Kiyoshi Kurokawa's blog （en）

From Abu Dhabi - 2

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On the second day of the trip to Abu Dhabi, we visited the Department of Economic Development. We were received by Chairman Alsowaidi, who warmly welcomed the cooperation of business, government and academia. In particular, he was glad about my coincidental encounter with the Sakura Club at the Al Ain campus of United Arab Emirates University on the previous day. This meeting was possible thanks to the initiative taken by the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo, and the discussion proceeded to the topic of cooperation in research and development. Such meetings are fundamentally important for relations between countries.

The Abu Dhabi side gave a presentation called “Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030.” For the Japanese side, Professor Kudo of Showa Medical University (gastroenterological) gave a presentation showing a video of theremoval of a polyp from a large intestine using an endoscope. There were also presentations by various companies and an introduction of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo.

I had another appointment and had to excuse myself for an hour, but our visit was reported in the local newspaper. I am sorry to say that I found the article had mentioned my title incorrectly.

As you may know, nuclear power plants are currently being constructed in Abu Dhabi and there are efforts to deepen relations with Japan and to learn from the recent accident.

Our meeting ended smoothly and we headed towards our next stop, Zayed University. This also has an astounding campus as well as state of the art facilities. Here too, there is a Japanese “fan club” sort of organization.

In the evening, out of the courtesy of Ambassador Kamo, I had dinner at the Ambassador’s official residence, the last time I was there was three years ago.

The next day was the final day of our trip. I met with the Dr. Laursen, the President of Khalifa University, where I am a member of the board. Afterwards, I joined everyone for a relaxed lunch and we started preparing for our return trip. In the evening, I was interviewed by a journalist who is working in Abu Dhabi under a two year contract. This interview piece is also available.

She graduated from Harvard College and invited me to a Harvard dinner gathering at the Park Hyatt Hotel. It is quite a pleasant hotel. There are many people here on business. Afterwards, I checked out of my hotel at 11 p.m. and headed toward the airport.

I will now travel to Los Angeles via London, a trip of twenty four hours in total. 

 

From Abu Dhabi - 1

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I visited Abu Dhabi after some time. This time I came with the purpose of developing greater university and Japan related networks in Abu Dhabi.

The twenty people or so whom I came with included Mr. Toyoda, the former senior officer of Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Professor Nakano, the Director of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology of University of Tokyo, and others who have a deep relations with Abu Dhabi. My connection to Abu Dhabi and this delegation formed because I am a member of Board of Trustees of Khalifa University and also because I was a member of the President’s Council at the University of Tokyo, as well the Director of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo and I had wanted to further mutual relationships between universities. Although it has only been forty years, Japan and the United Arab Emirates have had deep relations, not just limited to the spheres of education and research. The United Arab Emirates is one of the main exporters and Japan is one of the main importers of oil. Last month, Minister Motegi visited the area and many agreements were made, with the involvement of the Research Center for the Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.

We arrived late at night and the following day we visited the campus of United Arab Emirates (UAE) University, which is the national university of UAE. Many Western universities and companies have opened research offices there and it is possible to see the vibrant teaching and research that is going on. They are especially passionate regarding the undergraduate education. It is disappointing that Japan is not participating in such activities. I learned that there is a club called the Sakura Club for students who want to know more about Japan and become friends with Japanese.

In the afternoon, we visited the main campus of UAE in Al Ain. It was ninety minutes by car. The weather was sunny and the temperature was a comfortable 25 to 27℃. We were shown the excellent campus. I have visited the medical school there three or four years ago. The medical school has ties with John Hopkins University. Here too, the undergraduate education is the core of the university.

We were scheduled to depart at five but as we entered the majestic building of the main campus, we came across a sign that announced “Sakura Club event” from five to six. As we quickly changed our plans and entered the auditorium, we saw that there were some Japanese female university students wearing kimonos and a woman who was performing a classical Japanese dance. This happened to be Mako Hattori and her team. We know each other and so we were very surprised to meet here by chance. Considering that around twenty Japanese men suddenly and unexpectedly came into the auditorium, they must have been quite surprised. This unexpected meeting made us very delighted and we all greatly enjoyed Ms. Mako’s explanation of the kimono and dance.

Also present were Ambassador Kamo and his wife, who took the post last November.

I met a student from Waseda University who is studying here for one year. She must have been surprised to say the least. She said her university life has been very fulfilling.

In the auditorium, the female students sat to the left of the stage and the male students sat to the right. This is the local custom.

We left after about half an hour, but it must remain in the minds of the students as a good memory.

Such unexpected meetings can occur in the most unlikely places.

 

In San Francisco and at Stanford University

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EDF is an environmental advocacy group set up in 1967, during a period when many new movements were sprouting up. This was the period when Rachel Carson’s seminal book ‘Silent Spring’ came out, as well as the period when the Vietnam War was escalating.

At EDF, scientists and lawyers come together in order to solve pressing social problems through policies and politics. I was in the US around that time (in 1969) and so feel I know the social background out of which this movement rose up.

I was invited by the board of trustees of this organization to join its ‘Science Day’ event, and I decided to accept and so found myself in San Francisco. I think they invited me because the theme this time was nuclear energy.

I reached San Francisco a day early on the 4th of February, and was invited to give a seminar the next day at APARC in Stanford University. Another reason I was there was to meet professor Takeo Hoshi, who had just joined Stanford from UC San Diego where he had been for about 20 years.

My seminar was attended by Masahiko Aoki and many others, and I was also able to have an informal discussion of around 2 hours after my hour-and-a-half seminar.

The EDF meeting the next day was attended by the likes of Burton Richter and John F. Ahearne (a key member of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) which compiled a report for the Three Mile Island Accident (March 1979), who then become Chairman of the Commission two months after the release of the Kemeny Report), all giants in their respective fields, and thanks to the participation of many experts in environmental and energy problems, a lively discussion took place. It was interesting to be in a conference with such a long discussion.

I stayed at Cavallo Point, located in Sausalito, at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The good Californian weather made it an enjoyable 3 days.

 

The "N Program": Physicians of the Global Age

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As the year started, there was a gathering of physicians who have undergone clinical training in the United States, hold U.S. licenses and board-certified in internal medicine and who have even undergone further sub-specialty training. These physicians underwent three years of clinical training in US through the “N Program” (mostly consisting of internal medicine but also including pediatric medicine) established by Dr. Nishimoto with the support of Tokyo Marine Nichido Fire and hosted primarily in the Beth Israel Hospital in New York City (NYC). Many continue onto further special training, eg, infectious diseases, cardiology, hemotology and oncology, and kidney disease, among others.

Pictures are uploaded on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/harumi.gomi?fref=ts>

Many people have returned to work in Japan, but some have stayed in the U.S. Dr. Kuwama, my junior who I introduced the other day, is one of such people. He has established his own clinic in NYC and has contributed greatly to the teaching of students and physicians in training as a clinical professor. There must have been many Japanese in NYC whom Dr. Kuwama helped.

In the New Year, there was a gathering of medical doctors who have built their careers in such a way. Since the beginning of this “N Program,” I have tried to support Dr. Nishimoto in my own capacity and there has been some 150 medical doctors trained through this program. There were a number of students who I have taught, and meeting them for the first time in a while felt nostalgic. Furthermore, it was possible to see that each person is becoming a good influence and a wonderful role model for others. I believe this is a group of physicians who will be trusted wherever they go in the world.

Underlying this is the American tradition of clinical training, which is built on the continuation of interaction and competition with people of diverse medical schools and universities, and is always open and adjusting previous generations’ training to change with the times and to develop good physicians. This tradition is ingrained into the doctors who are involved with teaching. There is something special about this kind of education, which only people who have received quality education/training would understand.

The foundation of this is high quality training that lies only with people who have gone through themselves in quality education/training, and which you intuitively “give back” to your juniors and students. These are the “good tradition” or 'virtuous cycle' that forms the foundation of education.

In a global world, good traditions can be passed on through this kind of a continuation of open interactive and competitive training. During the three years of this program, I believe that the seniors pass on their shared “good traditions” to their juniors and students. In this way, “N Program graduates” are the “global standard” (in Japanese) and are physicians who have qualities which are universal and applicable anywhere in the world.

This is the state of the world today.

 

Won’t you join the St. Gallen Symposium?

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There is a conference hosted by students at the University of St. Gallen in the beautiful town of St. Gallen in Switzerland.

It is an excellent symposium in which many of the top people in the political and business world come together. I have attended the conference for some years (1, 2) (Japanese link only).

Next year, it will be held in the beginning of May. In previous years, it used to invite only undergraduate university students but starting from three years ago, it decided to focus on inviting graduate students, post-docs and young leaders under the age of thirty.

Won’t you please join? Regarding the application procedure and requirements, please see the St. Gallen Symposium website (1).

It is a wonderful opportunity and I also plan to attend next year.

See you in St. Gallen!

 

To Dubai: Global Agenda Council of World Economic Forum

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One night after returning from Taipei, I went back to Narita. This time I departed for Dubai.

The airplane I boarded at Narita was the same A380 aircraft that I rode the other day when I returned from Dubai, in "Taking a shower 12,000 meters up in the sky".

This time I flew in business class. Both business and first class were fully booked. Many of the people on board, like myself, are participating in the Global Agenda Council (GAC) of the World Economic Forum (WEF). There were many who I know well, including Dr Yoko Ishikura.

We arrived in the early morning and checked in Jumeira Al Qasr. This time, the WEF-GAC seems to have increased the number of participants by around 20 percent. With over 80 Councils, there are more than before　and many new innovations were put into place to ensure everything was running smoothly. This increase signifies the growing number of issues which the world is facing.

There are separate Councils for around ten countries, one of which is Japan. I am chair of the Japan Council and the people on this council are mostly Japanese. Several meetings have already been held in Tokyo, so the issues on the table were relatively hashed out even before we started. However, in recent years, there seems to be few positive messages about Japan to communicate and consequently there were few visitors. Nevertheless, it is my role to greet the people who stop by, and therefore I spent much of my time at the Japan Council. Sadly, there weren’t many people who visited. It seems that the attention given to Japan and the expectations for the country are lacking and lukewarm.

However, the nuclear accident at Fukushima is a different story. Regarding the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC), we received many questions, mostly on the individual level.

In these past two or three years, I have talked often with the chairs of the China Council and the Korea Council but as both councils had new chairs this time, it was a very important moment and we discussed and shared many things. Both were quite frank and highly aware of the need for greater exchange on multiple levels. We were able to have many fruitful discussions.

Just as I was thinking that it is a time of change for leaders in both China and South Korea, the news broke that the Japanese Lower House will be dissolved. It is quite a time.

As I was talking with the South Korean chair, Dr Guen Lee, it became clear that his father is someone whom I know well. Dr Guen Lee is the son of Professor Lee (Ho-Wang), the former chairman of the Korean Academy of Sciences (KAS). I have a photograph together with the father on this blog. It was meeting Professor Lee that brought me to Professor Ju and has fostered the continuing, inspiring advances in Japanese and Korean medical history (1, 2, 3) .

At the top is a photograph taken with Dr Guen Lee at the banquet on the 26th floor of the famous Burj Al Arab.

When I returned to Japan, I received an email from Dr Lee saying that his father was delighted. The coincidences that can occur in the network of people is a fascinating thing.

 

National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) -5: An “Unexpected,” Encouraging Message Received at the Start of the Commission

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As NAIIC is the first independent investigation commission established by the National Diet in the constitutional history of Japan, we faced many difficulties, especially in the beginning when we were getting the Commission on its feet.

The first Commission meeting was held in Fukushima on December 18th and 19th.  One can tell from the date of the second meeting, January 16th, held a month after the first, how much we were struggling to find the way forward.

It was this second meeting to which a journalist from the British publication, The Economist, came.  The journalist later wrote something rather unexpected in an article (although this actually had been one of NAIIC's aims).

The article has a compelling title: "Japan’s nuclear crisis; The Meltdown and the media".  It can be assumed from the initials that the journalist who wrote it is Mr. Ken Cukier, who came to the second Commission meeting.  Moreover, the date of the article matches that of the meeting, indicating the quick work of the writer.

As we in the Commission were well aware of the heavy criticism the Japan National "Press Club" has received in the world, we made sure that the Commission meetings were accessible to the everyone in the public, even providing simultaneous English translation. This comes from our strong hope that the world will also watch and follow our Commission.

I was very pleased that this article accurately and immediately brought attention to this point.

In my column, I have mentioned a number of times (1, 2, I believe there are more articles, please search within this website) that The Economist is a weekly publication that I am fond of.

The article’s focus on this issue attests to its quality.

Although it is a bit delayed, I would like to express my thanks to Ken.

 

To Oslo- The Kavli Prize and the Kavli Science Forum

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On September 1st, I departed Narita for Oslo.  As I had been busy with the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC), it is my second time being abroad this year, following my trip to Washington DC in May.

After the transit in Copenhagen, I arrived in the evening in Oslo to a beautiful, clear sky.  The purpose of this trip is to attend the Kavli Foundation’s Kavli Prize Ceremony and the Kavli Science Forum.

After arriving, I checked in at the Grand Hotel Oslo.  This is a historic hotel where it is a tradition for the Noble Peace Prize Laureates to stay and to greet the crowd from the second floor balcony, which faces the park.  I had a light, late dinner with Norway’s Ambassador to Japan, Mr. A. Walther, at a nearby restaurant close to the National Theater.

The next day, September 2nd, was also a bright, sunny day.  I was able to rest and relax for the first time in a while before attending the reception in the afternoon.  It was held at its penthouse suite on the top floor of the hotel as well as outside on the rooftop.  At night, I attended a dinner at the American Ambassador’s official residence.  This was another impressive, historic building.

On the 3rd, in the morning I went to the University of Oslo campus to listen to the lectures given by the seven laureates.  There are three laureates in Astrophysics, one in Nanoscience and three in Neuroscience.  Four of them are women and six are from the United States of America, of which three are from MIT.

The lectures were impressive and the leafy campus of University of Oslo, surrounded by grand trees, was very beautiful.

My ‘Global Health’ panel（1）, composed of four panelists in all, was held in the afternoon.  The Prime Minister of Norway came and gave an excellent opening address.  The panelists all know each other and my current job allows me to be involved with them on various occasions.  The program and panel moderator was Pallab Ghosh, who is well known as the science correspondent for BBC News. It is possible to see the entire forum webcast online.

At night, I went to the reception at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.  Prof. Hitoshi Murayama, the Director of the Kavli IPMU at the University of Tokyo also arrived.

Dr. Iijima who was awarded the first Kavli Prize in Nanoscience in 2008, Prof. Ooguri who is a Caltech Kavli Professor and Vice President Kasuga of the Science Council of Japan also took part in the reception.

Oslo is a serene, somehow insistent with her own heritage, sophisticated city.

 

To Okinawa – Supporting the Exchange of the Youths of Asia

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The next morning after returning from Fukushima, I took a flight to Okinawa.

It was to participate in the final day of “Asian Youth Developing Program in Okinawa (AYDPO) ” (“Asian Youth Exchange Program in Okinawa（AYEPO）” has changed its name in 2011). As I have reported to you in my past postings (Ref.1, 2) young people from Asia aged from 14 to 16 gather in Okinawa to spend 3 weeks together.

Since I have been supporting this program from the time of its planning, I have been to Okinawa almost every year for this event. This year I participated in the final day. From such event lots of young people with wonderful future networks will emerge. Participants and university student tutors from the past programs are connected via Facebook, and at every time of this year, they share their memories which they cherish as the most enjoyable time together. Since many of them have already started their careers in a variety of fields, it would be interesting to see what will happen. The network has grown to become a circle of more than 400 people as of this year.

Their presentations on the final day, and also the process of its preparation is a moving experience each year. Please watch and enjoy. “Water issues” are brought up annually for some time now.

After the presentations, I delivered a Closing Lecture “Uncertain Times Ahead; New leadership”. My point overlapped with my keynote lecture which I have touched upon in my previous posting “Harvard-Liberal Arts Without Borders”. Please click here to view my presentation on the web. (It starts from 1:31:51)

Lots of people who supported the event joined with the young participants at the reception that followed and had a wonderful time together.

I would very much like to see more events such as this expand.

According to the weather forecast a big typhoon is expected to hit Okinawa by tomorrow, so I took an evening flight back to Tokyo.

 

HLAB2012- Education of Tomorrow

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Harvard College in Japan; Liberal Arts Without Borders is a program for Japanese high school students organized  mainly by undergraduate students of Harvard University and several Japanese Universities.  It had its 1st event last summer.

Since it was shortly after the “3.11” that this program was held for the first time last year, there were a number of restrictions and inconveniences to overcome, but still, more than 20 students participated from Harvard, and the event in the end turned out to become a wonderful experience for the 80 or so Japanese high school students, giving them great Impacts, thanks to the efforts of the undergraduate students from both U.S. and Japan.   The event was also covered by several Japanese medias.

I was greatly pleased with their success because I was advising and supporting them from the start. (Ref.1) 

Perhaps last year’s success helped in many ways, because the program of this year, the 2nd event, was able to obtain a great support from a large number of people.  I would like to call your attention to the fact that about 80 Harvard students applied, and among the chosen 23 students, 6 were from last year’s participants.  So, I became confident that this program is a success.

On top of this, there were 350 applications from the high school students this year.  I was so happy to hear this.  I imagine that the students in charge had to work very hard in planning the program, not to mention the selection of 80 participants from the 350 applicants.

This year’s program lasted for 10 days and the students stayed at the same accommodation.

On the first day I delivered an Opening Keynote Lecture; “Uncertain Times Ahead: Why Liberal Arts Now?”.   It was a pity that other than this, I was only able to participate in a part of the afternoon sessions of the next day and about 10 minutes at the reception.  I had to be excused from the rest of the remaining week because of other responsibilities including a visit to Fukushima and Okinawa.

It is my firm belief that such  “Peer Mentoring” out of boarders among the people of same generation, as seen in this H-LAB, will become an important core of education in the future. 

Voluntary activities of young people are encouraging in many ways and I am very pleased to see such movements.  I cannot help wanting to support them wholeheartedly.

Thank you so much to all of you who have given support to the students.