Yamaguchi University Research Activities 2015 Vol.3

Yamaguchi University
Research Activities

2015 Vol.3

In the third phase of Yamaguchi University s medium-termgoals and planning, we have set the basic goal of advancing
research, and we are supporting competent young researchersand female researchers with the aim of continuously improving our research capability. In 2014, our eﬀorts in terms ofimproving the research capability of female researchers andthe research environment were recognized and adopted by the
Program for Supporting Research Activities of Female
Researchers（Organizations） supported by the Funds for the

Masaaki OKA
President

Development of Human Resources in Science and Technology
from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology. Today, we are publishing Yamaguchi University
Research Activities Vol. 3 , which focuses on the women working on interesting research at our university. I hope that theirresearch activities will be introduced to people in Japan andoverseas through this journal and will thus strengthen theinteractions among researchers, local communities, andstudents.

Contents
Development of high-precision radiotherapy ─ 01
Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine
Professor Keiko Shibuya

Challenging Energy and Environmental
Problems by using Photochemistry ─ 03
Environmental Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering
Professor Suzuko Yamazaki

Exploring the Possibility of Membrane Separation ─ 06
Environmental Science and Engineering, Graduate School of Science and Engineering
Associate Professor Izumi Kumakiri

Prospects for Creating Innovation through
Women s Career Advancement in Society ─ 09
Graduate School of Innovation and Technology Management
Professor Yuko Hayashi

Keiko Shibuya

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

Development of high-precision radiotherapy

Development of high-precision radiotherapy
Radiation technology has been advanced along with developments of IT（Information Technology）. Prof. Shibuya is developing theleading-edge tumor-tracking radiotherapy systems, and which an early prototype was introduced to Yamaguchi University. She is now
working on the research ﬁeld of new development strategies for lung and abdominal tumors, by using the latest real-time tracking
radiotherapy system.

of tumors and radiation characteristics, and at the same time wemust be capable of accurately assessing the characteristics ofeach tumor and the pathological conditions of patients.
Department of Therapeutic Radiology,
Graduate School of Medicine

Cancer radiotherapy

Professor

In radiotherapy, the use of three-dimensional conformal

Keiko SHIBUYA

2011:

2010:

Assumed the position of Professor at the Department ofRadiation Oncology , Graduate School of Medicine,
Yamaguchi University upon the establishment of a
new Department of Radiation Oncology
Lecturer at Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University

2002 to 2004:
Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA
2001:

Assistant Professor at Graduate School of Medicine,
Kyoto University

1991:

Graduated from Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University

radiotherapy（3D-CRT）, which can selectively target tumors
both three-dimensionally and multi-directionally, has greatly
improved therapeutic eﬀects and reduced side eﬀects.
Furthermore, the development and introduction of high-precision radiotherapies such as stereotactic body radiation therapy（SBRT）（Figure 1）and intensity-modulated radiation therapy（IMRT）（Figure 2） have improved prognosis and reduced
adverse events in patients with early lung, prostate, or head andneck cancers. IMRT is very useful for ensuring tumor selectivity, because it can be used to achieve dose distributions with

Introduction: What is therapeutic radiology?
Therapeutic radiology is an academic ﬁeld in which cancers aretreated on the basis of the rationale of radiation oncology, which
can target almost all malignant tumors in systemic organs.
Novel treatment methods are being developed and researched.
The history of radiotherapy began with the discovery of X-raysby Roentgen in 1895. Surprisingly, only 1 year after this discovery, X-ray treatment was attempted.

complex shapes by changing the shape of the radiation ﬁeld
little by little during irradiation.
However, higher accuracy is required because of the complexity of SBRT and IMRT; especially in treating tumors such as
those of the lung or liver, the positions of which constantly
change with respiration during irradiation, we must fully understand that dose distributions to such tumors can be inaccurate,
and accordingly we need to take appropriate measures.

Thereafter, radiation

biology and radiation physics were developed separately on thebasis of the characteristics of radiation. These two academic
ﬁelds were then integrated with oncology, resulting in a single
academic system, namely radiation oncology.

■Figure 1 Stereotactic body radiation therapy（SBRT）
SBRT can target tumors three-dimensionally and multi-directionally within
5-mm accuracy; it is also called pinpoint irradiation .

Radiation technology has advanced along with the developmentof information technology, and today, radiotherapy has become
indispensable as part of the cancer treatment triad （i.e.,radiotherapy, surgery, and chemotherapy）.

In addition,

radiotherapy plays an important role, not only as monotherapy
but also as part of multimodal treatment, and is involved in awide range of cancer treatments, from radical to palliative.
Novel radiotherapy techniques need to be researched and developed from the perspective of both radiation biology and radiation

SBRT for early-stage lung cancer. SBRT can be used to deliver a high doseof radiation concentrated on a small area. This results in a strong biologicaleﬀect（antitumor eﬀect）, resembling sharp excision with a scalpel.

physics. We must have a thorough basic and clinical knowledge01

Keiko Shibuya

Development of high-precision radiotherapy■Figure 2 Intensity-modulated radiation therapy（IMRT）
IMRT yields dose distributions with more complex shapes. This method canbe used to deliver high doses of radiation to a tumor safely, while sparing theadjacent normal organs and thus minimizing the risk of adverse events（i.e.
side eﬀects）.

Yamaguchi University Research Activities■Figure 3 Real-time tracking radiotherapy system:
TrueBeam（Varian, USA）
and SyncTrax（Shimadzu, Japan）
Gold markers are placed close to the tumor in the body, and biplane ﬂuoroscopy isused to identify the three-dimensional position of the markers and track themcontinuously. In this way, tumor motion during respiration is recognized in real time,and radiation can therefore be delivered accurately in synchrony with respiration.

Linear Accelerator（Radiotherapy system）

Radiotherapy for prostate cancer: IMRT can be used to deliver a high dose ofradiation selectively to the prostate gland while sparing the rectum, thusachieving treatment outcomes similar to those of surgery. When the tumor is
medically treatable by either surgery or radiotherapy, patients are, in principle,
free to choose one of these alternatives.

X-ray ﬂuoroscopic system

Continuously track tumor motion

In recent years, research and development have been conducted on a four-dimensional irradiation system capable of dealing
with tumors that move with respiration.

Future goals of radiotherapy

Real-time tumor-tracking radiotherapy（RTRT）delivers radia-

In the US, two-thirds of cancer patients receive radiotherapy.

tion during the observation of tumor motion three-dimensional-

Curerently, half of all Japanese will develop cancer. From thisly. Yamaguchi University Hospital introduced this technology toperspective, developing human resources involved in radiother-

Japan early on and has so far treated many patients by SBRT

apy should be regarded as a mainstay of cancer control.

using the RTRT system.

Furthermore, in Japan, which faces an aging population andWe have applied craniocaudal positional information on tumors
to an existing dynamic phantom and have developed a quality
assurance program for four-dimensional radiotherapy. We conﬁrmed that the accuracy in tracking mobile tumors 3 cm or lessin diameter was within 2 mm. High-precision treatment wasable to be provided with high dosimetric and geometric accuracy equivalent to those in the treatment of immobile tumors.
Furthermore, in 2015, we started the world s ﬁrst radiotherapy

declining

birth

rate,

developing

andprovidingcancertreatments for those who continue working, as well as
elderly-friendly cancer treatments, are top priorities. Therefore,
experts in all ﬁelds, including surgeons, physicians, radiotherapy physicians, palliative care physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, must get together to work on cancer treatment. With theaim of creating forward-looking clinical, research, and educational environments, I would like to continue to provide new
information on cancer treatment from Yamaguchi.

system（Figure 3）that uses a real-time tracking system（SyncTrax）and a radiotherapy system（TrueBeam）to deliver radiation up to about 10 times faster per unit time than conventional
systems.
The IMRT irradiation method is more complicated than that of
SBRT; therefore, it is still diﬃcult to use IMRT on mobile
tumors. We analyzed the motion of the pancreas and developed
an IMRT method during which the breath was held at expiration. By using this method, we conducted dose-escalation studies in pancreatic cancer and recognized good therapeutic outcomes. In addition, we are now studying the application of theabove-mentioned latest real-time tracking system to IMRT. Because veriﬁcation is very important for securing accuracy, incollaboration with the Faculty of Engineering, Yamaguchi University, we are developing a new system of veriﬁcation.

02

We have successfully developed the world s ﬁrst treatment system using thelatest real-time tracking radiotherapy system（TrueBeam and SyncTrax）.
The photo shows staﬀ involved in the system s development and treatment.

Suzuko Yamazaki

Challenging Energy and Environmental Problems
by using Photochemistry

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

Challenging Energy and Environmental
Problems by using Photochemistry
When Prof. Yamazaki worked on the research theme of the photocatalysis of tungsten trioxide nanoparticles, her labo's postgraduate
student discovered new phenomena by chance, which has led to the developments of the photochromic ﬁlm.

Photocatalysts for environmental cleanup
During my days as a postdoctoral fellow in the US, I obtained
funding from the US Department of Energy and served as theleader of a project to remediate soils contaminated with volatilechlorinated organic compounds（VCOCs）. Together with Prof.
M. A. Anderson, I developed porous titanium dioxide pellets
that at the time had the world s largest speciﬁc surface area. By
using the pellets, I elucidated the degradation reaction mechanism in the laboratory, optimized the reaction conditions fordetoxifying VCOCs, made degradation equipment, and conductEnvironmental Science and Engineering,
Graduate School of Science and Engineering
Professor

Suzuko YAMAZAKI

2010 to 2011 : Director of the Japanese Photochemistry Association
1999 : Invited to present a paper at the 14th Special Lecturesby the Younger Generation, the Chemical Society of Japan
1996 : Awarded the 1996 Corning Research Award
1994 : Chemical Frontier X adopted by the Energy andEnvironment Division of the Chemical Society of Japan
1993 : Lecturer at Faculty of Liberal Arts, Yamaguchi University

ed demonstration experiments in the ﬁeld setting. As a result, I
successfully developed equipment capable of completelydegrading VCOCs retained in the soil into carbon dioxide.
Subsequently, I fell in love with photocatalysts that can degrade
persistent substances by light irradiation alone, and research on
photocatalysts became my lifework. My laboratory synthesizes
not only a typical photocatalyst̶titanium dioxide̶but also
tungsten oxide, bismuth tungstate, and bismuth vanadate byusing a sol-gel method or a hydrothermal technique. To date I

1991 : Postdoctoral fellow at University of Wisconsin, USA

have developed, for example, glass coated with photocatalytic

1990 : Part-time lecturer at Faculty of Integrated Arts andSciences, Hiroshima University

materials（Figure 1）used to trap and recover heavy metal ions;1988 : Research Fellowship for Young Scientists,
Japan Society for the Promotion of Sciencephotocatalytic membranes that require no support structure

1988 : Completed PhD at Graduate School of Humanities andSciences, Nara Women s University
Present: Professor at Graduate School of Science and Engineering（Science）, Yamaguchi University. Director of the Support Oﬃce for Female
Researchers, established in August 2014 at Yamaguchi University.
Regular member and Chief of the Shikoku-Chugoku branch, the Chemical
Society of Japan. Associate editor of the Journal of Photochemistry andPhotobiology C: Reviews

because they are hardened by low-temperature ﬁring; andcomposite photocatalysts that use two or more semiconductor
photocatalysts. Although titanium dioxide is an eﬃcient photocatalyst, it can absorb only ultraviolet light. In light of this, I
doped various metal ions and successfully synthesized titanium
dioxide capable of being operated by visible light; its photocata-

I specialize in photochemistry and developfunctional materials by using light energy. I study
photocatalytic materials that degrade and detoxify
persistent environmental pollutants and volatileorganic compounds that cause chemicalsensitivity; dye-sensitized solar cells that convert
light energy into electrical energy by using dyes;
and ﬁlm materials colored by photoirradiation.

Glass coated with TiO2

■Figure 1 Removal of Cu（II）ion from aqueous solutions by the photoreduction
on TiO2 ﬁlm.

03

Challenging Energy and Environmental Problems
by using Photochemistry

Suzuko Yamazaki

lytic activity is currently being studied （ Figure 2 ）. I also

Most of the ﬁlm consists of biodegradable polymers; it isconduct physicochemical research to elucidate the factors deter-

therefore easy to dispose of. In addition, this phenomenon ismining the reaction rates of photocatalytic water-splitting.

applicable to wipe-oﬀ display media in which only the area
irradiated by light is colored. With stronger irradiated lightenergy, the ﬁlm is colored dark blue to blackish and the timeLight

TiO2 doped with Pt ion

1
100
80
60

0.5

40
20
0

0

100

200

300

400

0

Dark

［TOC］/６（１０-4 mol dm-3）

Conversion of 4-CP（％）

TiO2

Photochromic copy

Irradiation time（min）

3■Figure 2 Mineralization of 4-chlorophenol on
Pt-ion-doped TiO2 under visible light irradiation.
（●：Conversion of 4-CP, ■：Total organic carbon concentration）

A decade ago, during research on the photocatalysis oftungsten oxide nanoparticles, I found a phenomenon by whicha colloidal water solution was colored blue by ultraviolet
irradiation. I then elucidated the mechanism of thisphenomenon. Unfortunately, because it does not occur in thepresence of oxygen, I underestimated its applicability.
However, a graduate student who was conducting anexperiment reported to me that the dialysis membrane used topurify the colloidal water solution was colored deep blue in air.
Therefore, I collected information on the components of
dialysis membranes and, as a result of trial and error, I ﬁnallysucceeded in developing a transparent ﬁlm that was coloredby near-ultraviolet irradiation and discolored by stopping
irradiation in air（ Figure 3 ）. This ﬁlm is colored blue, even insunlight. When colored, the ﬁlm absorbs light in the range ofinfrared wavelengths, so that it can be placed on the surface of
window glass to cut out the infrared light coming into a room.
In the US, a smart window technology has been developed;
this technology uses electrical instead of light energy to color
conductive glass containing tungsten oxide. When our ﬁlm is
simply placed on existing window glass, it is colored bysunlight and then returns to a transparent state overnight.

04

2
AbsorbanceFilms colored by sunlight

Photochromic ﬁlm

1

0

400

600

800

1000

Wavelength（nm）
Before irradiation
After irradiation
Absorption spectra of the photochromic ﬁlm before and after UV irradiation.

■Figure 3
Photochemical properties of the photochromic ﬁlm.

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

taken for it to return to transparency̶the color retention

researchers in the Kinki region. Many of the researchers I met

time̶becomes longer. I have found that changing the types ofthere have become university professors and play active roles

dispersants added during ﬁlm production can control the color

in this ﬁeld.

retention time; therefore, I expect to expand the applicationsof the ﬁlm to a wide variety of products.

A female professor who taught physical chemistry at college
once told me, You only live once. When you are faced with adecision, make the decision that you won t regret. Since then,Thoughts as a faculty member : conveying

her words have been my personal motto in life. In the laborato-

the importance of meekly accepting

ry where I worked in the US there were many postdoctoral

inspiration from someone you have met

fellows from Europe and Asia, and the male-to-female ratio of

In my ﬁrst-year analytical chemistry class in college, the professor talked about his research experiences abroad; this experience made me decide to join his laboratory. When I was a senior
student, I was assigned to the long-awaited laboratory andgiven a research project on photochemistry using metal
complexes. The professor was in fact a great educator; I wasallowed to study without detailed instructions or any restrictions, and I was corrected only when I was heading in thewrong direction. The professor told me, If you want to get a
PhD, don t be a big ﬁsh in a small pond: become a researcher

students and staﬀ, including postdoctoral fellows, was almost
equal. Some female researchers left the laboratory at 17:00, tookcare of their children, and came back to the laboratory at 22:00.
I witnessed many female researchers who successfully balanced
motherhood with research, and this greatly inﬂuenced my later
life. To realize a Japanese society in which both men andwomen can play active roles, it would be very eﬀective toincrease the numbers of competent female faculty members
who can be role models to the students who will be responsible
for the next generation.

who can create an idea out of nothing, and write papers for

To successfully complete the project of the Department of the

major international journals. Therefore, I proactively partici-

Energy that we were working on, Prof. Anderson always put

pated in conferences since I was in the Master s course, and I

pressure on me, but at the same time he supported me. His

did experiments at other universities. With a view to research-

carrot-and-stick approach was wonderful. Not only did he leading abroad, I studied English conversation for 5 years during

me to grow as a researcher; he also taught me that to develop

my Master s and Doctoral courses. I had a quiet nature in thosehuman resources we need to have both rigor and warmth anddays, and I put a lot of eﬀort into following the professor s

to use these two attitudes diﬀerently according to the situation.

words. I participated in a summer school of the Young Coordi-

Now, as a faculty member, I hope to be a role model who cannation（called at the time Complex Salt ）Chemist s Associa-

share research know-how and experience with my students andtion of Japan every year and established a division for young

inspire them.

05

Izumi Kumakiri

Exploring the Possibility of Membrane Separation

Exploring the Possibility of Membrane Separation
Associate Prof. Kumakiri is working on the research ﬁeld of the separation technology by using zeolite and carbon membranes. She
aims at the developments of the unique and innovative technology by the combination use of the chemical reaction and the ﬁlm
separation methodology for hydrogen which is eco-friendly energy.

I studied chemical engineering at university. My
main research area is membrane science andtechnology. Membranes can separate mixtures by
e.g. a sieving mechanism. Among various types ofmembranes, in particular Iʼ ve been working on
nanoporous inorganic membranes, such as zeolite
membranes and carbon membranes.

Environmental Science and Engineering,
Graduate School of Science and Engineering
Associate Professor

Izumi KUMAKIRI
Education and professional experience2014 : Associate Professor at Graduate School of Science andEngineering, Yamaguchi University
2011 : Assistant Professor at Graduate School of Science andEngineering, Yamaguchi University
2006 : Visiting scientist at Arizona State University, USA
2004 : Full-time researcher at SINTEF, Oslo, Norway

Zeolite membranes and carbon membranes
contributing to the green technology
Our group（Prof. Kita, Prof. Tanaka, and I）has been involvedin national research and development projects targeting todevelop a hydrogen carrier system and an artiﬁcial photosynthesis system by applying hydrogen-selective membranes.
Although hydrogen has attracted attention as an environmentally friendly energy source, stable supply of large amount ofhydrogen is one of the major challenges. Electrolysis of waterusing renewable energy is one way of producing hydrogen.

2004 : Visiting scientist at University of Cincinnati, USA

Some companies are considering using cheap renewable energy

2002 : Project researcher at SINTEF, Oslo, Norway

in abroad, e.g. solar power generation in Australia and wind2000 : Research fellow at Centre National de la Recherche
Scientiﬁque, Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse（CNRS-IRC, IRCELYON）, Villeurbanne, France
2000 : Ph.D., Department of Chemical System Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo
1994 : Graduated from Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo

power generation in Chile, to produce hydrogen, and transporting hydrogen in the form of methylcyclohexane̶a liquid
chemical substance at room temperature̶by tankers or othervessels. At the end-users, e.g. at hydrogen stations, methylcy-

ColumnAgreements between Yamaguchi University
and the University of Zaragoza, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa,
and the University of Cantabria have been signed.
These agreements allow students to take classes at partner universities. We also organized international
symposiums with these partner universities. In 2014, the second symposium was held in Ube, where Tokiwa
campus is located. In 2016, we will have third symposium in Lisbon.

06

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

clohexane is decomposed to hydrogen and toluene by dehydro-

Increasing chemical reaction eﬃciency

genation reaction, followed by a separation process to take out

by using membrane separation technologyhydrogen. Membrane separation is a promising innovativetechnology due to its simple operation, small footprint of theunit and low energy-requirement. We are working on the development of new types of membranes for hydrogen separation. In
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, photocatalysts split water into hydrogen and oxygen gases. However, a mixture of these two kindsof gas is explosive under a certain composition range. As
membranes can separate hydrogen at room temperature
continuously, combination of photocatalysis and membrane
separation will reduce the risk of explosion. As shown above

Membrane reactors are new concepts where membranes andchemical reactions are combined. This innovative concept is
expected to reduce the size of a reactor, improve conversion,and lower the temperature/pressure of the reaction. Therefore,
research on membrane reactors has been accelerating. The
advantage of this concept is demonstrated with thermodynamically dominated reactions. As membranes can take out one（ormore）of the products from the reaction ﬁeld, higher conversion than the equilibrium limited value can be achieved.

with two examples, we believe membrane technology is one of

For example, combining a zeolite membrane to an esteriﬁcation

the key processes in the realization of a hydrogen society.

reaction improves the conversion, as the membrane removes
produced water simultaneously from the reaction ﬁeld that
sifts the equilibrium. Water gas shift reaction is anotherResearch collaborations

thermodynamically limited reaction. In this case, removing

with the Faculty of Agriculture

either hydrogen or carbon dioxide shifts the reaction. However,Prof. Mamoru Yamada of the Faculty of Agriculture at Yama-high temperature over ca. 500 ºC is required. We are working

guchi University is studying fermentation using unique

on inorganic sorbents and membranes to separate carbon

medium-to-highdioxide at high temperature.

temperature‒resistantmicroorganisms.

Fermentation broth contains a variety of substances, therefore
separation process is required to take out the substancerequired. For example, bioethanol is regarded as a green fueland replacing gasoline in some countries. Generally the ethanol
concentration in the fermented broth is about 5-10%. The
ethanol concentration should be over 99.5% to use bio-ethanol
as a fuel additive. Conventional distillation process has a highenergy demand, especially to overcome the azeotrope. On thecontrary

membrane separation process has no limitation ofazeotrope and can drastically reduce the energy required forseparation. Collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture is
expected to bring ideas of new technologies, such as simultaneous fermentation and separation for higher eﬃcient reactors.

A tubular inorganic nanoporous membrane and a membrane module

ColumnERASMUS+ERASMUS+ is an EU programme to support education, training, youth and sport（https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/）. Yamaguchi University is a member of an ERASMUS+ programme coordinated by
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal. Through this program, mobilities of students, professors and administration staﬀ are planned between Yamaguchi University and Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.

07

Izumi Kumakiri

Exploring the Possibility of Membrane Separation

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

where I did several project managements and participated in
EU, international, national and industrial projects. At Norway,
I worked not only on membrane separation technologies but
also on nanomaterials and coating technologies. The institution
I belonged to is a non-proﬁtable organization which is operated
mostly by external funds. Accordingly, my work included
applying projects, managing ﬁnancial, intellectual properties,
human resource and other issues, controlling the safety oflaboratories, besides performing research. I spent 9 years
coordinating projects and conducting research. During thisObservation of membrane structure through a scanningelectron microscope（FE-SEM, JEOL JSM 6335F）

Thoughts as a faculty member

university students from various countries （not only from
Europe, but also from Pakistan, Iran, China and other Asian
countries）.Surprisingly, there were very few applications from

When I was a high school student, I attended a lecture given by

Japan. It made me think the importance of encouraging

a professor of Chemical Engineering Department. I learnt thatJapanese students going abroad.

both an evaluation of environmental pollution and a size
estimation of supermarket parking lot can be treated with asame approach. I got interested in studying chemical engineering. My research in membrane science started with polymeric
membranes for seawater desalination. From Master course, I
started working on zeolite membranes, which was a very new
membrane material at that time. I met Professor Kita of Yamaguchi University at several conferences. This encounter withhim led me to my current employment. In my Doctoral course,
I continued to study zeolite membranes.

08

period, we oﬀered summer internship programs and received

For us, Japanese, visiting abroad is physically going overseas. In
contrast, in Europe, people easily visit other countries by train,just as visiting neighboring towns. We often hear Japanesecannot speak English, which, I think, is not true. Even if wecannot speak English perfectly, we can communicate to someextent, like we say where there s a will, there s a way . I would
like to support students experiencing new environment, diﬀerent ways of thinking and living. English is a tool opening many
opportunities in front of us. We have applied for ERASMUS+
programs and exchanged agreements with overseas universi-

I had a dream of working and living abroad. That is one of theties to support the mobility. So far we have sent 10 students

reasons why I went to the Doctoral course. I spent a few

from our laboratories to universities in EU using my network.

months in France during my Master course as a trainee. After

There are also some international students in our laboratory. I

receiving my PhD, I worked on an European project in France

hope these pioneer students will share their experience withfor 2 years. I then obtained a permanent position in Norway

others and motivate them trying something new.

Yuko Hayashi

Prospects for Creating Innovation through
Women s Career Advancement in Society

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

Prospects for Creating Innovation through
Women s Career Advancement in Society
We are in the era where technology fusion in various ﬁelds is starting to change the society. Participation of women resulting in diversity
could create an opportunity for further innovation. How can parents raise daughters who are interested in STEM
（Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics）area where ratio of women is lower now?

Why is diversity necessary?
The way technology is created has changed gradually. Technological development automatically led to social development（Linear Model）in post war era. For example, development oftechnology such as lasers, nuclear power generation, and earlycomputers had brought drastic changes to society. In recent
years, however, fusion of technology in various ﬁelds arechanging society（Technology Fusion Model）.In Japan, innovation was interpreted as gijutsu kakushin , as technologicalrevolution, while, nowadays, innovation is interpreted as more
broad meaning like revolution in various systems of society.
Graduate School of Innovation and Technology Management
Professor

Thus the point of view of innovation is changing and expand-

Yuko HAYASHI

ing. In order to develop the emerging and unmet markets, it

Joined IBM Japan Ltd. after graduating the University of Tokyo.

from various backgrounds. In successful start-up businesses,

1994 : Completed the Technology and Policy Program at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology（Master of Science）.

will be necessary to promote diversity by involving people
there are 35% more entrepreneurs with some kind of experi-

2006 : Completed the doctoral course at the Graduate School ofEngineering, the University of Tokyo（Ph.D.）.

ences abroad than entrepreneurs without any kind of overseas

Present:

uncommon when seen by foreigners. Some people start their

Professor at Graduate School of Innovation and Technology Management,
Yamaguchi University.
Intellectual member of the Liaison Conference for the Promotion of Gender
Equality, the Cabinet Oﬃce.
External committee member of the Diversity Promotion Committee, the Japan
Association of Technology Executives.

experience. Somethings that are common in Japan are verybusinesses by discovering things that people around them havenever thought of before, using perspectives obtained from theirexperiences abroad. In order to succeed in this, it is important
to ﬁgure out ways to manage variety of people with diﬀerent
points of views. At the same time, increase in diversity by

Empowering women once meant gender equality or
relief of the weak, but today the meaning involves
economical aspects and diversity management.
From the point of view of the management oftechnology, entry of women into the labor force will
create diversity which would stimulate innovation. At
present, there is a tendency that more investments
are made to companies that utilize more women. The
average stock price of Nadeshiko Brand designatedby the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industryʼs ishigher than the Tokyo Stock Exchange Stock Price
Index （TOPIX）, making the Nadeshiko Brand an
investment asset. From this perspective, myresearch focuses on women playing more activerole in society from the viewpoint of the MOT.

incorporating women will be an advantage, and some companies disclose data about female employers in order to invite
more investments. However the percentage of women being
hired is still small. Only 12% of women who studied in college
graduated engineering department, and these small number ofpeople are, right now, being one of the bearers of innovation.
Here is where I would like to focus.

Why do only small numbers of female
students take STEM related courses?
With a focus on mothers, who of course have a substantial
impact on their children, I conducted a questionnaire survey of09

Yuko Hayashi

Prospects for Creating Innovation through
Women s Career Advancement in Society

graduates of Ochanomizu University. The results showed thatinvolved in their children s education. In all items, mothers

the most popular departments diﬀered among the genders: thewere more involved than fathers（Figure 2）. In the case of

Department of Pharmacy for daughters and the Department ofscience-related items such as natural observation, I performed

Engineering for sons（Figure 1）. Mothers chose pharmacy fora cross-tabulation between mothers from STEM and fromtheir daughters because they thought that it was a ﬁeld in

non-STEM courses. The results showed that mothers who had

which they would be able to obtain a license（source: Report on

graduated non-STEM courses were less involved than those

Research and Analysis on the Impact of Awareness of Parents

from STEM courses. In addition, fathers did not follow

in Science Course Selection of Women, March 2015）. Since

science-related topics. These results suggest that, from earlyparents advice has a large impact on their children, to change

childhood onward, children with mothers from non-STEM

a parent s mental attitude it is important to supply the parents

courses have fewer opportunities to come into contact with

with the correct information. Deﬁnitely, parents regard theirscience-related topics.

children s desires as very important. Among STEM related
courses, mothers tend to have a clear image of medicine or
pharmacy, but only a vague image of the department of

Do mothers courses（STEM or non-STEM）

engineering. There are various ways of working in theaﬀect their children?

engineering ﬁeld: many who graduated engineering ﬁelds do

An investigation of the departments in which children had

interesting work, and some move up the ladder to work inenrolled showed that children tended to enroll in the same

managerial positions. Therefore, we need to demonstrate thesedepartment as their mothers. To increase the numbers ofrole models and inform not only children but also their parents

women in STEM courses, informing mothers who are gradu-

that there are many job opportunities in the engineering ﬁeld.

ates of non-STEM courses about STEM courses, and encouraging children to participate in scientiﬁc events which enable
them to come into contact with science, can be used as triggers

Inﬂuence of parents on their children s choiceof courses : STEM related or non-STEM

for children to become involved in science-related activities.
Furthermore, fathers need to become involved in theirchildren s education. The questionnaire results show that even

I investigated the ways in which fathers and mothers wereeducation-minded fathers are not very involved in events such

■Figure 1 University departments in which mothers want their children to enroll（by children s sex）

1.6

SON

44.3

53.0

35.7

9.0

2.0

15.4

21.7

2.4
4.0

DAUGHTER

30.8

15.2

■Science■Engineering■Dental

10

37.0

39.3

■Medical■Agriculture■Pharmaceutical■Others

■None

14.6

■Health

4.2

16.4

24.2

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

as playing with their children or taking their children to
museum. Changing work-life balance is needed for fathers tomake time to get involved in their children s lives, that it islikely to aﬀect their children s future.

A vision and the direction of future research
In future, I intend to investigate places where students in
STEM courses can work. For example, the ﬁeld of bioinformatics has been developed considerably in the area of life sciences;at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, human resources

What changes when females

involved in bioinformatics account for 70% of all humanparticipate in the workforce?

resources. I want to ﬁnd out how life science will change inFirst, the household economy becomes stable. Among member
countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation andfuture, and I want to understand the characteristics andcurrent status of job-hunting.

Development, those with higher female employment rates tend

The other alternative is medical care with regulations. Drugs

to have higher birth rates. This is because an environment thatcannot go on the market unless they are approved; therefore,

allows women to work is friendly to child-rearing, and even if

there are always regulations. Contrary to the concept of theone parent quit his/her job for any kind of reasons, the otherneed to relax regulations, regulations promote innovation.

working parent can cover the money for raising their child.

Since, until now, novel drugs have often come from overseas,

Second, in terms of work-sharing, the Netherlands adopted
work-sharing policies when it suﬀered from high unemployment rates. Its current female employment rates and grossdomestic product（GDP）are both higher than those of Japan.
The Womanomics 4.0 report of Goldman Sachs estimated that
if gender gap is solved, the GDP will increase by 13%. Third,

the drugs have become available only by modifying overseas
guidelines. However, when an innovative technology is createdin Japan, we need to develop a new regulation by ourselves. To
do this we need research and data on regulations; further
human resources are therefore required in this ﬁeld.

women s workforce participation will likely to create new

In light of women s career advancement in society and themarkets in, for example, babysitting, food catering, and nursing

development of women s involvement in STEM ﬁelds, datacare. From the perspective of MOT, a new market of house-creation has signiﬁcance in itself, because few data regarding

work support provided by robotics or the Internet of Things

women have been collected. Long-term data-gathering by using（IoT）may be created.

the same form will bring us new and exciting results.

■Figure 2 Results of a questionnaire on parental involvement in children s education
Parents involvement in child s education
（％）

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1. asked about the schoolʼs everyday situation
2. taught science and math（algebra）
3. gave advice for independent research on science
4. took the child to science museum or natural history museum
5. took the child to science experiment class held by universities and local government
6. observed natural phenomenon such as solar eclipse or growth of plants
7. taught scientiﬁc knowledge in daily conversation
8. gave advice on secondary school for applying
9. consulted about course choices（STEM or non-STEM）
10. gave advice in high school to choose non-STEM course
11. gave advice in high school to choose STEM course
12. got consulted the ﬁeld of major in college
13. gave advice in university to choose non-STEM course
14. gave advice in university to choose STEM course
15. got consulted about seeking a job■ mainly you■ mainly spouse■ you and spouse about the same

■ neither one of you get involved

11

Contact［As of March, 2016］

Graduate Schools

URL

Graduate School of Humanities

http://www.hmt.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/?lang=en

Graduate School of Education

http://www.edu.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/english

Graduate School of Economics

http://www.econo.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/gs̲e.html

Graduate School of Medicine

http://www.med.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/graduate/

Graduate School of Science and Engineering

http://www.gse.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/EN/

Graduate School of Agriculture

http://www.agr.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/index̲e.html

Graduate School of East Asian Studies

http://www.eas.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/

Graduate School of Innovation and Technology Management

http://mot.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/

United Graduate School of Veterinary Science

http://ds22.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/~renju/e.html

The United Graduate School of Agricultural
Science, Tottori University（Japanese）（Japanese）

http://rendai.muses.tottori-u.ac.jp/english/index.html

Research Institute

URL

The Research Institute for Time Studies

http://www.rits.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/?page̲id=33※The United Graduate School of Veterinary Science was established through the cooperation of Tottori University, Kagoshima University and Yamaguchi University.
※The United Graduate School of Agricultural Science was established through the cooperation of Tottori University, Shimane University and Yamaguchi University.
※Graduate School of Science and Engineering was reorganized as the Graduate School of Sciences and Technology for Innovation in the 2016 academic year.

1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-shi, Yamaguchi 753-8511
http://www.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/english.html■ For Research enquiries:

Organization for Research Initiatives
http://kenkyu.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/index.html （Japanese）■ For International Exchange enquiries:

Oﬃce for International Aﬀairs Strategy
http://www.iassc.jimu.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/en/index.html■ For Studying at Yamaguchi University

International Student Center
http://www.isc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/english/top.htm

Yamaguchi University Research Activities

LocationTokyo

Yamaguchi
Yamaguchi
Ube Airport

Yamaguchi
Yudaonsen

Tokyo International
Airport

1hr.30min to Yamaguchi Ube Airport
by airplane

Yamaguchi

Shin-Yamaguchi

Yamaguchi
Ube Airport

Kogushi Campus

Yoshida Campus

Tokiwa Campus

Yoshida Campus

1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi-shi, Yamaguchi, 753-8511
Graduate School of Humanities, Graduate School of Education, Graduate School of Economics, Graduate School of Medicine（Science, Agriculture）, Graduate School of Science and Engineering（Science）, Graduate School of Agriculture, Graduate School of East Asian Studies, United
Graduate School of Veterinary Science, The United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tottori University, The Research Institute forTime Studies

Kogushi Campus

Tokiwa Campus

Graduate School of Medicine（Medicine）,Graduate Schoolof Science and Engineering（Medicine）

Graduate School of Medicine（Engineering）, Graduate School of Scienceand Engineering（Engineering）, Graduate School of Innovation andTechnology Management

1-1 Minami-Kogushi 1-chome, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi, 755-8505

16-1 Tokiwadai 2-chome, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi, 755-8611

2015 vol.3

Published by the Organization for Research Initiatives, Yamaguchi University, June 2016
Edited by the working group for Yamaguchi University Research Activities
and Yamaguchi University Support Oﬃce for Female Researchers
Reports: University Research Administrator（URA）Oﬃce
Cover design and art: Associate Prof. Takeshi Kinoshita（Graduate School of Science andCover design and art

Engineering）

The pictures show some of thefamous sights of Yamaguchi

Program for Supporting Reseach Activities of Female Researchers（Organization）
supported by the Funds for the Development of Human Resources in Sciense and Technology from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology

Prefecture and present its long
history and rich natural beauty.
The vivid color along the bottom
is a traditional Japanese color.

Yamaguchi University Research Activities 2015 Vol.3
2015