Looking back on 30 years of the Look East Policy: Evaluation of the Social Impact of Industry, Government and Academia Network in East Asia through the Exchange of Education and Research

Project Leader:KANEKO, Yoshiki (Faculty of Foreign Languages, Dokkyo University)
Collaborators: ANAZAWA< Makoto (Department of Commerce, Otaru University of Commerce)          ISHIKAWA, Noboru (Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University)
         KURODA, Keiko (Faculty of Law, Economics & Humanities, Kagoshima University)
         TAMURA, Keiko (Faculty of Foreign Studies, University of Kitakyushu)
         TAWADA, Hiroshi (GS. of Literature and Human Sciences, Osaka City University)
         TOMIZAWA, Hisao (Faculty of International Relations, University of Shizuoka)
         MASUTANI, Satoshi (College of Tourism, Rikkyo University)
         Yoshimura Mako (Faculty of Social Science, Hosei University)
         ABDUL, Rahman Embong (Malaysian Social Science Association)
         KAWABATA, Takashi (Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa,
         Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)
         SHIOZAKI, Yuki (School of Theology, Doshisha University)
         SUZUKI, Ayame (International College of Arts and Sciences, Fukuoka Women’s University)
         ONO, Mayumi (Faculty of International Research and Education Institute of
         Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University)

Term:2012-2013

 
Outline of Research:

Photo Session with Tun Dr. Mahathir (Left: Ms. Ono, Right: Mr. Kawabata)

Photo Session with Tun Dr. Mahathir(Left: Ms. Ono, Right: Mr. Kawabata)

This research aims to clarify the impact of industry, government and academic networks in East Asia through the international exchange of education and research such as studying abroad, sending and inviting scholars, and hosting international conferences. For this purpose, we will examine the Malaysian Look East Policy, a 30-year-long policy initiated in 198 2 to send its students to Japan in order to learn group mentality and labor ethics as the secret of economic success in Japan and Korea.

 
Description:

Presentation by Mr. Kawabata at “International Seminar: 30 Years Celebration of the Look East Policy”

Presentation by Mr. Kawabata at “International Seminar: 30 Years Celebration of the Look East Policy”

The Look East Policy was introduced by the Malaysian government in 1982 to learn the social value of Northeast Asia, such as group mentality and labor ethics, for the economic development of Malaysia. 13,000 Malaysian students and industry trainees have been dispatched to Japan to study not only academics but also to obtain technical know-how. In this collaborative research, we examine the impact of the 30-year-long policy on the industry, government and academic networks in East Asia including Japan, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries. We will also focus on the policy’s implication and its change, as well as the Malaysian domestic and international background which has helped sustain the policy over a long period. 

Through analyzing the Look East Policy, we will empirically discuss the social impact of the international exchange of education and research. Furthermore, conducting this research itself will promote the exchange of education and research between Japan and Malaysia, and will also encourage researchers to discuss how to make policy proposals to target countries of their research. In addition, because of the diversity of the project members’ research disciplines—political science, economics, cultural anthropology, sociology, etc.—, we expect a multilevel evaluation of the Look East Policy.
 

Visit to Prof. Zakaria, the Head of Japan Studies Program at University Malaya

Visit to Prof. Zakaria, the Head of Japan Studies Program at University Malaya

 
 

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