I have been engaged in teaching, research, creating, and beyond at University of Shizuoka in Japan since 1987. I owe a lot to Berkeley, so that I have contributed donations to I-House and UC Alumni Association almost every year. I am most grateful to late Professor John A. Clausen, my thesis advisor as well as ex-head of the Institute of Human Development. I translated his book, Sociology of the Lifecourse, into Japanese in 1987, and it is now the sixth printing. I visited him at home or in his office whenever I visited Berkeley and we had a good time. I also invited him to Japan in 1989 and we had lecture campaigns together in Tokyo, Shizuoka, and Kyoto. I am also grateful to other faculty members including Bob Blauner, Claude Fisher, and Ann Swidler. Bob Blauner was helpful as one of my thesis committee members; Claude Fisher taught us how to make papers stronger; Ann Swidler's seminar at Stanford was most impressive. My experiences at Berkeley were quite valuable and I am proud that I studied there for several years to obtain a Ph.D. I hope the Department of Sociology will continue to prosper.
