This article is a record of interviews conducted by first-year SPSF students with their seniors who completed graduation theses. For more details, please see here.

Interviewee: Keita Robert Hooker Yoshikawa (Department of Economics, Year 4)
Interview & Writer: Shintaro Takagi (Department of Journalism, Year 1)

Yoshikawa from the Economics department first discussed his Graduation thesis, which examines immigration-induced labor supply shocks. He reflected, stating his experience in Edinburgh, UK, was the reason for this topic. There were classes for labor economics available, aligning with his interests. He explained the uniqueness of the education in the UK as, “I think one thing is the way the educational structure there is geared to training people to become economists.

”The stay in Scotland in his third year was “very emotionally enriching, and academically enriching”. He strongly recommends that students at SPSF take the initiative to go study abroad. He expanded on his reasoning, expanding his reason, stating, “There are a lot of scholarships if you’re Japanese, and a lot of academic resources out there”. These types of support, both on and off campus, lower the barriers for students to leave Japan.

Finishing his education at Sophia and SPSF, Yoshikawa briefly touched on his next chapter. “I am planning to go to graduate school for a master’s degree in Economics at Waseda University.” Asking why he chose to pursue this path, he noted his experience at Edinburgh was a driving factor. “I think seeing a lot of people around me who are pursuing at least a master’s degree level made me also want to try”.