A Casual Meeting with My Japanese Fellows of the Kennedy School

Last night, I went to a casual meeting with my Japanese fellows of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). It was held in a Vietnamese restaurant in Harvard Square. This year, the number of new students of the HKS is nine in total. Seven are students of the one-year Mid-Career Master in Public Administration Program (MC-MPA), which is designed for professionals with more than seven years of experience. The other two are students of two-year programs. One is going to the Master in Public Policy Program (MPP) and the other, which is me, is going to the Two-Year Master in Public Administration Program (MPA2). Since the Mid-Career Program started in July earlier than the other programs, mid-career students have already deepened their exchanges with other classmates. Out of two hundred students in the Mid-Career Program, Japanese account for seven. This number is relatively high compared to other countries, higher than China and Korea, which makes Japan one of the biggest groups in the program. On the other hand, MPP, which consists of around 225 people, and MPA2, which consists of around 70 people, only have one Japanese in each program. Therefore, to enhance Japan's presence in each program, we have to act in a proactive manner. HKS is a diverse mixture of students from many countries, so Japan will not be represented if I choose to stay on the sidelines and not contribute my perspective.

Japan Trip During the meeting, we talked about Japan Trip, a weeklong trip to Japan, in which Kennedy School students visit Japan and have meetings with Japanese policymakers, with a view to deepen their understanding of Japan. We do not necessarily plan this trip every year, but we reached an agreement that we would plan the trip this year. Some of the mid-career students have experience planning such a trip at other universities, and other students have an aggressive fundraising strategy. I felt reassured and encouraged by them. I would like to be involved in the planning of Japan Trip, looking for what I could do to contribute to the team.

After talking for three and a half hours we finished the meeting. After that, I and one of the mid-career guys were invited to the home of another mid-career guy. The three of us happen to live in the same apartment, which is operated by Harvard Housing. The two of them have come to Boston with their family. Since I will spend the first of my two years in Boston by myself, I would like to keep in touch with them. We Japanese are not accustomed to life in the US, and I hope we can support each other through both the good times and difficult times ahead. Throughout the gathering, I felt that mid-career people have rich work experiences, are mature spiritually, and can be depended on. I also felt that they put more importance on professional networking with other students, rather than questing for academia, because their program is only one-year. I would like to learn as much as possible from those mid-career students, as well as make an achievement in the academic field, making the most use of my two years at the Harvard Kennedy School.