Mr. Shigeo FURUSHO, a lecturer at this seminar, was born in Oita Prefecture. After entering Saihara Co. Ltd., located in Higashiosaka in 1972, he assumed the positions of branch office manager at Oita and Kagoshima, followed by Kitakyushu Branch Manager in 2001. He left the company in 2002 when it merged with Ryoshoku Co.,(currently, Mitsubishi Shokuhin Co.). He returned to Oita in 2004 and served as part-time board member at Takafuji, adviser at Big Wave Kawasaki and part-time board member at Tokyo Unso. He retired from all posts in 2018. Since 2008 when he established a volunteer organization, “Pagoda-no-kai” to support Myanmar, he has served as a representative. In the wake of a cyclone that inflicted grave damage on the Ayeyarwady Region in 2008, he decided to make voluntary donations to build elementary schools. At present the 18th school is under construction thanks to his contributions.

 In his lecture, after touching upon general information regarding politics, the economy and society of Myanmar, he introduced detailed history of his activities in Myanmar. During opportunities to meet Myanmar people and visit the nation, he was impressed with their kindness and diligence. He also recognized the importance of the development of human resources, who may act as a bridge between Japan and Myanmar in the future, but he was afraid that they were not sufficient. Therefore, he decided to build elementary schools and make donations for education in Myanmar. In the latter half of his talk, he discussed the deepening of economic ties between the two countries and the training of Myanmar people to promote their understanding of Japanese culture and improve their command of the Japanese language as well as plans for dispatching them to Japan. He also talked about the current situation of implementation, challenges, and future prospects for this endeavor.

 Professor Kenji INO of the Center for Fundamental Education, the University of Kitakyushu, the commentator of this seminar, mentioned his practical experience as a professional researcher at the Japan Embassy in Myanmar. From the viewpoint of a researcher on democratization of Myanmar, he gave us valuable comments about the development of a bilateral relationship and the importance of human resources development that will play an important role in the future. In the Q & A session, the attendees asked many questions, leading to active discussion. The more than two-hour seminar was concluded with remarks from Professor Kazunari KUDO, Dean of the Graduate School of Business Administration, the University of Kitakyushu.

Greetings from Pro.Xiaoping WANG, Center for Chinese Business Studies

Greetings from Pro.Kisuke Yao, Center for Cultural And Social Studies of Asia

Lecture scene of Mr. Shigeo FURUSHO(1)

Lecture scene of Mr. Shigeo FURUSHO(2)

Pro. Kenji INO of the Center for Fundamental Education

Questions and Answers of Mr. Shigeo FURUSHO and Pro. Kenji INO

Questions from seminar participants

Greetings from Prof. Kazunari KUDO, Graduate school of business administration