AIU Faculty Profile

Profile 02: Tetsuya Toyoda (International Law)

Tetsuya Toyoda, an assistant professor of Global Studies Program, teaches international law at Akita International University (hereafter referred to as AIU) among other subjects. In order for students abroad who are thinking of coming to Japan to understand more about the course offerings and the educational philosophy of AIU, a second interview was conducted with Toyoda-sensei (see Darren Ashmore for first interview).

In his interview, Mr. Toyoda speaks not only about the unique features of the university, but also about its potential role in leadership education for a transnational organization called the "East Asian Community." Please take a look at his interview and see what Toyoda-sensei has to say about AIU and its distinctive role in the Japanese higher education as well as in the East Asian region.

 

What do you think of AIU, which tries to reform Japanese higher education by creating a truly international academic environment?

As we all know, the last two decades brought about drastic changes in East Asia. In terms of GDP, the Chinese market economy outweighed that of Japan in 2009. South Korea experienced not only an economic boost, but also dramatic changes in its political system. South Korea today is as much a democracy as is Japan. The same can be said of Taiwan. South Korea and Taiwan were under military regimes until the late 1980s. In those days, it was hardly imaginable that such dramatic transformations in politics, as well as in economics, should ever take place in those two countries.

Developments in ASEAN nations have been considerably successful, too. In the north, the military threat of the former Soviet Union receded with the end of the Cold War. Far eastern provinces of Russia, especially the Primorsky Krai and the Sakhalin Oblast, are now Japan’s increasingly important economic partners. Even North Korea may go through huge, if not revolutionary, changes in the near future.

East Asia continues to change. But in what direction? It is my belief that, in order to attain durable peace and further prosperity in the region, we should establish an “East Asian Community,” somewhat similar to the European Union. If so, what do we need to make it real and sustainable? I would say that the key to its success is human resources, i.e., efficient and dedicated staff members coming from all countries of the region.

Can Japan supply such human resources to the “East Asian Community?” I am afraid that the answer may be negative. The working language of the “East Asian Community” should be English. But most young Japanese have not been educated to effectively work in English with people coming from different cultural backgrounds. That is the reason why I believe that the Japanese higher education needs to have further globalization. But, in practice, how can we help young Japanese to work for the peace and prosperity of East Asia in the future?

One answer can be found in the establishment of AIU in 2004. Hoping that AIU will produce internationally competent human capital that contributes to the region of East Asia and to the world, I decided to join the ambitious enterprise of this new university.

 

What do you expect from students taking your courses?

I teach four courses: Japanese Constitution, International Law, International Institutions, and a Seminar on International Law and Institutions. In each of the courses, students acquire basic concepts in the subject. More importantly, however, I expect them to learn and enjoy intellectual communication with other students, using the concepts they have acquired.

Just like language communication skills, intellectual communication skills consist of four major facets: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. In my courses, students must work hard to read and understand highly sophisticated theories on constitutional or international legal matters, to listen to lectures about them, to write papers presenting their views and most importantly to share their understanding and ideas with other students.

These skills of intellectual communication, which one may call “intellectual literacy,” are the very essence of higher education. The essence remains the same in the age of information technology. Rather, intellectual literacy has become all the more important today than ever, because we can find on the Internet whatever information we need with a mobile phone wherever we are. Stockpiling outdated information is simply not of much use in our time.

Skills necessary for a leader in this era are the abilities to swiftly search for information, to grasp its essence, to add one’s innovative insight to it, and to explain and discuss it with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, so as to hammer out solutions to various problems. All this can be possible only if one has a highly developed intellectual literacy.

 

Certainly many people wonder why every course is taught in English at AIU, while teaching in Japanese would be more efficient for Japanese students. How would you argue with that?

This is an important question. Why do we teach virtually all courses in English here? Many people are surprised by the fact that I teach the Japanese Constitution, as well as other courses, in English, for this is quite an uncommon practice in Japanese universities. If the purpose of a course is to memorize pieces of information on the Japanese Constitution, a course taught in Japanese would be, by far, more efficient. However, that is not the purpose here at AIU.

Of course it should be interesting to learn about the Constitution in Japanese, but it is even more interesting and much more practical to learn it in English. Getting knowledge in Japanese does not help our Japanese students talk about the Japanese Constitution in an international environment. In order for students to discuss the Japanese Constitution with people from multinational backgrounds, they need to learn the subject in English. More practically, giving lectures in Japanese would close the door for most international students at our university who wish to learn about the Japanese constitutional system. Because the course is taught in English, all students regardless of nationality, can work together to learn the legal and political significance of the Japanese Constitution in the context of world history.

I don’t have to bother to explain the significance of learning about international law and international organizations in English. In an environment where we discuss such topics, communication should be almost always conducted in English. To begin with, if students cannot discuss issues about international law or organizations in English, knowledge about such subjects does not practically mean much.

International and domestic students at Akita International University learn together in the same classroom. They learn not only Japanese views of the Constitution or of international law, but also other views from many different cultural and political backgrounds. In that way, students here mutually learn by listening to the opinions of other students. This is an ideal way to practice international discussions on constitutional and international issues, which will help our students to function effectively in an international working environment in their future careers.

By the way, the discussion-based education here is made possible by the small class policy of Akita International University. As is often the case with other Japanese universities, if you take a course in a classroom packed with a few hundred students, there is no way to experience an interactive methodology.

Our library is open around the clock!

Our student-faculty ratio is roughly 15 to 1. This is a good environment which allows native English-speaking students to get fully integrated and non-native English-speaking students to overcome language barriers in developing their intellectual literacy. Since a small class environment is almost always a costly option, I don’t know if our business model should be replicated by other universities in Japan. That being said, I trust that much more will be done at Akita International University in pioneering academic programs to change higher education to produce future leaders of the East Asian Community and of the international community. I hope to make my courses meaningful opportunities for students to obtain skills necessary to make their dreams come true after graduation.

 

Can you tell us about features of students at AIU?

They are great challengers! Receiving a university education in a foreign language is a huge challenge. Japanese students must work hard to keep up with courses entirely taught in English. It is not an easy environment. However, since it is challenging, their endeavor is worthwhile. It is my enormous pleasure to assist them in their struggles.

What is good for Japanese students is also good for international students. Because the language of instruction and official language of administration is English, international students, without being fluent in Japanese, can be a real part of campus life.

 

If you think about it, Akita International University is a world in its own right. Students from all over Japan, as well as from more than twenty countries and regions around the world, gather in Akita to study about Japan, Asia, and the world. Courses at AIU are just like international conferences in which students speak out, representing views of their home countries and regions. In such an environment, native English-speaking students also learn how to work and collaborate with non-native English-speakers.

One of the hardships that people working for international organizations face is the language or cultural differences that each person grows up with. An especially difficult part is to build one’s opinions logically, present it to other people, and discuss issues so you can discover a mutually agreeable point of satisfaction. Students at Akita International University face this hardship on a daily basis.

 

Do you have a message for AIU students, prospective students, and parents of these students?

Geographically speaking, AIU is far away from major cities in Japan. But the advent of Internet technology has made it unnecessary to be in a city to be connected to the world. Because of its location deep in the countryside, AIU makes it possible for students to have relatively easy access to traditional Japanese rituals and community events that they can hardly experience in Tokyo or Osaka.

I should also mention that Akita is potentially one of the key cities of the future of the East Asian Community. Located on the shore of the Sea of Japan, Akita aims to establish a “Sea and Rail Route” between St. Petersburg in Russia and Tokyo in Japan. The “Sea and Rail Route” will consist of the Trans-Siberian Railroad from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok in Russia, a sea route from Vladivostok to Akita, and, finally, the railroad from Akita to Tokyo.

It is not purely a romantic idea to make Akita International University a center of leadership education, providing the future East Asian Community with young leaders, as does the Vrije Universiteit Brussel for the European Union. I sincerely hope that many ambitious students gather here at AIU to make a better future for East Asia and for the international community as a whole.

Mr. Tetsuya Toyoda is an assistant professor of international law, with a Diplôme des Etudes Approfondies from the University of Paris-Panthéon-Assas.

 

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