OEG Voices 84: Board Viewpoints with Takaya Yamazato === Intro Music and Opening Quote --- Takaya Yamazato: It's not just about strategy, it's about values. And it's given me hope that open education can help build bridges where politics cannot. Welcome to the Podcast --- Alan Levine: Hello. We're very happy to bring you in this episode, the voice of one of OE Global's newest board members, Takaya Yamazato from Nagoya University in Japan. just learned that the university's motto is "Courageous Intellectual"". That's very interesting. And being a global organization in a world of many languages, in the spirit of documentation, I offered, Dr. Yamazato, the opportunity to respond in Japanese because it's the language he's most comfortable and we can translate. I'll leave it up to him to decide how to respond. But, we enjoy publishing a multilingual podcast. So right now we're just going to go and we're on a virtual visit to Nagoya, Japan, which I can see through his window. Konichiwa, and, I did my little bit of practice with Google Translate. So my first question is, we call these Board Viewpoints, so I like to ask, where is your view right now? A map location, and also what your physical surroundings are. Takaya Yamazato: Thank you very much for this podcast. I will be speaking in both English and Japanese so you can understand both languages. So let me start with where I am at the moment. It's a podcast, so you cannot see! Let me start with a brief introduction of my home town, Nagoya is located at the center of the main island of Japan, and Nagoya plays an important role in Japan's industry, society. [speaking Japanese] The headquarter of Toyota Motors is in Nagoya, and also its suppliers like Denso and Toyota Gosei, and also the headquarter of JR Central, which runs Shinkansen, you probably know, is in Nagoya. [speaking Japanese] Childhood and Education --- Alan Levine: I'd like to ask, where on this globe did you live as a child and what did you think of school as a child? What kind of student were you? Takaya Yamazato: I was born and raised in Okinawa, a place rich in culture and history. [speaking Japanese] And as a child, I was always curious and fascinated by how things worked. I enjoyed school, especially science and mathematics, and I think I was diligent and an inquisitive student. [speaking Japanese] Pathway to Open Education --- Alan Levine: Perfect. what was your career path that led you to be involved in open education? My involvement in open education began in 1998 at Nagoya University's Center for Information Studies. In 1998, I became a teacher at the Nagoya University's Information Media Education Center. From there, I started my career in open education. [speaking Japanese] And together with Professor Shoji Kanjita, we worked on WebCT. Do you know WebCT? Oh, very good, very good. And we founded the startup company, and named [undecipherable] Japan, and serving as the chair of the WebCT user group of Japan. [speaking Japanese] We localized WebCT for Japan and supported at the beginning of the 13th University in effectively integrating into the teaching. And building on the foundation, I co-led the launch of Nagoya University's Open CourseWare site with a provost in 2005. And then I focused on not just providing the open access to materials, but also embedding pedagogical context through teaching tips, digital intros, and faculty collaboration to make open content truly engaging. [speaking Japanese] Roles at Nagoya University and Professional Interests --- Alan Levine: Now in in your current role at Nagoya University, what is that role? And tell us a little bit more about Nagoya University or your department within. Takaya Yamazato: I'm a professor at Nagoya University at the moment, and where I specialize in wireless and visual light communication. I also lead the University's OpenCourseWare initiative, working with faculty to publish and enhance course content. [speaking Japanese] And our aim is to go beyond just posting slides to convey the teaching, philosophy, and context that makes learning resonant. [speaking Japanese] One of the most meaningful projects involved in the ongoing evolution of Nagoya University's OpenCourseWare site, and what makes our OCW unique is that we don't simply upload course materials, we carefully curate them, and courses are selected based on the recommendation from faculty deans. We include teaching tips to share instructors' thought process, one-minute video summaries to introduce each course in the instructor's own voice, and even farewell lectures to preserve a legacy of teaching excellence. [speaking Japanese] Alan Levine: Yes. And you did answer the question, but, is there any other open education project that you're involved in now that's very exciting? I noticed when I read your website about your paper about the Mona Lisa's eyes, which was fascinating to me. So if you can tell us about that. Takaya Yamazato: Okay, to convey our philosophy, I often reference a story I wrote while serving as the chair of the IEIC Communication Society at Baud. It is entitled "The Secret of the Mona Lisa Eyes." [speaking Japanese] Italian researchers discovered the letters "LV" hidden in the Mona Lisa's pupil, unseen for centuries, and only revealed thanks to modern technology with very precise microscope lenses. [speaking Japanese] Similarly, in telecommunications, the LDPC code was overlooked for decades before being rediscovered and becoming fundamental to today's wireless standards. [speaking Japanese] And these examples remind us if we evaluate ideas only by today's capabilities, we may miss tomorrow's breakthrough. That's why our OCW is designed not just to present knowledge, but to inspire, reinterpretation, and rediscovering. I believe open education should be an invitation not just to learn, but to look again with new eyes. [speaking Japanese] Global View of Open Education --- Alan Levine: Looking broadly or globally, what aspects of open education. Do you currently see as most important, interesting, intriguing, or problematic? Takaya Yamazato: In today's world, the most critical issue in open education is not just access, but purpose. We are witnessing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, even though institutions like the United Nations were created precisely to prevent such tragedies. Despite decades of international cooperation and negotiation, and despite the presence of highly educated national representatives, we have not been able to stop war. [speaking Japanese] This forces us to ask is our so-called superior education, truly serving humanity. Are those considered elite, generally, acting in the interest of peace and justice? [speaking Japanese] I believe that open education must go beyond simply publishing materials. It must be about delivering the right knowledge in the right way to help develop people who are willing and able to do the right thing. We must educate not only minds, but also hearts and conscious. We must train individuals not just for efficiency, profit, or national gain, but for the good of the world. [speaking Japanese] Former president, Josef Musica once said in the United Nations, "Poverty is not having little, but not being satisfied with what you have." We were not born on this earth for economic development. [speaking Japanese] His words remind us to rethink the goals of education. In a world driven by competition, territory, and material gain, we need a new kind of excellence, rooted in empathy, sustainability, and global responsibility. [speaking Japanese] We believe that this is a message that will bring back the way of education from the bottom up. The education that a person needs now is to grow people who are able to do the right thing. We must grow people who are not just for efficiency, profit, or national gain, but also for the good of the world. Open education has the potential to provide a space for that reflection. It can create opportunities for ethical reasoning, global dialogue, and personal transformation, not just academic advancement. [speaking Japanese] Open education should be able to provide a space for that. It is a place where you can simply spread information, and share the world with people. I do not yet have a perfect answer at the moment, but I know I don't want to witness another war. I hope everyone agrees. Maybe a first step is to invite more people, regardless of nationality, to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. Let them see first hand what world really means. Let them feel not just love. [speaking Japanese] I do not know what to do with my own self. I do not want to see a world at war again. I want to invite people from Russia, Israel, and the United States to visit Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. I hope everyone will start to see the true world that war is based on. Peace is not the absence of conflict. The presence of conscious and education, especially open education, must help cultivate that conscious. Role on OE Global Board of Directors --- Alan Levine: What made you want to be on the OE Global Board of Directors and what is it like to be on this board? Takaya Yamazato: I joined the OE Global board because I believe that open education must serve more than academic institutions. It must serve humanity. Having spent decades working on both the technical and philosophical aspects of open education, I felt responsibility to contribute to its global direction. [speaking Japanese] Being on the board has been a humbling and inspiring experience. It brings together people from diverse regions and disciplines, all united by the belief that education should be freely available and socially meaningful.A It's not just about strategy, it's about values. And it's given me hope that open education can help build bridges where politics cannot. [speaking Japanese] Alan Levine: So what can or should OE Global do to share, address catalyze open education activity at a global or a regional level? Takaya Yamazato: OE Global should act as a curator, connect and catalyst. I believe that OE Global is a curator, a connect and catalyst. [speaking Japanese] As a curator, it can highlight diverse models of Open Education, not just from the global north, but also from underrepresented regions whose practices are rich but often overlooked. [speaking Japanese] As a connector, it can facilitate cross-border, multi-lingual collaboration and support regional networks that align global goals with local realities. [speaking Japanese] As a catalyst, it must boldly advocate for open education as a tool not only for access but for peace, ethics and global citizenship. It can support policies and platforms that can help people become not just learners but stewards of knowledge who can act with conscious. [speaking Japanese] Outside of Work Activities --- Alan Levine: What is the most rewarding activity that you do outside of work? Takaya Yamazato: Outside of academia, I play bass in a band. Music is a completely different form of... let me stop [laughs]. Music is a completely different form of expression from research or teaching. It's collaborative, emotional and immediate. [speaking Japanese] Playing live in the band reminds me of the joy of creating something together in real time. And it keeps me grounded. It's also powerful metaphor for education. No single instrument carry the whole thing. How much comes from listening, adjusting and supporting each other? [speaking Japanese] Alan Levine: Oh, that's wonderful. I have, a question now because music, can you perhaps, do you have a recording of one of your band songs that I could use in the podcast? Takaya Yamazato: [laughs and says yes] Episode Closing --- Alan Levine: Thank you so much. I'm very honored that you did both Japanese and English. And it's wonderful to meet you and I look forward to doing many more things. Thank you for listening to this episode of OE Global Voices, the podcast from Open Education Global. And thank you, Takaya for sharing your inspirational thoughts in open education and your willingness to speak to us, both English and Japanese. Each episode of OE Global Voices features a different musical intro track that I usually select from the Free Music Archive. But given today that we learned about Takaya's musical skills, we're using a song "Ceramic Feeling" performed by Takaya and his band, Rough Diamonds, and Shared under a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share-Alike license. You can find this episode at our site voices.oeglobal.oeg, and you can be part of the After Cast discussions in OEG Connect. If you're listening and would like to share your own open education work or suggest a future guest that we should have on our show, please let us know via our website or send an email to voices@oeglobal.org and we will see you again soon very shortly with the next episode of OE Global Voices.