1. First, list your current professional title. Second, describe your background, experience, and research as it relates to Quality-of-life studies. Feel free to describe this in detail.

My current professional title is Project Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Economics at Keio University.

2.  What initially attracted you to the field of quality-of-life studies?

I received my Ph.D. degree in Economics from Tohoku University in March 2022. My research interests include Family Economics and Labor Economics. Currently, I am conducting empirical studies on Quality of Life (QoL) from an economic perspective. One of my working papers focuses on the effect of telework during the Covid-19 pandemic on employees’ happiness.

Telework has the potential to enhance employees’ QoL. For instance, it improves work-life balance, provides more autonomy to employees, and reduces commute time. However, combining work and personal life might blur the boundaries between the work and domestic spheres, leading to role ambiguity. Isolation from colleagues could result in loneliness. Moreover, telework during the Covid-19 pandemic was rapidly adopted by governments and firms as an anti-infection measure. Many teleworkers were thrust into this new work schedule without sufficient preparation, posing challenges in information sharing and potentially affecting project progress. On the other hand, teleworkers may have experienced a reduced subjective risk of infection and higher satisfaction with their health status, contributing to a higher level of happiness. In conclusion, it would be intriguing to empirically estimate whether telework improves employees’ QoL during Covid-19 by considering all the aforementioned hypotheses.

In traditional economic studies, "objective" measurements like income, wage, and wealth are commonly used to gauge individuals' QoL (or, well-being). However, the exploration of how people feel about their lives, known as the perceived quality of life and measured from a subjective perspective (subjective well-being), has become a new research area in economics in recent years.

During the Covid-19 period, despite potential reductions in income and the risks of unemployment, it provided an opportunity for employees to escape their cramped working environments. This has been suggested to have the potential to improve their happiness. Many aspects of life have changed during and after the Covid-19 shock, and I aim to estimate how these changes affect people’s subjective well-being.

3. What are some areas of quality-of-life studies you feel are lacking attention? Any advice for future QoL researchers?

QoL is an interdisciplinary study that attracts psychologists, economists, other social scientists, and even natural scientists. For individuals from diverse backgrounds, defining QoL, or more specifically, discerning the differences between various measurements of QoL, can be challenging. In the large-scale household surveys commonly used in economic studies, both "happiness" and "life satisfaction" are frequently employed as measurements of QoL. However, there are instances where using happiness and satisfaction yields different results, suggesting that they may capture different aspects of QoL. Unfortunately, there is a lack of systematic discussion regarding this issue.

4. How long have you been a member of ISQOLS? Why did you choose to be a member of ISQOLS? How has your involvement in ISQOLS impacted your career/research/advancement in your knowledge of QoL studies?

I am new to ISQOLS, having joined in 2023. The reason for my membership is the platform it provides, including conferences and workshops, where QoL researchers from diverse backgrounds can discuss their research and share ideas. While economic researchers excel in quantitative methods like econometrics, theoretical discussions on QoL may benefit more from insights brought by psychological studies. Since November, I have been a member of the ISQOLS Covid-19 and Wellbeing Working Group, and I am eager to present my work and receive constructive comments from fellow participants.

5. Feel free to include any other important comments or things you'd like to share with the ISQOLS community.

We all aspire to lead happier lives, and I would like to express my gratitude to ISQOLS for bringing together scholars from diverse backgrounds to contribute to this mission. Their efforts help us gain a deeper understanding of how to live a better life.