For Prospective International Students

(International Graduate Program(IGP))

Research Projects

Intl. Assoc. for Impact Assessment, 36th Annual Meeting in Nagoya

 

June 1: Ms. Maki Mitsukawa, representative of directors, Research association on the management of real estate business in next generation, has joined as a visiting researcher through a system managed by the Office of Industry Liaison, Tokyo Tech.   Research topic is "Development of software and examination of value-added services with spread of smart house."

May 27: Research group on governance for geothermal energy visited related division of Japan Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, and discussed about current condition and perspectives on utilization of geothermal energy.

May 21: I attended a committee on science, technology and social relations for for safety and relief (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology), and talked about progress related to risk communication researches at the Society for Risk Analysis, Japan section, in which I serve as the secretary-general.

May 13-16: I attended International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) 2013 annual meeting held in Calgary, Canada.  After I talked about "Stakeholder involvement for radioactive decontamination in Fukushima," some attendatnts gave questions and comments.  In addition, some people contacted me about this topic after the session.  At that meeting, Dr. Harashina, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Tech, received Rose-Hulman Award, which is the premier the association provides annually.

May 9: Ms. Rie Sasao made a presentation of her Master's thesis titled "Analysis of the effectiveness of the low carbon program at planning stage of the city development: focusing on discretionary guidance of the Greater London Authority."   She prepares for gradation in this June.

Apr.24: As a member of Council for reviewing decommission measures of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants, I attended a on-site survey for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for reviewing recovery from electricity lost and leakage of polluted water from storage ponds.  This was the second visit for me.

Apr.12: A class on "Policy Sciences on Global Environmental Issues" was started.  A series of experts in this issue gave a lecture in every class, and Mr. Hideyuki Mori, president of Institute for Global Environmental Strategy (IGES), talked in the first class.

Apr. 4: After an orientation by our department, we had a welcome party for new students.  Fresh-persons are 2 for PhD, 5 for Master's and 1 for Bachelor.

Mar.26: Graduation ceremony of AY2012 was held, and 3 PhD and 4 Master's students of Murayama Lab and Nishikizawa Lab received their degrees.  We also had a graduation party with Dr. Sachihiko Harashina, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Tech, Dr. Takashi Akiyama, Research staff of National Institute of Environmental Study, and Dr. Takuya Sugimoto, Lecturer of Chiba University of Commerce.

Mar.11: I made a lecture on the environmental pollution and health risks induced by asbestos in existing buildings.

Mar. 3: With Laboratory of Dr. Harashina, Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Tech,  an alumni meeting was held at Tamachi Campus.  Dr. Hideharu Morishita, Professor of Aichi Gakuin University, and Dr. Naohiro Masuda,  Announcer of TBS, gave talks at the meeting.   International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) decided to give Rose-Hulman Award, the premier prize of  the association, to Professor Harashina in the coming annual meeting, and about 50 alumni gave their blessing.  After the meeting, we had a party.

Feb.24: I attended as a chair to an international symposium titled "Mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure: Innovative Approach for Risk Identification and Prevention of Environmental Carcinogenesis" organized by Professor Okio Hino of Juntendo University.  With participants from Thailand, Vietnam, Korea and Indonesia, current situation of researches on environmental carcinogenesis was discussed.

Feb. 18: Master course students of this department presented their thesis, and 4 students of Murayama and Nishikizawa Labs. made presentations about the following thesis.

          "Current status and issues of the use of Internet media in EIA", Fuzuki Ishikawa

          "Analysis of factors influencing social acceptability of geothermal power plants", Joju Uechi

          "Characteristics of Environmental Assessment under the NEPA in the US", Yu Okajima

          "Accuracy of the prediction in EIA",   Akinori Komori

Feb. 17:  I participated into a symposium on final disposal of high level radioactive wastes organized by Ministry of Economy and Trade Industries and Resource and Energy Agency.  As one of forum members, I asked and commented to experts who have different views on frameworks and safety on this issue.

Feb. 15:  On judgment of Nara local court which ordered an asbestos company to disclose working periods and jobs of workers who may be suffered from asbestos related diseases, I made a short comment that it would be effective to make clear actual condition of asbestos risks in an article of Mainichi Newspaper.

Feb. 7: I had a talk on risk communication for radioactive contamination induced by Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident at the 30th meeting of "Forum for Assistance of Fukushima Rehabilitation."  Toshio Konno, past president of Fukshima University and the old colleague when I was a member of the university, founded and operates the forum.  In addition to people belonging to companies, local government offices and the media in Fukushima, housewives and high school students attended.  Some people came from outside Fukushima and we discussed for better communication.

Feb. 5: A book named "Basics of Environmental Impact Assessment" edited by Japan Society for Impact Assessment has been published.  I contributed a section describing environmental and social consideration of international organizations for development assistance including world bank.

Feb. 5: I visited Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant for reviewing the progress of accident and decommission measures as a member of council for reviewing decommission measures organized by Fukushima prefectural government.  Wearing full-spec protecting suits and mask against radioactive exposure at "J-Village", which was a national facility for football training and currently a frontier base of workers for measures.  With other members, I had a look around the plant and entered destroyed facility of 4th reactor.  We realized that radiation levels are still so high and we have to have a long and severe way to complete decommission.

Feb. 3: Risk communication activity on radioactive substances was conducted for residents who lived in Tomioka Town located near Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant before the accident and currently stay in Kohriyama City.  As a facilitator, I asked participants to write down their anxieties and troubles induced by radioactive contamination, and arranged them through the discussion with them.

Jan. 26-27:  The first meeting of Research Group for  Comprehensive measures on Asbestos Issues, which was founded in late 2012 among colleagues in multidisciplinary  fields, was held in Ohokayama campus of Tokyo Tech.  More than 130 people attended to the meeting.  We realized the necessity of a new discussion  arena on this issue because attendants developed related discussions in a reception of the meeting.

Jan. 17: I made a presentation on 'Risk communication and consensus-building for managing chemical substances' at a seminar on environmental sciences organized by Ministry of the Environment.

Jan. 11: My comment on the front page article on asbestos dispersion during demolition of buildings which were damaged by Great East Japan Earthquake appeared in Mainichi newspaper.   I argued that there is insufficient assessment system to check the ability of constructor in spite of relatively high level of Japanese technology, and administrative authorities should follow up health conditions of workers who were supposed to operate under high contamination.

Jan. 10: Two adult students who participate part-time made their following thesis,

          "Roles of Heart-ware for waste management in developing countries", Ken Shimizu

          "Effects and issues of environmental and social considerations in dam development of Lao",

          Ikuko Matsumoto

 

2012

Dec. 10-11: I talked about Risk communication activities for radiation risks in Fukushima at annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis held in San Francisco, US.

Dec. 4: I made a presentation with Ms. Shiho Muto, who was a student of Waseda University and now  is a municipality official of Kawasaki City, about current situation on chemical substances management and related risk communication at the 26th annual meeting organized by Center for Environmental Information Science (CEIS).

Nov. 30-Dec. 1: Japan-UK workshop on Policy integration between EIA and Disaster Management was held at Chiba University of Commerce.  Dr. Sachihiko Harashina, Professor Emeritas of Tokyo Tech organized Japanese members including our laboratories, Natiolal Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and Dr. Thomas Fischer, Professor of Unversity of Liverpool organized UK Members.  I talked about Integration of environmental impact assessment and risk management.  After the workshop, members visited in Onagawa town and Iwanuma city, Miyagi Prefecture, damaged areas by Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

Nov. 26-27: European Platform on Preparedness for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Response and Recovery (NERIS) invited members of Action Research on effective decontamination reflecting actual situation of areas polluted by radioactive substances(FAIRDO) to a workshop in Oslo, Norway, and I joined with Dr. Hiroshi Suzuki, professor emeritus of Fukushima University and Mr. Yoshiaki Totoki, researcher of IGES.   I made a presentation on social impact of radiation risk and stakeholder involvement in decontamination activities.

Nov. 10-11: 25th annual meeting of the Society for Risk Analysis, japan Section was held at Shiga University, Ohtsu City, Shiga Prefecture.  Participating into the meeting as secretary general, I also talked about current situation and the challenges on nuclear disaster through the result of questionnaire survey for municipalities and elementary schools in Fukushima.

Nov. 1: I attended the Second Tripartite Workshop on EIA among Japan, Korea and China held in Ceju Island, Korea, and made a presentation on social impacts induced by Radioactive substances.

Oct. 19: An article on siting process of disposal facilities for radioactive wastes generated by decontamination after Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in "Ronten (Point of issues)" of Yomiuri Newspaper.  I argued that the process should not follow  "Decide, Announce and Defend (DAD)", but Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).

Sept. 29-30: I attended the 11th annual meeting of Japan Society for Impact Assessment held at Fukuoka University.   I gave a report on social impact of risk induced by radioactive substances, and acted as a chair of a session for research presentations.

Sept.28: I attended as a panelist  a workshop on "Methodology for EIA at initial stage"  (sponsored by Ministry of the Environment and co-sponsored by Japan Society for Impact Assessment) held in Fukuoka City.  I gave comments on alternatives, classification with other stages and role of experts.

Sept. 17-19: For surveying current situation of EIA system in Taiwan, I visited Taipei and Tainan with my student and Prof. Harashina.  We interviewed officials of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Taiwan government and Tainan prefectural government.  In addition to site-visiting to a wetland where an industrial park was planned, we attended advisory committee of EIA.

Sept 15: I attended 2012 annual meeting of the Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies (SEEPS) held in Tohoku Univ..  I organized a session titled 'Environmental issues induced by the great East Japan Earthquake and Nuclear disaster', and gave a report on social impact and risk communication on radioactive substances.

Sept 7: I attended the 35th annual meeting of Japan Association of Planning Administration (JAPA) held in Okayama Univ as a chair of a session titled 'Public Works.'

 

What's New before August 2012