Japanese Scoety of Biomechanics

Sep 10th 2024

JSB NewsletterTopics
 Visit the Laboratory of JSB members
 Introduction of JSB researchers Publications from JSB members

https://biomechanics.smo
osy.atlas.jp/en
jsbm@gst.ritsumei.ac.jp

Upcoming event
 JSB annual meeting in Chukyo University: Nov 31 - Dec 1, 2024

Visit the Laboratory of JSB members
Motor Control Lab, Prefectural University of Kumamoto
Our laboratory investigates how the brain controls movements of thebody, in particular, hand and finger movements. A longstanding lineof investigation has studied kinetics during tapping tasks in healthy
young adults, healthy elderly adults, and pianists. Currently, we areworking on projects that investigate kinematics during iPodmanipulation and grasping movements with dominant and nondominant hands.

Experiment in the lab

Lab director, Prof. Tomoko Aoki (right)

Introduction of JSB researcher
I am Yoko Kunimasa, Assistant Professor at the faculty of educationand the faculty engineering, Niigata University. My area of expertiseare muscle-tendon architecture and function and neuromuscularmechanics. Since I was an undergraduate student, I have beeninterested in biomechanics, how our human body moves efficiently
with our unique anatomy, physiology and mechanics. Then, I finished
my PhD in Sport Science at Osaka University of Health and Sport
Sciences where I was supervised by Prof. Masaki Ishikawa. In my PhD,
I was researching there in-vivo human muscle-tendon architecture andfunction, especially in elite athletes such as middle- and longdistance runners. After several years working as a post-doc andresearch assistant in his lab, I moved to France and started working asa post-doc at Institut des Sciences du Mouvement, Aix-Marseille
University. I worked there with Prof. Caroline Nicol and Dr. David
Bendahan and their teams to research the recovery pattern of muscledamage after endurance running using ultrasound and MR images.
After I finished my post-doc there, I start my new career at Niigata
University in Japan by launching my own laboratory as a PI. I am still
excited combining the anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics tounderstandourefficient
movements and locomotion. I
am also glad to keep workingwith French team now onthese topics and continue theexchangeourknowledge,
techniques,
and
young
researchers after I came backto Japan.
Yoko Kunimasa
Niigata University

Publications from JSB members
In this newsletter, we are featuring a research paper authored by members ofthe Japanese Society of Biomechanics. We are pleased to announce that theresearch paper titled "Relationship Between Jump Height and Lower Limb Joint
Kinetics and Kinematics in Elite Male Athletes" by Kotaro Shinchi andcolleagues has been published in Sports Biomechanics (April 2024). This study
investigated the relationship between countermovement jump (CMJ) heightand the kinetic and kinematic parameters of the hip, knee, and ankle joints
using two-dimensional motion analysis among 66 international-level maleathletes from various sports disciplines. The findings revealed that athleteswith higher CMJ height also exhibited higher peak hip torque and power, as
well as greater angular velocities of the hip and knee joints. This researchoffers valuable insights for developing effective training programs, particularly
in sports that demand explosive lower-limb power.
This study was based on work presented by Kotaro Shinchi (Graduate School ofHealth and Sports Science, Juntendo University) at the 27th Japanese Societyof Biomechanics conference (Juntendo University, 2021) and was further
developed by Daichi Yamashita (Japan Institute of Sports Sciences) in hissymposium presentation. The impressive sample size of 66 international-levelathletes was achieved thanks to the development of an original tracking
system using two-dimensional motion analysis combined with deep learning forautomatic tracking, which was utilized as a training support tool for theinternational-level athletes.
Looking ahead, this research could pave the way for more advanced athlete
performance optimization strategies by integrating biomechanics with cuttingedge technology.