Course Description:

Launched in 2011, this interdisciplinary course marks its 15th anniversary in a world increasingly defined by uncertainty. Global norms and postwar values—long held as pillars of stability—are now being challenged in profound ways. Eighty years after the end of World War II, Japan continues to navigate complex social and economic challenges as one of Asia’s most mature societies. Throughout this journey, we have examined cancer—not only as a disease, but as a mirror reflecting the structural and cultural struggles within Asian societies. At the heart of our inquiry lies a universal desire: the longing to live well. As we look toward 2025 and beyond, we ask: What does "well-being" mean to the people of Asia today? By taking cancer as a lens to explore this question, we trace the contours of well-being amid suffering—drawing critical lines that connect science and culture, policy and everyday life. A new dialogue begins here. One that redefines survival, health, and hope across borders.

Course Title

Beyond Borders: Navigating Health Knowledge for Well-being

Background and Purpose

Healthcare challenges in Asia are inherently complex—shaped by medical, cultural, economic, and social forces that defy simple solutions. With countries across the region marked by vastly different systems, stages of development, and demographics, one-size-fits-all approaches simply do not work. Rather than dispersing our efforts, this course turns deliberately to Malaysia as a focused case study and living laboratory for innovative international collaboration.

Malaysia’s multiethnic, multilingual, and rapidly modernizing society provides both analytical depth and external validity. Insights generated here are not confined to one nation: they hold value for cross-regional comparison and can be adapted to other low- and middle-income contexts across Asia. In this sense, Malaysia becomes more than a site of study—it is a testbed for models with broader applicability.

We also recognize a fundamental truth: in Asia, the toughest health challenges cannot be solved by the public sector alone. Tackling them requires new forms of partnership that unite government, academia, and, critically, the private sector. By engaging with Malaysia, this course invites ambitious students and forward-looking companies alike to join in building the kind of cross-sector innovation and co-creation that can redefine the future of health and well-being in the region.

Japan and Malaysia – two nations with vastly different healthcare histories and systems – face distinct challenges and strengths. Japan is grappling with a super-aged society, raising concerns about the sustainability of its healthcare system. In contrast, Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society that has been evolving its healthcare framework flexibly, leveraging a young population to chart its future. When countries with such differences learn from each other, the relationship can move beyond one-way “aid” or technology transfer towards true co-creation. This course takes the ongoing collaboration between Japan and Malaysia as a key example, examining how two different healthcare contexts can engage in mutual learning and create new value by transcending national, cultural, and systemic differences.

Focus of the Course

Building on the first half of this year – where we explored the question “What is Asian Well-being?” and its underlying value systems – the second half will sharpen the focus to ask: “Through cross-border collaboration of knowledge and capital, how can we implement ‘UHC × Well-being’ and substantially reduce the burden of cancer and NCDs in Asia?” Here, UHC (Universal Health Coverage) and Well-being serve as our guiding keywords. We will examine how to connect knowledge frameworks originating in high-income countries with insights from LMICs (low- and middle-income countries), and how to design collaborative solutions that harness both the public sector (UHC policies) and the private sector (investment and business innovation). In other words, the course explores practical implementation designs for value co-creation, driven by the twin engines of public policy and private enterprise, to tackle Asia’s pressing health challenges such as cancer and NCDs (non-communicable diseases).

Outcomes and Opportunities

This course is not just theoretical – it is strongly outcome-oriented. Each student will produce a final policy recommendation report (policy brief) as the capstone of the course. Exceptional reports will earn their authors the opportunity to present at a major international conference. In fact, an award is in place: top-performing students will be invited to present their policy proposals at an international cancer conference in Malaysia, with travel, accommodation, and registration fully funded. Moreover, the content of the lectures will be documented and compiled for publication (for example, as a supplement in an academic journal), ensuring the knowledge created in this course contributes to broader academic and policy discussions. Through these outcomes, the course aims to foster new perspectives in next-generation leadership, equipping students to become innovators in global health and healthcare policy.

Course Structure

The course progresses in three stages. In the early sessions, we survey the big-picture landscape of the issues and the foundational values at play – for instance, examining what “Well-being” means in the Asian context. During the middle sessions, we dive into case studies and specific thematic explorations, such as comparisons of healthcare systems, policy approaches, industry roles, and international cooperation efforts. These case studies (covering topics from NCD control to health finance and diplomacy) illuminate the real-world challenges and opportunities in achieving “UHC × Well-being.” In the final sessions, emphasis shifts to solution design and policy proposal development. Students will synthesize insights from earlier sessions to co-create actionable strategies, and will receive guidance on how to formulate effective policy briefs. By the end of the course, students will have not only gained interdisciplinary knowledge but also crafted their own policy recommendations addressing the central question of implementing UHC and well-being in a cross-border context.

Each lecture will encourage students to engage with the material through discussion and Q&A, linking perspectives from medicine, policy, industry, and international cooperation. By the course’s end, students will have a nuanced understanding of how healthcare solidarity in Asia can be pursued through “UHC × Well-being”, and will have developed their own policy-driven solutions to contribute to this evolving field.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:
Critically examine the concept of Well-being from interdisciplinary and cross-cultural perspectives, with a focus on Asia. Analyze cancer not only as a medical condition but as a societal touchpoint that reveals structural inequalities and shared suffering. Compare and evaluate health behaviors, care systems, and policy frameworks across Asian countries. Propose integrated models that connect scientific data, local culture, and policy to promote sustainable Well-being. Develop communication skills for engaging in international dialogue on health, aging, and sustainability.

Under the Theme “Connecting Healthcare Beyond Borders”

This course aspires to offer graduate students a profoundly compelling arena for intellectual and personal growth, by fostering the capacity to transcend boundaries and mature as scholars and global citizens.

Cultivating a Sense of Societal Implementation

By discerning how one’s research findings and specialized knowledge can concretely contribute to solving real-world challenges, students broaden their understanding of the true significance of their scholarship. Gaining confidence in the implementation power of research will, in turn, expand career horizons—whether through industry–government–academic collaborations or future participation in start-ups and social innovation projects.

Acquiring Policy-Engagement Skills

Through the preparation of policy briefs and dialogue with policymakers, students will enhance their ability to bridge science and policy. Such expertise will serve as a formidable asset for securing research funding and for offering evidence-based recommendations within their respective fields. By the conclusion of the course, students are expected to cultivate the conviction that they, too, can contribute meaningfully to the policy arena.

Building Cross-Boundary Research Networks

Engaged dialogue and collaboration with peers and faculty across diverse disciplines will foster a network that transcends departmental and institutional divides. These connections—whether forged with fellow graduate students at other universities or through exchanges at international conferences—will provide invaluable foundations for future joint research and scholarly exchange. The very experience of connecting knowledge across boundaries will also stimulate creative insights.

Integrating Perspectives Across Disciplines

By incorporating alternative disciplinary viewpoints—for example, approaching healthcare challenges from an engineering perspective, or examining social institutions through the lens of medicine—students will expand their scholarly vision. Exposure to perspectives otherwise inaccessible within the confines of a single specialization will generate new research questions and enrich dissertations and projects. This interdisciplinary fusion of knowledge nurtures the seeds of innovation.

Advancing Academic Communication in English

The challenge of drafting and presenting policy proposals in English, supported by structured guidance, will lower barriers to international engagement. By course completion, students will find that “communicating in English” has become a natural extension of their scholarly practice, instilling both confidence and pride as emerging global researchers. The course thus offers a valuable stepping stone toward disseminating one’s research to the wider world.

In sum, this course is designed to serve as a transformative learning environment—one that, with thoughtful engagement, can be directly and enduringly connected to each student’s individual research trajectory and career development.

Grade Evaluation

Evaluation comprises the following components:

1) Attendance, short reports submitted after each lecture*, 40％

2) Final report. 60％

*Short reports are written in response to a question posed by the lecturer in a format of the student’s choosing. As the course is in an omnibus format, these short reports are important for demonstrating understanding of each lecture and ensuring that students have given thought to how the contents of each lecture relate to each other as individual parts of the overall course. The content of the short reports will not affect grading of the course—evaluation is based on whether a report is submitted or not. These short reports may be considered as notes in preparation for compilation of the final report.