Welcome to the MASAYOSHI OHIRA Memorial Foundation

The award ceremony for the 25th Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize and the 23nd Pacific Basin Academic Grant was held with 400 people present at Grand and Middle Rooms of Nihon Kougyou Club, Marunouchi, Tokyo, at noon on 12th June 2009, after the general meeting of the board of directors.

The commemorative shot of President Hiroshi Ohira and the recipients

A Speech by Takeshige Kunimasa

［The Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prize］

The main prize consists of a commemorative shield and an award of \1,000,000.
The special prize consists of a commemorative shield and an award of \500,000.

Criteria

(１)The award is targeted to works by individual authors, collaborations or compilations, which contribute to the development of “the Pacific Basin Community Concept” and also regional studies of the Pacific Basin region.
(２) In selecting the awarded works, priority will be given in the following order: first the books by individual authors; second collaborative books; and the third compilations.
(３) The publication date of the awarded book, as a rule, must be within two years preceding the award date.
(４) Works which have already received another award will not, as a rule, be eligible for the prize.
(５) The Special Prize will be awarded to works that contribute to broadening the public knowledge on the Pacific Basin Community Concept, such as bibliographic or encyclopedic books, enlightening books etc..
(６) Up to five or six works will be selected, two or three preferably by non-Japanese authors.
(７) Authors must, as a rule, be under the age of fifty.

Recommendation and Application for the prize

Recommendation for the prize is restricted, in principle, to those organizations or individuals that the foundation asks of, but recommendation by other parties is possible. Free application by an author or publisher is also possible, in which case a copy of the book must be sent to the foundation. The term for collecting recommendation is from the beginning of September to the end of November. The Selection Committee decide on the awarded works around March and inform the recipients of the news. Those who fail shall not be informed of the results nor shall their application documents be returned.

[The Pacific Basin Academic Grant]

A Grant for group research is within \5,000,000.
A Grant for individual research is within \ 2,000,000.

Criteria

(１) The grant will be awarded to group and individual researches on politics, economics, culture, science or technology, which serve to further the Pacific Basin Community concept; researches on the Pacific Regions are also eligible.
(２) Researches must be completed within two years at longest and when completed, their outcome must be reported to the foundation in some way.
(３) The number of researches to be awarded the grant is preferably one or two for group researches and three or four for individual researches, half of which are by foreign researchers.
(４) Researchers must, as a rule, be under the age of fifty.

Application

In applying for the grant, recommendation by someone concerning the foundation is necessary in principle, but application without it is also possible. The term for application is from the beginning of August to the end of October. The Selection Committee decide on the awarded works around March and inform the recipients of the news. Those who fail shall not be informed of the results nor shall their application documents be returned. Those wishing to apply for the grant may inquire of the foundation. The application form for the academic grant will be sent in reply.

The Masayoshi Ohira Memorial Prizes and the Recipients' Profiles

＜Main Prize: Commemorative Shield
and Supplementary Prize:￥1,000,000 (\500,000 for a special prize)＞

"The Colonial Legal System of Japanese Empire
(Teikokunihon no Shokuminchi Housei)
(Nagoya University Press. 2008)

Toyomi Asano (Professor of Chukyo University,School of International Liberal Studies)

Profile
1988, Graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences of Tokyo University.
1991, Graduated from Master course of the Graduate school of Advanced Social and International Studies in Tokyo University
1998, Graduated from Doctoral course of the Graduate school of Advanced Social and International Studies in Tokyo University, majoring International Studies.
1994- 1995, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University, visiting fellow for Doctoral students.
1998 – 2000, Waseda University, Asia-Pacific Research Center, Research Associate
2000－2005, Chukyo University, college of Liberal Arts, Associate Professor
2005- (now), Chukyo University, School of International Liberal Studies, Professor
2006-2007, George Washington University, Elliot School, visiting scholar.
2009, PhD from Tokyo University

"The Cultural Revolution in Mainland China:
How It Is Remembered and What Was Forgotten
(Bunka-daikakumei no Kioku to Boukyaku)"
(Shin'yo sha, 2008)

Aiko Fukuoka (Doctoral Course of Sociology, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo)

Profile
Born in 1950 in Niigata Prefecture. Graduated from the Department of Humanities, Niigata University, in 1972. Studied as a Rotary Fellow at Graduate School of English, Purdue University, from 1974 to 1975. Worked as a translator and conference interpreter since 1980’s. Entered the Department of Sociology, the University of Tokyo, in 2000, and graduated in 2003. Entered Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo, in 2005. An English paper “The Cultural Revolution in Mainland China: How It Is Remembered and What Was Forgotten” is to appear in Journal of Next Generation Asia Forum No.2 published by the Organization for Asian Studies, Waseda University.

"Welfare and Capitalism in Postwar Japan”
(Cambridge University Press 2008)
Margarita Estévez-Abe (Associate Professor of Political Science at Maxwell School, Syracuse University)

Profile
Margarita Estévez-Abe (Ph.D., Harvard University) is currently Associate Professor of Political Science at Maxwell School, Syracuse University. She was previously Paul Sack Associate Professor of Political Economy at Harvard University. She has also taught at Keio University and the University of Minnesota. She has been a visting professor at the University of Konstanz and a fellow at the Hansa Institute of Advanced Study as well as at the Radcliffe Institutue of Advanced Study. She works on comparative political economy—mostly, comparative economy of gender in advanced industrial societies and Japan’s political economy. She is currently finishing her new book, Gender, Inequality and Capitalism. Her most recent publications aside from the award-winning book include: "Japan's New Extrovert Leaders: How Institutions Change Incentives and Capabilities,"Harvard Weatherhead Center of International Affairs Working Paper #3557 (2008), "How Policies Affect Women's Economic Position within the Family: Labor Market Institutions and Wives' Contribution to Household Income," Luxembourg Income Study Working Paper (2008).

"Center and Province in Contemporary China：Deconcentration and Provincial Leaders in Guangdong
(Gendai chuugoku no Chuou-Chihou Kankei)"
(Keiou Gijuku Shuppankai, 2008)
Yasushi Isobe (Associate Professor in the Department of law at Keio University)

Profile
ISOBE Yasushi is associate professor in the Department of Law at Keio University, received Ph. D. from Keio University. Prior to that post in 2009 He was Research Fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs and associate professor at Nagasaki University of Foreign Studies.
His research interests center around politics of contemporary China.
His publications include Governance of China (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2006), Chinese Politics and East Asia (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2004), Rethinking China’s Cultural Revolution (Tokyo: Keio University Press, 2003) China in Globalization (Tokyo: The Japan Institute of International Affairs, 2002) Structural Change in Chinese Society (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2000) and so forth.

"Poverty and Widening Economic Inequality in Rural Cambodia
(Kanbojia Nouson no Hinkon to Kakusa Kakudai)"
(Showa-do, 2008)
Kenjiro Yagura (Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Hannan University)

Profile
Born in 1971 in Fukuoka, Kenjiro Yagura graduated from Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology in 1995, and earned master’s degree. (Agriculture) in 2000 from Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto Univeristy. After spending more than two years in Cambodia to conduct field research, he earned doctoral degree (Agriculture) from Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto Univeristy in 2005. From 2006 he joined Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University as special lecturer and since 2007 he has been teaching at Faculty of Economics, Hannan University. His specialty is agricultural economics and development economics and he has studied on rural economy and labor migration in Cambodia.

"The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Regional Diplomacy:1952-1966
(Azia Chiiki-shugi Gaikou no Yukue:1952-1966)"
(Bokutaku-sha, 2008)
Hiroyuki Hoshiro　(Research Fellow, The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Visiting Fellow, Cornell University)

Profile
Born in 1975. Graduated from University of Tsukuba, First Cluster of Colleges, College of Social Sciences in 1999. Received Ph.D. in 2007 from University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Advanced Social and International Relations. Served as Assistant Professor at the Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo (2005-2008) and Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University (2007-2008).
Published articles include “Reviewing the Dichotomized Japan’s Foreign Policy Orientations,” Leviathan, no. 40, 2007, ”Co-Prosperity Sphere Again?; United States Foreign Policy and Japan’s ‘First’ Regionalism in the 1950s,” Pacific Affairs, Fall, 2009(Vol.82, No.3).

"East Asian Regionalism" (Routledge, 2008)
Christopher M. Dent (Professor in East Asia's International Political Economy)

Profile
Professor Christopher M. Dent is Professor in East Asia’s International Political Economy, Department of East Asian Studies, University of Leeds, UK. His research interests centre on the international political economy of East Asia and the Asia-Pacific. The most recent of his nine published books are East Asian Regionalism (Routledge, 2008), China, Japan and Regional Leadership in East Asia (editor, Edward Elgar, 2008) and New Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Christopher Dent is also author of over 50 academic articles and other papers. He has acted as a consultant advisor to the British, Australian, Chilean and United States governments, and European Commission on trade issues, as well an invited speaker at conferences and other events in Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Oceania. Christopher Dent is also an Expert (Brains Trust) member of the Evian Group.

"China: The Quiet Revolution　(Chugoku Shizukanaru Kakume)"
(Nihon Keizai Shinbun Shuppansha, 2008)
Wu　Junhua
(Research Director, The Japan Research Institute Ltd, Chairwoman & Chief Economist, The Japan Research Institute (Shanghai) Consulting Co., Ltd)

Profile
July 1983: BA, Fudan University, China.
March 1985-March 1990: MA & PhD (ABD), Tokyo University, Japan.
April 1990: Senior Economist, The Japan Research Institute Ltd (JIR), Japan.
Aug 1995-January 2005: General Manager & Chief Economist, Hong Kong Representative Office of JRI, Hong Kong.
September 2000-August2002: Visiting Scholar, Harvard University, USA.
September 2002-October2003: Visiting Scholar,
George Washington University, USA.
September 2001- October 2003: Research Fellow, AEI, USA
April 2006-June2007: General Manager & Chief Economist, The Japan Research Institute (Shanghai) Consulting Co., Ltd (JRIS), China
July 2006-Present: Research Director/Counselor, JRI, Japan
July 2007-Present : Chairwoman & Chief Economist, JRIS, China

The Themes of the Awarded Researches and the Recipients' Profiles

＜Individual Research-amount of the grant :￥1,000,000＞

"Changing of Japanese Communities in East Asia:
Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong (Higashi Ajia ni okeru Nihonjin Komyuniti no Hen'yo ni Kansuru Kenkyuu)"
Sachiko　Kaneto (Researcher, Global Center of Excellence, Department of Sociology, Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University)

Profile
B.A in Law from Keio University, M.A in International Sociology from University of Tokyo (2004), and Ph.D. candidate in International Sociology, University of Tokyo (2008). Acquired Special Social Researcher Qualification. Visiting Scholar, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica in Taiwan (2006-2007), Collaboration Researcher, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Bristol in UK (2007-2008), Research Fellow, Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research Center, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (2008-) and Researcher, Global Center of Excellence for Reconstruction of the Intimate and Public Spheres in 21st Century Asia, Kyoto University from 2009. Academic Fields: International Sociology, Comparative Sociology, East Asian Studies, particularly Taiwan and Okinawa. Forthcoming Publication: “Dynamism and Issues on Multicultural Society and ‘New Immigrants’ in Contemporary Taiwan” in Takeshi Nagano eds., Chineseness and Transnational Identity (Akashi Shoten, 2009); and many other articles.

"Toward the Establishment of an Okinawan and Pacific Literary Studies Network (Okinawa to Taiheiyo no Shimajima wo Musubu Bungaku Kenkyuu Nettowaaku no Kouchiku)"
Hidehiko　Motohama (Associate Professor at the College of Liberal Arts at Okinawa Christian University)

Profile
Born in 1962 in Naha City, the island of Okinawa. He received a B.A. in economics from Waseda University. After working as a newspaper reporter, he studied literature and cultural history in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained M.A. and Ph.D. degrees. As a scholar of comparative literature and media studies, he has written about Japanese and Okinawan literature, Pacific literature, film, and manga. His publications include Writing at the Edge (UMI), An Anthology of Okinawan Literature (co-author, Bensei shuppan), “Imagining the New Pacific: Okinawan literary identity and Pacific Literature,” “The Okinawa Ocean Expo ’75 and Representations of the Pacific,” and “Tezuka Osamu’s Representation of Okinawa.”

＜Group Research-amount of the grant :￥1,000,000＞

"Is the Chinese Currency Overvalued or Undervalued?　-An Empirical Assessment of the Renminbi Equilibrium Exchange Rate and China's Foreign Exchange Rate Policy"

Representative Researcher:
Zhaoyong Zhang (Associate Professor of Economics)

Profile
Obtained Ph.D.in Economics in 1991 from Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. Currently Associate Professor of Economics at Edith Cowan University. Previously, Professor of Economics at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business and Associate Professor at National University of Singapore, and was a visiting professor/fellow/adjunct Associate Professor at Yokohama National University, ICSEAD, KIEP, University of South Australia, University of Western Australia, and University of Macau. My major research interests are International Trade and Finance, East Asian Financial Crisis, East Asia Monetary and Economic Integration, Foreign Exchange Policy and Reform in China. Has published one book manuscript, 14 chapters in book, and 33 articles in journals including Applied Economics, Journal of International Development, the World Development, Japan and the World Economy, Journal of Economic Development, Journal of Economic Integration, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, Open Economies Review, Asian Economic Journal and so on. As an invited Guest Editor, he (co-)edited and published two special issues for the international journals for Papers in Regional Science in 2003 and The World Economy in 2006.

Co-researcher
Kiyotaka Sato (Associate Professor, Faculty of Economics, Yokohama National University)

Profile
Obtained BA in Economics from Yokohama National University in 1991, and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tokyo in 2001. Currently Associate Professor of Economics in the Faculty of Economics, Yokohama National University since September 2002 and Associate Editor of Asian Economic Journal from September 2006. Previously worked at the International Centre for the Study of East Asian Development (ICSEAD) from April 1998 to August 2002. Major research interests are international money and finance, East Asian monetary integration, currency invoicing and exchange rate pass-through of exporting firms. Research articles are published in Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Applied Economics, International Journal of Finance and Economics, Open Economies Review, The World Economy and so on.

"The Role and possibility of Preparatory School for Chinese Students to Japan from China Japan Educational and Cultural Exchange
(Chuunichi Kyouiku Bunka-kouryuu ni okeru Chuugoku-fu-Nihonkoku Ryuugakusei Yobigakkou no Yakuwari to Kanousei)"
Ma　Jun (Associate Professor, Preparatory School For Chinese Students in Japan, North East Normal University)

Profile
* Associate Professor, Preparatory School For Chinese Students in Japan, North East Normal University,1990 to present.
*Visiting Fellow, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies ,1996-1997
“ Book review on ‘Cyukyu Nihongo’”Journal of Teaching and Studies of Foreign Language and culture,2007
“DAZAI Osamu and Literature of Decadent School” Journal of studies in Foreign literature, No,12, 2002
“Mass Society and Detective Story After World WarⅡ”Journal of the world of Japanese studies criticism,2001
“Drill After Direct Method were introduced” Journal of Japanese Language Education: Japanese Language Education Study Group of Preparatory School For Chinese Students to Japan,No,2, 1996

Co-Researchers

＜Publishing Grant-amount of the grant :￥1,000,000＞

"Asian Regional Financial Cooperation：Current Situation and Future Tasks of Regional Financial Integration
(Ajia no Ikinai Kin'yu Kyouryoku)"
Satoshi　Shimizu (Senior Economist, Center for Pacific Business Studies, Economics Department, The Japan Research Institute, Limited)

Profile
Born in 1959 in Tokyo, Satoshi Shimizu graduated from University of Tokyo, Faculty of Economics in 1982. He received M.A. (1999) and Ph.D. (2006) of Economics from Hosei University. After working with The Mitsubishi Trust and Banking Corporation from 1982 to 1998, he entered Sakura Institute of Research. Since 2001, he has been a Senior Economist at The Japan Research Institute. His research interests include Asian financial and capital markets, international financial system, and macro-economic analysis of Asian economies. His recent books and papers are Promotion and Development of Corporate Bond Markets, Hosei University Press, 2007 (co-authored) and “An Estimation of China’s Equilibrium Real Exchange Rate,”in AJIA KEIZAI, Institute of Developing Economies, Nov. 2006.

"Historical Origins of Financial Crises: Path Dependence of Financial Systems in South Korea, Thailand, and Mexico
(Tsuuka Kin'yu Kiki no Rekishiteki-kigen)"
Yasunobu　Okabe (Research Associate, Department of Comparative Contemporary Politics, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo)

Profile
Born in Kyoto City. OKABE Yasunobu graduated from Faculty of Law, Doshisha University in 1989. He worked for Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1988 to 1998 (Japanese Embassies in Spain and Panama, Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, and Economic Cooperation Bureau). He was a visiting researcher at the Center for Economic Research and Education (CIDE), Mexico, and at Chulalongkorn University (Sep.2006 - Mar.2007). He received Ph.D. from Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, University of Tokyo in 2008. Since 2008 he has been Research Associate of Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. His research interests include comparative politics and international politics.