I specialize in Comparative and International Education; more specifically, I compare the educational systems of different countries from both historical and contemporary perspectives. I also research the ideal forms of education, what national and individual skills and qualities are required for building better international relationships, and how best to nurture an ethos of peace through education.

My experience working at the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), where I worked for 25 years, inspired me to become a researcher. When collaborating with Southeast Asian countries in the field of education, I wished to verify academically the effects of such collaborations and identify the issues such collaborations present.

In my research, I am particularly focused on international educational development in low and middle-income countries. To take one example, I am involved in an international joint research project that seeks to ascertain the impact of faculty members studying abroad on the development of Southeast Asian universities.

We compared two groups of faculty members: one that had obtained their degrees overseas, and one that had obtained their degrees at a domestic university. We found that the former were more likely to be proactive in instigating international activities, such as incorporating overseas educational methods into their teaching and engaging in joint research with overseas universities. And such activities of course contributed to the development of their respective universities.

Research reveals the importance of engaging in frequent discourse

I also research higher education around the world. Tackling global issues such as climate change and infectious diseases requires collaboration between universities in different countries. I therefore research the factors that promote international academic cooperation.

For example, as part of my research into academic collaborations between Japan and Indonesia, we interviewed 50 researchers from the two countries. Factors that drive cooperation include the circumstances of the Japanese universities, motivation from both a research and educational standpoint, and the presence or otherwise of external funding.

We also found that having a reliable network of contacts—developed by Indonesian faculty members while studying in Japan—was extremely important.

Since the 1980s, European countries have actively created frameworks that encourage collaborations between universities within the region. In recent years, the regionalization of higher education has been taking place in Southeast Asia, too.

However, since Southeast Asia comprises countries with diverse incomes and cultures, the same approach that succeeded in the EU would not work to promote the regionalization of higher education. Instead of establishing a single umbrella framework, Southeast Asian countries and their universities have embraced diverse and multi-faceted frameworks that take advantage of each country and institution’s strengths. On further investigation, we discover that engaging in frequent discourse is also an important factor.

Assisting students who aspire to international cooperation

I believe in the importance of nurturing new generations of researchers and specialists capable of and willing to engage in international educational cooperation. My research laboratory is currently home to Japanese students researching challenges in out-of-school education in Cambodia, as well as educational issues facing children with foreign roots in Japan.

There are also Colombian and Iranian students at my laboratory with diverse research themes related to international educational development and cooperation in their homelands; examples include education that promotes peace, and gender inequality in higher education.

I wish to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to share their experiences and perspectives, and work hard and inspire each other so that their research bears fruit.

The book I recommend

“Daigaku no Tanjo”(The birth of the university)
by Ikuo Amano, Chukoshinsho

Following the Meiji Restoration, public and private universities were established at an astounding rate in Japan in order to nurture the personnel required for modernizing the country. This book is written from a historical sociological perspective that links the dynamic rise of these universities to Japan’s social structure. It shows that the past and the present are inextricably linked—and it is a book I come back to repeatedly.

Interviewed: June 2025