Takeshi Ojima

Interview

Please introduce yourself.

I was born in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, and lived in Tokyo from high school to college. After graduating from college, I spent about four years in Osaka, eight months in Spain, two months in Taiwan, four years in Tokyo, and three years in Fukushima, before working at Soka University. Meeting so many different people in so many different places is the best thing I have ever had the chance to do. I hope to continue to treasure these encounters, so please feel free to say hello to me at college. By the way, I love cats and I have a cartoon-like face.

Please tell us about your research.

Have you ever resolved to do something tomorrow, only to find that when tomorrow arrives, you put it off until tomorrow again? Have you ever felt able to persevere at the moment you made up your mind, but as time passed and you continued to be exposed to temptation, you gave in to the temptation? I am researching self-control behavior against such temptations. Recently, I have been researching ways to prevent cheating as one form of self-control.

What kind of contributions to society do you expect as your research progresses?

For example, working from home and remote work has become widespread recently. While this has increased team productivity, it has also increased opportunities for cheating, such as slacking off at work. However, comprehensive monitoring and checking to crack down on cheating is only a cost for managers and conscientious employees. Our research will clarify what kind of people cheat and what kind of environments are conducive to cheating, leading to the realization of efficient fraud prevention methods. This is expected to contribute to society by preventing welfare losses associated with fraud.

What can you learn in the seminar?

You will learn how to: i. formulate a question; ii. provide an answer to the question; and iii. communicate the question and answer. Since my field of expertise is behavioral economics, the approach will be based on behavioral economics. First, you will thoroughly hone your ability to formulate your own question. Next, you will learn how to collect data and analyze that data in order to provide an answer to the question. Finally, you will acquire the ability to communicate the question and the results of the analysis in an interesting and easy-to-understand way through practice.

Please say a few words to all the students.

I believe that the skill you should acquire at university is the ability to educate yourself. In an ever-changing reality, we will continue to face new challenges. In order to overcome these challenges, or if you cannot overcome them now, you will need to persevere and continue to grow in order to overcome them someday. For many people, university is the last chance to devote yourself to learning, and also an opportunity to easily recover from failures. Take this opportunity to experience many new challenges and failures, hone your self-education skills, which are essential for growth, and graduate. I hope that your life after graduation will be richer and filled with strong happiness.