Interdisciplinary learning and training

The main pillars of our learning and training system are: that introduce students to political research, according to the following three programmes and . These are linked with case studies courses where we invite practitioners and researchers from various fields and institutions to share their experiences and applied courses where students take on real life projects to make policy recommendations to local governments. The following are the three programmes that we offer:

1. Public Management Programme:

   Students in this programme will be able to learn about decision-making processes in public (local, regional and national levels) and private sectors, and how to balance between public values and individual interests as well as fairness and efficiency. This programme aims to foster local, regional and national level civil servants and bureaucrats as well as talented leaders in the private sector.

2. International Policy Programme:

   In the midst of an ever-changing world, how can international public order be achieved? This programme will allow students to explore domestic and external policy issues in East Asia (including Japan), the United States and Europe, and identify global schisms and consider possible policy solutions. This programme aims to foster talented individuals that would like to pursue a career in foreign affairs, international civil service, journalism, international cooperation and development.

3. Technological Policy Programme:

   How can rapid advances in technology best serve the needs of society and how can technology contribute to the creation of public order? This programme aims to train technological policy experts who can evaluate and implement diverse projects and conduct crisis management.

Requirements for graduation

In order to successfully graduate from the graduate school, it is necessary to earn 42 or more credits. However, students must also earn all the the required number of credits for each course

• Prerequisite courses: 8 credits
• Core courses: 4 credits
• Expansion courses: 6 credits
• Applied/Case Studies courses: 8 or more credits
• Graduation thesis: 2 or 8 credits

Core courses

These courses serve as the basis for studying in subsequent courses. They consist mainly of courses concerning theories and methods for policy planning and analysis.

Expansion courses

Each programme offers courses to acquire a wide range of highly professional knowledge. Students learn about the philosophy of each policy field, policy issues, countermeasures and other related matters.

Applied courses

These are courses to acquire skills to support policy promotion, such as policy development, consensus formation and execution. Students attend seminars on how to write policy papers, negotiation and consensus formation methods, as well as foreign languages.