[Interview] Reflections on My Own Student Days, and a Message for the Students of Today – ARIMOTO Satoshi

Assoc. Prof. Arimoto’s interactions with students are usually in lectures on accounting and business management such as Cost Accounting Theory and Management Accounting Theory, and he values two-way communication with them. We asked Assoc. Prof. Arimoto about his time as a student, why he became a university faculty member, and what he expects from his students in the future.

An eccentric child who loved quiz shows!

――What were you like as a child?

Arimoto　I didn’t read comics or anything like that at all. Instead I only watched quiz shows, and I was described as the odd one out in the class (laughs). But regardless of that, I was interested in quizzes, movies, sporting events, new products from companies, and many other things (other than comics), and I stayed tuned in to them.

Suddenly a faculty member at a university Encounters and timing lead to a career path

――What did you focus on when you were a student?

Arimoto　Seminars. How my seminar teacher at the time thought has influenced how I think in my seminars now.

――Was there any job in particular you wanted to have?

Arimoto　There was no job that I wanted in particular. I met a lot of people during my time at university, and those encounters, timing, and the flow of life in general combined, and I suddenly found myself a university faculty member.

――I see. So meeting people and timing is important. Do you still see your colleagues from your student days?

Arimoto　The encounters I had while at university still influence me today, and I still see about six of the people I used to hang around with back then every year.

――As expected, encounters during your student days truly are important.

Have a broad perspective and meet people with different backgrounds and values

――What do you think is required from students?

Arimoto　I want young people to have a broader perspective that allows them to understand diversity. Naturally I want them to learn about economics and other disciplines, but from the standpoint of sending students out into the world, I also want them to learn about different personalities and diversity while they are at university.

――Is there anything you wish you had done while you were a student? Any advice you can offer?

Arimoto　When I think back to those days, I think I felt good when I was with people whose circumstances were similar to my own. It is definitely more fun to be among good friends, but now I strongly feel that I should have studied abroad and actively interacted with people whose circumstances and values were different from mine.

――That’s one of the things you should do while you’re a student, because it’s hard to study abroad unless you actually are a student. What are some feelings or experiences you have had when visiting foreign countries?

Arimoto　My experience of teaching at a Korean university left a strong impression. Coming as I did from Japan, the Korean students listened in my classes seriously and we exchanged a variety of opinions. I experienced how the information and impressions you get in Japan are sometimes biased and that there are many things that are only learned once you go to a place.

――It sounds like a valuable experience you can only get a sense of by actually going there.

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Interview date: September 1, 2020
Interview/text: HAFUKA Taisei (Undergraduate student, Faculty of Economics)

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