I can honestly say that Obara is the WORST professor that I have experienced at UCLA. I give him credit for being intelligent, but the language barrier makes it incredibly difficult for him to convey his knowledge. His lectures consist of him putting up overheads long enough to mumble some incoherent stuff that only half the class hear, while the other half doesn't understand. Instead of showing some real EXAMPLES, he just says that it is "difficult". You have to wait until you get the homework assignments to see what a real example would look like. Also, the homework is graded soooo inconsistently! You could do the assingment with a friend and get a completely different grade on it. The midterm was a complete joke..... half the class got an A on it. Then he gives a final that NOBODY finished on time. I guess in an effort to make up for the midterm he decided to put some new mysterious material on the final that hadn't been covered. There were a couple great TAs for the class that helped us get through it. I would advoid this professor at all costs....if it means waiting a quarter to take 101...just wait! You'll see what we mean on the first day....

For the love of God, DO NOT take this Professor. You will sit through class with your jaw on the ground wondering how the hell this guy got hired. I'm sure that if he taught in Japan, he would be a decent teacher, but his communication skills are horrible. You will not understand anything this teacher says, and his slides, which seem convenient at first, are error-filled and have nothing to do with anything you will see on the homeworks/final. Granted, the midterm was easy --EXTREMELY easy -- but don't be fooled. The homeworks are impossible, and the grading is so inconsistent that when me and friends did it together with the SAME work, our grades differed by almost 20 points (that's the difference between a D and a B). Then, the final was IMPOSSIBLE. After three hours of work, 200 students were STILL taking the final, and when we left, everyone was convinced that they hadn't completed at least half of the problems. The only help are the TA's, but Obara even lacks good communication with them, so they can't be as much help as they should. When I went to his office hours to discuss a grade discrepancy (one of the MANY), he was so unorganized that he couldn't even find his answer key to help me on the homework. Then, he sent me to 3 other people to get the matter resolved, and it took over 3 weeks to get my stupid grade change even considered, let alone completed (actually, it's finals week and it's still not done). I'm serious...I'm a good student, I work hard, and - in the words of the first reviewer, i'm not "retarded" - but this class is HARD, it's BORING, it's INCONSISTENT, and it will screw up your GPA. Don't take it at any cost, and hopefully this will send a message to the Econ department to get rid of this horrible professor. HOPE THIS HELPS :)