[No. 96] Yuko Nakagiri

My energy is my best asset.

“What an interesting-looking department!” I remember the thrill I felt as a high school student at a juku in Yokohama when I happened to read an introductory brochure for Keio's Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. I believe it was one of the most significant and impactful moments of my life. I recall thinking about a system where people, goods, and money intertwine, and how there was a scientific discipline that looked at the society we live in from an engineering perspective to solve problems. I even remember worrying unnecessarily that if such an interesting field existed, the competition to get in must be getting tougher and tougher.

I entered the Faculty of Science and Technology in April 1996. Having spent the previous ten years at a peaceful all-girls' school with only 80 students per grade, figuring out how to act on the Hiyoshi Campus, where thousands of people lived freely but where I knew almost no one, was a bit of a challenge from the very first step. It was then that, through a friend from my Korean language class, I happened to stop by the Kabuki Study Group (Kabuken). Charmed by the kindness of my peers and upperclassmen, and the comfort of the club room in the student union building, I decided to join on impulse, with no prior knowledge. Starting in May, my days were soon filled with extensive practice twice a week, dressed in a yukata.

At the Mita Festival, we perform student Kabuki. A large classroom, normally filled with desks and chairs, is transformed as stage platforms, large props, and bamboo blinds are brought in one after another. On the day of the performance, craftsmen and musicians from the Kabuki-za Theatre come to help create a dream stage where "everything but the actors is authentic." There are the behind-the-scenes crew who support the actors, and the student actors who, buoyed by this support, put on a captivating performance. That intense one-week experience in November, from setup to complete teardown, and the friends I happened to spend those days with through various coincidences, are one of my most precious treasures.

From my third year in the undergraduate program, I expected to be immersed in Industrial and Systems Engineering lectures at the Yagami Campus, just one valley over from Hiyoshi. However, it was during my third year that my beloved Yokohama BayStars became the champions of Japan for the first time in 38 years, and I became engrossed in cheering for them, going to Yokohama Stadium and Jingu Stadium many times. To my friends from Kabuken and my department, thank you so much for coming with me to so many games!

Around that time, I also joined a women's baseball team in the Kawasaki area that I happened to find in the local section of the newspaper. We practice every Sunday by the Tama River, aiming to place as high as possible in the league's two annual tournaments. I still continue to play baseball, batting eighth and playing right field, and here too, I have been blessed with irreplaceable friends and a wealth of rich experiences.

Starting in my fourth year, I finally began my long-awaited research life. I was successfully assigned to the Kurita Laboratory, which focused on "Urban OR (Operations Research)," a lab I had my heart set on, and my research began. We had a weekly seminar and an unlimited-time thesis seminar. We started by identifying hidden problems in cities and learned about various mathematical models and computational geometry methods to propose our own analyses. I ended up staying in the lab for four years, pursuing research on the theme of applying extremely simple differential equation models, like those used to express the increase and decrease of molecules in chemical reactions, to social phenomena. I was able to find a wide range of research topics, including sales of home video game consoles and software, population changes, the spread of mad cow disease, and the diffusion of social trends (such as shochu, instant ramen, billiards, etc.).

I believe the fascination of this research lies not in trying to meticulously reproduce the society in which we live with mathematical models, but rather in using simple models to track phenomena and attempting to grasp the fundamental structure of social phenomena through the lens of industrial and systems engineering. On top of that, there remain countless problems in society where complex circumstances are intertwined and which must be solved by humans through gritty, hands-on effort. It may sound a bit dramatic for someone so young, but I believe my fundamental stance was shaped through my research in industrial and systems engineering: to humbly face society while also recognizing the limits of using engineering methods to deal with society, especially people, and to then use all my wisdom to unravel problems and move forward, even if just one step.

“Urban planning consists of many parts that are difficult to understand or teach to others, and a few parts that can be objectively understood and explained.” (Words from the urban engineer, Professor Kozo Okudaira)

These words have deeply resonated with me.

I've been talking a lot about the serious side of research, but of course, I can't forget the numerous drunken escapades with my lab mates. We even walked to a bar in front of the next station in search of cheap Korean shochu. It was in the Kurita Laboratory that I first learned how much I love drinking parties (not just drinking!).

Twice a year, a joint research meeting called the "Urban OR Seminar" was held with other universities like the University of Tsukuba, Nanzan University, and Chuo University, and I very much looked forward to participating. The great professors, senior researchers, and us students would have truly enjoyable discussions about our respective research themes, and the free-flowing debates would continue late into the night at our lodgings, fueled by copious amounts of alcohol. Within this wonderful community, where the professors have forged strong bonds, our generation was also able to conduct research freely and deepen our interactions. Many of my peers are still active as researchers in the OR Society, and even now, whenever I see their names in the society's journal, I feel a positive sense of pressure. It makes me think that we must all strive to excel in our respective fields as fellows in OR and, above all, keep our work interesting. I have unilaterally decided that the "Urban OR Faction" is my intellectual home. Someday, I'll return home in glory (laughs).

I currently work at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Around the year before I took the civil service examination, fields like OR and management engineering were added to the mathematics section of the exam. I try to reflect daily on the meaning of this demand for a scientific mindset in government and put it into practice.

After ten years of work experience, what has captured my heart is "safety administration." While it is essential to ensure the safety of social and mechanical systems with scientific rationality, it is also extremely important and difficult to advance such efforts through a process of social consensus to gain trust. With the philosophy I learned in industrial and systems engineering in my heart, I am now involved in nuclear safety administration, which I consider a cornerstone of safety administration, and I am quite enthusiastic about it.

I've written this without much structure, but I hope that all you students will, above all, enjoy your university life. I would be delighted if you could use that experience as a foundation for the future, so that we can work together on interesting projects in our respective fields to become a force for Japan. Hope to see you again if the opportunity arises!