[No. 93] Kentaro Morishita

The six years I spent studying at Keio were incredibly fulfilling, blessed with excellent teachers and good friends. Looking back on the period before, during, and after those six years, from my high school days to the present, I believe the key themes have been computers and their application. Therefore, I would like to introduce my relationship with the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University based on these key themes.

The mid-1990s, when I was in high school, can be described as a time when personal computers began to gradually spread to households. Before that, computers were mainly for corporate use, and personal computers were for a limited group of people. However, this structure began to change with the advent of new forms of operating systems and the internet. Witnessing this trend, I became interested in computers and sensed new possibilities. I started studying programming on my own, and after running my own programs on a PC, I became convinced, even as a high school student, that computers held great potential and their range of applications was limitless. It was around this time that I began to think, albeit vaguely, that I wanted to contribute to society in the future by utilizing computers.

In my third year of high school, as I was preparing for university, I was naturally looking for a university and faculty where I could study computers in detail. It was then that I learned that the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University was undergoing a departmental reorganization. I found that the newly established Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics seemed to be a place where I could learn not only about computers themselves but also how to apply them. Through this reorganization, a place where I could realize my vague aspirations was being prepared at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Keio University.

After entering Keio University, I advanced to my desired Department of Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics. Of course, at first, there were many basic subjects like mathematics and physics, but as I progressed through the years, the curriculum became more specialized, and I was able to study the fields I was interested in. For example, in this department, I could delve deeply into computers themselves through subjects like computer engineering, and also broadly study other related fields such as measurement engineering. I spent my university life realizing the wide range of applications for computers.

Then, in my fourth year, I joined the laboratory supervised by Professor Eitaro Aiyoshi and chose systems engineering as my field of specialization. This laboratory researched how to represent various phenomena with mathematical models by focusing on input and output information. It might be easier to understand if I say we researched solving problems by utilizing computers to perform numerical simulations of various phenomena. Within that context, I chose as my research theme the reproduction of a neural network—a mathematical model that mimics human nerve cells—on a computer to perform various numerical calculations. A portion of these research results was presented at an academic conference while I was a student and was also published in a journal after I completed my master's degree. Looking back now, this may have been a small first step toward giving back to society by utilizing computers.

Also, as a graduate student, I used Keio University's exchange program to study abroad for a short period at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes (ECN). ECN is an engineering university located in the city of Nantes, France. There, under the guidance of two professors, Patrick Chedmail and Fouad Bennis, I continued my research on systems engineering, focusing on neural networks. It was my first time living abroad, and since I was not proficient in French, I struggled a lot at first. However, by discussing research published in overseas academic journals with my professors, I was able to deepen my understanding of my own research field.

For my job search, I focused on visiting companies where I felt I could utilize what I had learned throughout university and graduate school. As fate would have it, I ended up joining the Bank of Japan. Banks are often thought to be far removed from science and technology fields, but that is not the case. As I mentioned earlier, systems engineering involves representing various phenomena with mathematical models by focusing on input and output information. These phenomena are not limited to physical ones. Economic phenomena in the world can be viewed in the same way.

For example, Japan has a wealth of economic and financial statistical data, such as GDP and price levels. By using this statistical data as input and output data, it is possible to reproduce the Japanese economy on a computer. Even in the field of economics, there are researchers who are trying to reproduce the Japanese economy on a computer to analyze its structure. In other words, knowledge of systems engineering can be useful for analyzing the Japanese economy by utilizing computers.

In fact, after joining the Bank of Japan, I have been involved in creating statistical data and analyzing the economy and finance. This is precisely the practical application of what I had envisioned as a high school student and learned at Keio. I intend to continue contributing to the Japanese economy, building on the foundation of what I learned at Keio.