English
About Fushikian
Fushikian is an educational institution for business executives
Fushikian, established in Tokyo in 2010, is an educational institution for business leaders in Japan. It offers a variety of training programs which covers, generally known as, liberal arts subjects for business executives of Japan’s large companies (see below for some of the companies which have participated in one or more Fushikian’s programs).
Our programs are quite unique and contrast with ordinary MBA-type programs. One of the reasons why we emphasize the importance of liberal arts is that we believe business executives need to appreciate a fundamental paradigm shift from the past that today’s world is faced with. Without a proper understanding about it, most business strategies can fail easily. We believe that liberal arts oriented programs are essential and perhaps indispensable for business executives so that they can understand the nature of the paradigm shift correctly and deeply.
The Meaning and Origin of Fushikian
The word “Fushiki” means “I know not”. The word “an” means house or company.
The word “Fushiki” derives from a famous exchange of words between Bodhidharma, a Zen monk who came from India to China in the fifth century, and the Chinese emperor at the time. In the dialogue, the monk kept rebuffing the emperor’s requests to recognize his religious virtue with elusive answers. Apparently, the emperor got suspicious of the monk’s true identity:
Emperor: Who are you who are standing before me?
Bodhidharma: I know not (fushiki).
By the disappointingly simple answer, Bodhidharma implied that our knowledge is inherently incomplete and superficial so that we cannot come to a comprehensive understanding of the world unless each of us humbly accept the fact that “I know not”. As you may notice, his point is similar to the Socratic paradox known by the phrase “I know that I know nothing” or “I know one thing: that I know nothing”, a well-known saying derived from Plato’s account of the Greek philosopher Socrates.
Our program is, therefore, designed, not only to add a new stock of knowledge, but also to change cognitive schemes that we unconsciously depend on in our daily life. To put it differently, we are expecting students to be humble in the first place, because unless we are humble, it may be difficult to learn. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to know more about themselves and acquire a capacity to make better judgment on complex issues that require examination from multiple points of view.
Programs
Fushikian is now offering four different types of programs.
１． The Premium Class is exclusively for Directors and Executives of large companies. The number of students is limited to around 10 and “one participant from one industry” rule is applied.
２． Fushiki-juku is for General Managers. The number of participants is around 30. “One participant from one industry” rule is also applied.
３． Seitenhakuun-juku is for Assistant Managers or Section Chiefs. The number of participants is around 30. Each company can send 4 to 8 participants.
４． In-House training can be programed according to the needs of respective companies and lecturers will be organized accordingly. Training programs are customized and available for all layers (from Executives to Managers and Section Chiefs).
Profile of the Founder and Head of Fushiki-juku
Dr. Iwao Nakatani (Ph.D. in Economics, Harvard University in 1973, and Emeritus Professor of Hitotsubashi University) is the founder and Chairman of Fushiki-an and Head of Fushiki-juku.
Dr. Nakatani is known as one of the leading economists and opinion leaders in Japan. He has made various contributions to the intellectual community as well as Japan’s policy making process over the past three decades. Among his many roles as public policy adviser, he served on Prime Minister Hosokawa’s Structural Reform Council in 1993, and himself played the role as deputy chairman of late Prime Minister Obuchi’s Economic Strategy Council in 1998. Dr. Nakatani has taught economics for many years in various well-known universities such as Harvard University, Osaka University, and Hitotsubashi University. In 2000, he was appointed President of Tama University for eight years. He also served as an outside director of Sony for six years between 1999 and 2005. For the period 2003 to 2005, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors at Sony.
Dr. Nakatani is the author of a large number of best-selling books and articles, including Introduction to Macroeconomics, one of the best-selling macroeconomics textbooks in Japan, Why is Capitalism Self-collapsing?, and The World After Capitalism. In 2018, he published Can AI Capitalism Save the Human Race?.
Participating Companies
The following is a sample of the companies that have participated in Fushiki-juku:
AGC Inc.
Ajinomoto CO., Inc.
ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS CO., LTD.
ASKUL Corporation
Benesse Holdings, Inc.
BIPROGY Inc.
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Daicel Corporation
DAIKIN INDUSTRIES, LTD.
Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd.
Daiwa Securities Group Inc.
DENSO CORPORATION
DIC Corporation
EAST JAPAN RAILWAY COMPANY
ENEOS Holdings,Inc.
FUJIFILM Corporation
HAKUHODO Inc.
Harima Chemicals Group, Inc.
Hitachi, Ltd.
Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.
INFRONEER Holdings Inc.
ITOCHU Corporation
JAPAN POST HOLDINGS Co., Ltd.
Komatsu Ltd.
Kuraray Co., Ltd.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc.
MITSUI FUDOSAN CO., LTD.
NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC.
NISSAN MOTOR CO., LTD.
NTT DOCOMO, INC.
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
Oriental Land Co., Ltd.
ORIX Corporation
POLA ORBIS CORPORATION INC.
POLYPLASTICS CO., LTD.
Rakuten, Inc.
Recruit Co., Ltd.
RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd.
SAPPORO HOLDINGS LTD.
SCSK Corporation
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation
Sony Corporation
Sumitomo Corporation
Sumitomo Forestry Co., Ltd.
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
Takenaka Corporation
TEIJIN LIMITED
Terumo Corpotation
TOKYU CORPORATION
TOPCON CORPORATION
Toray Industries, Inc.
Toshiba Corporation
TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION
TOYOTA TSUSHO CORPORATION
Yokogawa Electric Corporation
Contact Fushiki-an or Fushiki-juku
By Telephone: +81(3)3292 0320
By e-mail: office@fushikian.jp
URL: https://www.fushikian.jp
Address: Uchikanda 1-14-4, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0047, Japan