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南太平洋海域調査研究報告 No.54（2014年12月）
OCCASIONAL PAPERS No.54（December 2014）

Outline of Kagoshima University:
Potential Fields of Research and Education
NAKATANI Sumie
Center for International Planning, Kagoshima University

Abstract

The paper looks at the outline of Kagoshima University and proposes the potential fields of researchand education that the university eagers to develop international collaboration in the form of students
exchange and academic research. The advantage of Kagoshima University for the researchers is in its
geographical location blessed with diverse nature and culture. Especially the islands in Kagoshima provide
them with attractive and challenging research fields for tackling the local and global issues such ascommunity development, conservation of biodiversity, and disaster management etc. In these areas, whatkinds of research and educational programme have been conducted in the university is discussed.
Keywords: biodiversity, community development, disaster management, island studies, tourism

Kagoshima University is a leading university in the region with 12,000 students and2,500 staffs. The university is located in the southern end of Japan and it has a uniquegeography, which includes lots of islands and covers two climate zones from temperate tosubtropical. The islands of Kagoshima, with their diverse nature and culture, give us attractive
and challenging research fields.
The university strategically promotes research in islands especially focusing on
environment, water, energy, and food and health (Fig. 1). Climate changes affect the localenvironment. Food and health are critical issues under the globalization. Local communities
are shrinking under the aging and depopulation. Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture provide
ideal research fields for tackling these twenty-first century issues. How to cope withenvironmental changes and the globalization, how people live with nature, how to keep local
communities alive, how to build a sustainable society? We aim to develop a regional modelfor solving these local and global issues through the research in Yakushima Island and
NAKATANI Sumie

Environment

Water

IslandFood&Health

EnergyFig. 1. Research projects promoted by Kagoshima University in islands.

the Amami Islands. In the following, I will explain research projects and education courses
focusing on islands in Kagoshima University, and propose potential fields that we would liketo develop an international collaboration in the form of student exchange and academicresearch.
Let me start a discussion from Yakushima Island that was registered as the World Natural
Heritage in 1994. The island is some 135 km south of Kagoshima City and is 130 km aroundand 500 km2 in area. From coast to peak, it reaches almost 2,000 m. With the differences intemperature, a wide variety of vegetation and plants can be found in vertical distribution up
the island, from the banyan trees and strangler figs in the sub-tropical forests, to the laurels
and oaks in the warm-temperate evergreen forests, to the fir trees in the cool-temperateconiferous forests, and finally the low scrub of dwarf-bamboo and rhododendrons in thesub-alpine areas. The island is also blessed with 4,000-10,000 mm of annual rainfall giving it
unique forest vegetation including Japanese cedar trees which grow to several thousand years
old. The island is also home to endemic species such as the Yakushima macaque and a varietyof sika deer. It also has the largest sea turtle nesting site in Japan. It was the fact that people
live side by side with this unique ecosystem that enabled the island to be registered as theNatural Heritage site.
The current issue in Yakushima Island is how to conserve the island’s forest under thepressure caused by the increasing numbers of tourists. The damage is also caused byincreasing numbers of Yaku sika deer. Then, there is growing friction between the local
community and tourism industries. Successful community development through theeco-tourism is expected and desired. Biodiversity management will be a crucial issue to betacked.

Outline of Kagoshima University: Potential Fields of Research and Education

The same question is also applied to a group of islands called Amami, which is on thetentative list of the World Natural Heritage site. Recently the local community is getting to be
active for the registration. Kagoshima University supports the movement and interacts withthe local government in the field of environment studies.
In order to promote island studies and to contribute to local society, Kagoshima
University boasts the Research Center for the Pacific Islands (KURCPI). The center is a very
unique institution and conducts interdisciplinary research. Researchers from different faculties
with varieties of disciplines work together for comprehensive understanding on islands.
Projects are mainly conducted by three study groups as follows: Environment, Society, andAdaptation. The Environment group focuses on interaction between nature and people inislands for maintaining biological diversity. The Society group investigates the dynamics ofsocial changes and the courses of development. Adaptation group studies on industries ofagriculture, livestock, and fisheries in order to find out adaptive measures to theenvironmental and social changes. The center takes in visiting professors from overseas
universities for building international networks of island studies, and it has also collaborations
with the local government and NGOs.
A recent publication titled “The Islands of Kagoshima” is the fruits of projects conductedby the KURCPI. Twenty three papers are contributed to discuss island issues from different
perspectives. Another project of “Autonomous development of islands” discussed theeffective use of islands resources from nature to culture and communities. The KURCPI also
has carried out research on islands in abroad. For example, influences of globalization andglobal warming on the lives of pacific islands have been studied in several islands ofMicronesia. “Evaluation of ecology-economy system in Fijian marine resources” is a joint
research by professors of marine science and economics. In a project of dengue fever vector
mosquitoes, medical scientists, ecologists, ethnobotanists, and social scientists are working
together for prevention of a dengue fever outbreak. In this way, islands with isolated
environment, autonomous society, and distinctive insular culture provide challenging andinteresting fields for research. Studies of islands need comparisons and corroborations locallyand globally.
In education, Kagoshima University has special courses focusing on islands. Community
Heath Nursing in a remote island is a course in the Department of Health Science. This is a
study about the role of nurses and the other health care workers in islands with no doctor.
International Islands and Community Medicine Course is provided by the Graduate School of
Medical and Dental Sciences. The prevention of lifestyle related diseases such as diabetes andcancer is one of the most important research subjects because islands’ population has uniquelife style and food habits. Amami Islands Research Course is provided by the graduate schoolof Humanities and Social Sciences. Kagoshima University has two satellites in the Amami
Islands, where island related subjects are offered for graduates students.

NAKATANI Sumie

So far I have discussed research and education focused on islands, then I propose thefollowing themes to be explored for the future collaboration with Pattimura University, basedon the geographical characteristics both universities have in common.
1.

Community development based on tourism industries

2.

Biodiversity and its management

3.

Functional effects of locally produced food on life-related diseases and geriatricsyndrome

4.

Disaster management of small island

References
KAWAI, K., TERADA, R. and KUWAHARA, S. (eds.) 2013. The Islands of Kagoshima, 158 pp.,
Kagoshima University Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima, Japan.
KITOLELEI, J., NISHIMURA, S., TORII, T. and KAWAI, K. 2014. Multilayer Rules andGovernance in Fiji Coastal Communities: A Case Study of Veivatuloa Village.
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NODA, S., YAMAMOTO, S. and TOMA, T. 2013. Mosquitoes Collected on Pohnpei Island,Mokil Atoll and Pingelap Atoll, Pohnpei State, the Federated States of Micronesia(Diptera: Culicidae). Medical Entomology and Zoology, 64(4): 197-201.
NODA, S., YAMAMOTO S. and TOMA, T. 2014. Mosquitoes Collected on Weno Island,Romanum Island and Piis-Paneu Island, Chuuk State, the Federated States of Micronesia(Diptera: Culicidae). Medical Entomology and Zoology, 65(1): 23-27.
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