Why Policy Science?

My main field of research is policy process, focusing particularly on the politico-bureaucratic relationship, and the relations between the central government and local governments, and between public administration and private sectors. I am particularly interested in examining the policy process of tax system reform in Japan. In my analysis of policy process, instead of using the conventional arguments of “political science”, which focus on power and authority, I apply a “policy science approach” in which I investigate how policy makers act strategically in order to develop effective policies.

I am excited to be a part of the English-based undergraduate program in the College of Policy Science. This program will give students of different nationalities the opportunity to exchange opinions with each other. They will be able to compare views of history, politics, society, and culture with people of different nationalities. Using the comparative methods I introduce in my class, students will be able to develop their abilities to analyze history, politics and society from multiple standpoints and deepen their understanding.

This program will also give students useful skills to prepare them to enter the business world, such as logical ways of thinking, presentation skills, and analytical methods used in policy science.

Urban policy studies are an interdisciplinary field that involves social engineering, urban design, geography, public finance, urban economics, social welfare/governance systems and more. In the English-based major at the College of Policy Science, students develop a critical eye to analyze urban problems occurring in Japan and other countries in Asia, as well as Europe and the U.S.

I mainly do research focused on housing problems and urban poverty. Having completed graduate studies in urban planning in the U.S., I have studied the housing and locational choices of low-income families, their spatial opportunities for employment and services, and policy solutions to mitigate urban inequality in U.S metropolitan areas.

My current research examines changes in housing problems and policy discussion and responses to those changes in Japan over the last 30 years, with a focus on housing affordability and the policy making process for housing voucher programs. I also examine effective housing policy solutions for those affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

My work is at this moment mostly domestic and U.S. related, but I am increasingly interested in housing and urban problems in Asian and European countries. I am looking forward to studying with students from all over the world who are also interested in housing and poverty.

The increasing migration of peoples around the world is creating more and more population diversity in nation states. As well, indigenous peoples and national minorities are exercising their rights to gain long awaited self-determination and governance. The evolving political theories which inform international and national policies, norms and standards of equality, justice and citizenship are critical to shaping a sustainable and peaceful globalized world. My research area includes investigating political theories, multicultural policies and practices. I am interested in self-determination and governance issues and how equality and justice are ensured. As a tool of social and political change, I am also interested in how the Internet is being used by emerging communities and indigenous peoples to further democratic participation and the exercise of legal rights, political awareness and community empowerment.

Many students are often aware of broad, international issues as they apply to other countries. However, it is also important to adopt a perspective and understanding which place your own identity or citizenship in direct or at least indirect relation to the issues making “the personal political”. Interest and engagement in world events are becoming increasingly important in a globalized era as problems and innovations are increasingly shared with the rest of the world. Communicative competence in English continues to be a necessary skill and a means to facilitate access to global information, participate in transnational communities and create sustainable local and global environments.