Shinichi Kurihara was born in Mito-city, Ibaraki. His academic background is as follows: Doctor (Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology), Master (Ibaraki University), Bachelor (Nihon University). He has worked at Chiba University since 1997, after working as a lecturer for one year at the Koibuchi College. Kurihara is teaching econometrics on the basis of statistics and marketing research. While his main specialties are in rural planning and policy evaluation, he is also researching food safety, social security systems, and a community functions. He is participating in many projects throughout Chiba Prefecture as well as agricultural related organizations taking advantage of his specialty. Moreover, he is advancing many kinds of international joint research projects on the basis of the connections built by studying abroad (Pennsylvania State University).