Kengo Takeda's Testimonial

When I was a college senior, I got known this Tokimatsu Laboratory. At that time, although I was belonging the other major, I was more interested in combining academic areas and engineering than deepening one specific engineering area, such as economics, politics and environment. From these interest, I worked hard to learn from non-essential lectures both in TokyoTech or not. However I was also often so troubled the relative lack of passion and interest for pure engineering which usual contemporaries have. Since I knew the laboratory, the policy was the contributing between technologies and society, so I thought that this laboratory is the best environment to complete research as master student for me who is would like to research combined field between technology and other social studies As the style of study in this laboratory, each student can study own theme freely based on their awareness of problems with helpful support by Tokimatsu sensei. Tokimatsu sensei always helped us to make our days in university and future lives on both private and public side. In my case there were some so impressive events. First, he prepares individual meeting time almost weekly to arrange my interest scattered roundly at first. Second, the laboratory of members allows my attending the collaboration researching joint researching workshop with Yamashita laboratory in Hitotsubashi University even though I had not attended to Tokimatsu laboratory. And he had kind support for my job hunting not just mere advice.

This 2 years in Tokimatsu laboratory is short for me but quite deep and various high density on my life, such as daily life with so many foreign student and researchers, which means Japanese is minority, twice researching activity at Uppsala university in Sweden, twice presentation in academic conference and submitting refereeing researching paper. In addition, I thought that in this laboratory we could grow some abilities which is also required not only as a student but also a member of society, such as keeping own passion for own task, response capabilities for various environment and administrative skills. I really wish that students who are interested in collaboration between technologies and other area get great achievement and discover successful future, and I trust in everything of this laboratory helps your life.

私がこの時松研究室を初めて知ったのは、学士4年の春でした。 当時、別専攻に所属しながらも、工学の一つの分野を深めていく修学以上に、工学と他分野との接合、とりわけ経済、政治、環境といった分野について非常に高い関心を抱き、講義や学内外にて学ぶことに励んでいました。 しかしながらその反面、同輩はじめ多くの東工大生が抱く工学に対する純然たる興味や、自身には熱量が足りていないのではないかという不安に悩むことも少なくありませんでした。 そんな中、この研究室は科学技術と社会との融和を是として掲げており、私が長らく悩んだ修士研究を実現するに申し分ない環境であると、初めて研究室を訪問した時に感じました。 この研究室での研究は、学生各々が自身の問題意識に基づき、自由に取り組んでいく体制が築かれていましたが、これは先生の手厚いサポートによるところが大きいものでした。 研究室所属前から一橋大学の研究室との交流会への参加や、ほぼ毎週個別で面談の時間を設け当初拡散していた自身の興味を整理することや、就職活動での様々な助言など、よりよい学生生活や公私双方に通じた将来を見据えた支援には枚挙に暇がありません。 

留学生が多く日本人がマイノリティという珍しい研究室での日々や、二度のスウェーデンへの在外研究派遣、二度の学会発表や研究論文の寄稿など、これまでの人生経験の中で著しく密度の濃い二年間でした。 年間の私の所感として、この研究室は、自分自身の研究テーマに関する熱量、国内外問わず様々な環境への対応力、事務処理能力、これらの能力の大幅な成長できる環境であると思います。 科学技術と他分野を接合するような研究を志す学生が、この時松研究室にて実り多き未来を迎えんことを祈ります。

Tokimatsu sensei's response（教員からのコメント）

The first email I had received was more than 3 year before in May or June. The message was formal and “old” style, stating that he majored electrical engineering though he beloved humanity and social science so much that he got those credits from outside of Tokyo Tech and that he had in mind to work on energy security issue. Once I talked with him in my office, I inspired his huge perspectives, which was over-wrapped my own experience in reading many humanity literatures during electronic circuit experiments in bachelor course, and recognized that he must not go well in lab other than mine in our Institute, immediately accept him to be a lab member once he passed an enrollment examination. That was my first experience to meet him up. I recommended him to apply Hitotsubashi university as passing the examination was not guaranteed and invited him to join a regular joint seminar with prof Yamashita there together. I was surprised that he knows the campus as if it is his own garden. He explained that he got more than 60% credits in humanity and social science, from Hitotsubashi and Keio univ. “I had just chose Tokodai as I had just became in good at mathematics and science”, which was also overwrapped with my past.

He overpassed his bachelor’s remaining “winter” season, spring has come. I met him together with prof. Ikegami, working together with the Uppsala-Tokyo Tech project, who appraised him greatly to be an academic co-advisor. The meeting was in lunch time to talk with his research topic and direction. He wore three-piece formal suits with his appearance in “old guy”, brought his hand-made big sandwiches. Their appearance are very beautiful and extremely delicious using halal meat with Indian spice. I believed the sophisticated ones must be sold out immediately even priced at 500 JPY inside of our campus. Truly astonished. He followed Japanese old style to bring Japanese sake bottles for gifts, till his graduation in faithful, even though I declined to do so.

Once we started his work, we soon recognized all must be explored (i.e., specific topic, target, and methodology) since the theme contains too broad topics. I handed all the materials I had corrected over my past working experiences, and suggested to pick up a few or some to be reported. In the end, what we had in mind from the theme were differed between us. Target is geographically diverse – Mid East, South-East Asia, China, North America, and Russia. He choose two sets of patterns combined with the geography and technologies, to which importance of justification is suggested. We discussed many times regarding to methods, referring various literatures regardless of targets nor theme. He asked me “what and by how?” I replied “Do not wait for my direction, but just try and error. Do not think it difficult but anything small is OK for you that can easily start by yourself. Think widely, act locally.” I lately recognized that my reply was the same given from my academic supervisor in my graduate course student, and my thoughtless through supervising students after quarter century. In the beginning he was embarrassing, while after his struggling based on his wide knowledge, he reported he might manage by text mining on newspapers. Based on my own past experience, I had expected him once he made one step forward, then started to work more steps, to which he successfully followed.

I gave him twice opportunities in M1 and M2 to outbound for Uppsala University in Sweden with connection by prof. Ikegami. The first one is a trial to live (or survive) there and get started to his work together with prof. Mikael Hook. He managed to save his expenses by cooking himself based on his cooking ability and foodstuffs. He must be a Japanese guy having survival ability comparative with foreign guy students who also cook by themselves. He can survive by himself alone after his retirement 40 year later, promising. In his M2 autumn opportunity to go to Uppsala, his progress was roughly middle of whole his thesis. In his outbound preparation, he reported to me probably he seemed to conduct his work together with Mikael after email exchanges to him. I bed to believe in him and to decide his outbound. This decision let me grow to believe student potential. He improved his own developed methodology, convincing himself. In November he could write his paper easily based on his writing ability, sent it out to peer-review slot of a conference by the society of energy and resources (successfully published from the journal in July 2019). He could well develop momentum, easily complied his graduation thesis. He could conduct his research in both labs Suzukakedai and Ookayama, supposing he may have ability to learn with balance.

Regarding to the job hunting (details cannot be disclosed), we perfectly work together by “three legs by two”. His desire in his employment is in short, where he can perform his comprehensive ability, rather than being expected to technical skills (stereo type in our Institute), in the business areas to secure energy and resources covering all through value chain covering development, transport, retail sales, distribution, and use. I consulted to him importance for him to prioritize company’s culture and his personal feelings are well matched. Finally, he smoothly got naitei (a final confirmation to be allowed to work in a company) along this strategy. Through this experience, I recognized the importance of consultancy to provide alternative solutions in different angle by who understands him/her well, not sticking to his/her own thought. This recognition is totally same with that through collaboration for inter-discipline research work.

His ability is too deep to see its bottom. The highest reliability is given to his accounting ability and attitude cultivated by help to his parent’s house business. In daily communication, I could relax and leave tasks once he mentioned “Let me done this and I will complete well. Leave this to me and relax”. Even such him, sometime he made careless misses (sometimes serious ones), that produced a “pillow word” like “it is unlike to your behavior”. He is too stupidly honest – I sometimes recommended him to learn from Moe-chan in the same grade who is clever and calculating. He can drink a lot comparative with me, and once he starts to drink, his wisdom talks are explosion, attracting surroundings. As a final word, I sincerely wish he continued to be lead by prospective bosses who understand his talent, bloomed in my lab like a fish to water.

約3年前の5,6月頃のこと。古めかしく堅い感じの文面メールを受信しました。内部学生で電気工学に在籍するも、文系科目好きで他大学にまで行き単位を取得、修士ではエネルギー安全保障のようなテーマに従事したいとのこと。オフィスで面談すると壮大な世界観に、電気回路工作実験中に文系本を読み漁った自分とダブり、「彼は私のところでないと本学では無理だ」と判断、その場で受入承諾しました。これが彼との最初でした。ただし、受検に合格する保証は無いから、一橋出願も視野に入れ、毎年恒例の一橋大山下ゼミ訪問に誘いました。彼が一橋を庭のように理解しており感嘆した記憶があります。彼によると同大学のみならず慶応まで行き、取得単位の6割は文系科目とのこと。「たまたま理数系が出来るようになって本学に来た」も、私と全く同一だと感じ入りました。

そうした彼は、残された学部時代の「冬」を乗り越え、桜の時期が訪れました。本学・ウプサラ大とのご縁で、彼をベタ褒めし副指導教員になって頂くことになった池上先生を交えた3人で、昼時に今後の彼の指導内容等について話し合う機会がありました。三つ揃いの彼は若年寄のいでたちで、お手製の大きなサンドウィッチを持参してきました。見た目にも美しく、ハラルでインドの香辛料を使った大変美味でした。相当手の込んだもので、学内で500円でも即完売すると確信しました。驚愕です。昔ながらの日本流儀に日本酒の手土産まで持参してきました。この手土産は私が断っても律儀に最後まで続きました。

いざ研究に取組み始めると、テーマ領域は広大ゆえに、テーマ、対象、手段、いずれも模索でした。持ち得る全ての文献を渡すとともに、少数文献に絞り内容報告するようにしました。結果的には、彼と私のテーマ内容に思い描くイメージが違っていたようでした。対象も地図上で見渡すと中東、東南アジア、中国、北米、ロシアとあり、彼は地理と技術のセットで2パターン選定しました。何故なのか、その正当化が重要だと話しました。手法についてはテーマや対象とは無関係に手法が使えないかと色々議論しました。「何をどうすれば？」という彼に「指示を待っても前進しない。何か試してみて。構えず難しいこと抜きに、自分がやり易い小さいことから」と「着眼大局着手小局」を勧めました。この自分のセリフは、自分自身が当時指導教員に指導頂いた内容と実は同じだった、と後で気づきました。こうして学生さんを相手にして四半世紀も経て理解する、自分の浅はかさを再認識しました。彼は最初戸惑っていました。けれども持ち前の博識を駆使し、彼から新聞のテキストマイニングで何か出来そうな気がすると、糸口を掴んだ報告をくれました。私自身の過去の経験で、1つ回り始めると、それが2となり3となって動き出すだろう。実際にそうなりました。

池上先生のご縁で、彼をM1とM2の2回、スウェーデンのウプサラ大に派遣しました。1回目は現地世界を知る試行的なもの。高物価のかの地では、持ち前の食材探しと料理の能力で、節約・自炊で乗り切ったとのこと。来日男子留学生も多くは自炊するらしいが、サバイバル能力では彼らに負けず劣らずの日本男児。老後も彼は自走可能だろう。頼もしい。M2の秋で再度ウプサラに行ってもらう時は、実は修論の未だ半分程度でした。ウプサラのMikaelとのメール交信を踏まえ、本人が「たぶん何とか出来そう」という言葉を信じ、私としては賭けでしたが「旅に」出しました。この賭けは、学生のポテンシャルを信じるという、成長を私にさせてくれました。そこから彼は自分の「手法」を開発、自信を持ちました。11月のエネルギー・資源学会論文申込（査読論文枠）も、持ち前の作文能力を発揮して、容易に執筆しました（2019年7月号掲載）。そうして要領を得て弾みが付き、難なく修論を仕上げました。彼が、すずかけ台・大岡山の２ヶ所で研究を進められたのは、正副両指導教員からバランス良く吸収する能力を持っていたからであろうと思います。これも彼の才能です。

詳細割愛せざるを得ませんが、就活は完全に2人3脚となりました。彼の希望は要約すると「（研究テーマに直結した）エネルギー・資源の確保という、資源開発・流通・小売・利用の業界で、（本学出身という）技術的な専門性を期待されるのではなく、彼の総合力を活かせる採用」でした。彼の特性からすると、彼に大事なのは「水が合う」会社、と助言。最終的には幸いなことに、その方針でトントン拍子に決まりました。社会に出ると、自分の考えに固執して突き進むだけでなく、理解者が別アングルで代替ソリューションを提供する、というコンサルタント役の重要性を理解しました。このことは、共同研究者との学際研究とも全く同一であることを再認識しました。

彼の才能は底知れません。ご実家の家業手伝いで培われた経理能力・姿勢は、最上級の信頼。普段のコミュニケーションも「首尾よくやっておきます、ご安心下さい」という彼の一言で安心して任せておける。けれども、そうした彼でさえも時折ポカする（中には深刻なものも）ので、「貴兄らしからぬ」という枕詞も生み出しました。時折、「たまには（同期の）萌ちゃんの『要領良さ』を見習うべし」、というほどの愚直さ。私の酒量に付き合うことが出来、博識会話が炸裂して周囲が虜になり、人気者になる。「水を得た魚」のように私のところで才能を開花できた彼が、そうした彼の才能を見抜いた上司によって、将来導かれることを願って止みません。