Voice
They came here carrying questions of their own.
Research is changing even the way they see things — voices of the first cohort.
In September 2026, we put five questions to the first cohort in writing. Their answers appear here in full, translated from the Japanese.
YUKI Takashi
First cohort / Company director, 40s
1 Before joining, what made you hesitate most?
To be honest, it was how far I could really go. I once took on an MBA at a graduate school in the UK, and it ended before I reached the final dissertation. Even after more than fifteen years as a practitioner, standing where industry, government, academia and civil society are brought together, the fear that I might give up halfway again never went away. That it is not a degree. Writing a dissertation in English. Balancing it with running a company that is working towards an IPO. There was no shortage of reasons to hesitate.
2 What made you decide, even so?
Because I made up my mind: "To change society, I must first change myself." At Dragon connect, I have practised "Connect Management", linking the front lines of healthcare, finance, property, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and policy. As long as my work asks people and organisations to change, it would make no sense unless I took on, once more, the very place where I had once fallen. And I became convinced that the sight of a business leader who has known a setback taking up the challenge again would surely give courage to someone who is hesitating in just the same way.
3 Since joining, has anything changed within you?
The shell that covered me has been stripped away entirely. As research gave me the words for my own practice, my hesitation about sharing it with the world fell away. Appearing in the media, publishing books, and stepping into politics. Things I would once have held back from, telling myself "it is too soon" or "who am I to do this", I have been able to step into, one after another. Research is not only for the dissertation; it has become an experience that is changing the very way I live.
4 In a few words, what is the research question you are facing now?
"When there is someone who translates the 'languages' of different sectors, how does circulation arise within a region?" It is a study of the translation function that connects industry, government, academia and civil society (the quadruple helix) — ISTF, the Inter-Sector Translation Function.
5 A word for those in the same position who are considering it now.
It is those who have stumbled once whose lives this path changes most. This is not a place to collect a title. It is a place to break out of your own shell. If you are hesitating, bring that hesitation with you.
ACTION
The challenge of translating the "languages" of different sectors.
His research question, and a record of his work in books, picture books, video and radio.Read about YUKI Takashi's research and public engagement →
First cohort
Employee of a foreign-owned company, 30s
1 Before joining, what made you hesitate most?
As I already held an MBA, I hesitated over whether I really needed to go on to research on the DBA. I wanted to learn, but I weighed whether I should once again commit the time and the cost while continuing to work.
2 What made you decide, even so?
I liked the idea of stepping back a little from my everyday work and being free to work on what I myself wanted to research. It was not only a question of whether it would be useful at work straight away; I wanted a place to keep learning out of my own interest.
3 Since joining, has anything changed within you?
I feel that my ability to use AI has grown as my research has progressed. I use it not only to look things up and to organise my writing, but also to have the weak points in my own thinking pointed out. I have become more deliberate in how I use it — working out for myself what to ask, and checking what comes back against the original sources.
4 In a few words, what is the research question you are facing now?
It is the question of how to design the way information connects across an organisation's administrative work, and the division of roles between people and technology.
5 A word for those in the same position who are considering it now.
Rather than trying too hard to fix your research theme from the start, I think it is fine to narrow it down little by little as you research the things that catch your attention at work and in everyday life. I, too, am moving forward by looking into things and thinking again, over and over.
First cohort
Company employee, 40s
1 Before joining, what made you hesitate most?
Balancing it with work and family, and whether I could organise the concerns I had in practice into a research topic.
2 What made you decide, even so?
I wanted to organise those concerns from practice systematically, and to explore them in depth as research.
3 Since joining, has anything changed within you?
A stronger awareness of thinking on the basis of prior research and research methods.
4 In a few words, what is the research question you are facing now?
The relationship between governance and collaboration in organisations.
5 A word for those in the same position who are considering it now.
Try putting a question from your practice into words as a research question.