The following is my evaluation of the activities undertaken by Shaken. It is based on a reading of materials provided to me by Shaken and a site visit conducted on November 15, 1999. My report evaluates Shaken's international activities, its journal, SSJJ, its institute-wide joint research projects, and its future potential.

The significance of Shaken's international activities

　Shaken has become an increasingly familiar name among Japan scholars in the United States and elsewhere in recent years. In the past decade in particular, it has been the intellectual home for many foreign researchers, especially young scholars doing Ph.D. dissertation research. As I understand it, there have been approximately 400 young foreign scholars affiliated with Shaken over the years and 200 of them in just the past ten years. They come from 34 countries, and the single largest group is comprised of people from the United States.

　Shaken's role in providing facilities for these young scholars, professional advise about research, assistance in making contacts, access to the University of Tokyo's libraries, and an opportunity to exchange ideas with other scholars is invaluable. There is no other university organization in Japan that has been as important an asset for foreign researchers as Shaken has been. It is highly desirable that Shaken continue to provide this service and that the number of foreign researchers it hosts be increased if at all possible.

　Clearly there are serious problems involved in providing this service. There is limited desk space for visiting researchers. Most importantly each visiting researcher has a Shaken faculty advisor. The advice the faculty member provides is invaluable, but it imposes an obvious burden on faculty, especially if the number of researchers is increased. It seems to me, however, that this is one of the most important international contributions Shaken makes and every effort should be expended to insuring that it is able to continue doing so in the future. In addition to the support this program gives young researchers, it also facilitates the creation of an extensive international network of ties between Shaken and foreign academic institutions. As Shaken continues to play this role, it is certain to lead to stronger links with many overseas institutions and lead to joint research projects and other collaborative ventures.

　Shaken also makes an important contribution to international studies of Japan by inviting visiting professors to be in residence for periods ranging from a few months to a year or more. This also is very important in facilitating close working relationships with Japan scholars in academic institutions abroad and in providing facilities that give these scholars an opportunity to pursue their research interests. The more Shaken can do in this regard the greater will be its contribution to foreign studies of Japan.

The Social Science Japan Journal

　Another aspect of Shaken's international activities deserves separate mention because of its importance. This is the publication of the Social Science Japan Journal through Oxford University Press. SSJJ is unique in being a comprehensive Japan social science journal. Its editorial policy emphasizes the utilization of a rigorous peer review process that insures that the quality of the articles it publishes is high in terms of global academic standards.

　There are two aspects of SSJJ that are especially noteworthy. One is that it emphasizes the importance not simply of translating Japanese articles but of rewriting them in a way that makes them accessible to an English speaking audience. Often this requires a great deal of rewriting by the author and considerable involvement of the editors working with the author.

　The other are the book reviews and survey articles the journal carries. In my opinion, SSJJ can make an especially important contribution to foreign readers by expanding its survey article section. Scholars who may be hesitant to spend the time reading a long article about a subject that is outside their own discipline are more likely to read the book reviews and survey articles and may be enticed to do further reading based upon what they learn from a particular review.

　SSJJ's emphasis on a comprehensive social science approach is an appropriate reflection of the nature of Shaken itself, which is distinguished by being a research center that emphasizes all of the social sciences and inter-disciplinary work. At the same time, because it is a comprehensive social science journal and because it is relatively expensive to purchase, it is unlikely that it will be able to secure a large number of paid subscriptions. Moreover, the journal is especially useful, I believe, for scholars in countries that do not have as fully developed and as specialized Japan studies programs as the United States does. The possibility that individuals in China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the Middle East, or Latin America will buy the journal in significant numbers is very low. Therefore it is important that there be funding made available to distribute the journal to organizations in these countries free of charge. I understand that this is already being done to some extent. The more the journal is made available, through offices of the Japan Foundation and Japanese consulates in foreign countries and in other ways, the more Shaken will contribute directly to the development of Japanese studies abroad.

Institute-wide joint research projects

　Shaken provides both a base for scholars to do their individual research and for joint research projects in which most of not all of the staff take part. Past joint research projects have included a six volume study on the 20th century system, an eight volume publication on modern Japanese society, and a seven volume study of the welfare state. None of these publications were issued in English and no foreign scholars were involved in any of them which makes their impact on the non-Japanese academic community very limited.

　I have some difficulty accepting the rationale for emphasizing institute-wide joint research projects (zenshoteki kenkyu project). The main purpose of an institution like Shaken is to provide an environment in which scholars can pursue important social science research. An effort to involve a large number of people with diverse interests in a common research endeavor runs the danger of making the project theme overly vague or general or forcing scholars to spend time doing research that does not especially interest them.

　To some extent the problem is linguistic as much as it is substantive in that zenshoteki implies a comprehensive involvement of the professional research staff in a single project. My understanding is that in fact these joint research projects do not necessarily have to involve all the staff. Nonetheless it seems to me that the concept itself of institute-wide research projects is problematic.

　One reason given for engaging in institute-wide research projects is that it is necessary to do so to distinguish what the faculty does in Shaken from the research that faculty in other parts of the university engage in. I think this misses what is truly distinctive about Shaken. It is that the Shaken faculty have a multi-disciplinary interest and that they are full-time researchers. In this sense Shaken is more like an American think tank such as the Brookings Institution than it is like a university research institute such as the East Asian Institute at Columbia University where the faculty have full time teaching responsibilities. Neither Brookings nor any other American think tank with which I am familiar undertakes institute-wide research projects, and it would be almost impossible to conceive of any single project that could utilize the diverse expertise in such an institution in a useful way.

　There is a place, however, for joint research projects in an institution such as Shaken, and it is appropriate that faculty in Shaken should be expected to organize such joint research projects and participate in projects organized by others. But the issue should be treated with more flexibility than I believe is currently the situation. A joint project might have as few as three or as many as twenty or more members. It should be able to recruit non-Shaken experts, including foreign scholars, if necessary to participate in the particular project. Project organizers should be encouraged to apply to foundations for financial support. One of the difficulties American organizations wanting to do joint research with Japanese scholars face is the inadequate number of academic institutions in Japan that are positioned to support joint research activities. This is an area where Shaken can play an important role, but only if it disaggregates the "institute-wide" concept of joint research projects.

　Shaken should also distinguish itself from other organizations by sponsoring joint research projects that are explicitly inter- or multi-disciplinary in nature. One of the important strengths of Shaken is that it emphasizes the need for social scientists to avoid a narrow disciplinary approach and encourages them to think across disciplinary boundaries. Given the increasingly narrow specialization among social scientists, such an emphasis on inter-disciplinary thinking is valuable. Thus a vision for "joint research projects" that involved support for several projects a year, involved outside scholars as well as Shaken faculty, were undertaken in some cases as joint research projects with foreign institutions, and emphasized a multi-disciplinary approach would be a desirable way to develop the idea of "institute-wide research projects" in the future in my opinion.

Shaken and the university

　Japanese universities, including the University of Tokyo, are facing a period of major change. Although it is not entirely clear to me what these changes will accomplish, or indeed what exactly they will be, it seems quite certain that there is going to be an increased emphasis on a kind of mass-based graduate school education. Graduate programs in the social sciences at the University of Tokyo, as I understand the situation, have been primarily designed to train Ph.D. students for careers as professors and researchers. If this emphasis changes to one of training MA students for non-academic careers and Ph.D. students who also might not be interested in university teaching careers, there are some very important implications for Shaken.

　Shaken faculty are full-time researchers in theory but they also teach graduate students in practice. This has not been much of a problem in the past because the teaching component of Shaken faculty time was involved in working with young aspiring researchers, not preparing lectures or advising large numbers of students.

　If graduate education changes in Japan in the direction of becoming more like United States' graduate schools in approach and if Shaken faculty are required to teach graduate courses that are needed by this new graduate school student population then it will prove to be impossible for Shaken faculty to remain full-time researchers. They will become more like American professors who have to both teach full-time and do research, which is usually undertaken in the summers and when on sabbatical leave.

　In my view it is important for Shaken to remain committed to its role as an intellectual home for full-time researchers. Indeed, as graduate school demands on faculty time and energies increase in Japan, there may well be a role for Shaken to offer opportunities to faculty in university departments to take the equivalent of a sabbatical by moving to Shaken for a year or more to do research full-time without the burdens of teaching. Shaken needs to consider how to strengthen its identity as a research institute whose faculty are engaged in full-time research and not let that feature of its organization become diluted as a consequence of educational reform.

　Shaken has a unique standing as a high quality research institute concerned with modern and contemporary social science issues, emphasizing a multi-disciplinary approach, employing a full-time research staff, providing invaluable service to the international Japan studies community, and producing academic research of value to the academy and to the society at large. It is very important that Shaken be given the financial resources and the institutional support needed to continue and to expand this very important role.