The Lab, the Dress Shirt, and Me | Kazunori Takashio, Dean, Graduate School of Media and Governance
2024.06.04
The premier event in Japanese horse racing, the 91st Japanese Derby, concluded with a victory by the dark horse, Danon Decile.
The horse expected to take an early lead was scratched, and the race began at an exceptionally slow pace, with the first 1000 meters clocked at 62.2 seconds. This set the stage for a fierce battle from the fourth corner into the home stretch. Amidst the action, one horse, Danon Decile, suddenly surged forward along the inner rail. Breaking free with 300 meters remaining, he left second-place Justin Milano two lengths behind and stormed across the finish line.
The jockey was Norihiro Yokoyama, whom I affectionately call "Nori-san" or "Papa Yokoyama." He is from my generation (perhaps even the same age) and is truly a legend in the world of horse racing. His father was the late Tomio Yokoyama, a celebrated master jockey, and he is the head of a three-generation jockey family, with his two sons, Kazuo and Takeshi Yokoyama, following in his footsteps. This was his third Derby victory. The smile he showed on his winning run—I hadn't seen Nori-san look that happy in a long time. He surpassed the record set by Yutaka Take, who won with Do Deuce in 2022, to become the oldest jockey to win a JRA G1 race, including the Derby (Take was 53 at the time). I recalled an interview where Yutaka Take jokingly referred to a group of five veteran jockeys still active at the time—Yoshiomi Shibata, Futoshi Komaki, Shigehumi Kumazawa, Nori-san, and himself—as the "5G" (with the "G" standing for *jii*, or old men). The achievements of Nori-san and Take give courage and energy to those of us in the same generation.
I wonder if the generation that entered this world through a certain media franchise (voiced by Akari Kito) would recognize Nori-san as the main jockey for Seiun Sky, a prominent horse from the so-called "strongest generation of '98." There is an interesting story involving Seiun Sky and the Yokoyama family. In 1998, after winning the Satsuki Sho, the first leg of the classic races, Seiun Sky finished fourth in the Japanese Derby. However, in the Kikuka Sho, the final leg, he took the lead early, built a commanding lead over the pack, and held on to win, becoming a magnificent two-crown classic horse.
Fast forward to the 2021 Kikuka Sho. His son, jockey Takeshi Yokoyama, riding Titleholder, employed the same front-running tactic as his father. He won in a landslide, five lengths ahead of the runner-up. Despite the difference in tracks—Yodo (Kyoto) versus Nigawa (Hanshin)—everything was strikingly similar between father and son: the strategy of taking the lead right after the start and stretching out the field before the first pass in front of the grandstand, the powerful winning style of pulling further away in the home stretch, and even the gesture of raising a left hand high in the air after the finish. It was as if he had recreated the finish from 23 years prior.
Nori-san is famous for a riding style that prioritizes making the horse feel good, adapting to its mood and taking care not to upset it. Perhaps for this reason, he is often seen riding alone, isolated at the front or back of the pack. When discussing his riding style, one cannot overlook the 2014 Takarazuka Kinen, where he rode the notorious Gold Ship.
If you ask 100 people about Gold Ship, all 100 will say he was a "fiery, moody, and difficult horse." In fact, every jockey who held his reins struggled. When asked to ride Gold Ship, who was aiming for a repeat victory in the Takarazuka Kinen, Nori-san began by "understanding the horse and getting the horse to understand me." He is said to have commuted for three weeks from his home base in Miho to Ritto, a five-hour trip each way, not for training, but to "talk" to the horse. Nori-san says, "I'm in the position of being allowed to ride, so I have to 'ask' the horse to run in a good mood." After brilliantly securing the repeat victory, he told the surrounding press, "The reason for the win was that the horse ran properly." His trainer, Mr. Sugai, praised the performance as "a true union of horse and rider." The role of a faculty member in a university lab is much the same.
As you know, at SFC, students can join a lab and engage in deep research activities from early in their undergraduate years. My lab (SFC Sociable Robots Lab.) is no different. Many students knock on our door in their first or second year. Some even ask to audit or intern before becoming official members. Triggered by the Camp for Designing the Future, some high school students get involved in research as interns (through the Camp for Designing the Future Follow-up Program). Except for cases where research themes are set as joint projects with companies or local governments, students are fundamentally responsible for finding their own topics, planning their research for the year, and carrying it out. We also encourage students to secure their own research funding—undergraduates can use resources like theYamagishi Student Project Support System and the Educational Encouragement Fund System, while graduate students can leverage the Taikichiro Mori Memorial Research Grants or programs like JST SPRING / BOOST. You could say that the SFC style is to simultaneously acquire knowledge and research skills, establish a research style, and produce research outcomes.
For that very reason, if we let our guard down, some students, despite finding a fascinating research topic, will charge off in a completely wrong direction before we know it. Just like Gold Ship. It's such a waste. From the students' point of view, SFC faculty are perhaps there to scratch their heads alongside them and help steer them back to what seems to be the right path (or is it arrogant of me to think so?). We're there to say, "Hey, that's not the way!" Professor Tokuda (current President of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, NICT), a former dean of the Graduate School of Media and Governance, aptly described this role of a faculty member as being a "sheepdog." It's a perfect description.
Of course, it's not a lecture, so we can't impose our own styles, methodologies, or expected outcomes on students. Discussion is essential. Every student has a different personality and a unique research style. That's why we must engage in dialogue with each one to figure out the best way to interact with them. Conversely, I often learn a great deal from the students. I have also failed more times than I can count. This process of building mutual understanding and common ground through dialogue is, in fact, one of the key research themes within our lab.
One more point about Danon Decile from the beginning. This horse actually experienced a major setback on its path as a classic contender. In the Satsuki Sho, the first leg of the classics, during the routine from mounting in the paddock to entering the track, the post parade, and circling before the gate, jockey Nori-san sensed a slight lameness in the horse's right foreleg. He made the jockey's call to scratch the horse from the race just before the start. In his post-Derby victory interview, Nori-san stated, "My decision and the stable staff's preparation of the horse were not mistaken. If you treat a horse with sincerity, it will respond." That is so like him. I don't want to draw a forced parallel to this story, but one of the responsibilities of a university professor is to sometimes tell a student that it's time to change course.
My lab focuses on Social Robotics. While my students understand this and tackle various research projects and fieldwork, some inevitably find themselves in a situation where they cannot see a path forward due to a clear lack of knowledge and skills. It's a state one might call a "research whiteout," where they lose their direction and bearing in a flood of information. If time permits, I try to correct their course by having them dedicate time to acquiring the missing knowledge and skills. However, some students only realize their predicament when they are already in a tight spot. Sometimes, even after extensive discussion, no exit is visible. At that point, the only choice is to pause. This might involve resetting the current situation to search for a new research topic, or I might advise them to take a seminar with another professor or seek guidance from faculty in other departments or universities within my network. The point is to make them stop and reassess. When dealing with a graduate student, the situation is handled even more seriously.
Having written all this, I must admit that conveying this to a student is incredibly difficult. I am prepared to be resented for it, but my stomach still twists into knots every time. This is exactly why the approach of "engaging in dialogue with each student to find the best way to interact with them" is so crucial.
Nori-san is amazing.
P.S. To all high school and technical college students: would you like to experience this kind of university learning and research for yourselves? We are holding the Camp for Designing the Future again this year! We have a wide range of programs available, from one-day hands-on workshops to an intensive three-day, two-night research participation workshop. Please see the website below for details. We look forward to receiving your applications!!