- Raccoon Meeting in New York
- A raccoon meeting was held on Sunday, March 26th, 2000, with AISF
Executive Director Itsuko Atsumi and Associate Director Junko Imanishi, who
were both visiting New York City. Melanie Trede of New York University
(Raccoon batch 96) kindly organized the meeting which was held in a Chinese
restaurant on the 55th Street in Manhattan. Michelle Bambling of Columbia
University (Raccoon batch 95), Zhang Shao-Min of Yale University (Raccoon
batch 97), Sun Yanping of Harvard University (Raccoon batch 98), and How
Yankun (Raccoon batch 99) who just went to Yale University, together with
their families, all took time to join the meeting. The participants, who
come from five different countries, reminisced in Japanese of time spent in
Karuizawa and Atsumi Foundation. Just like any wonderful evening in the Big
Apple, it went by so quickly.
-
- (Translated by F. Maquito)
- Research Presentations for Fiscal Year 1999
- The research presentations of the 11 recipients for fiscal year 1999 were
held last March 4, 2000 at the Atsumi Foundation. The foundation's final
activity for this year, the meeting was successfully concluded thanks to the
participation of the current and next batch of scholarship recipients, the
members of Raccoon-Kai (alumni association), the foundation's directors, and
those who provide assistance for foreigners studying in Japan. The
presenters met with some difficulty in trying to explain, within 15 minutes,
their research results in terms understandable to a child. Nevertheless, the
presentations were made splendidly, using such devices as PowerPoint,
slides, and OHP. The presentations were followed by greetings from the AISF
directors. Mr. Kataoka of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research noted
that the recipients may have said only one tenth of what they wanted to say
in the given 15 minutes. He, however, adds that "The result of one's
research is to be useful to the general society. It is important to think
how one's own work can be made relevant to the world at large. In contrast
to the 20th century which laid emphasis on specialists, the world from
hereon will emphasize communication with people outside our respective
specializations. It is in this sense that I would like you to put importance
to the network of the Atsumi Foundation." Mr. Ishii, AISF Auditor,
further commented that "I felt the firm awareness of objectives, the
drive towards new fields of research, the awesome concentration, and
perseverance. I look forward to hear of your news through the Raccoon
Association." Lastly, Mr. Nakajima of Kajima Foundation, said "I
designed this building when my hair was still black. I would like you to
firmly place in your hearts that today's meeting was held in a place where
Morinosuke Kajima used to invite the presidents and important persons of
different nations." He ended his greetings with the following haiku:
Festival dolls watch
Students of Asian nations
Dreams and aspirations
The meeting was concluded by short report regarding the AISF Internet server
(aisf.or.jp), and an introduction to the planned Sekiguchi Global Research
Association (SeGRA).
(translated by F. Maquito)
- Point of View / Yoichi Funabashi
"Modern ideas would attract foreign students"
Asahi Evening News, Monday, January 17, 2000
- The number of foreign students studying at universities and other schools
in Japan hit a record 55,755 last year, 4,457 or 8.7 percent more than in
1998, according to the Ministry of Education.
As we entered the 1990s, the rate of increase of foreign students started to
slow, as if to correspond with the slumping economy. In 1996, for the first
time, Japan had fewer foreign students than it had in the previous year. The
slump had continued after that.
There is no doubt that the ministry’s 1999 statistics are good news.
Education Minister Hirofumi Nakasone seemed elated when he said: “The
trend has reversed and the number is rising again.”
While he did say he shouldn’t jump to conclusions before analyzing the
situation, Nakasone sounded confident about the growing trend.
It appears that our policy of substantially increasing scholarships,
increasing English lessons in universities and improving immigration
controls, including the abolition of guarantees, has begun to pay off,” he
said.
It is important that Japan provides a good environment for foreigners to
study in. But it is a peripheral problem.
The key is international competition against Japanese higher education. It
is also a matter of “whether Japan is an attractive country to
foreigners” as Nakasone put it.
As far as this point is concerned, Japan, regrettably, has yet to “reverse
the trend.”
Last fall, I visited Seoul with a number of Japanese scholars of
international politics and exchanged views with leading South Korean
scholars ell versed in Japanese affairs.
One of the South Korean professors said he received a phone call from the
father of a student an quoted him as saying: “I am grateful for everything
you did for my son except for one thing: My son’s studies abroad. He could
have gotten into a prestigious American university but also because of your
recommendation, I made him go to a Japanese one. But I should have made him
go to the United States. In this age of globalization, studying in Japan
does not offer much versatility.”
I don’t think he meant ill. But the professor, who knows Japan well,
seemed irritated by the rigidity of the Japanese education.
An annual report published by the Atsumi International Scholarship
Foundation, which promotes student exchange programs, features articles
contributed by foreigners who studied in Japan.
Wang Yuepeng, who studied at the University of Tokyo’s medical school,
wrote about the time he went to Boston to attend an academic conference and
visited Harvard University. He was told by a Chinese researcher who works
there and knows both Japan and the United States: “You should come here as
soon as possible. Studying here is five times as efficient as in Japan.”
About 70 percent of foreign students in Japan come from China and the
Republic of Korea (South Korea). If such an impression is widespread in
these countries, the situation is grave.
At the same time, the annual report also carries favorable accounts by
foreigners who studied here. For example, a Brazilian researcher who studied
at the Tokyo University of Fisheries wrote that she was confident that a
method of fishfarming she learned at the Japanese school would contribute to
fishfarming in her country.
A Vietnamese educator who studied the role of education in Japan’s
modernization wrote that he wanted to use what he learned here for
educational policy in his country, which “failed in modernization and
education.”
Japanese higher education is not completely hopeless.
However, Japan should now focus on getting ready to receive foreign students
in way that adapts to globalization and advance information technology.
For that, Japanese education must change its standardized teaching methods
and introduce diversity. Both in Japan and abroad, and regardless of
nationality, students are exposed to much more diversified information and
values than their teachers. This gap must be bridged.
In addition, Japan should abandon the traditional idea that it is training
students from young countries for the purpose of sending them home to help
build their respective nations.
Instead, it should switch its thinking based on a broader perspective. Why
not offer foreign students jobs in Japan after they graduate or receive
their degrees. Let them acquire skills and develop networks through work
that can be put to use anywhere in the world once they decide to move on.
Japan should consider the viewpoints of international competitiveness and
lifelong education in offering educational opportunities to foreign
students.
To meet that challenge, not only universities but also companies and
nongovernmental organizations should get together and learn to accept, train
and use foreign talent as one. Japan should also consider granting permanent
residence status to foreign students and graduates who satisfy certain
requirements.
The government set a target to accept 100,000 foreign students by the early
21st century. According to Education Minister Nakasone, "that target is
of course still valid."
But numbers are not important. New ideas are.
(The author is an Asahi Shinbun senior staff writer and foreign affairs
columnist)
(Mr. Funabashi agreed to become a trustee of AISF from April.)
- As is customary, the new year's party of AISF was held in the Kashima
Shinkan/AISF Hall on Saturday, January 8th, 2000, and was participated by
past and present scholarship recipients and their love ones, about 70 people
altogether. With the safe passing of the first days of the new millennium in
the Western calendar, it was clear that everyone was beginning to see the
dragon year of the Eastern calendar, in what was unusually fair weather. We
all partook and toasted with rice wine from the Emperor's family - a special
gift to the Atsumi family from Minister of Education, Mr. Nakasone. The
usual BINGO gave a glimpse of its tidings of good fortune for one and all.
Violin and piano performances by the young (Mimi-chan, Chi-chan, and
Ryo-kun) and young once (Mr. & Mrs. Wang Dan and their friend pianist
Takizawa-san) augured its coming. And as the young ones, who seemingly
beckoned us into their innocent worlds, charmingly reminded us with their
musical performance: "It's a small world after all!" It was an
opportunity to make efforts to strengthen new and old ties. （by Maquito,
2000/01/12）
-
- The raccoons had their Y2K party at the Dairyumon, a Taiwanese restaurant
in Ikebukuro (for the second time) on December 6. Present were Gao Lingna,
Gao Weijun, Jin Xi, F. Maquito, Shi Jianming, Yao Hui from the 1995 groupe
and E. Adiole, He Zuyuan, Hu Jie, La Insook, Wu Hongmin, Xu Xiaoyuan from
the 1998 groupe, and T. Shimazu and J. Imanishi from AISF. Our Taiwanese
comrades were much missed, but everyone enjoyed the Taiwanese delicacies, as
well as the usual fare of spirited discussions. There was Gao Weijun-san's
friend, from a national university in China, defending the merits of the
Yangtze river dam against a generally doubtful Chinese group of Raccoons,
over some sumptuous gyozas. There was Adiole-san in a philosophical but
friendly debate on the topic of religion with another group, over very nice
broiled noodles with a spicy broth. It was the first time that the new
secretary-general, Shimazu-san joined the fun, and everyone appreciated his
efforts to try to get to know everyone. Thank you, too, Hu-san and Xu-san,
the racoons -in-charge, for all the arrangement and accounting.
The feasting did not end there. There was a second round of get-together at
a nearby Karaoke. The group was swept of their feet by the professional enka
renditions of Gao Lingna-san and La-san. Of course, most of the male
raccoons, most conspicuously Jin-san, were by then already swept of their
feet by the "spirits" of the season.
The Best of the Season to everyone!
- 2000 Atsumi International Scholarship Recipients
- There will be 12 Raccoons from next year.
| Jin Zhengwu |
M |
China |
Tokyo Institute of Technology |
Material Science |
| Jung Jae Ho |
M |
Korea |
Keio University |
Material Science |
| Jung Sung Chun |
M |
Korea |
Hitotsubashi University |
Economics |
| Ko Hee Tak |
M |
Korea |
University of Tokyo |
History |
| Lim Chuantiong |
M |
Hong Kong |
University of Tokyo |
Politics |
| Molnar, Margit |
F |
Hungary |
Keio University |
Economics |
| Naiwala Pathirannehelage, Chandrasiri |
M |
Sri Lanka |
University of Tokyo |
Information Technology |
| Ren Yong |
M |
China(Mongolia) |
Gumma University |
Medicine |
| Suzuki Sato, Hiromi |
F |
Mexico |
Keio University |
Economics |
| Wu Yuping |
F |
China |
Chiba University |
Medicine |
| Xu Xiangdong |
M |
China |
Rikkyo University |
Sociology |
| Zeng Zhinong |
M |
China |
University of Tokyo |
History |
- The "get-together of scholarship recipients of Atsumi
Foundation" was held at the Kajima Shinkan/Atsumi Foundation Hall on
November 2nd, 1999, from six o'clock in the evening. This year, we requested
Dr. Akiyama, Honorary Professor at the University of Tokyo and Trustee of
AISF, to give a talk about Japanese Art. The participants were given a
detailed introduction of Japan's masterpiece illustrated hand scrolls: four
great scrolls made in the 12th century (Tale of Genji, Legends of Mt. Shigi,
Story of the Courtier Ban Dainagon, and Frolicking Animals and Humans) and
two representative works of the 13th century (Story of Heiji Wars, Biography
of Monk Ippen) using spectacular slides which included X-ray and highly
magnified pictures. Having few professional opportunities to go to museums,
the participants were able to savor the splendid skills of painters from 800
years ago, and were impressed by the art of science to enable one to see
that which is ordinary invisible. After the talk, the participants enjoyed
the cocktail party which capped the autumn evening. The menu included
Chinese dishes and Islam-style barbecue, which was kindly prepared (since
the morning of the get-together) by one of the scholarship recipients for
this year, Mr. Wang Dan from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and
Music.
-
-
-
-
- Thank you for applying to the 2000 Atsumi Scholarship. 172 applicants from
38 universities applied. Eleven scholarship recipients will be selected
through a selection procedure which consists of document-based screening and
two interviews. The results will be announced in mid-December.
- End-of-Summer Get-together
The regular Raccoon meeting as summer ends was held at Oh Cha Cha in
Shinjuku South Exit's Myload. Despite the intense heat and usual busy
schedules, seven Raccoons and AISF Directress Imanishi showed up and discussed
matters such as the Raccoon Home Page, which is now undergoing revisions, and
the marketing strategy of the 5th year anniversary publication "Treasures
found in Japan."
| The participants were: |
Jin Xi, M.Maquito, Gao Lingna, Kim Jaesung,
He Zuyuan, Hou Yankun, Yeh Wen-chang and Imanishi. |
The publication, through the efforts of La Insook, is also now on sale at
the Sanseido Book Store (Kanda). It is also available at the Yaesu Book Center
near Tokyo Station.
Everyone is invited to recommend a copy or two of the book to his/her
friends/acquaintances. A copy together with an invoice can be sent from either
the publisher or the AISF office.
- Raccoon Association in Boston
While visiting the US, AISF Directress Junko Imanishi enjoyed a day (August
3, 1999) in Boston with Qiao Xin and family from Toronto (Post-doctoral
researcher, Waterloo University, Raccoon batch 1996), Zhang Shao-Min from New
Haven (Post-doctoral researcher, Yale University, Raccoon batch 1998) and Sun
Yanping (Post-doctoral researcher, Harvard University, Raccoon batch 98). The
visit was blest with a pleasant weather as the summer heat cooled off, and
included a sight-seeing of Havard University and MIT followed by a lobster
dinner in Chinatown. Imanishi also visited Toronto and New Haven before and
after Boston, and she was delighted to see that Raccoon members were also
striving hard overseas.
  
The annual get-together at Karuizawa was held from July 23rd to the 25th.
The day after the symposium's storm marked the end of the rainy season, and
the invited guests were able to enjoy very good weather, as well as the
relaxing greenery and cool breeze of the mountain resort.
As has been the practice on the first day, the participants hiked up the
nearby Hanareyama mountain, and after dinner enjoyed watermelon breaking and
fireworks. The barbecue of the second day was headed by Wang Dan who is a
recipient of the current fiscal year. We were all treated to a sumptuous to
Islam-style sheeskabab, and gyoza by the Chinese team,karasumi and bifun
noodles by the Horng Family from Taiwan, and Oden by Yoshio Hara, Associate
Director of the Kajima Art Foundation. Before heading home on Sunday
afternoon, the Brazil team dished up a fish specialty which blended well with
the Kamameshi Bento. Of course, everyone kept a sharp eye on their calorie
intakes.
For this year, seminars were held for the first time to allow those joining in
from abroad to share with the whole group their current situations. On the
second day, we had a get-together with Rokuro Ishikawa, Honorary Chairman of
Kajima Corporation, Inc.
Although the time for friendly exchanges is short and rare, all the
participants feel that the 3-day stay, discussion, barbecue, and family
atmosphere at Karuizawa has been successful in bringing closer peoples
irrespective of their countries of origin, strengthening the bonds of
friendship among the members of the Raccoon Association.
- Fifth Anniversary Symposium "Globalization Strategy: Towards a
Sustainable World"
In commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the Atsumi Foundation, the
symposium was held at the International Conference Hall of the National
Olympic Memorial Youth Center at Yoyogi, Tokyo, last July 21, 1999.
AISF Directress Naoko Sato acted as the moderator, and the Opening Remarks of
Executive Directress Itsuko Atsumi was followed by former Prime Minister of
Japan, Yasuhiro Nakasone, who talked about the global situation in the 21st
century. After which, former director of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Eisuke
Sakakibara gave the keynote address where he discussed the progress of the
information revolution and the importance of building human networks.
Next were the representatives of the Raccoon Association: Kim, batch 1996 (The
Internet Revolution and the Role of Japan); Max Maquito, batch 1995 (The
Pitfalls of the Global Standard); Weijun Gao, batch 1995 (Urbanization in
China and Environmental Problems); and Duncan Williams, batch 1997 (Buddhism
and Ecology).
After a short break, a panel discussion, participated by the above
presentators and joined by AISF Directress Yoko Ishikura (Professor at Aoyama
Gakuin University) was held, and was moderated by AISF Trustee Hideki Kato
(Representative of the Japan Initiative). Midway through the panel discussion,
a thunderstorm marked the end of the rainy season. The event was concluded by
a pleasant reception which was made more lively exchanges among participants
who also sought refuge from the heavy rain. Special thanks go to all who
helped out in making the symposium a success; from the five Raccoon members
who came in from abroad, and the 150 participants.
- Fifth Anniversary Publication:
"Nihon de Mitsuketa Takaramono: Ryugakusei no Hokoku
[Treasures We have Found in Japan: The Report of Foreign Students]" (in
Japanese)
Probing at Japan's heart and culture from various aspects! For a Japan that
is appears to be planning its path towards globalization in these turbulent
times, this report of foreign graduate students, who have given up the spring
of their lives in Japan, holds interesting insights.
| Editor: |
Junko Imanishi |
| Authors: |
Horng Der-juinn, Kim Woe-sook, Duncan Williams, Yao Hui,
Khin Maung Htwe, Wang Yuepeng, Fang Meili, La Insook, Gao Weijun,
Kanokwan Laohaburanakit, Zhao Qing, Kwack Jae-woo, Park Chul-Ju, Nam
Kijeong, Ferdinand Maquito |
| Published by: |
Kodansha
Shuppan Service Center |
| Telephone: |
03-3941-5572 |
- The application forms for the Atsumi Scholarships for fiscal year 2000 are
now available.
Please take note that from last year, the scope of designated universities
has been expanded. Those who are enrolled in doctorate courses in a Japanese
university, and who expect to obtain their doctorate after one year, and
belong to research departments/laboratories in, and reside in the Kanto Region
(Metropolitan Tokyo, and in the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama,
Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Gunma) are eligible. The application details and forms
(only in Japanese) can be printed out from this home page, and is also
available from the international student section of different universities, as
well as from the AISF office.
Mailed application forms will be accepted by the foundation's office between
the 1st and the 30th of September.
A meeting of Raccoons was held last 14th of April at the Hilton Hotel in
Seoul. Kim Hyeon-tae, who works at the Hilton Hotel, was kind enough to
prepare a special room for the occassion. The room was decorated with a large
banner, on which "Atsumi International Scholarship Foundation" were
written in big letters, and a beautiful ice sculpture in the shape of wine and
cup (symbolic of the raccoons?!). The meeting was attended by seven former
scholarship recipients living within the city and its suburbs, by Directress
Itsuko Atsumi who was in town for the meeting of the Asian Ladies Friendship
Society, and by Associate Directress Junko Imanishi who flew in from Tokyo
specially for the meeting. It was an opportunity for everyone to hear how
their fellows were doing. The visitors from Japan were also able to enjoy
Seoul in Spring. Yellow forsythia, the city's flower, and pink cherry blossoms
were in full bloom at the Namsun Park near the Hotel.
| Attendants |
| 1995 Raccoons |
Park Jungran, Youn Seokhee, Kim Hyeon-tae, Park Chul-Ju |
| 1996 Raccoons |
Lee Nae-Chan, Park Sungmin, Kim Woong-Hee, Nam Kijeong |
| 1997 Raccoons |
Lee Hyang-Chul, Chun Jee-In |
| AISF |
Atsumi Itsuko, Imanishi Junko, Imanishi Maho |
- The following AISF fellows have been awarded Ph.D. in the academic year
1998. Congratulations!
| 1998 Atsumi Scholarship
Recipients |
| Cao Bo |
(M) China |
Ph.D., Waseda University
(Architectural Engineering) |
Researcher,
Waseda University |
| Hu Jie |
(F) China |
Ph.D., Ochanomizu Women's University
(Japanese Literature) |
Assistant Professor,
Ochanomizu Women's University |
| Lee JooHo |
(M) Korea |
Ph.D., University of Tokyo
(Electronic Engineering) |
Postdoctoral Researcher,
University of Tokyo |
| Sun Yanpingl |
(F) China |
Ph.D., University of Tokyo
(Medical Science) |
In Boston, USA |
| Wu Hongmin |
(F) China |
Ph.D., Tokyo Institute of Technology
(Precision Engineering) |
Fukuda Denshi Co., Ltd. |
| Xu Xiaoyuan |
(F) China |
Ph.D., University of Tokyo
(Agricultural Biotechnology) |
Postdoctoral Researcher,
University of Tokyo |
| 1997 Atsumi Scholarship
Recipients |
| Silvana De Maio |
(F) Italy |
Ph.D., Tokyo Institute of Techonology
(History of Techonology) |
Lecturer, Istituto Medio ed Estremo Oriente,
Roma, Italy |
| Laohaburanakit Kanokwan |
(F) Thailand |
Ph.D., Tsukuba University
(Linguistics) |
Lecturer, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University,
Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1996 Atsumi Scholarship
Recipients |
| Kim Woong-Hee |
(M) Korea |
Ph.D., Tsukuba University
(International Political Economy) |
Senior Researcher, Electronics and Telecommunications
Research Institute (ETRI), Korea |
| 1995 Atsumi Scholarship
Recipients |
| Park Chul-Ju |
(M) Korea |
Ph.D., Keio University
(Marketing) |
Lecturer, Sumyuk Yimyong University,
Seoul, Korea |
|
