Minoru Tsuzuki, Vice President and Professor, Nippon Pharmaceutical University

Considering the future of education while valuing cooperation with the local community

■ Profile

Born in 1974. Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, The University of Tokyo. Completed the doctoral program at the Graduate School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo (Doctor of Agriculture). After working for Suntory Ltd., assumed his current position in April 2005. Specializes in molecular biology, microbiology, and analytical chemistry. Has been involved in numerous industry-academia-government collaborations with local governments and universities, including serving as a member of the Ina Town Lifelong Learning Committee and an external member of the Seigakuin University University Evaluation Council, and has given lectures at chambers of commerce and other events.

Nihon Pharmaceutical University places great importance on collaboration with the local community and social contribution activities. We spoke to Vice President Tsuzuki Minoru about the importance of the relationship between the community and the university, what is needed in education today, and his outlook for the future of the education world, which is set to undergo major changes due to population decline and the COVID-19 pandemic.

■My university days were filled with experiments and tennis

　I've loved living things since I was a child. When I was in high school, I read manga by Osamu Tezuka and books by Dr. Stephen Hawking, and became interested in space and the unknown world. As a result, I began to wonder, "Is there life in the universe?" and wanted to research space and life sciences. Looking back now, I was immature, but when I actually entered university, the majority of student experiments were ones where the results were already known. I had always thought that "science is about uncovering things that we don't know," so I began to question whether it was worth repeating something with known results.
　As for extracurricular activities, I was a member of the university's tennis club. My university life was almost entirely immersed in tennis, so I had no part-time jobs or travel until my senior year when club activities ended. I thought that "traveling abroad is something you can only do while you're a student," so after retiring, I traveled to many places, including Southeast Asia and the Middle East. After traveling alone overseas, I realized how vast the world is, and in order to broaden my horizons, I decided that "staying in Japan alone is not enough." I had the option of staying at school as a researcher after graduation, but I decided to try my hand at working in the private sector first, so I took a job as a sales representative at Suntory, which an older student had invited me to.

■The importance of education that I realized after joining the education industry

　I had no complaints about my days as a sales representative at Suntory; I simply enjoyed them. However, my marriage to the second daughter of the Tsuzuki Educational Group, with whom I was dating at the time, marked a turning point, and I decided to pursue a career in education and research. After that, I visited various universities and realized two things. First, education is the foundation of human resource development and the foundation of infrastructure. Second, there are currently approximately 780 universities in Japan (as of April 2020), each with their own unique characteristics, such as specialization and regional collaboration. In Japan, schools are often evaluated based on their academic achievement scores, but this is extremely rare globally. Looking to the future, there are various evaluation indicators around the world, such as research activities, industry-academia collaboration, and internationality. I strongly felt that Japanese schools, like those in other countries, needed to demonstrate their uniqueness and distinctiveness.

■ The surrounding population of a region is closely related to the survival rate of universities.

　Nihon Pharmaceutical University places great importance not only on training medical professionals but also on social contribution activities. A prime example is our community collaboration utilizing traditional Chinese medicine, a field we are focusing on in our research. Let me introduce the example of the medicinal plant "Kampo" (yellowtail), which grows wild in the Chichibu region of Saitama Prefecture. While it has long been used as a medicinal herb, it had not been utilized effectively locally. Working with local residents, we developed "Kampo Cider," utilizing the bitter components of the plant. Things that local residents may not even realize can actually make a significant contribution to the community. So why are we engaging in these activities? The answer is that there is a strong correlation between the survival of a community and a university. According to national statistics, universities with a surrounding population of less than 125,000 have a 50% chance of survival. In other words, community revitalization and school management are inseparable.
　In order to revitalize a region, I believe it is important to reexamine the things that are originally found in that place and are rooted in the local community. We have also collaborated with the famous ramen shop Menya Musashi (President Yatogi Jiro is from Ina Town, where the campus is located) to commercialize medicinal ramen. We have created many ramen dishes to combat hay fever and heatstroke. Recently, we made ramen using ingredients that are said to boost the immune system and delivered it to the APA Hotel, which is accepting patients with mild cases of coronavirus. Of course, all of our ingredients are carefully selected, making use of our knowledge of pharmacology!

■Create the world's best "relearning" experience!

　As a result of efforts to create a carbon-free society to protect the global environment, it is said that in 2030, about 10 years from now, gasoline-powered vehicles will no longer exist. This means that there is a possibility that gas stations will no longer be seen in cities. In this way, some things that are commonplace today will no longer exist in 10 years. Something similar may happen in the education industry. This has led me to think deeply about the near future of the education industry.
　One of the unavoidable challenges for educational institutions is population decline. When I was 18, I had approximately 205 million classmates, but the number of births in 2020 (preliminary figures) was 870,000. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are refraining from getting married and having children, and it is predicted that the number will fall below 800,000 in 2021. This means that by around 2040, when these children will be entering university, the number of students entering university will be dramatically reduced.
　So, my first focus was on working adults re-educating. Currently, Japan's rate of enrollment for people over 25 years old is among the lowest among OECD countries. Working adults re-educating is common overseas, and it's common for individuals to attend university multiple times to improve their skills. One reason for Japan's low rate, on the other hand, is the relatively robust corporate training programs compared to other countries. I don't think this system is inherently bad. Therefore, even if universities offer programs for working adults, with the exception of some business schools, they have yet to take root in Japan. So, I came up with the idea of ​​creating a world-class program focused on "health and beauty," a topic of great interest to people in their 30s and 40s, especially women, by inviting renowned instructors from around the world for online interaction. The course, called the "Chinese Herbal Aromatherapy Course" (certified by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology), is one of the attractions of this program, which is conducted online and allows for cross-border exchange without the need for a passport or visa, despite the COVID-19 pandemic making international travel difficult.
　The other initiative targets international students. In Japan, students who proceed to a master's or doctoral program tend to narrow their career and employment options, but in many countries, the higher their final educational level, the higher their lifetime salary, which increases their motivation to study. Targeting such students, we are considering a program where international students can learn about Japanese culture and medicine and obtain a degree at Nippon Pharmaceutical University.
　When we launched a trial online international exchange program in 2020, we received applications from approximately 1500 people. If we can eventually charge for the program and put it into a system, there is a possibility that the number of participants will exceed the number of students currently enrolled in Japan.

■The important thing is to use your alma mater and "listen to the experiences of many different people"

　Besides Nihon Pharmaceutical University, there are many other educational institutions both in Japan and overseas that are thinking about "taking on various challenges." However, there is an abundance of information about education, and I feel that students are unable to grasp all the information they need. Therefore, what I would like to recommend is that, first of all, in order to broaden your horizons, you should listen to the real experiences of many different people. This can be the stories of close seniors or anyone. Then, I would like you to incorporate the experiences you hear into your own life. First, face yourself, and when you feel something welling up within you that makes you think, "I want to do this," I hope you will never forget that feeling and keep it with you for the rest of your life.
　Alumni are a valuable asset to the school, and the same goes for the graduates. Eventually, you may return to your alma mater and seek help in realizing your dreams. Or perhaps you should even think of your alma mater as something you can use to your advantage. Learning is a lifelong pursuit! I hope that you will think of it as a relationship that will continue forever, and that it doesn't end when you graduate.

Student Newspaper WEB February 12, 2021 Interview by Taichi Saotome, second-year student at Bunkyo University