I C U SNewsletter
Volume 12

Number

4

Jan. to Mar. 2013

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo

New prototype for Mokumitsu-High-density wooden city with block-scale system
By Satoru Yamashiro
Architect, buidinglandscape Ltd., Japan
Visiting Professor, Dalian University of Technology, China
Mokumitsu is the Japanese termfor high-density wooden residential
areas comprised of old wooden
houses. The Japanese government
has a policy to convert Mokumitsu
into fire-resistant concrete housing
to prevent the spread of fire,
especially after large earthquakes.
Today, Japan is facing an aging
society and population decline, so
it is reasonable to expect that wewill live in areas of high population
density. High density living is also
beneficial in developing countries
to provide efficient infrastructure
for large populations. As seen in

the figure below, the traditional
residential areas in Tokyo, thebuildings have little resistance tonor preventative measures towards
the cause and spreading of fire, yetJapanese people are attracted to thecharm of its narrow streets (Roji) andcommunity sensibility. The usage ofwood in construction is beneficial
because it keeps forests rejuvenatedand maintains a fixed CO2 emission;for this reason it is important that
we use wooden material actively
in cities and continue to use more
wooden resources. We can process
wooden materials easily so that we

Traditional residential areas in Tokyo

Diagram of block system

can also arrange and maintain our
living facilities easily. High-density
dwellings and wooden structures
are efficient and attractive, so inappreciating both the good and bad
points, we propose the high-density
wooden city model. The aim of
this research project is to develop a
new prototype for building design
and infrastructure for high-density
wooden housing with the latest andfuture technologies.
Introducing the Block-Scale
System to Mokumitsu
Today we have huge buildingssuch as shopping malls, airports
and so on. Some are as big as
small towns. They are typicallydivided into sub-areas using fire
shutters and devices to prevent the
spread of fire into other areas. We
introduce a similar system to the
Mokumitsu urban type whereby
whole suburban blocks of wooden
housing are considered as a single

Ohara (ICUS/disaster prevention)
about temporary evacuation spaces.
• Feb. 2012: Prof. Yoshihiro Suda
(ITS Center) about the transportation
system in 1 km2 district.
• Mar. 2012: logistics consultant
about the distribution system in a
1 km2 district.
• Jul. 2012: Associate Prof. YumikoIwafune (CEE) about the energy
system in a 1 km2 district.
Various figures were developed
from the interviews and scanningmaterials.

building. Using this method, we canconsider a new way of protecting oldwooden areas; for example, block
fire division, block quake-proofing,
block quake absorbing structures,and so on. Each small woodenbuilding becomes simpler and cost
becomes lower due with this blockscale infrastructure. We add safety
to openness and renewability in
Mokumitsu.

m2Then, we define a virtual district'Omotesando' where we extract only
the physical features such as roads,
topography and building footprints.
In this research, we assume thatthe population and floor area of
Omotesando will double.

Site: Virtual district 'Omotesando'

We identified the Omotesando
District in Tokyo, which is about 1
square kilometer in area, to test thisconcept virtually. This is a mixeduse area with housing, shops andoffices; there are various scales ofbuildings and also geographicalfeatures. The details of Omotesando
are as follows:• Population (night): 5,339• Population density: 11,606 people/
km2• Number of workers: 20,348• Residential floor area: 178,856
m2• Non-residential floor area: 487,078

We conducted interview survey
with ICUS members and otherprofessionals, and reviewed scholarly
literature, books and web resources.
From this review, we created'scanning materials' to represent
some possible ideas arising from thecollection. Next, we interpreted andcombined the scanning materials.
We visualized the Mokumitsu futurecityscape as a hypothesis. From thiswe will establish the next aim of
the research and development. Thismethod is referred to as 'foresightinsight towards the future'.
We made interviews with thefollowing specialists:• Mar. 2010: Associate Prof. Miho

Making ‘scanning materials'

Virtual district ‘Omotesando’

Study for the arrangement of temporary
evacuation spaces an eco-ride system

Study for mixing station of eco-ridesystem and logistics center

Study of fire-proof block. One street iscomposed of the fire-proof wall and theother is open.

Study model for forms of temporary
evacuation spaces

Page 2

Scanning materials
for new Mokumitsu

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 12, No.4

First prototype
for new Mokumitsu
After the scanning process, we
integrated some studies into a scenethat is one of the visions for a highdensity wooden city. In the possible
housing area with a fire-proof block,each building has no anti-fire walls
and can be constructed with more
wooden materials. In the area there
are some small squares that are
surrounded by the protected blocks,
and each square is designed as atemporary evacuation space.

sketches based on the scanningmaterials. Our next step is to get
feedback on these possible designs
from the researchers in different
research fields.

the usage of each building changes,
the walls can be easily reconfigured.
The space on the right side is acommon workshop for self-building
activities.
These drawings are the first

The picture below on the rightshows the streetscape with narrow
width four-story buildings. The walls
are constructed with wood. This
style of building can be constructedby residents with local builders. As

Fire-proof blocks (gray shown) composed by ‘buildings’, while
there are usually fire-proof blocks inside buildings

Streetscape of collective housings which havecommon large workshop (Close up view from thelocation of the arrow in left figure)Parameters for planning a high-density wooden city.
disasters andmeasures

earth

size

10 km

4

population

5×10

nation3

regioncity

town

building

person

10 km

100km

10km

1km

100m

1m

8

7

5

4

3

3

5×10 km9internal
boundaries
space

spheresphereearthquake

10

10

10

10

1-10

ocean andmountainsocean andmountainsprefecture
boundaries

road

path

corridor

between two person

nationregion,prefecture

city

districtbuildings

rooms

furnitureinternational
earthquake
support system

disasterearthquake
earthquake
prevention
support system support system system for gas

evacuation
spacesearthquake
resistance

tables and beds

material

fire
fireproof
woods

fireproof

fireproof zoning fireproof wall

helicopters

personal fire
fire engine truck fire fighting party extinguishartificial rain

artificial rainfire hydrant

aeroplanes,
railways andcars

aeroplanes,
railways andcars

railways, buses eco-ride, bicycles elevators andand walking
escalatorsand cars

dam

proof woods

banksinternationalfire
armed forces
fighting party

fire fighting
fire extinguishfacility
traffic

fireproof
woods

aeroplanes

aeroplanes andrailwaysstorm and flood
damagewater drainage
gun

woods

fireproof division fireproof clothings

sprinklers

ground floors
and foundation

personal fire extinguish buckets
fire extinguishers

umbrellas, waterproof
clothings and scarves

tsunamiforecasting

international
tsunami warning tsunami system banks
systembanks andprotection woods structuralresistance
protection woods

life jackets

water

ocean

sea and rivers

tap water

pipes

faucetsbasement floors shelters

ventilation
systemmask

sea an river

riversatmosphericpollutiondiseaseimmigration
controlcurfewsynthetic
zone isolation hospitals

town doctors

householdmedicinehousehold medicine

crimearmed forces

armed forces

armed forces
and police

policeguardsself defence

biomasforests andphotosynthesis

energysun

endurance

5×10 years

5×10 years

environmental
load

1

1/5

effective use ofwoods

carbon stock
warm and cold
current

9

police3

river andnuclearwind

geothemalsunlight

foods

10 years

500 years

300 years

200 years

100 years

80 years

1/200

1/10

wave
3

3

1/10

4

water

1/10

6

1/10

8

40 years9

1/(5×10 )ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2013

1/10

Page 311

25th and 26th ICUS Open Lecture held at IIS
By M. Koshihara and T. Kato

Possibility of high density city

The 25th ICUS Open Lecture,“Possibility of high density city”,
was held on March 4th, 2013.
Two speakers provided topics
about a situation of high density
town. Mr. Jun Manabe, MLIT
(Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism), introduced
the national policy for densely
populated wooden building district
and historic district. Founding andhuman resource development for“machizukuri” are prepared and canbe taken advantage of. Dr. Masahiko
Shinozaki, Associate Professor of
Toyo University, introduced highdensity city in the world.
The present situation andfuture directions
for post-disaster recovery
in Minami-sanriku: a view fromthe citizen’s perspective

The 26th ICUS Open Lecture washeld on March 24th, 2013. The themeof this lecture was to learn about theperspectives of people who wereaffected by the tsunami in 2011,
particularly looking at their current
situation where living in temporary
housing has become the norm.
Four speakers from Minamisanriku, Miyagi Prefecture, who
are deeply involved in the recoveryof their hometown and supporting
the affected people in various ways,
were invited to share their viewson the current situation of recovery
and what issues need to be tackled

Finally Dr. Satoru Yamashiro
proposed an interim report the ICUS
project, “New prototype for Mokumitsu”(see main article of this volume).
Panel discussion about highdensity city was done after threespeeches. It is confirmed that forsafe and comfortable densely
populated wooden building district,both hardware and software areimportant. As for hard ware, building
and infrastructure, should be not
only safe but also attractive. About
Software, residents should actively
participate in “machizukuri”. Basedon the discussion on the above
issues, ICUS project result will be
introduced.

left to right: Prof. Koshihara (ICUS), Mr. Jun Manabe, Mr. Masahiko Shinozaki and
Mr. Satoru Yamashiro

next in the re-planning of the town.
Around 100 people – including
experts in urban planning and“machizukuri” (bottom-up town
planning), who has been providing
direct and/or interim support tothe affected areas – participatedand were involved in a passionate
discussion on this theme. The bold
attitude of the people was admirable:
who, even with various constraints
such as lack of human resourcesin the rural municipalities and anpolicy framework insufficient for
dealing with the scale and dimensionof this disaster, have overcome it
and are trying to understand how tomaintain a harmonious relationshipwith nature while simultaneously
collaborating with government
officials and other specialists topursue a realistic solution.

It is certain that within these
two years the citizens’ strength in“machizukuri” has grown. However,this event has also further assured usthat this strength can help correct the
problems with the present systemof recovery. Immediately after theearthquake, the idea of “being there
for the affected people” was became
popular, but now is really the time
when we need to apply this concept;
what is essential is the support ofknowledgeable specialists who are“there for the affected people.”
The present recovery is also one
process through which a new modelof community planning for the
future will be defined. This year at
ICUS, we will continue to contributeto this process by providing further
opportunities to deepen the debate
on issues of recovery.

left to right: Ms Kiyomi Watanabe and Mr. Tsuyoshi Takanabe as coordinators, Mr. Hiroshi Onodera, Mr. Kazuma Goto,
Mr. Tokuro Sato and Ms Akemi Utsumi from Minami-sanriku, Miyagi Pref.

Page 4

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 12, No.4

ICUS lectures at Yangon Technological University,
MyanmarBy K. Nagai

ICUS gave a special lecture
course titled “Introduction to
Adaptive Technologies in Disaster
Management” from December
2012 to March 2013 at Yangon
Technological University (YTU) in
Myanmar. Eight lecturers in total
visited YTU from the Institute ofIndustrialScience(IIS),theUniversityof Tokyo (UT), and gave lectures
on Geographic Information System(GIS), infrastructure management
and technology, and disastermanagement (see the table below).
These lectures were given as a partof YTU graduate course lectures, andmore than 20 students and faculties
attended the lectures and learned
about the latest knowledge andtechnologies in the field of disastermanagement. It was the first time a
lecture series at YTU was provided
by a foreign institute, although there
have been many symposiums inrecent years due to Myanmar’s rapid
growth. Through this corroboration,
YTU and ICUS could strengthen
their relationship and are currently
planning to continue the lecture
series in the coming year as wellbecause education is one of the mostimportant issues for the developmentof Myanmar. Furthermore, at theend of March (during Prof. Meguro
and Dr. Kawasaki’s visit), an alumni
party of the University of Tokyo wasorganized and about ten Myanmar
alumni who are now in Yangon wereable to join it.

The rehabilitated YTULectures at Yangon Technological University (YTU)

Meeting with YTU faculties

UT-Myanmar alumni party

ICUS lecture series at Yangon Technological University, Myanmar
LecturerContents

December 4 - 6

Prof. Haruo Sawada (ICUS, IIS, UT)

Histor y of remote sensing

December 18 - 20

Assoc. Prof. Akiyuki Kawasaki (ICUS, IIS, UT),

Introduction to Geographic Information System

January

8-9

Prof. Ryosuke Shibasaki ( IIS, UT)

Advanced geo-spatial data analysis

January

15 - 17

Assistant Prof. Ayako Sekiyama (IIS, UT)

Application of remote sensing

January

29 - 30

Assoc. Prof. Reiko Kuwano (ICUS, IIS, UT)

Earth structure and buried infrastructure management

February 19 -20

Prof. Hiroshi Yokota(ICUS, IIS, UT / Hokkaido University)

Infrastructure management for developed society

March

5-7

Assoc. Prof. Kohei Nagai (ICUS, IIS, UT)Infrastructure management for developed society

March

15

Prof. Kimiro Meguro (ICUS, IIS, UT)

Total disaster management and strategy

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2013

Page 5

The Brahmanbaria Tornade, 2013
By Prof. M. A. Ansary, BNUS

A deadly tornado occurred on
March 22, 2013, at around 5:30
PM in the southeastern district ofBrahmanbaria in Bangladesh as
seen in the figure on the right. It
travelled at a speed of 70 kilometer
per hour and lasted for 15 minutes,
leaving an eight-kilometer long trail
of destruction in its wake. It struck
20 villages, including Ramrail,
Basudeb, Chinair, Sultanpur unionof Sadar Upazila, Bijoynagar
Upazila and North Akhaura unionof Akhaura upazila in Brahmanbaria
district. The worst damage occurredin Bijoynagar and Akhaura Upazila.
Thousands of trees and utility poles
were toppled and thousands ofpeople were left homeless as thetornado swept through Urshiura
and the surrounding villages of the
Sadar Upazila. Many tin- and mudbuilt houses were badly damagedby the tornado, and part of a district
jailhouse collapsed, resulting in
the death of seven workers. Local
hospitals were crowded with injured
villagers and it was difficult to

HABIGANJKISHOREGANJ

NASIRNAGARSARAIL

LegendAffected Upazila
District Boundary

ASHUGANJNARSHINGDI

BRAHMANBARIA
SADAR

BRAHMANBARAINABINAGARAKHAURABANCHARAMPURKASBA

COMILLA

N
E

W
0

S
7.5

15Km

Affected area of the tornado (Source: CDMP)

Elephant trunk like tornado(Source:DSTAR)

Damaged house (Source: DSTAR)

Page 6move from one place to another as
many of the roads were blockedby fallen trees. The tornado halted
both train and road transportation,
which disrupted rescue operations.
Thousands of people were renderedhomeless, and power was out acrossa wide area. Crops, mostly rice,
were damaged across a vast swathof land.
The tornado devastated a vast
area of Brahmanbaria District. A
total of three upazilas were affected
including six unions. The number offully and partially affected families
were 1,326 and 402, respectively,
whereas the number of fully and

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 12, No.4

partially affected people were 6,630
and 1,985, respectively. The tornado
also destroyed a number of houses,with 2,635 houses affected fully and752 affected partially. Around 173
acres of agricultural crops were fully
affected whereas 1,112 acres crops
were partially affected.

Affected people (Source: DSTAR)

Preliminary report on recent PM2.5 in China
By Dr. Hong Huang, Institute of Public Safety Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

Recently, fog and haze affectedmany areas in China, leading toflight delays, high sales of breathingmasks, and a marked decrease inpeople doing morning exercises
outdoors. Up to January 13th, 2013,
the air quality index (AQI) had surged
to more than 300 – which implied
the air was seriously polluted – in
33 of the 74 cities where detection
devices were installed, with a total
affected area of 130 million square
kilometers. Furthermore, on January
13th, the Beijing Meteorological
Bureau issued the first haze orange
alert as the PM2.5 hour maximum
reached 900 µg/m3, exceeding thenormal air quality average standardof 75 µg/m3 more than time times
and almost doubling the AQI daily
serious pollution level of 500 µg/
m3.
The burning of coal, motor vehicle
exhaust, and industrial pollutants anddust which generate large amount ofparticles are the main sources of thehaze, and it is believed that the hazeoccurs due to the interaction of thisenormous amount of particulates andthe prevailing weather conditions.
Three driving mechanisms are
summarized as follows:
1) Stagnant wind in the horizontal
direction: Due to the increasing
number of skyscrapers in urban
areas, air movement is weakened
due to blocking and friction. The
increasing occurrence of thisphenomenon plays a negativerole in the diffusion and dilutionof particulates suspended in theatmosphere, which leads to an
accumulation of particulate matterin urban and suburban areas.
2) Temperature inversion in the

Air quality index

AQI(PM2.5)0-50
51-100101-15151-200

201-300

AIR QUALITY INDEX IN CHINA
AIR
HEALTH ADVICESQUALITY
Excellent
None
Good
Don’t take long time or heavy manual laborHarmful to Children, the elderly, and people with heart orvulnerable lung disease should minimize their time spent
peopleoutdoors or performing heavy manual laborChildren, the elderly, and people with heart orlung disease should avoid spending time
Harmful tooutdoors or performing heavy manual labor.
healthOthers should minimize their time spent
outdoors or performing heavy manual labor.
Children, the elderly, and people with heart or
Severelylung disease should avoid outdoor activities
harmful toaltogether. Others should avoid spending time
healthoutdoors or performing heavy manual labor.

vertical direction: The inversion
layer acts like a lid covering thecity. This phenomenon occurs
when the temperature at highaltitudes is greater than that at
low altitudes, which restricts thevertical movement of air in the
low altitude layer and blocks thesuspended particles from drifting
upwards to higher altitudes. As
a result, the particulate matter istrapped at low altitude near the
ground.
3) Particle concentration in the
air increases: An increase in
the concentration of pollution
and suspended solids may
directly cause a severe reduction
in visibility. The increasing
concentration may be attributed
to the growing population, rapid
development of industry, andgrowth in vehicle usage.
Beijing has already begun an aircleaning plan which involves theconstruction of 35 PM2.5 detection
stations. The monitoring and controlof PM2.5 over the coming years isa key target of this plan, and eightsteps to meet this target have beenlaid out:1) Strictly control the increase inpollution sources2) Decrease the usage of coal3) Implement
pollution-reducing“green” transportation
4) Restrict dust generation
5) Place limits on industrial pollution
output6) Planting of green space andreforestation7) Improve enforcement of the laws
8) P romote scientific and technologicalsolutions
The goal of these efforts in Beijing
is to have more than 80% of the daysin a year with air quality which meetor surpass the specified air quality
level.

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2013

Page 7

Professor Kimiro Meguro visited Nepal
By Dr. Ramesh Guragain, Deputy Executive Director,
National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal

Professor
KimiroMeguro,Director, ICUS visited Nepal fromJanuary 4th- 8th January 2013 as acontinuation of supervising researchof the other, a JSPS/RONPAKU
fellow in Nepal. In addition to
the supervision and guidance on
research, Prof. Meguro gave threelectures at seminars for three different
target audiences on different aspects
of disaster risk management.
The first seminar was on "Role ofprivate sectors on promoting safer
building construction: Experiencefrom Japan" for private sector washeld on 6th January 2013, at FNCIIHall, Teku, Kathmandu, Nepal. The
seminar was jointly organized by
the National Society for Earthquake
Technology-Nepal(NSET),
International Center for Urban
Safety Engineering (ICUS) andthe Federation of Nepal Chamberof Commerce and Industries(FNCCI). The main objectiveof the seminars was to share theexperience of Japan regarding therole of private sectors such as banks
and insurances on promoting safer
building construction, which could
be helpful in the context of Nepal.
Participants were from different
organizations representing NGOs,insurance companies, banks, media,
professional associations, businesshouses and others.

The second seminar was on"Earthquake risk management
in developing countries" forengineering communities in Nepal
and was held on 7th January 2013 at
DoLIDAR, Shree Mahal, Pulchowk,
Lalitpur, Nepal. The seminar
was jointly organized by Nepal
Engineers Association (NEA). The
main objective of the seminar was toshare the experience and knowledge
on possible solutions on earthquake
risk management in developing
countries. The seminar was very
fruitful in the context of Nepal. Prof.
Meguro emphasized on possible
ways of reducing the high risk in
Nepal by combining technical andsocial approaches. The emphasis wason the promotion of an appropriate
solution that is technically feasible,socially acceptable, locally available
and financially affordable as well.
His presentation on the retrofitting
techniques using low cost PP bandmesh for low rise buildings was
liked by most of the participants.
Over 110 participants from Instituteof Engineering, Nepal Engineers
Association, Engineering Consulting
Firms, NGOs etc. benefitted fromthe seminar.
The third seminar was held at
Japanese Ambassador's Residence.
His Excellency Mr. Kunio
Oakahashi the Ambassador of Japan

Seminar to Engineering Professionals
by Professor Kimiro Meguro

Professor Meguro with his excellency, Mr. Kunio Takahashi, and reprentativesof Japanese Ambassador, JICA and NSET representatives after the Lecture atAmbassador's residence

Page 8ICUS Newsletter Vol. 12, No.4

to Nepal cordially invited Prof.
Meguro at his residence to delivera lecture for the representatives of
Nepal Risk Reduction Consortiumand selected people from theGovernment, UN Organizations,
JICA, NSET and other NGOs
representatives. Professor Meguro
gave them a lecture with emphasis
on use appropriate technology andits promotion by social and technicalapproaches.
On January 5th, 2013, Professor
Meguro visited Banepa-DhulikhelTatopani stretch to observe Prevalent
Building Typologies and also tocheck the reliability of Gabion-meshconstruction and explore possible
use of Gabion mesh together with
PP-band mesh retrofitting technique.
The area has used the gabion meshfor retaining wall construction along
the road side from 30-40 years back.
It was identified that about 80-90%
of the gabion works is fully working
even after 30years in the adverse
weather condition.

Professor Meguro with President of
Nepal Engineers Association

ICUS invited Myanmar delegates to IIS, UT
By A. Kawasaki

ICUS invited four Myanmardelegates from Yangon Technological
University (YTU) and Mandalay
Technological University (MTU) to
the Institute of Industrial Science(IIS), the University of Tokyo (UT),from January 28th to 31st, 2013. Bothuniversities, which are leading
engineering schools in their country,
have had difficulties carrying out
undergraduate
educationandresearch until 1998. The universities
were, however, reopened in
December 2012 for the first time inmore than ten years under thecivilian government led by President
Thein Sein from March 2011. Since
then, their research equipment andfacilities have are being gradually

Meeting with UT President

upgraded, both through internal
efforts as well as with aid fromdonor countries including Japan.
Under these circumstances, ICUS,
which has been offering lectures at
YTU since December 2012, decided
to invite a delegation from the two
universities to IIS, UT to support
their investigation of modern
research equipment and facilities forthe full renovation of their
universities.
The delegation made a courtesy
call on Prof. Nakano, Director
General of IIS, and visited various
research facilities at IIS, such as theInternational Research Center for
Sustainable Materials, Collaborative
Research Center for Energy

Engineering, Advanced Mobility
ResearchCenter,Earthquake
Resistant Structure Research Center,
Geospatial Information Sciencelaboratories, and the Research
Management Office.
They also met with UT President
Hamada and Vice-president Maeda
to exchange opinions about future
mutual cooperation between YTU,
MTU and UT.
There is an urgent need to promoteand enhance engineering researchand education in Myanmar, whererapid economic development is
expected to occur in the coming
years. We hope further exchanges
and collaborative opportunities will
be generated by this visit.

Meeting with Director General of IIS

Visiting the smart house

Joint UT alumni party was held in Bangkok
By A. Kawasaki

The University of Tokyo (UT)
alumni party was jointly organized bythree Thai alumni groups, including
the Institute of Industrial Science(IIS) Alumni Thailand Chapter, in
Bangkok, Thailand, on March 16,
2013. This was the second joint
alumni party, since the first held in
October 2011. A total of 43 alumni
from the 1960s to 2000s were able
to reunite at the party along with
their families. Attendees included
not only Thai alumni working invarious fields such as government,
universities, and companies, butalso 15 Japanese alumni working in
Thailand.
The party was filled with a friendly

atmosphere including greetingsfrom the representatives of eachalumni group, as well as short selfintroductions by all alumni including

their current status and memoriesof their time as a student at IIS andUT.

Group photo of UT alumni party participants in Thailand

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2013

Page 9

ICUS Activities January-March
TravelDate
Dec.27-Jan 27
Jan. 2-8
Jan. 27-31
Feb.2- Mar.29
Feb. 21-24
Mar. 3-9
Jan.3-9Mar.13-16
Mar. 14-17
Mar.17-19

Name
Dr. Kawasaki
Dr. Kawasaki
Dr. Kuwano
Dr. Kawasaki
Dr. Numada
Dr. Nagai
Prof. Meguro
Dr. Kawasaki
Prof. Meguro
Prof. Meguro

Country
ThailandSri Lanka
MyanmarThailandIndia
Myanmar
Nepal
Myanmar
MyanmarThailandCity
Bangkok
Colombo
YangonBangkok
New Delhi
YangonKathmandu
YangonYangonBangkokCategory
Seminar
LectureSymposium
LectureLectureLectureLecturemeeting

PurposeOperation of BNUS & lecture
University of Peradeniya Seminar
Yangon Technology University
Operation of BNUS & lecture
Building disaster resilient societies: Lessons from Japan
Yangon Technology University
Supervision & guidance on research
Yangon Technology University
Yangon Technology University
BNUS & alumni

Visitors
Date
Jan.26-Feb.1

Name
Prof. Nyi Hla Nge
Prof. Khin Than Yu
Prof. Myint TheinDr. Myo Myint

Titles of graduated students

Country
Chairman of Steering Committee for YTU and MTU
MyanmarPro-rector and Prof. of YTUMyanmarPro-rector and Prof. of MTU
Myanmar
Assoc. Prof. of MTU
Myanmar(YTU: Yangon Technological University, MTU: Mandalay Technological University)

Lab.

Name

Grade

MeguroMr. Takuya Iyama

MasterResearch of the needs and sources of information to foreigners living in Japan during disasters

Title

MeguroMr. Donun Ryu

MasterNumerical analysis of Tsunami-driven debris impact on structures

MeguroMr. Manoj Nakarmi

MasterSupport system for seismic retrofitting low earthquake resistant masonry houses in Nepal using PP- band method

MeguroMs. Ai Nagashima

Graduate

Development of new tsunami evacuation facilities for the vulnerable people

KuwanoMr. ALANE, Biruk Adane

Master

Evaluation of effects of internal erosion on slope stability using hollow cylindrical torsional shear apparatus

KuwanoMr. SUWAL, Laxmi Prasad

DoctorDisk transducer for elastic wave measurement and its application to unsaturated sandy soils

Koshihara

Mr. Satoshi Ikegaya

MasterKoshihara

Mr. Shinya Matsuda

MasterKoshihara

Mr. Takashi Kawai

MasterKoshihara

Mr. Issey Kurokawa

MasterThe construction method of KINTAI bridge from the point of view of tree species and the size of members

Ohara

Mr. Makoto Fujiu

DoctorStudy on development of remote building damage assessment system during large-scale earthquake disasters

Sawada & Takeuchi

Mr. Hirotoshi Kishi

DoctorAnalysis of global anthropogenic PM2.5 with remote sensing and emission inventory

Sawada & Takeuchi

Mr. Yuji Hosoya

MasterPerformance of paddy monitoring by satellite remote sensing towards drought damage reduction, in Southeast Asia

Sawada & Takeuchi

Mr. Hiromi Jonai

Graduate

Mapping of global paddy field crop calendar using satellite remote sensing

Sawada & Takeuchi

Mr. Tatsuya Ishikawa

MasterEffectiveness of Distinction of the Liquefaction in High-resolution Satellite Image

Nagai

Mr. Koichiro Ikuta

MasterAn analytical investigation of influence of bending-radius of reinforcement on failure mechanism in beam-column joint

Nagai

Ms. Reiko Kojima

Graduate

An investigation of shear performance of HPFRCC beams by image data analysis system

A fundamental study of timber connection aiming at shortening edge distance-Axial force transmission system with prestress and friction
Influence which construction methods have on redundancy of timber structures-Engineering verification of modern SAKAGURA based on a sense of values of traditional timber structuresThe application of truss beam to large-scale timber buildings by using production engineering of timber houses

Number of graduated students
Urban Safety & Disaster Mitigation Division

Social Infrastructure Management Division

Environment Informatics Division

Undergrad
Master’s course
Ph D course

4
12
6

0
3
2

0
5
0

Total

22

5

5

FAREWELL TO ICUS MEMBERS

Prof. Y. Ichihashi

Page 10

Dr.S. Kondo

Visiting Professor Yasuyoshi Ichihashi (left) and Dr. Shinya Kondo (right)
left from ICUS on March 31st, 2013. Visiting Prof. Ichihashi joined ICUS in
May, 2009, and he has been actively involved in organizing USMCA2012. Dr.
Kondo joined ICUS in April, 2010. He will continue research activity at theDisaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute in Kobe, Japan as chief
researcher from April 2013.

ICUS Newsletter Vol. 12, No.4

JCUS 2012
Research Themes 2012
Urban Safety & Disaster Mitigation Division• integrated information system for total disaster management• low-cost and efficient retrofitting method for masonry structures considering local availability, applicability and acceptability• estimation of electric power demand after large-scale earthquake disaster• development of proper disaster broad cast model by mass-media for effective and efficient disaster responses during the time of digital broadcasting• development of temporal-spatial disaster process model• IT triage system (TRACY) for sharing medical information during large scale disaster• effective use of earthquake early warning in manufacturing companies• distribution of evacuation space / buildings during large-scale metropolitan flood• research on trend of earthquake disaster management strategy and damage estimation method• strategy for evacuation planning in urban areas against large-scale flood method• local community collaborative activities adaptable for climate change in below-sea-level cities• comprehensive method of advanced community-based activities and planning for disaster management• image training for urban rehabilitation and reconstruction planning as preparation for social recovery
Development of effective retrofitting• study on advanced community governance through practical approach to support fishermen villages affected bytechnology considering economical
the Great East Japan Earthquake Disasterconditions and social system for its
promotion• service continuity management (SCM) model of university in preparation for emergency• trend analysis on research field and efficient research system for disaster reduction• disaster response of local governments at southern area of Kii Peninsula after flood and debris flow due to the Typhoon Talas

Social Infrastructure Management Division• formation and evaluation of sustainable construction materials based on social perspectives• life-cycle management of civil infrastructure• structural performance evaluation of un-reinforced concrete coastal facilities• mechanism of combined deterioration of concrete with freezing-thawing and chloride attack• effects of underground structure on the formation and expansion of subsurface cavity• evaluation of long-term behavior of earthen structure• effects of internal erosion on the stability of earthen structure• development of sensors for the evaluation of dynamic properties of un-cemented soil
• assessment of performance degradation of deteriorated infrastructure• anchorage performance of RC structures• mechanics of fiber reinforced concrete under principal stress rotation• effective press-in driving method• infrastructure management for aging society

Inspection of concrete structures in Myanmar

Environment Informatics Division• operational use of remote sensing during great disaster• automatic flood monitoring and forest development system in the Indo-China• three dimensional measurement of ecosystem structures using LiDAR• carbon dynamics in Brazilian Amazon• development of historical dataset of land cover and land use using remote sensing• investigation on emergency response of Thailand government during the Chao Phraya River flood• disaster information dissemination for diverse communities including foreigners during disasters• investigation on the use of social media during disasters• development of disaster information dissemination system for local community in rural
mountainous area in Asia
• investigation on the introduction of housing water tanks to store rainwater for improving urban
environment and disaster risk reduction

Research Publications in 2012

Field investigation on flood and poverty in Myanmar and Thailand

Oversea Business Trip by ICUS members in 2012
NumberIIS Bi-monthly Research Report
Books
Reviewed Papers/Journal Papers
Conference Papers (International)
Conference Papers (Domestic)
Reconnaissance Reports
Others

Total

Urban Safety &Disaster Mitigation
Division

SocialInfrastructureManagement
Division

Environment
Informatics
Division

17
3
23
26
27
0
20
116

8
2
16
18
15
0
6
65

18
0
11
8
16
3
2
58

ICUS Newsletter Jan. to Mar. 2013

Page 11

Editor’s note…
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude
9.0 earthquake occurred off the Pacificcoast of Tohoku in Japan. Two year
later, we are gathering and analyzing
the information of damage towards
the publication of the final report.
In the Tohoku area some buildings
have been repaired and reconstruct isproceeding little by little. While thisearthquake and tsunami caused greatdamage, this disaster also provided an
opportunity to think about lifestyle,community and town. We should start
to apply this type of thinking to ourdaily work as well.
The ICUS Project, ‘New prototype
for Mokumitsu,’ is a platform to think
about both our town and our life.

Everyone – not only professionals –can contribute to the safety of their
town against a disaster and to theenjoyment of life. It is important toparticipate in the project, not to watch
from the sidelines.
We hope more people will join us
in thinking about their town.
By M. Koshihara

USMCA 2013: Oct 9-11 in Hanoi, Vietnam
The 12th International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia (USMCA 2013)
will be held in Hanoi, Vietnam on October 9-11, 2013.

Deadlines: Abstract
June 15, 2013
		
Full Paper September 1, 2013
Further information is available at the USMCA 2013 official website: http://www.usmca2013.vn/

International Center for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS)
Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo
4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Tel: (+81-3) 5452-6472, Fax: (+81-3) 5452-6476
http://icus.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp

The purpose of ICUS is to identify, investigate, and resolve issues towards therealization of sustainable urban systems for the prosperity and safety of society
considering challenging socio-economic problems.