A Message from Senior Clinic Director | シニア院長が挑戦する大学院生活リポート

兵庫県立大学　本部棟
県立大学　正門
大学院博士課程・ゼミ風景
キャンパス風景
論文発表会で若い院生たちと
大学図書館
コロナ禍でのオンライン・ゼミ
会計研究科時代の研究棟
会計研究科時代のクラスメイトたち

( Japanese Version is HERE )

After graduating from Osaka University School of Dentistry in 1977, I opened a dental clinic in Akashi City in 1982 and have been a practicing dentist for about 40 years. (Click here for the website of Matsuga Dental Clinic)

It has been 15 years since my eldest son, who was born in the same year as the opening of the clinic, graduated from the same university as my 30th junior, and I have just reached the point where I am about to change the director. With this in mind, I decided to retire from the front lines of clinical practice three years ago in the spring and take on a new challenge of my own.

In fact, before I began my dental education at Osaka University School of Dentistry, I received my education in the field of cultural studies at the Department of English and American Studies at Osaka University of Foreign Studies. Looking back, after my basic education up to high school, it was at this university that I first came into contact with the academic world through the study of Anglo-American culture. After my graduation, Osaka University of Foreign Studies was merged with Osaka University and became the Faculty of Foreign Languages, but as symbolized by the fact that the name of Osaka University of Foreign Studies was written in English, the education there was not limited to the mere acquisition of English in the manner of a vocational school. It included linguistics, phonetics, English literature including English poetry, international economics, international relations, business English, and so on. I was also deeply attracted to the study of Western culture as a whole, which I was exposed to there.

Later, due to the general policy of my life, I changed to the path of dentistry, which is like a mass of practical skills and learning, and I struggled hard as a practicing dentist. However, although I received some financial rewards for the repetitive and detailed work, which I could not say I was good at, I was mentally unsatisfied. I could not get used to the sense of the world of craftsmanship, and I continued to hold on to the desire for academic research from a broader perspective that I had been exposed to during my first years on campus.

Three years ago, when the prospect of replacing the director began to loom large, I took the plunge and decided to pursue graduate studies in the humanities. As a first step, I enrolled in the graduate school of accounting at the University of Hyogo in Kobe Gakuentoshi three years ago to deepen my understanding of accounting, which I had become interested in after 40 years of running a clinic using a computer to settle accounts on my own. During the two-year master’s program, I studied subjects related to management and accounting in general, including management, accounting, taxation, corporate law, and English-language accounting. I also entered the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Economics to study contemporary economic society from a broader perspective, and I am currently continuing my research in the Regional Public Policy Course. This is the third time for me to change my major from liberal arts to science and then to social sciences, but I am deeply satisfied with my research life from a broader perspective, which I aspired to in my first campus life as a young man, and I am truly enjoying it every day.

（Classmates in Accounting School / Spring ’18）

（Seminar Excursion　/Summer ’18）

（Seminor of Doctoral Course /Early Summer ’21）

（Conference for Presenting Papers /Autumn ’21）

I have started this blog as a daily report of the uproar of these challenges. We hope that you will find something helpful as one of our attempts at senior=life. If you have any comments or inquiries, please feel free to contact us.

posted 2024/9/26