The latest project, headed by Prof. Junichi Kanzaka of Soka's faculty of economics, will conduct a comparative economic analysis of Japanese and English villages in order to shed greater light on the roles such communities played in economic development. Prof. Kanzaka will be carrying out his research at the University of California, Davis, U.S.A.

Last year, the Japanese ministry selected "Analysis of Financial Markets by Realized Volatility—Asymmetric and Multivariate Models," a study by Soka economics professor Manabu Asai. Prof. Asai worked together with researchers at the University of Western Australia and Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to develop models of realized volatility to analyze financial markets. Given that such advanced modeling tools have yet to take root in Japan, expectations are high for their potential in financial market analyses.

In 2006, MEXT awarded Kazuhiko Sekita, professor of education at Soka, for his study carried out at the University of Minnesota's Cooperative Learning Center in Minneapolis, U.S.A. Prof. Sekita's work helped lay the groundwork for a network of leading U.S. and Japanese researchers on cooperative learning, and the holding of an international forum to be hosted by the Japan Association for the Study of Cooperation in Education in Nagoya in June 2008.

Noting that the ministry has recognized Soka research projects for three straight years, Soka University President Hideo Yamamoto called the latest MEXT decision "most gratifying" because it reaffirms Soka's commitment "to contribute to peace through international exchange."