Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Member of the House of Representatives Masahito Moriyama

It's important to have a real experience, rather than just relying on information

Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Member of the House of Representatives　盛山正仁(Moriyama Masahito)

■ Profile
Born in 1953. Graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. Completed the Graduate School of Law at Kobe University and the Graduate School of Business Administration at Kobe University. PhD in Law and PhD in Commerce.
He joined the former Ministry of Transport in 1977. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in the 44th general election in 2005 (he is currently serving his fifth term). He also serves as Secretary-General of the Diet Members' League Aiming to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Education. He will become the 23rd Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in September 2023. His motto is "Every encounter is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

■Please tell us what made you want to become a politician.

Ever since I was little, I had a vague desire to do something that would benefit the world and people.
I wanted to study to become a politician, so I went to the Faculty of Law and majored in political science. After that, I decided to get a job, but at the time I didn't know how to become a politician. So I first became a civil servant, and after 28 years and 5 months as a civil servant, I started working as a politician at the age of 51.

■Please tell us about your current initiatives.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is working on various reforms related to education, such as work style reform, reviewing teacher organization, eradicating bullying on social media, and introducing ICT into school education. The ministry is particularly focusing on ICT, and has allocated a budget of 530 billion yen to distributing one tablet per student.
In the past, teachers would teach one-sidedly at the blackboard, but now teachers can see the progress of each student at their fingertips. Now, five or six years after its introduction, it seems to have become quite established.
In this context, what I would like to see more value in school education in the future is providing students with real-life experiences. For example, even if you study about a foreign country, you cannot truly understand the unique atmosphere and national character of that country unless you actually go there. Students should not think they understand something based on information alone, but should make it a point to have real-life experiences.
Furthermore, there are two things I would like to tackle as Minister. The first is to increase the number of doctorates in Japan. This can be said for anything, but unless the base is broadened, the summit will not be high. In order to further advance research in Japan, I would like to support more people so that they can obtain doctorates. The second is to develop Japan's space business. The car navigation systems that you use when driving work by exchanging location information with space satellites.
As you can see, space is becoming an inseparable part of our lives, and in this context, I would like Japan to launch rockets and stimulate the space business.

■Message to students

I want you to think for yourself, decide on your goals, and act towards them. If you set a goal for where you want to be in 10 years, you should be able to see what you need to do now. Start thinking about various things now and try to do something, even if it's something you like.

Student Newspaper October 1, 2024 Issue by Yusuke Suzuki, 10th year student at Hosei University

Yusuke Suzuki, fourth-year student at Hosei University; Waka Watanabe, second-year student at International Christian University; Rinno Koshiyama, second-year student at Toyo University; and Renpo Maeda, third-year student at Chuo University.