2016.03.02

More Integrated Image of Japan—through the lens of my GRIPS life

CHEN Weiwei
Tsinghua University SPPM / Special Credited Auditor, 2015 Fall Term

     I am Chen Weiwei, an exchange student from the School of Public policy and management in Tsinghua University. It has been such a memorable experience to study in GRIPS.

     GRIPS is famous for its economics, which is ranked second in Japan by IDEAS. So my courses here are all about economics. I take Macroeconomics, Microeconomics and Contemporary Japanese Economics in this semester. I had studied Principles of economics before I came to Japan, so the courses here has deepened my understanding of economics and also improved my practical ability. It is not only about how to link the theory with the practice when making economic analysis, but also how to apply it in my daily life. The teacher of Microeconomics, Wie Sensei, always takes her daily life as example when she explains the theory to us, which inspires me a lot. Now, when I need to choose something, I will think with the theory of opportunity cost as she does, then I can make a decision faster.

     And Contemporary Japanese Economics is my favorite course. Kojima Sensei is very frank and never avoids talking about the problems of Japanese economy. Since China is facing the problems that Japan is now dealing with or has already gotten through, such as the aging society, the environmental pollution and the failure of catch-up model, what I learn from Kojima Sensei provides me with another perspective to observe and think the economy of China. Kojima Sensei assigns reading task every class, which is common. However, the reading materials are various, including articles from top journals, the latest research reports from top think tanks and even biographies of famous entrepreneurs. This is one of our reading materials, Dream into Action, a book about founder of Honda. To be honest, I finished reading it with tears in my eyes. It was a thorny road to produce the best engine in the world under such lagging conditions at that time. This book reveals the secret of “Made in Japan” to me and gives hope to me on the future of Made in China.

     As for my research, since I studied environmental policies in China, I concentrate on the comparison of environmental policies between two countries. In the last two months, I have learnt the policy framework about environment in Japan and begin to do literature review. I have already finished Chinese literature and am now exploring the English part. During this process of study, I have received great help from the library of GRIPS. There are ample materials both in paper version and electronic version about this topic. The librarians have helped a lot in researching work. Thanks a lot again.

     GRIPS offers various activities to enrich our extracurricular lives and deepen our understanding about Japan. At the desk in the Student Office (SO), which is one of my favorite places in GRIPS, we can get information about new activities. I go there once or twice a week to register for new events. So far, I have participated in at least six kinds of activities, including sightseeing, party, art exhibition, concert, and dancing class. These activities show different facets of Japan, something I am familiar with, something that I have never known before, which sets a more integrated image of Japan for me.

     What impresses me most is the dancing class. To be honest, I am not good at dancing and don’t like it. But I really enjoyed it and did a good job that day. At first, I couldn’t even remember all dancing movements, let alone keeping up with the rhythms. Not only the instructor but also other learners came to help me. Since I can’t speak Japanese, someone just stood before me to demonstrate movements, and someone stood beside me to adjust my pose. The friendly atmosphere changed the dancing class from a disaster into a happy time. 

     Thank Campus Asia Program for offering this opportunity to me. And, thank GRIPS for your hospitality to me. This will be one of the most precious memories of me. And for the rest two months, I will keep exploring and learn more about Japan.