Prof. Nakagawa's Passion for Work

Professor Junji Nakagawa is an expert of international economic law at the Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo. He has accumulated rich experience in both teaching and researching. He has been visiting scholar in plenty of leading universities in America and has also taught in lots of European universities. Professor Nakagawa has a deep connection with Law School of Xiamen University, and is the first Japanese professor ever lectured in this Summer School. For the third week of this year’s program, Prof. Nakagawa lectured on the topic of the Changing Structure of International Economic Law, which covers the TPP, the proliferations of private standards and the future of International Economic Law.

When I first met Professor Nakagawa, he was wearing a hat, carrying a canvas bag, and with his punctuality, he was just like an ordinary working person in the Japanese morning show. After a week, however, the Professor impressed me for his passion for work and enthusiasm for life. Professor Nakagawa has a great passion for work. On the day he came to Xiamen, he started his work as soon as he arrived at the hotel, revising the PPT for seminar. During the lecture, he cared about whether the students were able to see the slides clearly. When he realized that the font size was too small, he enlarged it immediately. The Professor said that this was the first time he shared in public about his views on the topic of Changing Structure of International Economic Law, therefore he welcomed all kinds of questions from students and hoped that they all could engage in this discussion. Every time students asked him a question, he always answered them patiently.

The passion for work maybe originates from his childhood, as the Professor told me that he has enjoyed reading since he was three or four years old, and he was often called a bookworm. In my opinion, it is his passion for reading and learning, and later the passion for researching and writing which finally makes him an outstanding scholar.

Professor Nakagawa has a great enthusiasm for life as well. Aside from the regular work, he is pleasant and approachable, and has maintained a stable life style. In Tokyo university, he would always wake up, go to work, return home and then do the cooking. This kind of life style has lasted for over thirty years. Apart from reading, researching and writing, his hobby is singing. He told us he just had a concert show very recently.

When I came to pick him up for class, professor would come out of the elevator at eight. He would always look at the blue sky and white cloud of Xiamen, and say happily “what a lovely day”. When he was in the campus, he was fond of the beautiful scene of Xiamen University.

Time flies. Although Professor Nakagawa only stayed for a week in Xiamen, to me, his passion for work and enthusiasm for life are impressive. And to all students in Summer School on international law, his wealthy knowledge and decent manner are invaluable.

Report by Wen Zhiyuan, Photo by Zhong-Ding-Wen Studio