LKY-GraSPP Day 2013

Event Report

Wilson Muraki Tadashi Junior.

The LKY Japan Trip was designed to be an opportunity for students from abroad to have a general idea of what Japan is, the way its government works, some of the most relevant ongoing social and economic debates and a little part of its cultural aspects.

Firstly, we had a seminar where we were presented with the future prospects of energy policies in Japan by Dr. Tatsujiro Suzuki, who is the Vice Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission. The lecture was followed by a discussion session where the students played the roles of different stakeholders involved in the debates on energy. We had prepared guidelines for all participants to be aware of the stance on the issue of the stakeholders they were representing, and I believe that everyone did a good job. The purpose of that was to stress the fact that the policy process is affected by various interests, and achieving consensus on an issue such as the future of Japan's nuclear policy involves compromising and intense negotiations.

In the following three days, we had a series of meetings with ministry officials, representatives from the civil society, politicians, etc. After that, we left Tokyo and visited various Japanese prefectures, such as Toyama, Fukui and Kyoto. Among the things we experienced are the modern shinkansen, a traditional way of making sake and also an amazing vegetarian meal at a Buddhist temple.

The MPP/IP program offers a very solid theoretical foundation in the fields of economics, politics, international relations and others, but it is not always a simple task for us students to imagine those theoretical concepts been applied in practice. In this sense, the LKY Japan Trip was a great opportunity for understanding how public policy-making works in the real world. Something I found interesting was to hear about the different stakeholders' interactions on a certain matter. In the case of energy policy, for instance, we had the chance to hear about the disputes that exist between local business and civil society, or between different agencies within the government, such as the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Economy. The current situation of the Fukui Prefecture was another topic that especially caught my attention. Fukui boasts one of the highest social and economic development standards in Japan and it also has many nuclear reactors. Shutting such reactors down has not only created problems to the prefecture's budget but also has had a negative impact on its economic activities.

As a GrasPP student with over 2 years in Japan, I think was expected to be able to guide the visiting students, but I admit that rather than teaching I was learning during the whole trip. I think that every Public Policy student should have the chance to explore public matters as much as we did. Interacting with LKY students was a great opportunity to exchange ideas, opinions and views on a variety of things. There are students facing challenges, both personally and professionally, that are very different from my reality, and those students have a lot to teach. I am grateful for having had the chance to visit amazing places in the company of such wonderful people.

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