Economics is needed in every job.

I work as a financial officer at the embassy. My job is to gather and analyze information about Japan's finances, such as the current state and trends of its financial system, and report it to the UK to inform its monetary policy decisions. This involves understanding what monetary policymakers and regulators are looking at, reporting the necessary information and analysis, and verifying the accuracy of information that may be leaked in media reports. As an embassy, we engage in direct dialogue with the Japanese government and receive information that is not available elsewhere.

I constantly use what I learned in the Faculty of Economics in my work. Economics is, after all, a way of looking at things. When discussing something, economics provides a very important framework for moving beyond vague impressions and grounding the discussion in solid arguments and figures. It's quite challenging due to the gap between theory and reality, but I hope to continue utilizing economics as much as possible, rather than relying on intuition.

My reason for choosing the Faculty of Economics might seem a bit unusual compared to my classmates, but it was because it was the field I knew the least about. I might get in trouble for saying this, but I thought that if I had the freedom to choose, I might as well try something I didn't know, something that seemed dynamic and fast-paced.

There are many classes that left a lasting impression on me. As for English, I think university was the starting point for me. Learning English properly from native-speaking teachers, I realized how enjoyable it was to communicate in English, and that's what sparked my interest in the language.

Statistics was extremely helpful when I studied economics in London. If I hadn't developed an interest in statistics at Keio, I probably wouldn't have gone on to study economics in London, and without a basic knowledge of macro and microeconomics, I likely would have struggled to keep up.

Statistics also left a deep impression. Economics is quite difficult; when making predictions, for example, it's very hard to win an argument. Saying "I just have a feeling" isn't persuasive. Of course, that kind of intuition is also necessary, but when you use statistics to analyze with numbers, you can generate data to support your claims. It was fascinating to learn that such methods exist.

Another class that I remember well is international economics. When you study, there's a tendency to separate history from history, theory from theory, and the current situation from the current situation. The international economics class was what connected all of them into a single thread.

I was the same way, but I think few high school students can say for certain, "This is what I want to do in the future." The majority of students end up choosing a faculty with a vague sense of direction. In that case, it may seem like an odd way to choose, but I think one method is to select the faculty that seems to offer the most options down the road. Economics is something you will definitely need no matter what job you do, so I believe it can be extremely useful.

I realize this when I look at my former classmates. Even classmates who initially went into the financial industry have since changed jobs and spread out into various fields, but I haven't heard any of them say they struggled because of the change in field. It makes me strongly feel that economics is something that can be applied in many different places and is always in demand. My friends from the Faculty of Economics are the kind of people who will immediately email me with advice if I'm ever in a bind. Even now, they are an irreplaceable and reliable presence in my life.

(Interview conducted on May 16, 2005)