Akihiko Nakagawa Associate Professor Hokkaido University School of Law

Speech prepared for the 19th annual meeting of ITO Foundation

for International Education Exchange (censored ver.)

Akihiko NakagawaAssociate ProfessorHokkaido University School of Law

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Topics prepared

•My experience at the LL.M. program

•My current research project•The significance of higher education

19th Annual Meeting of ITO Foundation for International Education Exchange

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Topic #1

My experience at Yale Law School


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My “Ryugaku”• First time to live overseas

alone, but I desperately wanted to get out of this country.

⇒Quick overview with next 4 slides


Thomas Cole, Manhood

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Departed for US: August 2008


⇒

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Read, read, read, zzz.. read…


→

←

Back and forth between School and dorm

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Making new friends19th Annual Meeting of ITO Foundation for International Education Exchange

Pictures deleted for uploading

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And got a degree19th Annual Meeting of ITO Foundation for International Education Exchange

Pictures deleted for uploading

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Pictures: Not the whole story


What helped me to get through the tough academic year?

• Financial commitment.• Masterpieces at NGA & Met.

Auguste Renoir, Oarsmen at Chatou

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How did I change?19th Annual Meeting of ITO Foundation for International Education Exchange

• I gained weight.• You should abandon the spirit of “Mottainai” in US.

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Well, what did I study?• Fall term: Constitutional Law;

Contracts; Behavioral Law & Economics; Comparative Law, etc.

• Spring term: Business Organization; Empirical Law & Economics; Antitrust; Intellectual Property, etc.


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Did that study matter?

A LOT !!　　　　目からうろこが落ちた！ ⇒ next 2 slides


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The most fundamentals• Why do I study and write?　⇒ To make this world a better one that I would love to live in.• Why do I make comments on

others’ paper? ⇒To encourage her/him to

improve the paper.


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The most obvious, but • Most easily overlooked:Academic freedom! (Gakumon no jiyu) ⇒You can conduct any research you

like.

Used to be captive in narrow-minded

specialty, but relieved at last.


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What is your specialty?

•Specialty should not bind you to a specific area.

•Specialty is something you acquire and broaden in your career.


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More on academic freedom

• Select a topic ⇒Select materials and methods ⇒Not necessarily your diploma field, but it’s OK if you’re

willing

• DO NOT start from a fixed “discipline,” but start from a problem to solve.


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Topic #2

My current research projectSlides 18-20 are skipped.


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The project I’m working on

• Matching Antimonopoly Law rules to developed methods of

empirical analysis.• This project (a) is developed from LL.M. papers,

& (b) focuses on quantitative

methods.


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Economics supports antitrust

• The Antimonopoly Law prohibits practices that restrain or exclude competition in the relevant market.

• Classical IO (industrial organization) provided justifications for this policy.

• Economics crucial when forecasting the future effects on competition.


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The situation changed:19th Annual Meeting of ITO Foundation for International Education Exchange

• A gap between (L) and (Ea) ⇒Knowledge based on Classical IO

should be updated.• A gap between (L) and (Eb) ⇒Tolerable discrepancy should be

specified.

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Why is this project important?

• The Japanese Fair Trade Commission has expertise, but courts generally do not. 　⇒ Discretion in the JFTC

• Reliable rules of thumb should be specified for a sensible judicial review of the JFTC’s actions.

• That produces a good binding decision which even a losing party would accept.


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Topic #3The significance of higher education


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Mismatch around universities

• Mismatch in job markets 　就職難 (both undergraduate and

graduate)• What kind of needs should　 universities satisfy? Cf Mismatch in marriage markets


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Mismatch causes anxiety

『老後が、遠い未来が今、ここにいるあたしを　きゅうくつにし

てる』益田ミリ『結婚しなくていいですか。　すーちゃんの明日』 10 頁（幻冬舎文庫、2010年。初出2008年）

⇒Mismatch reduces current investment.


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Financial support does help


•Scholarship eliminates financial concern and let aspiring and ambitious students intensively study.

⇒The virtues of “sharing.”

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Sharing: the Best of US culture


•Donation: sharing others’ financial needs.

•Sharing an opened door.•Education: sharing an

instructor’s knowledge & experience

• International exchange: sharing each other’s culture.

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Could we reduce mismatch?


•Yes, as long as the mismatch is due to poor understanding of the nature of higher education.

•Politicians are easy to disregard the fundamental difference between practitioners and researchers.

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Different missions performed


•Why do we conduct research in our office without facing our potential clients?

•Because satisfying the current needs is a job more properly done by practitioners.

(And they are far much better paid.)

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Mission as a research institute


•Professors equip students with skills and knowledge that they could combine to propose solutions satisfying FUTURE NEEDS.

Future needs: needs that could not be satisfied clinically yet.

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Message for future alumni


• Even in this economic downturn, believe in yourself and do invest in yourself.

• As long as you have aspiration, you can develop your skills and knowledge.

• Let us share in the future your ideas, writings, products, or any output of your developed abilities with you.

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The end

I welcome comments & questions.


Documents

Akihiko Nakagawa Associate Professor Hokkaido University School of Law