The Inaugural Symposium of the Research Center for Financial Gerontology was held at the North Hall on Mita Campus on Tuesday, March 14. This research center was established in June last year with the aim of proposing solutions to cope with the socioeconomic impact of longevity and ageing through multidisciplinary research, including economics and medicine. In the opening address, President Seike talked about the significance and potential of financial gerontology, which was followed by a presentation by the Director of the Research Center for Financial Gerontology Kohei Komamura on the research center and research trends, explaining the general outline of the current research being carried out and a report on expected publications.
Deputy Director General of Cabinet Office Hiromitsu Shimada (on behalf of State Minister of Cabinet Office Takao Ochi) and Professor Masaru Mimura of the School of Medicine each delivered a baseline report: Deputy Director General Shimada talked about the impact of ageing on the economy, social security system, and finance, as well as the building of a suitable socioeconomic system for an ageing society; and Professor Mimura presented on cognitive decline and its prevention and social impact, explaining the current and future trends of research in this field.
The second half of the symposium consisted of a panel discussion on the future expectations of financial gerontology research, centered around the baseline reports, which was moderated by Director Komamura. In this discussion, the panelists—Professor Koichi Ito of Chiba University of Commerce, Professor Keiichiro Kobayashi of Keio’s Faculty of Economics, Akiko Nomura, Managing Director of the Nomura Institute of Capital Markets Research, and Professor Mimura—discussed the issues of cognitive decline associated with the ageing process, and financial literacy throughout one’s life.
The symposium concluded with an address by the Director of Keio’s Institute for Economic Studies Eiji Hosoda about the future expectations for the research center and the prospects of interdisciplinary research. The venue was filled almost to capacity, and the symposium presented a valuable opportunity to share with the outside world the steps being taken by Japan in dealing with the challenges of a super-ageing society.