The International University of Japan (IUJ) was founded in 1982 as the first English-medium graduate school in Japan with extensive support from industrial, financial and educational communities such as the Japan Association of Corporate Executives, as well as from the local communities of Minami-Uonuma region, Niigata. IUJ’s mission is to develop future leaders in the globalized world, and for this purpose, it was initiated as the first English-medium graduate school in Japan. IUJ has accepted over 4,300 international students from 129 countries and has successfully established its long-standing reputation as a unique educational and research institution known as “mini United Nations.”

The uniqueness of IUJ comes from its campus environment. On our campus, about 360 students from about 60 countries and faculty members live together in dormitories, which enable students and faculty members to create close connections and interactions.

IUJ consists of two graduate schools: Graduate Schools of International Relations (GSIR) and International Management (GSIM). GSIR, established in 1982, currently offers two-year master’s programs in International Development Program (IDP), Public Management and Policy Analysis Program (PMPP) and International Relations Program (IRP). GSIM, established in 1988 as the first US-style business school in Japan, offers a two-year or one-year master’s degree in Master of Business Administration (MBA).

Students and Learning Environment:
IUJ campus is multinational. Students can learn how to work with different cultural, historical and social backgrounds in ways that are not easily possible anywhere else. One of the strengths of IUJ is that overseas students live together on campus and study with Japanese students who can introduce them to various sides of Japanese society and culture. Many of IUJ’s overseas students, not limited to JDS scholarship students, are from such entities as government ministries, government agencies, and central banks.

IUJ’s strategic location in the serene heartland of rural Japan provides a unique learning place for young men and women from all parts of the world to gather and to learn from each other and from highly qualified international faculty. Although the International University of Japan is in a small countryside city with a population of approximately 57,000, the shinkansen (bullet train) provides very easy access to Tokyo, the journey taking approximately 90 minutes.

As of September 2018, the number of IUJ alumni has reached 4,388, representing 129 countries including 114 from Bangladesh, 12 Bhutan, 1 Brunei, 87 Cambodia, 211 China, 2 East Timor, 169 India, 562 Indonesia, 31 Korea, 11 Kazakhstan, 60 Kyrgyz Republic, 80 Lao P.D.R., 77 Malaysia, 95 Mongolia, 202 Myanmar, 45 Nepal, 19 Oceanian Countries, 158 Philippines, 70 Sri Lanka, 20 Tajikistan, 181 Thailand, 101 Uzbekistan, 167 Vietnam and 265 from 36 African countries.

The Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR) has been offering international education in English in accordance with global standards from its inception. GSIR equips students with essential political, economic and management skills as well as historical and cultural perspectives so that they may become specialists who understand, analyze a wide range of international issues and problems, contribute proactively, and lead the way to resolve the issues that the world is facing. GSIR, utilizing the experiences of Japan and the Asia-Pacific region, lets students examine these issues within a broad and coherent theoretical and empirical framework in the course of their two-year study.

By going through a process of writing a thesis or research report under supervisors (who themselves have gone through vigorous graduate work at top-notch universities in the USA, the UK and Australia), students will be trained to develop the ability to identify and analyze the issues at a depth and develop problem-solving capabilities and apply these acquired skills and knowledge in their future career after graduation.

JDS Fellows will enroll in the following program:
International Development Program (IDP):
The objective of the IDP is to educate future leaders in formulating and implementing economic as well as public policies geared towards economic development by providing them with rigorous academic training through an economics-centered curriculum. The program encompasses a wide range of economic and public policy issues in various contexts, such as monetary and fiscal policy, public finance, international trade and finance, health care management, environmental management, and sustainable development. Graduates of the IDP receive a Master of Arts in Economics or a Master of Arts in International Development.

Despite the relatively rapid economic growth, the unemployment rate has remained high in the Philippines, at almost twice the level of neighboring countries. The lack of investors and businesses that could provide jobs for the Pilipino people is one of key factors in the growing unemployment in the Philippines. The most effective means of solving these problems is to supply sufficient employment and income opportunities to all nations through accelerating growth and developing the economy. To achieve this, macroeconomic policies for stable growth are necessary, such as monetary and fiscal policies and development policies.

Given the above arguments, IDP, in corporation with PMPP, trains public officials so that they can implement, administer, and evaluate polices that effectively solve economic and development issues. More specifically, the two-year master’s program is tailor-made especially for public officials from NEDA, Department of Finance, central bank, and other public institutions, and consists of a combination of course work, including qualitative and quantitative methods and case studies on past and on-going public policies, and thesis or research report writing. Increasing employment opportunities in wider range of industries has become one of the important policy issues.
Therefore the JDS Fellows may also take courses offered by the MBA program at IUJ such as “Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development” to deepen their understanding of and promote the SME sector. Through the curriculum, JDS Fellows can learn various concepts, theories, and skills related to the targeting development issue

Our master’s program provides students with not only tools, concepts and theories in economics and related fields but also an opportunity to conduct some projects on a specific issue of fiscal reform and investment promotion in the Philippines. By working on the project work, students should be able to cultivate their abilities for planning and making policies, and are also expected to contribute to the socioeconomic advancement of their countries after they return home. Here only the description of IDP is provided.

(1)Theoretical bases and analytical skills for the formulation of socio-economic development plans and policies:
In order to analyze development plan and policy issues in a coherent theoretical framework, IDP provides the first-year JDS scholars with academic and policy-oriented training with theoretical foundations in the fields of development economics, development plan and international development. The scholars take required courses in the first-year, such as Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics. Through these courses, the scholars acquire analytical and empirical skills as well as theoretical knowledge that are required to understand, from theoretical points of view, how development plans and policies are implemented. The program also emphasizes empirical analysis and trains the scholars with the concepts of statistics and econometrics for the formulation of development plans and policies.

(2)Capacity building for the application of theoretical knowledge and analytical skills to the formulation, implementation, evaluation and management of development plans and policies:
IDP in the second year focuses more on providing applied courses related to various issues in the formulation, implementation, evaluation and management of socio-economic development plans and policies. This is intended for the scholars who need to learn how theoretical knowledge and analytical skills they obtained in the first year can be effectively applied to the formulation, implementation, evaluation and management of socio-economic development plans and policies. JDS scholars can also take a series of public-management courses and courses offered in the IUJ’s MBA program.

(3)Practical skills for economic and public policy:
IDP organizes several short-term educational and training programs, such as a series of seminars and workshops and field trips. In seminars and workshops, IUJ invites special lecturers from public institutions, such as the IMF, World Bank, Ministry of Finance, central bank, and other institutions in Japan and foreign countries to give a lecture on case studies of the implementation of public policies. With field trips, the Fellows visit some important sites associated with public issues that have occurred in Japan. The combination of special lectures and field trips encourage the Fellows to acquire skills and knowledge in depth on how to implement economic policy related to fiscal reform and investment promotion as a particular application of their interests.

(4)Thesis or Research report writing for independent management of public policy:
Together with the course work and extra circular activities such as field trips, the Fellows are required to select a unique and important policy-related research topic and write a well-qualified master’s thesis or research report under their academic supervisors. The thesis or research report writing gives the Fellows a crucial opportunity to learn how to discuss and analyze their topic in depth by integrating concepts and methods that have been acquired during the entire two-year program as well as the knowledge that had been developed in their previous professional careers. Close supervision by faculty members of the IDP enables the Fellows to write a highly-qualified master’s thesis or research report which could contribute to practical as well as academic solutions to current policy issues.

(5)International viewpoint, network and communication skills:
IUJ provides a diversified student body coming from about 60 countries with a rich educational and research environment. The majority of students and faculty members live in on-campus housing. This facilitates close interaction among students, their family, and faculty members. Most of the students are from government agencies which are formulating and implementing economic and public policies of their home countries so that they can share development experiences of different countries and foster an extensive global network for their future careers.

[Description of the International Development Program (IDP)]
Here only the description of IDP is provided. The International Development Program (IDP), which is one of the Master’s programs of the Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR), was created in 1995 as one of the pioneer programs in the field of international development in Japan. The program is highly policy-oriented and designed to educate future leaders in formulating and implementing economic as well as public policies geared for social and economic development. Since the launch of the IDP, several hundred policy makers from more than 30 countries have been registered as graduate students of the IDP. While most of our alumni work in important economic policy formulating agencies (e.g., central bank, ministry of finance, and ministry of trade), some have joined major international agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme, World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), African Development Bank (AfDB), and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), where they play vital roles in formulating development policies leading to improving the welfare of the developing world.

IDP has earned its high reputation through rigorous academic training. This is assured by the fact that most of the IDP students are supported by various types of scholarships provided by outside institutions, such as International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ministry of Education, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Matsushita International Foundation, and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Scholarship Foundation. Indeed, IDP has been one of the major programs accepting government officials in Asian countries under The Project for Human Resource Development Scholarship by Japanese Grant Aid (JDS) financed by JICA. IDP has also been selected by the Indonesian government to run a double-degree master’s program with Indonesian universities under the Professional Human Resource Development Project funded by the JICA loan.
The core values of the IDP include:

Economics-centered curriculum:
IDP emphasizes coherent analytical and empirical frameworks through the economics-centered curriculum. In particular, the program trains JDS scholars to use various software packages for empirical and quantitative analyses, such as STATA, E-Views, TSP, GAUSS, Matlab, and LINDO, which are among the necessary tools to conduct empirical and quantitative studies and to formulate various policies of public and private sectors. The curriculum of the IDP enables the scholars to understand the wider scope and implications of economic issues faced by different countries.

Highly-qualified Master’s thesis or Research report:
Close supervision by faculty members of the IDP enables scholars to write a highly-qualified master’s thesis or research report which could contribute to practical as well as academic solutions to current economic issues. The faculty of the IDP is unique in that every single member holds a Ph.D. degree from reputable universities abroad, which is unseen anywhere else in Japan. The quality of the IDP theses can be proved by the fact that many of past theses have been published in internationally refereed academic journals.

Complemented by other fields of social sciences:
Public policy issues and problems are interdisciplinary in nature. Various dimensions of social sciences, such as economics, regional science, management, international relations, and political science, are as important as the socioeconomic context. To widen the visions, IDP scholars can enroll in the courses offered by other programs (Public Management and Policy Analysis Program and International Relations Program) in GSIR. Furthermore, IDP scholars have the option to enroll in the MBA type courses offered by the Graduate School of International Management (GSIM) in order to gain deeper insight into financial markets and institutions as well as corporate policymaking in management. Some of the courses are jointly offered by both GSIR and GSIM.

Residential campus with diversity of student body:
Most IDP students are from government agencies with formulating and implementing economic and public policies of their home countries so that they can share development experiences of different countries and develop an extensive global network for their future careers. In addition, most students and faculty members live in on-campus dormitories and housings. This facilitates close relationships among them, leading to close supervision by faculty members. Such an international environment with residential campus provides foreign scholars with a rich opportunity in interacting with Japanese students both inside and outside the classroom.

 [Curriculum of IDP]
IDP provides the JDS scholars with the academic and policy-oriented training through the combination of theoretical and practical foundations in the field of economics. Through training the scholars, the program assists in enhancing the professional skills of key economic agencies in developing and emerging countries faced with consistently changing economic circumstances. In terms of the coverage and quality of the offered courses over the wide fields of economics and related social sciences, IDP’s curriculum is among the best in the world when compared to other master’s-level professional programs.

The curriculum of the two-year master’s program consists of a combination of required courses and elective courses: the former provides analytical and empirical skills and knowledge that are required to understand all aspects of economics and related fields and to apply them to policy-oriented issues; the latter focuses more on the specific aspects of practical and policy-oriented issues and expands the theoretical capability and descriptive knowledge developed in required courses. This combination allows the scholars to facilitate problem identification and problem solving in regional and international economic policy agendas.

Together with the course work, the scholars select a unique and important economic policy-related research topic and write a well-qualified master’s thesis while participating in advanced seminar sessions with their academic supervisors. Writing a master’s thesis or research report and defending it are the center of the demanding components of the program, as in typical academic graduate-level studies. The thesis or research report writing gives the scholars a crucial opportunity to learn how to discuss and analyze their research topic in depth by integrating the concepts and methods that have been acquired during the entire two-year program as well as the knowledge that had been developed in their previous professional careers.

To earn a Master of Arts in International Development, the scholars need to complete the required number of credits through course work and to submit a well-qualified master’s thesis to the GSIR. Altogether they must complete at least 40 credits. The scholar’s achievement in course work is evaluated on a scale of letter grades, A (distinguished), A- (very good), B+ (good), B (satisfactory), B- (satisfactory low), C (poor), and F (failure). The evaluation criteria for each course are given in the course syllabus and include class attendance, presentations and/or written/oral examinations.

The first-year curriculum:
The first-year curriculum introduces required courses that provide the scholars with tools, concepts, and theories in economics and related fields. These courses expose the scholars to cutting-edge knowledge in economics, thus helping them to analyze public policy issues within inclusive and coherent theoretical and empirical frameworks. The scholars start preparations for a master’s thesis toward the end of the first-year. Before the spring term of the first year, all scholars need to decide their research topic and choose an academic supervisor. In addition, the scholars with their supervisor’s guidance have the opportunity to enroll in elective courses that help them explore their research topic.

The second-year curriculum:
The second-year curriculum consists of elective courses and a master’s thesis or research report writing. Practical and policy-oriented second-year courses strive to expand the theoretical and empirical capabilities developed in the first year. The scholars identify a unique, economic related issue and write a master’s thesis or research report on a research topic of their choice while participating in advanced seminar sessions under supervision of faculty members. Through the process, the scholars have an opportunity to analyze their research topic in depth by integrating theories, methods, concepts and their practical applications that they have acquired in the entire two-year program.

Thesis writing (Advanced seminars I, II, and III) & Research Report Writing:
GSIR regards a thesis or research report as an important final stage in intellectual development. The purpose of a thesis or research report is to give evidence of the scholar’s ability in collecting and evaluating information, critically analyzing empirical facts based on theories in the chosen field of economic arguments. A thesis or research report also demonstrates the scholar’s ability to present research results concisely and in a scholarly form. No credits are allotted to a thesis or research report itself in GSIR. However, the scholars need to register for their supervisor’s three advanced seminars (Advanced Seminars I, II, and III) in three consecutive terms, beginning in the spring term of the first year. These advanced seminars together account for 6 for thesis writing and 2 for research report writing out of the 40 required credits. A thesis or research report with good quality will be sent to outside evaluators to see if they deserve a grade of “distinction.” “Distinction” is awarded to those theses that are of publishable quality in the international referred journals. The JDS Fellows will enroll in either IDP or PMPP. Here only the description of IDP is provided.

Course Requirements

MA in International Development (International Development Program/IDP)
(Credit Requirement for Graduation: 40 credits)

Credit requirements in each category

MA in Economics (International Development Program/IDP)
(Credit Requirement for Graduation: 40 credits)

Credit requirements in each category

Course List

At the time of enrollment, a faculty consultant will be assigned to the JDS scholars to help with studies and research until the end of the second term when the JDS participants find their own supervisors. An academic supervisor will be determined based on scholars’ thesis topic. The supervisors give JDS scholars appropriate guidance in selecting courses useful for their research and writing a master’s thesis. All professors at IUJ are all capable of supervising scholars in English and following faculty members are capable of supervising JDS scholars.
Information on the faculty members: http://www.iuj.ac.jp/gsir/ir-faculty/

Academic Calendar (Reference)

All facilities at IUJ, including student’s dormitories, faculty’s housing, classrooms, computer rooms, library, gym, cafeteria, school shop etc., are within 5-minute walk. As the official language is English at IUJ, all administrative offices including Admissions, Office of Academic Affairs, Office of Student Services, Accounting, Matsushita Library and Information Center, are staffed with English speaking staff.

Computer Rooms (Open 24 hours):
Two computer rooms, offering PCs with Windows operating systems in English, are available.

Library (Open 8:30 AM – 24:00):
With extensive English database subscriptions and holdings on CD-ROM, the library offers free and easy access on and off campus to thousands of current journals and newspapers, many in full text, as well as to principal world economic statistics and data. The library also subscribes to leading financial data and market research services, which enable students to access real time information on business and market movements.

Study Rooms (Open 24 hours):
A wireless LAN is available, so students can connect their PCs to the campus LAN from anywhere in computer rooms, E-Business Laboratory, Library and Study Rooms.

Student Dormitories:
There are three single student dormitories (SD1, SD2 and SD3 with communal kitchens) and one married student dormitory (MSA). Each single room is furnished and has a private Western-style bathroom and the internet through WiFi or cable access for connecting to the campus LAN. The dormitories also boast computer lounges, numerous meeting rooms, group kitchens and washing machines, TV lounges with satellite broadcasts, a billiards room, a tatami room, a prayer room, and storage facilities. At least one English-speaking housekeeper is stationed 24 hours a day and 7 days a week including weekends and national holidays.

The Campus Cafeteria (Shokudo):
Lunch and dinner are provided. Meats served are halal.

School Shop:
A limited range of groceries, snacks, drinks and a selection of stationary goods are sold here. Services available through the school shop are; dry-cleaning, postal services and parcel delivery service.

Gymnasium and Sports Facilities:
A full-sized gymnasium and a work-out room are very popular places in the evenings. Students gather nightly in the gym for that evenings’ sport or work out on the universal gym. Outdoors, IUJ has 4 tennis courts, two of which are lit for night-time tennis.

Counseling Room:
Counseling services in English are available on campus. A well-experienced counselor with an international background is stationed to support your campus life with private and confidential consultation on a wide-range of issues including stress managements, anxiety, personal issues, interpersonal issues, etc.

From University:

GSIR wholeheartedly welcomes JDS Fellows from the Philippines. GSIR is a place to fully enhance your academic intellectual ability and personal potentials: a stepping stone to your further advanced professional and career goals and to a global leader. Our school has a long history of accepting students from the Philippines and other Asian countries. We are certain that new JDS Fellows will find our program very helpful to solve the problems the country is facing and our diverse campus environment very easy and friendly to live in.

IUJ is also proud of our strong alumni network which, based on the trust and friendship established inside and outside the classroom, spreads all over the world after graduation.
Faculty members always pay attention to those students who are in the special needs to obtain quantitative and analytical skills from the basics. Tutorial or follow-up sessions are conducted as needed. Although, there will be pre-arrival program in Philippines as well as after-arrival program at IUJ to review the mathematics skills, we strongly encourage the students to review Mathematics as much as possible before entering our university to make the transition as easy as possible.

IUJ and the Philippines NEDA signed MoU to foster mutual cooperation about academic and training matters. GSIR faculty, in cooperation with IUJ alumni members working at public organizations in the Philippines such as NEDA and Central Bank (BSP) are conducting joint research on macroeconomics and related issues. A part of this research output is published in international refereed academic journals. In addition, Also, GSIR regularly invites specialists on economic policies and public policy & management from NEDA and BSP for seminars on development related issues, and has an established network with government organizations in the Philippines. In addition, one of the IUJ graduates developed the first off-surveillance tool in BSP, in the framework of Early Warning System, based on the professional skill and knowledge she acquired in our program.

In order to train administrative officials who contribute to the implementation of sound economic policies, GSIR will provide the following special programs in addition to its regular curriculum.

(1) Training before enrollment:
To prepare new enrollees for their graduate education, courses on such subjects as Basic Mathematics, Basic Economics and Management will be offered either in scholars’ countries in the summer or in Japan prior to their enrollment.

(2) Training while at IUJ (special classes, seminars, and field trips):
Prominent guest speakers will be invited from other universities, foreign governments, etc. and case studies, seminars, and workshops on agenda policy practices will be conducted. Furthermore, field trips to government organizations, stock exchange, and securities companies in Japan will be organized.

(3) Training after graduation:
GSIR will provide JDS scholars with follow-up training after graduation in scholars’ countries with the aim of continuously improving their knowledge, theories, and skills. Joint seminars inviting graduates, current scholars, and new enrollees will also be held concurrently so that JDS scholars can enhance mutual understanding, share knowledge and experiences, and strengthen their network.

From JDS Returned Fellow:

Mr. Polaris Coching Bautista
(14th Batch, Graduated in 2018)
International University of Japan
Master of Arts in Economics
Workplace: Philippine Statistics Authority

An extraordinary experience!
The International University of Japan (IUJ) has instilled in me not only a very high quality of education but an understanding of Japanese culture, customs, and people. Indeed, the location of the school is very conducive to studying since one can easily focus on examinations and term papers without encountering the disturbances common to city life, but this isn’t the only thing IUJ can offer. IUJ has numerous activities that involve interactions among students and locals. I’ve participated in several festivals and I can say that I’ve learned things that one can never learn inside the classroom or by reading books.
I really appreciate learning about the values of the Japanese people. Their respect to one another, love of nature, devotion to traditions, and last, but not the least, honesty. I truly believe that these values are the foundations that shaped Japan to what it is today, a great nation.
The diversity of students in IUJ representing around 44 countries also helped me realize that one should be sensitive enough to respect other students’ culture, beliefs, and religion. Furthermore, it translated to a wide network of professionals, mostly working as public servants in their own countries, by sharing ideas and developing friendship with them.
I can only dwell on the experiences and learnings in the past two years, but to keep them flourishing, I try my best to live the way that I had in Japan and try to apply the values even in the simplest things that I do such as garbage segregation, respect for elders, being mindful of others, and most of all, being honest. I try to make an example and hope that my fellow Filipinos will do the same.

Research Theme:
Impact of Tax Policies and Trade Reform to Food Security in the Philippines: A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis