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Vol.26,December 2019

“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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Vol.26, December 2019

Contents
FeatureOkayama University excels in research on photosynthesis
Jian-Rena Shen and colleagues open up a bright future on artificial photosynthesis

News・ Okayama University Integrated Reporting Forum 2019
- Release Okayama University’s First Integrated Report “Pay it Forward” ・ A Side Event for the G20 Health Minister’s meeting held on the theme“ Life-Cycle/ Course Approaches to Promote Healthy and Active Ageing and Economic
Implications”
・ Student representatives attended the One Young World (OYW) 2019 Japan delegation send-off
party held at the JT Art Hall Affinis, Tokyo・ Kickoff meeting held for “Okayama University SDGs Ambassadors” to enhance public awarenessof SDGs and promote SDGs

Research Highlights
・ Novel production method of the lowest energy nuclear state
Thorium-229 nuclear clock isomer
・ Non-plume hypothesis for the genesis of passive continental margin ocean island basalts
・ Death feigning is controlled by dopamine in a beetle

TopicsOkayama University Dance Sport Club

Further information
About Okayama University

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FeatureOkayama University excels in research on photosynthesis
Jian-Rena Shen and colleagues open up a bright future on artificial photosynthesis

Plants and various algae use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates and oxygen,thus providing the source of foods and oxygen for sustaining almost all life forms on the earth. Needless tosay, school children learn about this process of “photosynthesis”, but intriguingly, some of the detailed
mechanisms of photosynthesis are still not well understood. Revealing the mechanisms of photosynthesis
will not only have a huge scientific impact, but may also provide insights for the development of artificial
photosynthetic systems which may contribute to mitigating the world’s energy and environmental
problems. Ultimately, such developments may change the daily lives of all the people in the world. With
this background, there is increasing worldwide interests in demystifying the mechanisms underlying
photosynthesis.
At Okayama University, a wide variety of cutting-edge
research projects are underway, and one of the university’s
strengths is research on plants. Notably, Professor Jian-Ren
Shen, Vice Dean of the Research Institute for Interdisciplinary
Science, Okayama University, is one of the world’s pioneers in
the field of photosynthesis research. He and his group has
solved the atomic structure of photosystem II, a hugemembrane-protein complex catalyzing the light-induced
water-splitting reaction, based on which, the mechanism ofwater-splitting and oxygen-evolving reaction was revealed. To

Professor Jian-Ren Shenrecognize his achievements, Professor Shen was awarded theGregori Aminoff Prize for 2020 by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The Gregori Aminoff Prize is awarded annually to recognize researchers who have accomplished notableachievements in crystallography. Professor Shen was awarded the Prize jointly with Professor Douglas
Rees of the California Institute of Technology for “their fundamental contributions to the understandingof biological redox metal clusters”.
In 2009, Professor Shen’s team succeeded for the first time in obtaining a well-ordered, high quality crystalof photosystem II. This enabled analysis of the long-unknown atomic structure of photosystem II. His

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Vol.26, December 2019achievement was published in the journal Nature in 2011, and was also selected
as one of the Top 10 Scientific Achievements of 2011 by the Science magazine.
Since then, Professor Shen’s group continued to study the mechanism ofphotosynthetic water-splitting by solving the intermediate state structures ofphotosystem II using femtosecond X-ray free electron lasers, and demonstrated
the incorporation of water molecules into the Mn4CaO5-cluster, the catalyst forwater-splitting in photosystem II, as well as the formation of oxygen molecules
within the catalyst.
Structure of a catalyst contained in photosystem IIfor splitting water molecules revealed by Professor
Jian-Rena Shen and his colleague. The structure
looks like a distorted chair.

The structure and mechanism of the natural catalyst for water-splitting provide important clues for thedevelopment of artificial catalysts for obtaining hydrogen from water. If artificial photosynthesis were to
become a reality, it would be possible to generate hydrogen energy from water and sunlight, and produce
ethanol and other organic substances to be used as fuels from carbon dioxide that is the source of global
warming. Thus, artificial photosynthesis is drawing much attention from around the world as an extremely
important technology towards achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to which
Okayama University is extensively committed,
The awards ceremony and commemorative lecture will take place in the academy’s annual meeting on
March 30 and 31, 2020 in Stockholm. Professor SHEN commented on receiving the Prize: “It is a greathonor to be awarded the Gregori Aminoff Prize. My achievements so far are the results of joint researcheswith many co-researchers. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my co-researchers and continue
my efforts to obtain even greater research results.”
In 2013, Okayama University was selected by the Program for Promoting the Enhancement of Research
Universities, designed to support world-leading, excellent research projects, by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. A wide variety of innovative research projects are underway at
the University. As a research university, Okayama will continue to promote innovative research projects
and transfer the results of such projects into the society.

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Further information
Professor Shen was awarded Gregori Aminoff Prize
from Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng/news/index_id8822.html
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences website
https://www.kva.se/en/startsida“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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Okayama University Integrated Reporting Forum 2019
- Release Okayama University’s First Integrated Report “Pay it Forward” -On October 26, Okayama University, celebrating the 70th anniversary of its foundation this year, released
Okayama University Integrated Report 2019 - Pay it Forward. This was the first time that we issued an
integrated report, which was intended to explain how “an organization creates value over time” (quoted
from the International Integrated Reporting Framework; International Integrated Reporting Council[IIRC]). Featuring an organic integration of our vision and the combination of financial information andother information, our integrated report presented a review of our past achievements and results, andexplained our future vision in an easy-to-understand manner.
On the same day when the report was released, we held the Okayama University Integrated Reporting
Forum 2019 at the 50th Anniversary T. Kanemitsu Hall. The event attracted approximately 200
participants, including alumni and students of the university, high school students in Okayama Prefecture,
those from other universities and companies, and local residents.
President MAKINO Hirofumi delivered an opening
address, explaining the university’s firm determination to“Pay it Forward.” He declared that the university will
ensure that the integrated report leads to the sharing,
empathy, and cooperation with people both inside andoutside the university. Moreover, while looking back on thesteps taken so far by the university, he described the efforts
made as of AY 2019, the first year for the university’s
management with emphasis on the SDGs, and released thePresident MAKINO explained about the integrated report

Okayama University Vision 2.0 as a new scheme for the
future.
This was followed by a panel discussion with the theme“What Is Value Created by a University Managed with
Emphasis on the SDGs?” Invited as panelists for the
discussion were alumni of the university who are presently
demonstrating the leadership at a company and agovernment. Together with them, a faculty member, a staff
member, and a student of the university also engaged inManaging Officer KAWATA (center)

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the discussion. Managing Officer KAWATA Takashi of
Shimizu Corporation referred to the university’s Faculty ofEngineering, which will be reformed drastically inacademic year 2021, stating that the reformation would fit
with the times very much. He also commented “It issometimes hard to study at university, but I hope that theuniversity will provide education in which students can findpleasure comfortably.” Meanwhile, Vice Governor SATO
Kenro of Okayama Prefecture praised the spirit ofVice Governor SATO

Okayama University as one of only a dozen of universities
in the world to prepare an integrated report. He said that the report was considerably significant not onlyin terms of disclosure to the outside, but also in terms of the sharing of the awareness inside the university.
In addition, Ms. ONO Sakura, a sophomore of the Faculty of Science and representative of the membersof Okayama University Future Session, Ms. HAMADA Maho, a clerical staff member of the Academic
Planning Section of the Academic Affairs Department, and Assistant Prof. KOYAMA Toshihiro of the
Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences presented specific proposals
regarding the management of the university, respectively from the perspective of students, university staff,
and faculty members. Such proposals included providing a practice-based class in which students think of
the SDGs from the point of view that they are the key player. Thus, a wide variety of opinions were
exchanged in the panel discussion.
In the Q&A session, high school students and other audience
members from other universities also advanced theiropinions actively. For example, Ms. AOKI Shiho, Manager
of Institutional Reseach Group of Management Planning
Department, The University of Tokyo, which prepared an
integrated report in 2018 for the first time in the history of
the universities in Japan, stated that the concept “Pay it
Forward” and Okayama University’s four processes forearning trust from society by taking advantage of theuniversity’s

knowledge

resourcesweresimpleMs. AOKI

andpersuasive. She also gave advice that if specific stakeholders were involved in the integrated report fromthe perspective of the cooperation with stakeholders, the report would further deepen readers’ empathy.
In conclusion, Managing Officer KAWATA Takashi and Vice Governor SATO Kenro commented from thestandpoint of alumni of the university. They respectively stated with expectation “I hope Okayama
University will serve as the core for the industry-government-academia cooperation” and “I hope that theuniversity will have an impact on the world with its eyes set on Japanese aging population with a falling
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Vol.26, December 2019birthrate.” The panel discussion concluded with the review by the forum facilitator TAKAHASHI Kayo,the university’s Executive Director for Planning and General Affairs and Director of the IR/IE Office,saying “We would like to carry out activities that will make impact in cooperation with all of you based
not on the general catchphrase like “from the region to the world,” but on the catchphrase “from Okayama
to the world.”

A scene of the panel discussion

Further information
Okayama University’s integrated report (Japanese page)https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/tp/profile/annual.html“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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A Side Event for the G20 Health Minister’s meeting held on the theme“Life-Cycle/ Course Approaches to Promote Healthy and Active Ageing and Economic
Implications”

On October 18, 2019, an international symposium was held at the 50th Anniversary Hall, Okayama
University, as a side event for the G20 Okayama Health Minister’s Meeting.
Opening session, which was moderated by Okayama University Vice President for Global Engagement
Strategy YOKOI Atsufumi, started with a moment of silent prayer for the victims of Typhoon Hagibis,
followed by the remarks by Mr. TAGUCHI Kazuho, Director, Office of Global Health Cooperation,
International Affairs Division, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare. Then,
Okayama University President MAKINO Hirofumi introduced the University’s efforts towards to SDGs.
In the following sessions, the theory for life-cycle approach and its examples from Japan and the potential
positive economic impacts of healthy and active ageing were discussed. In the panel discussion,
representatives from the six Asian countries discussed their issues and concerns related to population
ageing and called for government’s policies and programs based on life-cycle/ course approaches topopulation ageing while acknowledging the importance of the individual’s effort towards healthy andactive ageing.
The event was co-hosted by United Nations Population Fund Asia-Pacific Regional Office, Ministry ofForeign Affairs of Japan, World Health Organization, ASEM Global Ageing Center, European
Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study, with support fromthe Promotion Council for Support of the G20 Health Minister’s meeting. And the event was held withcooperation of Dr. Rintaro Mori (Regional Adviser, Asia-Pacific Regional Office, UNFPA) who is alumnus
of Okayama University.

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A scene of the panel discussion

Further information
G20 Okayama Health Ministers’ Meeting website
https://g20-meeting2019.mhlw.go.jp/health/“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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New s

Student representatives attended the One Young World (OYW) 2019 Japandelegation send-off party held at the JT Art Hall Affinis, Tokyo

Two Okayama University students, MATSUMOTO Sota
(Junior of the Faculty of Law) and KISHABA Tomoki(Freshman of the Medical School), have been chosen as
student representatives to participate in the One Young World(OYW) 2019, which is to be held in London, the U.K. from
October 22 to 25. On September 18, the two students attended
a Japan delegation send-off party held at the JT Art Hall
Affinis in Tokyo. Vice President for Global Engagement
Strategy, Mr. Atsufumi Yokoi, who also participated in the
OYW 2019, attended the party as an observer.

(from left) Vice President Yokoi, Mr.Matsumoto, Mr.
Kishaba and Director of OYW Japan Committee Mr.
Okubo

The party included a speech made by Ms. Lori Henderson,
Executive Director at British Chamber of Commerce in Japanand Mr. OKUBO Kimihito, a representative Director of the
One Young World Japan Committee, which was followed by abriefing on the OYW 2019 and OYW’s history of celebratingits 10th anniversary this year. During the party, the Japandelegation members interacted with one another and boosted
morale for the upcoming event.

Ms. Lori Henderson，Executive Director at British
Chamber of Commerce in JapanAt the OYW 2019, Mr. Matsumoto and Mr. Kishaba are expected to discuss various topics within theframework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including climate change, war and peace, education,
human rights, leadership and global business. They are also expected to participate in workshops,
networking events and other activities related to SDGs.

Networking event at JT Hall

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Commemorative photo

Further information
One Young World website
https://www.oneyoungworld.com/
OYW Okayama University website
http://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/user/ouic/japanese/international/OYW.html“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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Kickoff meeting held for “Okayama University SDGs Ambassadors” to enhance
public awareness of SDGs and promote SDGs

As part of our efforts to enhance public awareness of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and promote SDGs, Okayama University has newly established a system to assign individuals andorganizations supporting SDGs activities as “Okayama University SDGs Ambassadors.” On July 31, a
kickoff meeting was held at the University’s 50th Anniversary Hall, with the participation of students
interested in SDGs.
The event was attended by about 140 students, including
Okayama University students who were applying to SDGs
Ambassadors and local high school students currently
working for SDGs. With Vice Executive Director KANO
Mitsunobu as the facilitator, President MAKINO
Hirofumi explained the significance of promoting SDGs
in today’s society, which is filled with unpredictabledifficulties, and the University’s SDGs-related initiatives
and achievements. The President also called on the

The presentation of President MAKINO Hirofumi

students wishing to be Okayama University SDGs
Ambassadors to share the University’s efforts tocontribute to SDGs with as many people as possible, andencourage them to work for the SDGs as an issue that
directly affects themselves. The President’s speech was
followed by a question-and-answer session, in which
participants—both Okayama University students andhigh school students—actively posed many questions to
the President. This productive and significant meeting
was closed with a commemorative photo shooting of all

Vice Executive Director KANO Mitsunobu

the participants.
Taking full advantage of the SDGs Ambassadors system, Okayama University will continue to strive toenhance public awareness of SDGs and promote our efforts toward the achievement of the SDGs.

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The picture of the ceremony

Vol.26, December 2019

The picture of Okayama University SDGs ambassadors

Further information
OKAYAMA UNIVERSITY X SDGs website
https://sdgs.okayama-u.ac.jp/en/“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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Research Highlights

Novel production method of the lowest energy nuclear state
Thorium-229 nuclear clock isomer
Among thousands of nuclei, thorium-229 (Th-229) has the lowest energy excited state – so called isomer.
This state is the unique nuclear state whose energy is low enough to be excited optically with laser light.
Laser manipulation of the state could be utilized for an ultra-precise “nuclear clock” as well as to study
fundamental physics such as time variation of physical constants.
This unique feature of Th-229 has attracted interest forover 40 years. Despite of many attempts, however, directlaser excitation has not yet achieved and its basic
properties still remain elusive. One of the difficulties inthe study of Th-229 is that its isomer only exists
throughαdecay of uranium-233, which accompanies acomplicated nuclear process with large radio activity.
Fig.1 Energy levels of Th-229 (Ground state and excitedstates).
The Th-229 isomer is produced in the process of order ①②. Using the resulting isomer, a nuclear clock transition(③) would be observed.

Here, a research team comprising of members from Okayama University, National Institute of Advanced
Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Osaka University, Kyoto university, Tohoku university, TU
Wien, RIKEN, and Japan Synchrotron have developed a novel method for producing the Th-229 isomer
via the second excited state near 29 keV using X-ray beams (Fig.1). The method is based on a nuclear
resonant scattering technique (NRS) using the strong synchrotron X-ray facility, SPring-8.
The research team successfully observed the NRS signal and determined the energy level and the life timeof the 2nd excited state of Th-229 with unprecedented accuracy (Fig.2 and Fig.3). A large amount of Th229 isomer, predominantly decayed from the 2nd excited state, can now be produced in a controllable
manner. This new method enables the production of Th-229 isomer under clean conditions without
radioactivity and is expected to push forward research on Th-229 towards the realization of a “nuclear
clock”.

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Fig. 2 Resonance curves of Th-229 NRS.
The plots showed number of events scattered by nuclei
with various X-ray beam energies. Resonance peaks areclearly observed in both energy scan using different energy
resolution monochromators (Si440, Si660).

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Fig. 3 Half life of 2nd excited state.
Inset shows the temporal profile of on resonance and off
resonance data. The difference is plotted in the main plot
showing the clear exponential decay with 82.2 ps half life.

Reference:・Authors: Takahiko Masuda, Akihiro Yoshimi, Akira Fujieda, Hiroyuki Fujimoto, Hiromitsu Haba,
Hideaki Hara, Takahiro Hiraki, Hiroyuki Kaino, Yoshitaka Kasamatsu, Shinji Kitao, Kenji Konashi, Yuki
Miyamoto, Koichi Okai, Sho Okubo, Noboru Sasao, Makoto Seto, Thorsten Schumm, Yudai
Shigekawa, Kenta Suzuki, Simon Stellmer, Kenji Tamasaku, Satoshi Uetake, Makoto Watanabe,
Tsukasa Watanabe, Yuki Yasuda, Atsushi Yamaguchi, Yoshitaka Yoda, Takuya Yokokita, Motohiko
Yoshimura & Koji Yoshimura

・
・
・
・
・

Title of original paper: X-ray pumping of the 229Th nuclear clock isomer.
Journal: Nature volume 573, pages238–242(2019)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) :https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1542-3
Journal website: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1542-3
Affiliations: Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University
Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, Okayama University
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST),RIKEN, Wako,
Graduate School of Science, Osaka University
Institute for Integrated Radiation and Nuclear Science, Kyoto University
Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University
Institute for Atomic and Subatomic Physics, TU Wien
RIKEN SPring-8 Center
Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”

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Research Highlights

Non-plume hypothesis for the genesis of passive continental margin ocean island basalts

The genesis of Ocean Island Basalt (OIB) has been debated for more than four decades, and the modelthat is most accepted is the whole-mantle convection theory.
However, the lack of a clear age progression within volcanic chains for the OIB at the western offshore ofWest Africa—one of the major OIB regions on Earth—is inconsistent with the formation of hotspot
tracks by melting of stationary plumes.
Iyasu G. Belay and colleagues at Okayama University measured isotopic data on Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb for
basaltic samples from the Cameroon Volcanic Line (CVL) volcanoes and found that they were generated
by a mixture of the refertilized subcontinental lithospheric mantle and the asthenospheric mantle.
To decipher the common source materials of the OIB in the western offshore of West Africa, the principal
component analysis was performed using the analyzed and the compiled data from Canary Islands, Cape
Verde Islands, Madeira Islands, Atlas Mountains, and CVL volcanoes.
The researchers found that the parental magmas of most of the OIB studied were generated from the samematerials for CVL, and their locations were strongly controlled by the former location of the Mesozoic rift
axis when the African and South American continents broke up.
The genesis of OIB at the passive continental margin could be triggered by a small-scale convection
beneath the discontinuous lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary, and a plume rising from the lower mantle
is not necessary for the generation of these magmas.

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Figure caption: Schematic cross-sections illustrating thesource materials and melting process of passive
continental margin magmatism.

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Reference:・・Authors: Iyasu G. Belay, Ryoji Tanaka, Hiroshi Kitagawa, Katsura Kobayashi & Eizo Nakamura.
Title of original paper: Origin of ocean island basalts in the West African passive margin without
mantle plume involvement.

・
・
・
・

Journal, volume, pages and year: Nature Communications 10, 3022 (2019).
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1038/s41467-019-10832-7
Journal website: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-10832-7
Affiliations: The Pheasant Memorial Laboratory, Institute for Planetary Materials,
Okayama University

・・

Department website: Department website: http://www.misasa.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng
Okayama University Scientific Achievement Repository:
http://ousar.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/ja/56914“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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Research Highlights

Death feigning is controlled by dopamine in a beetle

Since Edmunds, much research has focused on the behavior adopted by animals to avoid attack by enemies.
However, there have been no analysis of gene expression associated with death feigning as an animal
defense behavior.
Now, Takahisa Miyatake at Okayama University, Ken Sasaki at Tamagawa University, and Yajima
Shunsuke at Tokyo University of Agriculture and their colleagues have compared the gene expression
profiles of strains exhibiting different behaviors, that is differing durations of death feigning, in the beetle
Tribolium castaneum. Beetles artificially selected for short and long durations of death feigning for many
generations were compared thoroughly by RNA sequencing.
The researchers identified 518 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between the strains. The strains also
showed divergence in unexpected gene expression regions. As expected from previous physiological studies,genes associated with the metabolic pathways of tyrosine, a precursor of dopamine, were differentiallyexpressed between the S and L strains; these enzyme-encoding genes were expressed at higher levels in the
L strain than in the S strain.
Furthermore, it was also found that several genes associated with insulin signaling were expressed at higher
levels in the S strain than in the L strain. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis showed that the relative
expression levels of Tchpd (encoding 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase, Hpd) and Tcnat (encoding
N-acetyltransferase, Nat) were significantly higher in the L strain than in the S strain.
These results suggest the influence of these enzymes on the supply of dopamine and duration of death
feigning.

Figure caption: feigned death (left) and walking (right)
beetles

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Reference:・

Title of original paper: Transcriptomic comparison between beetle strains selected for short andlong durations of death feigning

・
・
・
・

Journal, volume, pages and year: Scientific Reports 9, 14001 (2019)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi:10.1038/s41598-019-50440-5
Journal website: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-50440-5#Sec1
Affiliations: Department of Graduate Sciences of Environmental and Life Sciences, Okayama
University

・Okayama University Scientific Achievement Repository:
http://ousar.lib.okayama-u.ac.jp/57359“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530 Japan© Okayama University
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TopicsOkayama University Dance Sport Club
Currently, Okayama University Dance Sport Club is brisk club which consists of more than 100 members,
as indicated by the fact that the club has long continued to win the overall championship in the divisionof groups in a competition held in the Chugoku and Shikoku region.
In Dance Sport, competitive ballroom dancing, it is important for dancers to improve high-leveltechniques and demonstrate their features as a pair. Thus, it is normal for dancers to continue training
over a long period of time without changing their partners. Mr. NOMOTO Hikaru and Ms. NAKATA Noa
formed a pair when they were freshmen. This year, when they are in junior year, they won the overall
victory in a competition held in the Chugoku and Shikoku region.
Asked about what they have obtained through DanceSport, Mr. NOMOTO said that he had learned
communication manners and skills, while Ms. NAKATA
stated that she had developed her compassion andsensitivity for others. Dance Sport is attractive, especiallyin that it enables dancers to learn about the importance of
establishing a relationship of trust and to grow themselves
both physically and mentally. There is a growing
expectation that Okayama University Dance Sport Club
will continue to make a spectacular showing.

Mr. NOMOTO (left) and Ms. NAKATA

Further information
Okayama University Dance Sport Club (Japanese page)https://www.vocavation.com/okadance/“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
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◆Further information
Okayama University
1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
Public Relations
E-mail: www-adm@adm.okayama-u.ac.jp
Website: https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/index_e.html
Okayama University e-Bulletin
https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/user/kouhou/ebulletin/
Okayama University Medical Research Updates (OU-MRU)
https://www.okayama-u.ac.jp/eng/research/ou-mru.html
About Okayama University (YouTube 1)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDL1coqPRYIOkayama University Image Movie (YouTube 2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU3hOIXS5kk◆About Okayama University
Okayama University is one of the largest comprehensive universities inJapan with roots going back to the Medical Training Place sponsored by the
Lord of Okayama and established in 1870. Now with 1,300 faculty and13,000 students, the University offers courses in specialties ranging frommedicine and pharmacy to humanities and physical sciences.
Okayama University is located in the heart of Japan approximately 3 hours
west of Tokyo by Shinkansen.
Hirofumi Makino, M.D., Ph.D.
President, Okayama University“Okayama University supports the Sustainable Development Goals”
1-1-1 Tsushima-naka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530 Japan© Okayama University
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