■ The English Version of “2004 Annual Report of NILIM” is now our website

No.11

December 2004News Letter
Japan is one of the leading
countries evolving from anindustry-based society into
an information-based society.
Personal computers areindispensable tools even insmall business offices, andmore than 77 million people(61% of the Japanese
population) were connected tothe internet as of 2003. In
addition, 87 million mobile
phones are now in use, 86%of which are web-enabled.
ITS (Intelligent TransportSystems) is emerging as a
powerful means of reducing
traffic congestion and improving road safety. Almost all theexpressway interchanges operated by the Japan Highway Public
Corporation are now equipped with ETC (Electronic Toll Collection)
gates, enabling non-stop cash-less pass through, as well as very
flexible pricing systems. Automobiles with ETC devices are soaring
in number. The 11th World Congress on ITS, held in Nagoya in
October 2004, highlighted the rich possibilities of ITS technologies.
Looking toward the future, a ubiquitous computing society is a
key concept for Japan. Prof. Sakamura of Tokyo University, a major
advocate of this idea, says, "A ubiquitous computing system is one
that aims to provide us with comfort, convenience and safety byembedding microchips (computers or memory devices) ineverything, and having these microchip-embedded physical objects
exchange information with each other."
The use of IC tags to trace the delivery of goods is just the start.
The MLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) has
initiated an ambitious project for the physically handicapped incollaboration with Prof. Sakamura, related organizations andenterprises. In this experimental project, many IC tags are

ISSN 0389-4150

embedded in various facilities of the city, such as under thepavement, at crossings, in front of offices and shops and so on.
These will provide a vision-impaired person with audio guidance, as
well as provide a hearing-impaired person with visual information,
so that they can avoid danger and gain greater mobility. Thissystem will also be very convenient for people who are not disabled.
ITS and the ubiquitous computing society are challenges worth
attempting for future generations. In addition, Japan is facing thesilent challenge of a shrinking population, which will change thefabric of society and the economy.
The population of Japan (128 million as of 2004) has almost
quadrupled compared with 33 million in 1867 when themodernization of Japan started, and will reach its peak in a coupleof years. Japan has achieved remarkable economic success andlongevity under the circumstances of rapid population increase andurbanization. The decline in population is accompanied byunprecedented aging of society. These two factors will affect every
aspect of social, economic and cultural activities. Regional
planning, transportation systems and other social infrastructureplans must be reviewed and re-organized. Although these impacts
will be new for Japan, we must pave the way for a safe, livable andvibrant society. The search for a new paradigm has just begun.
This year, mainland Japan was hit by the largest number oftyphoons ever recorded. Ten typhoons claimed the lives of morethan 200 victims. In October, nearly 40 people were killed and over
2,500 houses were severely damaged by a strong earthquake in theNiigata area. These natural disasters are classic yet new problems
that we must deal with.
NILIM is involved in a wide range of research including theaforementioned issues. We welcome your opinions and suggestions
on all related matters.
HAMAGUCHI Tatsuo, Director-General, NILIMN I L I M

News Letter

The 3rd Japan-U.S. Governmental Conference
on Drinking Water Quality Management and Wastewater Control
Water Quality Control Department
From the 12th to the 15th of July, 2004, the 3rd JapanUnited States Governmental Conference on Drinking Water
Quality Management and Wastewater Control was held inHawaii. The purpose of the Conference was to exchange
information on science and policy in the field of drinking
water quality and wastewater management. In addition topresentations and discussions, the delegates attended thetechnical tour in drinking water supply and wastewater
recycling facilities of the Honolulu Water Board.
Formerly, technical exchanges between Japan and the U.S.
were conducted separately in the areas of waterworks andsewerage. They were based on the Japan-U.S. Environmental
Cooperation Agreement, and the first meeting in each area
dates back to 1987 and 1971, respectively. New challenges
and common issues in both areas led to their unification,
namely issues of water quantity and quality management on awatershed basis, endocrine disrupting chemicals, andCryptosporidium. The first Conference after the unification
was held in Colorado in 1999, and the second in Tokyo in2002.
The delegations were composed of specialists from various
sectors such as national and local governments, national
research institutes, universities, support organizations, andpublic companies. The Japan delegation had ten delegates in
the area of drinking water quality management and nine inwastewater control, led by Mr Yasuo Yanagibashi, Director,
Office of Drinking Water Quality Management, Water SupplyDivision, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Dr
Masahiro Takahashi, Director, Water Quality ControlDepartment, NILIM. The U.S. delegation had seventeen
delegates, led by Dr Lawrence Reiter, Acting Director, NationalRisk Management Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA).
The topics discussed in this Conference covered state-ofthe-art technologies and diverse emerging issues in the area,and each topic included technical presentations from bothcountries followed by relevant discussions. The contents aresummarized below.
- EPA's risk management research, the status of drinking
water regulations, and a foundation's strategic research plan
were presented by the U.S. while Japan addressed drinking
water quality management, regulations, research andtechnology as well as wastewater control, regulatory activities
and directions. Lessons learned from outbreaks ofcryptosporidiosis in Japan were presented, and a perspectiveon the value of pathogen monitoring in the U.S. was provided.
Membrane and desalination technologies were presented
through an overview in Japan and a case study in El Paso,
Texas.
- The pollution caused by wet-weather flow is a relatively
new issue, and the control of combined sewer overflows in
Osaka City and stormwater in New York City was discussed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture outlined its water
activities in Asia.
- An innovative concept of a decentralized water system waspresented by Japan. The status of watershed management in
the U.S. was discussed, while wastewater management in theLake Biwa Basin in Japan was described. A water quality
management technique utilizing economic incentives wasdiscussed with case studies in both countries. Overviews ofaccidental water resource pollution and early warning system
research were discussed.

- The status of treated wastewater reuse and risk
management of biosolids in both countries were presented.
The subject of endocrine disrupting chemicals was a topic ofcontinuing interest and research in both countries, and its
behaviour and treatment in drinking water and wastewater
were discussed.
- Emerging issues on water and wastewater infrastructure
rehabilitation, renewal and financing were presented. An
overview of bromate formation and control in advanced water
treatment systems in Japan was presented, while theidentification and control of odours in the wastewater
environment in the U.S. were presented.
Through such presentations and discussions, the delegatesexchanged many opinions and shared relevant information.
Especially, the importance of proper management ofwatersheds as well as drinking water and wastewater as acontinuing priority for both countries was confirmed. An
agreement was signed to continue this fruitful interaction andto hold the next Conference two years later on the following
topics: watershed management, advances in the regulations ofdrinking water quality management and wastewater control,risk assessment and management of microbial and chemical
contaminants, new technologies for water treatment andwastewater control, measures against emergencies, and waterreuse.

Photo1 Group portrait of the delegations

Photo2 Technical tour in wastewater recycling facility

Report on the 11th ITS World CongressIntelligent Transport Systems Division
1. Introduction
The 11th ITS World Congress, Nagoya-Aichi 2004, was heldfrom October 18 to 22, 2004, at Aichi Arts Center and Port
Messe Nagoya. This was the second congress held in Japanfollowing the 2nd ITS World Congress in Yokohama ten yearsago.
This congress was the first trial of 'citizen participation' toconsider the viewpoint of users as well as engineers andmanufacturers, reflecting the fact that ITS will soon be widelyused .
2. Contents of the Congress
The congress consisted of discussions on the concepts anddirections of ITS, presentations of their technical studies byexperts, and exhibitions of ITS services by about 250
organizations, including companies, universities and ITS
promoting organizations of various countries and areas. The
congress attracted about 60,000 people, including thecitizens.
Twenty-five members of NILIM attended to present theresults of their studies on ITS technologies and services, andparticipated in sessions. NILIM and related organizations
cooperatively exhibited models of DSRC services in a parking
area of Miejo Park, Smart IC at Kamigo SA, and AHS at
Kamiyashiro JCT, and displayed some of the services at ìITSWorldî, which was a theme park where citizens could
experience ITS services of the future.

Photo3 Opening ceremony of the 11th ITS World Congress

3. Conclusion
Today, the importance of 'transportation' for city planning,
human lives, environment and economy is increasingly
recognized by society. The world congress was a good
opportunity to show people the specific roles of ITS andpromote its deployment.
Photo4 Showcase for DSRC service (parking area of Meijo Park)The 13th Conference on Public Works Research and Development in Asia
International Research Division
The 13th Conference on Public Works Research andDevelopment in Asia was held from the 18th of October(Monday) to the 29th of October (Friday), 2004, in Tsukuba,Tokyo and Okinawa.
The conference participants are executive engineers
responsible for infrastructure management of administrativeand research departments in some 10 Asian countries withthe aim of exchanging views and opinions on such common
subjects in Asia, including Japan, as the environment,
natural disasters and infrastructure development andfurthermore establishing research exchange networks among
participating countries by confirming the common
understanding of the subjects.
The theme of the 13th conference was ìManagement ofUrban Water Environmentî, and participants from
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia,Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistans and Japan (Mr.
Hamaguchi, Director General of the NILIM) presented theirreports on case studies in their own countries, followed bydiscussions.
The 13th International Symposium on Land Developmentand Civil Engineering in Asia held in Ginowan City inOkinawa during the latter period of the conference andsupported by the Okinawa General Bureau of the Cabinet
Office and the Okinawa Prefectural Government attracted
some 100 participants, the majority of whom were involved in

Photo5 The 13th International Symposium in Okinawa

public works in Okinawa Prefecture. The overseas
participants were introduced to the advanced technologies
employed in public works in Japan and also to some
application examples in Okinawa, including the Building
Using Reclaimed Water in Naha New Urban Center and wereable to obtain a deeper understanding of Japan's publicworks closely linked to the locality.
The conference concluded with a common understanding
as follows.
(i) The participants recognized the role and need for furtherimprovement in “Management of Water Environment” as wellas the importance to conduct research to facilitate them.
(ii) The participants recognized that each country should
learn from insights and experiences of countries in Asia, toenhance and support the infrastructure development.
(iii) The participants recognized the needs to cooperate witheach other and continue the conference in the future.

The recognizing again the need for this conference, theNILIM will proceed with the preparations for the 14thconference.

Photo6 The Symposium Participants

Study on Quality Improvement Measures in Construction Work for Prestressed Concrete Slabs of Highway Steel Bridge (I) - Manual (draft)for Construction and Guide (draft) for a Quality Control of Prestressed Concrete Slabs - - Version for Precast Prestressed Concrete Slabs Study on Quality Improvement Measures in Construction Work for Prestressed Concrete Slabs of Highway Steel Bridge (II) - Manual (draft)for Construction and Guide (draft) for a Quality Control of Prestressed Concrete Slabs - - Version for Cast-in-place Prestressed Concrete Slabs -Water Quality Control DepartmentInternational Research Division
Water Quality Control Department■ The English Version of “2004 Annual Report of NILIM” is now our website
We publish the English version of “2004 Annual Report of NILIM” to show our research activities and accomplishments, andyou can see all of its contents on our website, www.nilim.go.jp.

National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Asahi 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0804, Japan(Tachihara) Tachihara 1, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0802, Japan(Yokosuka) Nagase 3-1-1, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, 239-0826, JapanTEL:+81-29-864-2675 FAX:+81-29-864-4322

News Letter

No.11

December 2004w w w . n i l i m . g o . j p