Newspapers are filled with figures such as Gross Domestic Product, industrial production indices, and stock prices. These economic indicators reflect production, distribution, and consumption of wealth of a nation as well as its trade relations with other nations. Since entering the twenty-first century, economic society has undergone changes at an unprecedented pace. The College of Economics, organized into the Department of Economics, the Department of Economic Policy Studies, and the Department of Accounting and Finance, envisions an academic structure that is well-suited to the new era and new society, while preserving the traditions of the College and making a conscious effort to strengthen its ties with society.
The College of Economics endeavors to foster in students a sophistication to analyze accurately the essential elements of economic society, a capacity for language study and data processing, and a familiarity with the components of a well-rounded education.
Our aim is to cultivate in students the ability to creatively take the initiative to excel at work in companies, organizations, and regions, and who are capable of independently identifying and meeting challenges.
The curriculum has set foundational courses as its cornerstones, upon which it conducts specialized research into such issues as theory and history, companies, economies around the world, economic and industrial policy, labor and social policy, accounting, and fiscal and monetary affairs.
Seminars form the core of education in the College of Economics. Here students learn to utilize the knowledge gained through lectures, cultivate a spirit of critical inquiry and capacity to discover problems through debate, prepare theses and reports, and accurately report their research results.
The Department of Economics develops young adults capable of utilizing the latest analytical methods based on an accurate understanding of history to assess problems from an international standpoint.
The Department provides students with an education that cultivates the ability to conduct meticulous analysis of documents and carry out reference research, in order to acquire statistical analysis skills appropriate for each objective.
The three mainstays of the Department’s curriculum are theory, history, and international studies. These classes are arranged in a step-like progression, from classes offering the fundamentals of economic study through classes designed to foster applied skills.
The Department offers an extensive line-up of classes organized into courses designed to provide a finely detailed education. Each course provides students with a clear awareness of economic problems and expertise, and assists students in their selection of a career path after graduating.
To ensure that the knowledge gained by students is put into practice, the Department places great importance on practical training classes, including seminars, endowed lectures, and internships. Practical training classes include, for example, data processing economics and exercises of economic analysis.
The objective of the Department of Economic Policy Studies is to produce graduates capable of planning policy that addresses such issues as the changes in and globalization of the market system, decentralization, the falling birthrate, and the aging population. Students graduate from the Department after obtaining sufficient skills to take part in the planning and implementation of economic policy.
The classes offered by the Department have a number of features, including small-size lectures on policy planning and lectures given by teachers who have actual field experience in policy planning.
Career path opportunities open to students after graduation from the Department include employment in private sector companies and think tanks, aspiring toward membership in the national or local civil service, and engagements with NPOs and NGOs. In addition, students in the Department may obtain certification as tax accountants and social insurance labor consultants.
The curriculum provides a broad balance of classes that enable students to acquire a comprehensive knowledge of and methodology for policy planning. It also provides an extensive selection of classes on international studies, which take into account the advancement of globalization in various fields of policy, and classes that involve practical work to provide students with the skills needed to participate in policy discussions.
Another important feature of the curriculum is its commitment to small-class size. This applies not only to seminars but also to a number of other classes, including Policy Information Processing, where students receive practical training by conducting simulations in policy matters. The participants in the Policy Analysis Seminar invite guests active in policy planning to hold discussion-style classes, and the Regional Policy Studies class discuss policy issues of local governments.
Students first take basic-level classes on economics that serve as introductory courses. These are followed by classes on economic policies, industrial policies, finance, and social policies, which form the foundation for the courses in the Department. Instruction in classes in individual policy fields, such as Taxation, Local Government Finance, Environmental Policies, Urban Policies, Economics of Regulations, Environment and Development, and International Organizations enhance the students’ knowledge base.
The Department of Accounting and Finance is designed for students to systematically study basic theories of economics, accounting, and finance, as well as to instill in them applied skills and practical abilities supported by theories in the fields of accounting and finance.
The Department of Accounting and Finance offers courses in both accounting (Financial Accounting Theory, Managerial Accounting Theory, etc.), which serves as the language of business, and in finance (Corporate Finance, Securities and Economics Theory, etc.), which handles allocations of capital over time and amid risk. The Department organically links these two disciplines from the perspectives of business activities and the market, and thereby cultivates students with the capacity to analyze dynamic, living economies.
Courses in bookkeeping and information processing, as well as accounting and finance courses, are arranged so that students can progress through them in a stepwise and systematic manner, from fundamental knowledge to application. Students can also engage in participatory, practical learning through interactive courses in small class settings, such as seminars.
Hereafter, the need for certified public accountants (CPA) and other specialized professionals will continue to rise along with the increasing sophistication and complexity of society. The Department offers preparatory courses for certification examinations for CPA to such professions as licensed tax accountants, securities analysts and financial planners. It provides assistance to further motivate the students who aim to acquire certification, and helps the students achieve their future career goals.
