Regarding Howard Kuramitsu's Oct. 14 letter, "Researchers loath to leave Japan": There is another realistic reason why fewer Japanese researchers are venturing abroad to study. Japanese universities do not advertise for vacant positions. Most positions are filled by word of mouth, personal contacts or patronage. As a result, Ph.D.s often do not get academic posts as they have no information about job vacancies.
Instead, many bureaucrats, after their retirement — or premature retirement — from either the government or the corporate sector, come to the universities with very low academic qualifications. They are not used to the academic world and cannot do research, yet they hold key positions, blocking job prospects for outsiders beyond their circle.
Any Japanese researcher who dares to go abroad to work for a Ph.D. or to do postdoctoral research will lose valuable contacts and, upon his or her return, may not be able to get a job at all. To solve this real problem, it is essential not to appoint anyone without a Ph.D. for a university academic post. This is the rule in the United States, Europe, India, Israel, Singapore, Australia and other countries with strong academic institutions.
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