Sakihito Ozawa, Japan

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Member of the House of Representatives & former Environment Minister
Public Policy Program (’81)

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Sakihito Ozawa is the first Japanese GRIPS alumnus to become a member of parliament and to have served as Cabinet Minister. Mr. Ozawa has served in numerous key positions in the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), including vice secretary general, economy, trade and industry minister in the shadow Cabinet and chairman of the national rallying and canvassing committee. In the Diet he headed the environmental committee and was a member of the financial affairs committee. He was the Environment Minister in 2009/10 in the Hatoyama Cabinet.

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First elected to the Lower House as member of the Japan New Party in 1993, Ozawa joined the DPJ three years later. Before launching his political career, he worked at the Bank of Tokyo before heading the policymaking group for LDP Diet members for 10 years, specializing in economic policy.

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A native of Kofu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture and a city famous for its wine production, Ozawa graduated with a law degree from the University of Tokyo and received his Masters degree from GRIPS’ predecessor GSPS in 1981.

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Learn more about Sakihito Ozawa through his personal website (Japanese only). Ozawa is also active on Twitter and Facebook

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What stands out most among the memories of your days at The Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS)?

When I was enrolled as a graduate student, there were only around ten students altogether combining those from the inaugural year’s and the following year’s classes. In contrast, there were more than twenty professors, easily outnumbering the students. A number of professors had just returned from the U.S. with Ph.D. degrees and they were so fresh and energetic that they gave us exceedingly thorough supervision. Those talented professors had their offices in the same research building and the lights in their rooms did not go off until around midnight every night. Seeing our professors devoting themselves to research that diligently, I felt greatly inspired and I resolved to myself that “Since our professors are working that hard, we have to do our best, too.”

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I also have fond memories of going to a tennis court on the Arakawa River Bank in my professor’s car and occasionally enjoying a game of tennis on our days off.

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Please tell us about your early career and how you became a Diet member after graduating from GSPS/GRIPS?

After graduating from GSPS, I started working for the Bank of Tokyo, when Mr. Takujiro Hamada, who was my great teacher and a member of the House of Representatives at the time, invited me to become a member of the secretariat for the “Jiyu Shakai Forum” (the Forum for a Fair Society in Japan), which was a policy group that he founded. I worked for the group while continuing to work for the Bank of Tokyo. The members of the policy group at the time included Mr. Tanigaki, who is currently the President of the Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Oshima, currently the Vice-President of the Liberal Democratic Party and Mr. Komura, a former Minister. Later, I retired from the Bank and became the head of the secretariat for the group, where I worked for ten years before becoming a Diet member.

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In what way has your experience at GSPS/GRIPS benefitted your current career as a Diet member?

My studies at GSPS formed an important base for my policy activities. While many Diet members spend time studying general magazines or newspaper level materials, GSPS hammered into our heads the fundamental theories for studying economics and economic policies using original texts and original source books. I feel that kind of training formed the basis that supports my decision-making process of looking into the very depth of an issue when facing a new problem.

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Studying at GSPS gave me a major source of confidence that propels me to work on policy activities.

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You served as the Minister of the Environment from 2009 to 2010. Would you tell us what were the main challenges and difficulties that you faced as minister.

As for the difficulties, just after assuming the post of the Minister of the Environment, I attended the United Nations General Assembly with the then Prime Minister Hatoyama and declared a 25% reduction of CO2 emissions. Our declaration itself was welcomed by the world as a very significant message. However, when we came back to Japan, I had to go through substantial difficulties facing resistance, especially from industry. Then, although it was not a policy issue, Prime Minister Hatoyama stepped down because of the Futenma problem and deliberations on the bill were held up. Furthermore, when we were holding discussions to negotiate changes in the bill after I had taken up the post of the chairman of the environment committee, the 3.11 earthquake disaster struck and the revised bill which had been discussed by that time completely fell through. It was a very painful experience for me.

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What do you think should be done to improve the environment of Japan and what is your view about the role of Japan in the improvement of the global environment?

As the Minister of the Environment, I consistently kept on saying that we should reduce CO2 emissions not through endurance, but through pursuing comfortable living. In concrete terms, this means choosing hybrid or electric motor vehicles for cars and installing facilities such as solar panels or double-glazed window glass for housing. These things will improve the environment while strengthening the economy and that is the path I believe we should firmly commit ourselves to follow.

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As for the role of Japan in improving the global environment, since Japanese environmental technology ranks among the world’s best I believe sharing our environmental technology with the world, especially Asia, will greatly improve the environment of the whole world. That not only concerns the greenhouse gas effect (CO2), but will also be very important for the problem of waste disposal. My belief is that Japanese environmental technology can play a significant role in improving the global environment.

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In your current capacity as Diet Member, what do you see as the main opportunities and challenges for Japan relations over the course of the next five to ten years?

Last year, I presented my proposals of “High Quality (Joshitsu) Kokka Nippon” (Japan as a High Quality Nation) in the Kokkaken study group that I chair. Five and ten years from now, the decline in the birthrate and the aging of the population will further accelerate in Japan. Under such circumstances, it is necessary to develop a Japanese-style welfare society modifying European-style welfare societies. I am determined to continue exerting my efforts at the forefront of politics in order to achieve this.

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You must be a busy man. How do you spend your leisure time and what would you do if you had a one-month vacation?

In my leisure time, I exercise by playing sports such as tennis or golf. If I would have a one-month vacation I would like to visit the Hawaiian Islands on a cruise ship.

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Please tell us if you have any advice for the current GRIPS students.

It is important that you commit yourself firstly to studying original texts and original source books and learn the fundamentals, rather than looking at topical issues. That will enable you to conduct academically significant research. After building such a foundation, you should try to improve your political sensitivity and focus on how the fundamentals that you have studied can be applied to the issues before you.

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Please click the picture for a video message, recorded for the GRIPS/GSPS Alumni Reunion held in March 2010 (Japanese only).

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Do you have any suggestions or advice to GRIPS you would like to share with us?

GRIPS has been playing a role of providing knowledge resources and an infrastructure for bureaucrats, which is what has been expected of GRIPS. On the other hand, when comparing the roles of statesmen and bureaucrats today, the role of politics has expanded far greater compared with the past. I hope that GRIPS will perform energetic activities in building a knowledge infrastructure for politicians as well as bureaucrats.