“I wanted to create a society where everyone can live with a sense of self-worth while respecting and supporting one another,” says Takehiro Okada, reflecting on what first drew him to public policy.
Takehiro has pursued that ambition throughout his career in Japan’s civil service, working across education and international policy. Before joining the Master of Public Policy (MPP) in 2020, he was a Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. He came to Oxford wanting to develop the skills to become a more effective policymaker.
“I thought the MPP would give me the practical skills needed as a civil servant – not simply through textbooks or lectures, but also through discussions with experienced faculty members and, of course, the cohort”.
He was particularly interested in understanding not only how to design effective policy, but how to navigate the political realities that shape whether it can be implemented.
“What attracted me to the MPP was that it offered not only courses directly related to policymaking, such as economics and statistics, but also opportunities to understand the political processes through which policies are developed and implemented.”
That combination has since become central to how Takehiro approaches his work as a civil servant.
The module ‘Evidence and Public Policy’ taught him to be a more critical consumer of evidence, questioning its reliability and assessing whether policies are achieving their intended effects. “The way of thinking I developed through this module made me more rigorous in considering whether policies really work and what their actual impact is,” he says.
‘Policy Challenge’ transformed how he thought about another side of policymaking. In a simulation set at the WHO during the COVID-19 pandemic, students represented member states negotiating the allocation of vaccines, applying theory while navigating alliances, competing interests and compromise.
“Before joining the MPP, I tended to see these political processes as ad hoc, but through this experience with ‘Policy Challenge’, I started to develop the ability to analyse the situation more calmly and systematically.”
After returning to government, Takehiro was promoted to Deputy Director at the Office for Foreign Language Education, giving him greater responsibility and an opportunity to combine evidence-based policymaking with attention to the political process – applying in government the two sides of policymaking he had studied on the MPP.
Later, as a director responsible for human resources in a prefectural government, he worked to address Japan’s shortage of teachers. “Through the whole process, from planning to negotiation and engagement with local politicians, I could apply what I learned at BSG.”
The MPP also changed the perspectives Takehiro brings to policy decisions. Studying alongside classmates from around the world had challenged his assumptions.
“As I am a civil servant, I tend to look at issues from the perspective of the Japanese government. But now, when I think about a new policy, I often think, ‘How would my classmates react to this plan?’ or ‘How would this affect them?’.”
Most recently, Takehiro has taken that outlook into a new setting. As an Associate Professor at the University of Miyazaki, he leads a collaborative learning programme bringing together students from Miyazaki, the United States, South Korea and Taiwan.
“With my experience as a civil servant and what I learned at BSG, I would like to help students develop the skills they need to approach social issues effectively. I try to bring real-world problems that are happening right now into the classroom.”
For Takehiro, the MPP has shaped both how he approaches public policy and how he now prepares others to engage with it, combining evidence with political understanding, and bringing a wider range of perspectives into the way he thinks about public problems.
“It is no exaggeration to say that it changed the course of my life. It was intense, transformative and unforgettable, and its impact continues to shape what I do today.”
August 2026