such as Archivos en España. Jesuitas [Archives in Spain. Jesuits]. These Jesuit texts demonstrate much epistolary representations of specific individuals who also appear within non-epistolary texts, thereby enabling analytical comparisons of distinct portrayals of these same individuals within my research. My analytical skills have been enhanced, thanks to Professor Oka Mihoko of the Historiographical Institute, via her cordially permitting my participation in her graduate level course-the History of Religions in Japan. Centered upon critical analyses of academic articles concerning diverse religions practiced in Japan, their (re)presentations and contemporary influences, Professor Oka’s course very much encouraged my extending academic interactions with themes beyond my own disciplines. As a particular example, the subject of my class presentation consisted of an academic article of comparative religious studies, amongst diverse expressions of veneration within East and Southeast Asia. Given the strong presence of religions and religious expressions-especially Catholicism-within my own research, the critical analyses of this particular academic article contributed to my acquiring new perspectives upon my own doctoral dissertation theme. Furthermore, my studies at the Historiographical Institute provided me with an irreplaceable opportunity of interaction with fellow Foreign Visiting Researchers: casual research presentations organized by the Researchers themselves, whose themes range from academic ideas to dissertation chapter demonstrations. During the discussion section of its first occasion, the topic of conversation concerned the challenges of academic translation of specific terminologies. When asked for a particular example from my own discipline, I briefly and spontaneously explicated the academic translation of terminologies from Japanese to Portuguese/Spanish to English, in relation to early modern Jesuits’ interpreting Japanese manners of addressing secular political rulers. As such, I was able to immerse myself in a remarkably interdisciplinary environment. I would like to express to the Friends of UTokyo, Inc and the Ito Foundation my utmost gratitude, for its wondrous and kind guidance and support of my research.