SAITO Shizuki
Dean
The Newsletter is designed to provide information concerning the activities of our Research Institute for the Japanese Economy. The Institute, affiliated with the Faculty of Economics, was established in April 1963, for the purpose of encouraging empirical research on the Japanese economy and business management. It was the year before the Olympic Games held in Tokyo, shortly after Japan just took off for the rapid growth of postwar economy.
During more than three decades of the Institute's existence, a lot of research projects have been carried out on the theoretical, statistical, institutional and historical aspects of the subject. The Institute also supported many academic conferences which brought together researchers outside of our Faculty. The results of those research works have been published in a series of conference volumes and/or have been reported in the Discussion Paper Series of our Institute.
In the meantime, Japan has joined the world's leading economies and her performance and behavior have come to attract greater attention from abroad. Increasing number of overseas researchers attempt to describe, analyze and evaluate what has been, and is now, going on with Japanese markets, industries and corporate organizations. A large body of literature has been stimulated by the perception that Japanese systems differ in important ways from those in Western advanced economy.
It is a pressing need of time even for such disciplinary areas as economics and management science to meet the growing demand for Japanese studies. The Institute has the advantage of sharing the expertise and experience in doing basic research with the Faculty of Economics. Those resources should be integrated more into studies on Japanese economy and business management to develop deeper theoretical insights as well as broader comparative perspectives.
The Institute is now taking another step to promote international joint research projects such as those carried out thus far in collaboration with the University of Siena, Italy, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the People's Republic of China. It will play an active role to further the exchange of academic information among those studying Japanese economy. We welcome your interest and hope this Newsletter will help your participation in our effort.