The Keio University website features a series of “Meet Our Researchers” videos. I watched nearly a hundred of those videos introducing researchers and their research projects and I was deeply impressed once again by Keio’s strengths as a research institute. It is said that the training of researchers in Japan is “falling behind” and faces “stagnation” compared to overseas countries, but I understand that you’ve developed a certain belief inspired by a tale by Aesop.

That would be Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. As we all know, the moral of the story is that the tortoise wins over the hare due to steady progress and effort. In Japan, the tortoise is the “star” of the show, but in fact, this is not the case in the United States.    

When I was 16 years old, I participated in a summer camp in the US where I was surprised to hear from a group of 10-year-olds who told me, “No, it’s the hare who’s the main star.” Later, after talking to people who had grown up abroad, it made sense. In the US, the emphasis is on admonishing the hare. In other words, the whole point of Western governance and rules is to regulate those who rush or neglect their tasks.

Of course, there is much to learn from them. However, if such a system meant for hares were to be imported directly into Japan, “serious” tortoises would spend too much time on governance and compliance, and nothing would get done. I think we need to think about how to do things the Japanese way.

What is happening in Japan today is the same as telling people who have been told to “be like the tortoise” to “be like the hare.” I wonder what kind of society we would be trying to create. To take an extreme example, I believe that the Major League’s Shohei Ohtani counts as a “tortoise” figure. He didn't come out of nowhere. Rather, he succeeded because he had an environment that allowed him to build on what he liked and wanted to do, little at a time, and to develop his desire to both bat and pitch.

In what specific ways does Keio University aim to foster researchers?

At Keio University, undergraduate students make up 86% of the student body, whereas at Harvard University in the US, about 80% are graduate students. In that sense, Keio is a research institution that places great emphasis on undergraduate education.

In Europe and the US, students rarely join research seminars in their third or fourth undergraduate years; research typically begins at the graduate level. I would like to expand our system to allow students to complete a four-year bachelor’s program plus a two-year master’s program in a total of five years. That’s because I want them to have more time to conduct in-depth study and then move on to graduate school. With that flexibility, some may earn a master’s degree in five years; others might go on to enter a doctoral program or pursue a second master’s degree. There are many alternative paths. After all, we’re living in a 100-year lifespan era. What’s the rush?

Keio is also known for its integrated education system spanning from elementary school through higher education.

At Keio, students with solid academic performance can progress from elementary school through junior high, high school, and to university. But the key point is not that they can advance without entrance exams. Rather, it’s that we can provide consistent education focused on cultivating their curiosity.

This hasn’t been fully realized yet, but I believe that to foster curiosity, it’s important for one to have contact with firsthand research by, for instance, having opportunities for university faculty to share their findings at high schools. I’ve researched quantum computing for many years, so if I’m asked a question, I can answer it in full. I think these kinds of conversations can resonate even with high school students.

Watching the research videos made me consider the question, “Why do we go to university?” I thought about the many problems in today’s society that don’t have clear answers. I felt like it was a return to the original purpose of universities.

I think the key is whether you find those videos interesting. Ultimately, "curiosity" is everything. Whether or not someone has curiosity creates real differences in ability. Through their interactions with so many researchers in a great variety of fields, there is much that can be learned across the board.

The other day, a professor from an overseas university told me, “Keio is extraordinarily strong in the field of international trade and economics, even by global standards.” While we separate economics and business into different faculties, I think it’s important to organize research around interdisciplinary themes. One example is the Keio University Global Research Institute (KGRI) that was established in 2016 as a research organization to bridge faculties and graduate schools across the university.

Many people think that the pinnacle of a researcher’s career is the Nobel Prize. Do you think there will be a researcher from Keio University who will win the Nobel Prize?

Of course. Of the 88 researchers selected from Japan for the list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2025,” seven are from Keio. That’s a very high proportion, and I believe the potential is certainly there.

One important mission of universities is to nurture global talents. You yourself moved to the US after graduating from Keio University and received your master’s degree and doctorate from the University of California. What made you decide to go abroad?

I think curiosity plays a role here, as well. Yukichi Fukuzawa, the founder of Keio University, was also a man of curiosity. He first studied Dutch learning,  but when he went to Yokohama and found Dutch useless for him, he learned English. Less than a year later, he sailed to the US aboard the Kanrin Maru, and later traveled to Europe. He was driven by limitless curiosity and founded our school, a newspaper, and a social club. When people gather in social clubs, new things emerge. In that sense, Fukuzawa’s actions are a model for Keio.    

Fukuzawa listed the concept of “jitsugaku,” or broadly science, as one of his philosophies, didn't he?

For Fukuzawa, jitsugaku didn’t refer to knowledge that’s immediately useful. Rather, it entailed a scientific attitude that empirically uncovers truth and solves problems. If we were to define jitsugaku today, we might call it scientific thinking that leads to “social implementation.” Whether enriching people’s hearts through literature or enabling sound judgment through historical study, these, too, can be considered forms of social implementation.    

In this sense, supporting startups is also an aspect of Keio’s tradition. During a time when policies favored national universities, Fukuzawa and other like-minded individuals had to think about how a private institution like Keio could survive. They focused on cultivating entrepreneurs and business leaders. That earned Fukuzawa criticism as a materialist, but financial independence is essential for a private institution. Fukuzawa's view was that it was not good for the private sector to rely too heavily on the government.

Presently, Japan faces many social challenges, such as poverty and declining mutual aid. So what should we do? Rather than focusing only on thinking how we can survive for ourselves, I think we need to go back to thinking about community service. I want students to be more aware of this. When you’re young, it’s fine to pursue your own path single-mindedly, but from around age 40, it’s extremely important to have the intention to contribute to society.

Recently, Keio has been strengthening partnerships with international institutions and companies.

In 2024, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Criminal Court (ICC), which allows us to dispatch students there as interns and promote exchanges with faculty members.

For example, learning “why laws are necessary” from a textbook is completely different from hearing it directly from professionals. At a commemorative lecture, Judge Tomoko Akane, president of the ICC, spoke about legislative challenges and talent development in Japan. Hearing her say, “Judges pass judgment, but lawyers must establish laws,” made it easier to understand the structure of a state governed by the rule-of-law. Politicians (National Diet members) are called “lawmakers” in English, but how often are we conscious about that? Simply being exposed to the voices of professional experts can fundamentally change one’s understanding.

Keio became the first Japanese university to conclude a comprehensive collaboration agreement with OpenAI, a world leader in AI development.

We aim to build the world’s leading human-centered “AI-native university.” Regardless of discipline, we want to establish a system where students can freely use AI in their education, supported by cutting-edge research facilities and digital infrastructure, so they can contribute to solving societal challenges. What do you think about education in the age of AI? We need to rethink education in the AI era. I feel a strong responsibility to work with faculty to change entrenched assumptions about teaching.  Teachers will need to focus even more on human interaction.

A person's growth depends on whether they use generative AI as just a shortcut (that is, as a convenient tool) or to expand their curiosity. AI-generated content can contain errors, but saying “it’s useless because it’s wrong” reflects a shortcut mindset. What’s needed now is the ability to find generated outputs interesting and take responsibility for shaping them into a final product.

From everything you said, I can tell that you strongly believe in the importance of “curiosity.”

When I was a child, after finishing school I used to play by climbing on top of the fence wall to see if I could make it home without touching the ground. Even seemingly meaningless things can lead to interesting discoveries if you give it a shot. Trying things nurtures curiosity. Parents might worry if they saw something like that today, but adults used to have more tolerance back then. It’s harder today, but I think the first step is for parents themselves to have curiosity.

 It is sometimes said that today’s Japanese youth are inward-looking thinkers. If you could give a message to students, what would it be?

There seems to be a fixed “success template,” that you need to do this to get that job. But the template itself feels too small and dull. When you’re given a task, it is becoming increasingly vital whether you can approach it with curiosity and find something interesting in it. That’s also what determines whether you can become a global talent.

The desire to “see the world” also begins with curiosity. You learn languages because you want to interact with people. You find it interesting when you notice how a language is structured. With today’s translation tools, you might think, “What an interesting device,” and try it out. Over time, your ear adapts, and you begin to speak other languages.

The desire to “see the world” also begins with curiosity. You learn languages because you want to interact with people. You find it interesting when you notice how a language is structured. With today’s translation tools, you might think, “What an interesting device,” and try it out. Over time, your ear adapts, and you begin to speak other languages.

Composition: Toru Tamakawa, Editor-in-Chief, Asahi Shimbun GLOBE+.

Interview and text: Nasuka Yamamoto

Photos: Hidehiro Yamada