OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA通信
OCARINA Communication 6

What is OCARINA?
The mission of OCARINA (OCU Advanced Research Institute for Natural Science andTechnology) is to ﬁnd solutions for global-level energy and environmental issues andcomplex and advanced research subjects, and contribute to the establishment of asustainable society. As an urban-type university that promotes multidisciplinary
research, we set up research projects across the graduate schools.
Since its foundation in 2010, OCARINA has been carrying out large-scale projects withcompetitive research funds, while promoting globalization, integration of diﬀerent ﬁelds,
training of young researchers, and recruitment of female researchers.
Currently, we have ﬁve big projects at the four OCU research departments of Graduate
School of Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science andGraduate S cho ol of Med icine . The most d ist ing u ish ing feature of O CA R I NA is t hei nt eg r at ion of d i ﬀ erent ﬁeld s , wh ich is c onduct ed by a s m a l l nu mb er of s ele ct ed
researchers. With the major city of Osaka as our base, we will continue to promote original
research, including collaborative research related to medicine.

The OCU Advanced Research Institute for Natural Science and Technology

History of the Osaka City University Advanced Research Institute for
Natural Science and Tehnology
2008 March
April
December2010 March
March
OctoberNovember
December
2011 March2012 March
April
July
2013 March
April
June
2014 February
February
March
March
April
April
2015 March
April
April
2016 March
April
April
April

Founding Anniversary International Symposium held
The OCU strategic key research project (2008-2011) started
International Workshop held on the eﬃcient use of sunlight energy
1st International symposium held
Enforcement of oﬃcial regulations(start of activities as an oﬃcial bureau)
Building 2 renovated for research ﬂoors of OCARINA
Opening symposium for building 2 of OCARINA held
2nd International symposium held
3rd International symposium, “Kakuno memorial,” held
Annual meeting and the OCU strategic key research project(2008-2011) debrieﬁng held
The OCU strategic key research project (2012-2014) started
School of Science Building C completed, partial occupation
4th International symposium held
2 new full-time staﬀ members appointed
Research Center of Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis opened
Partial occupation for the new School of Science Building
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
5th International symposium held
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
The OCU strategic key research project (2014-2015) started
6th International Symposium held
One new full-time staﬀ member appointed
New project started
7th International Symposium held
The OCU strategic key research project (2016-2017) started
ReCAP authorized as a Joint Usage/Research Center by Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
One new project started

̶Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis ̶Approval as a joint usage/research center and the new projects and roles of OCARINA

While each project is making steady progress, issues with regard topromoting multidisciplinary research are being identiﬁed.
̶ Special Project̶
Yutaka Amao

Professor, OCARINA「Authorized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT) Joint Usage / Research Center
COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis」

̶Research Introduction̶
Tomoko Yoshida

Professor, OCARINA「Development of solid photocatalysts for artiﬁcial photosynthesis」

̶Project Introduction̶
Soichi Saeki

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU「Advanced Biomedical Technology: Micro tomographic diagnosis using multi-functional OCT
˜ Application to the diagnoses of skin and cartilage diseases, arteriosclerosis,
cancer and regenerative medicine ˜」

Tetsuya Satoh Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU「Development of Environment-friendly Cross Coupling Reactions」

̶Activity Report̶

7th OCARINA International Symposium and 2nd International
Symposium in honor of Distinguished professor Michael Nobel

Osaka City University Advanced Research Institutefor Natural Science and Technology
3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku,
Osaka 558-8585, Japan
http://www.ocarina.osaka-cu.ac.jp/
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Outreach Activities & Science Café
OCU Tenure Track Study Conference

Vol.6

OCARINA Seminars

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and TechOCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis

Approval as a joint usage/research center andthe new projects and roles of OCARINA

While each project is making steady progress, issues with regard
to promoting multidisciplinary research are being identiﬁed.

Assistant for President, OCU
Director, OCARINA

Michio Miyano
Completed the doctoral program of the Graduate Schoolof Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University in March
1980 without obtaining a doctorate. Obtained a degreeof Doctor of Engineering. Was a full-time lecturer,
professor, Dean of the Graduate School of Human Life
Science and the Faculty of Human Life Science of OCU,
and became Vice President in 2010. His books include
Great East Japan Earthquake - Volunteering Activities
and Temporary Housing (Kenpakusha, 2014),
Long-period Ground Motion and Seismic Resistance of Buildings (Architectural Institute ofJapan, 2007), Disaster Prevention Encyclopedia (Tsukiji-shokan, 2002) and Great Hanshin
Earthquake - Short yet Long Five Years (Gakugei Publishing, 2000).

1Each project has been successful, and has received a good response this year. An example
is the approval of the Research Center for Photosynthesis as a base for joint use and joint
research. Meanwhile, one of the important issues is the training of young researchers.
OCARINA is expected to become a place for the training of next-generation researchers
and the generation of new ideas through exchanges in diﬀerent ﬁelds of study.
We will take advantage of having
been approved as a joint researchbase to promote our organization bothin Japan and abroad.
Dr. Miyano／We were pleased to hear the news of thestart of the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
this year. Also, other new projects and sub-projects werelaunched. I would like to hear your opinions about thecurrent condition and future perspective regarding thesepoints.
First, Dr. Amao, please tell us about the start of the COE
Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis.
Dr. Amao／This was our second attempt at obtaining
approval, and fortunately we were approved. I think themost important reason for our approval was that we could
promote the fact that we have hybrid professionals who
specialize in both ﬁelds of photocatalysts and biology.
The funds provided by the approval were important for thestartup, but the more important thing was the name theartiﬁcial photosynthesis research base . We are now
actively engaged in public relations and trying to publicize
the fact that we exist.
Dr. Shigekawa／I think I came in 2011, around thesame time as Dr. Amao. Since I study solar batteries, I was
expecting the study ﬁelds of the organization to involve
both science and engineering.
Dr. Amao／Yes. I received a lot of advice from you at theﬁrst stage. Based on that, I consulted Dr. Kamiya, anddetermined the current orientation of artiﬁcial
photosynthesis plus solar power generation. Now, it is
OCARINA s next direction.
Dr. Miyano／I think so. The main study topic of the
Research Center for Photosynthesis was photosyntheses. A
new topic was added and we are advancing in the direction
we aimed for.
Dr. Kamiya／First, the Urban Research Plaza was acting
in the ﬁeld of liberal arts, and we started the study project,assuming the integration of arts and sciences. Now, wehave the artiﬁcial photosynthesis research base as a basefor science, and we have made another step toward ourideal image.
Now that we have a base for joint research, the way inwhich internal and external researchers use theorganization to conduct research jointly is important. Whatdo you think about this?

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Dr. Amao／We felt the response was good when many
joint researchers came to attend the lecture meeting lastDecember. We made an announcement only on our website,
but many researchers outside the university became
interested and attended the meeting. The kick-oﬀ meeting
was held in a room with a capacity of 100, but the room
was not large enough, and some people were standing. I
was surprised to see that.
We will publicize our organization by holding a large
symposium and periodically inviting top researchers in
relevant ﬁelds, while holding this kind of small-scale
meetings on a regular basis.
We will also make an eﬀort to increase the awareness of
our organization worldwide. We are thinking of making
cards with the URL and Facebook code of ourorganization, and distributing them at academic
conferences to publicize globally.
In order to fan the ﬂame of artiﬁcial photosynthesis, wewould like more people to know about it, and take various
new initiatives as a research base.
Dr. Miyano／It is very good that our university wasapproved, even though most approved joint research bases
are national universities, and that the center has become
our second approved organization, following the Urban
Research Plaza. We are expecting a lot of development in
the future.
Next, let s talk about the new projects. Could you explain
your project, Dr. Saeki?

What is necessary to popularize
medical technologies in Japan
Dr. Saeki／Our Advanced Biomedical Engineering project
involves the development of medical equipment for
diagnosis through the use of light. Our diagnostic
instrument can be applied to various parts of the body, so
we are working in collaboration with various ﬁelds of
medicine such as dermatology, orthopedics and digestiveand circulatory organs.
At present, we are engaged in the project of making an
instrument to evaluate regenerative tissues. Research has
focused on tissue regeneration yet we have no evaluation
standard for regenerative tissues. We are now developing
an instrument that can follow the processes of evaluating,diagnosing and treating regenerative tissues when they are

Vice Director, OCARINA

Nobuo Kamiya
Graduated from the School of Science and completed
the doctoral course at the Graduate School of
Science, Nagoya University. Doctor of science.
Worked as the guest researcher at the High Energy
Physics Research Institute, Photon Factory (PF), theresearcher and research sub head at RIKEN and the
director of the R&D oﬃce of RIKEN Harima Center(Spring-8). Became the professor of the Graduate
School of Science, OCU in 2005 and took up his
present post in 2010. Awarded the Asahi
Prize in 2012.

used on actual medical sites.
I ve been involved in medical engineering for ten years,
and I feel that it is not as popular in Japan as it is overseas.
I think this is because the relevant companies haveestablished ties with foreign organizations or moved theirresearch bases overseas.
Dr. Satoh／At Japanese universities, the medical
department and engineering department are separated
physically. Is this another reason?
Dr. Saeki／A diﬃcult aspect of medical engineering isthat it requires cross-sectoral knowledge from science toengineering.
At Harvard Medical School, for example, engineers andmedical doctors study in the same laboratory, and they
have a close relationship. I spend one third of the week
studying in a building of the medical department. It may be
diﬃcult if we do not have such a close relationship.
Dr. Shigekawa／We are trying to promote collaboration
between medicine and engineering, but it is inadequate
compared to Harvard. We may need some more time.
Dr. Saeki／At the university I used to work for, I taught
students of the medical department in a major. It would be
diﬃcult if we do not have such circulation.
Dr. Kamiya／Medicine-engineering collaboration is one ofthe orientations we should take, and I hope OCARINA canprovide support, although I m afraid it won t be very easy.
It is, however, very signiﬁcant that we have the Faculty of
Medicine. We were already receiving requests forcollaboration between medicine and engineering or science
before you came, but it didn t proceed smoothly duringsome periods. It has just started. I think what we should dofrom now on is to go by orthodox methods such as steadyadvertisement and promoting contacts and collaboration
between the ﬁelds.
Dr. Saeki／Thank you very much. There are someproblems to be solved, but anyway, I think it is importantfor me to continue doing what I should do.
Dr. Miyano／Do you have any expectation for
OCARINA?

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

2

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis

Approval as a joint usage/research center andthe new projects and roles of OCARINA

While each project is making steady progress, issues with regard
to promoting multidisciplinary research are being identiﬁed.

Assistant for President, OCU
Director, OCARINA

Michio Miyano
Completed the doctoral program of the Graduate Schoolof Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University in March
1980 without obtaining a doctorate. Obtained a degreeof Doctor of Engineering. Was a full-time lecturer,
professor, Dean of the Graduate School of Human Life
Science and the Faculty of Human Life Science of OCU,
and became Vice President in 2010. His books include
Great East Japan Earthquake - Volunteering Activities
and Temporary Housing (Kenpakusha, 2014),
Long-period Ground Motion and Seismic Resistance of Buildings (Architectural Institute ofJapan, 2007), Disaster Prevention Encyclopedia (Tsukiji-shokan, 2002) and Great Hanshin
Earthquake - Short yet Long Five Years (Gakugei Publishing, 2000).

1Each project has been successful, and has received a good response this year. An example
is the approval of the Research Center for Photosynthesis as a base for joint use and joint
research. Meanwhile, one of the important issues is the training of young researchers.
OCARINA is expected to become a place for the training of next-generation researchers
and the generation of new ideas through exchanges in diﬀerent ﬁelds of study.
We will take advantage of having
been approved as a joint researchbase to promote our organization bothin Japan and abroad.
Dr. Miyano／We were pleased to hear the news of thestart of the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
this year. Also, other new projects and sub-projects werelaunched. I would like to hear your opinions about thecurrent condition and future perspective regarding thesepoints.
First, Dr. Amao, please tell us about the start of the COE
Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis.
Dr. Amao／This was our second attempt at obtaining
approval, and fortunately we were approved. I think themost important reason for our approval was that we could
promote the fact that we have hybrid professionals who
specialize in both ﬁelds of photocatalysts and biology.
The funds provided by the approval were important for thestartup, but the more important thing was the name theartiﬁcial photosynthesis research base . We are now
actively engaged in public relations and trying to publicize
the fact that we exist.
Dr. Shigekawa／I think I came in 2011, around thesame time as Dr. Amao. Since I study solar batteries, I was
expecting the study ﬁelds of the organization to involve
both science and engineering.
Dr. Amao／Yes. I received a lot of advice from you at theﬁrst stage. Based on that, I consulted Dr. Kamiya, anddetermined the current orientation of artiﬁcial
photosynthesis plus solar power generation. Now, it is
OCARINA s next direction.
Dr. Miyano／I think so. The main study topic of the
Research Center for Photosynthesis was photosyntheses. A
new topic was added and we are advancing in the direction
we aimed for.
Dr. Kamiya／First, the Urban Research Plaza was acting
in the ﬁeld of liberal arts, and we started the study project,assuming the integration of arts and sciences. Now, wehave the artiﬁcial photosynthesis research base as a basefor science, and we have made another step toward ourideal image.
Now that we have a base for joint research, the way inwhich internal and external researchers use theorganization to conduct research jointly is important. Whatdo you think about this?

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Dr. Amao／We felt the response was good when many
joint researchers came to attend the lecture meeting lastDecember. We made an announcement only on our website,
but many researchers outside the university became
interested and attended the meeting. The kick-oﬀ meeting
was held in a room with a capacity of 100, but the room
was not large enough, and some people were standing. I
was surprised to see that.
We will publicize our organization by holding a large
symposium and periodically inviting top researchers in
relevant ﬁelds, while holding this kind of small-scale
meetings on a regular basis.
We will also make an eﬀort to increase the awareness of
our organization worldwide. We are thinking of making
cards with the URL and Facebook code of ourorganization, and distributing them at academic
conferences to publicize globally.
In order to fan the ﬂame of artiﬁcial photosynthesis, wewould like more people to know about it, and take various
new initiatives as a research base.
Dr. Miyano／It is very good that our university wasapproved, even though most approved joint research bases
are national universities, and that the center has become
our second approved organization, following the Urban
Research Plaza. We are expecting a lot of development in
the future.
Next, let s talk about the new projects. Could you explain
your project, Dr. Saeki?

What is necessary to popularize
medical technologies in Japan
Dr. Saeki／Our Advanced Biomedical Engineering project
involves the development of medical equipment for
diagnosis through the use of light. Our diagnostic
instrument can be applied to various parts of the body, so
we are working in collaboration with various ﬁelds of
medicine such as dermatology, orthopedics and digestiveand circulatory organs.
At present, we are engaged in the project of making an
instrument to evaluate regenerative tissues. Research has
focused on tissue regeneration yet we have no evaluation
standard for regenerative tissues. We are now developing
an instrument that can follow the processes of evaluating,diagnosing and treating regenerative tissues when they are

Vice Director, OCARINA

Nobuo Kamiya
Graduated from the School of Science and completed
the doctoral course at the Graduate School of
Science, Nagoya University. Doctor of science.
Worked as the guest researcher at the High Energy
Physics Research Institute, Photon Factory (PF), theresearcher and research sub head at RIKEN and the
director of the R&D oﬃce of RIKEN Harima Center(Spring-8). Became the professor of the Graduate
School of Science, OCU in 2005 and took up his
present post in 2010. Awarded the Asahi
Prize in 2012.

used on actual medical sites.
I ve been involved in medical engineering for ten years,
and I feel that it is not as popular in Japan as it is overseas.
I think this is because the relevant companies haveestablished ties with foreign organizations or moved theirresearch bases overseas.
Dr. Satoh／At Japanese universities, the medical
department and engineering department are separated
physically. Is this another reason?
Dr. Saeki／A diﬃcult aspect of medical engineering isthat it requires cross-sectoral knowledge from science toengineering.
At Harvard Medical School, for example, engineers andmedical doctors study in the same laboratory, and they
have a close relationship. I spend one third of the week
studying in a building of the medical department. It may be
diﬃcult if we do not have such a close relationship.
Dr. Shigekawa／We are trying to promote collaboration
between medicine and engineering, but it is inadequate
compared to Harvard. We may need some more time.
Dr. Saeki／At the university I used to work for, I taught
students of the medical department in a major. It would be
diﬃcult if we do not have such circulation.
Dr. Kamiya／Medicine-engineering collaboration is one ofthe orientations we should take, and I hope OCARINA canprovide support, although I m afraid it won t be very easy.
It is, however, very signiﬁcant that we have the Faculty of
Medicine. We were already receiving requests forcollaboration between medicine and engineering or science
before you came, but it didn t proceed smoothly duringsome periods. It has just started. I think what we should dofrom now on is to go by orthodox methods such as steadyadvertisement and promoting contacts and collaboration
between the ﬁelds.
Dr. Saeki／Thank you very much. There are someproblems to be solved, but anyway, I think it is importantfor me to continue doing what I should do.
Dr. Miyano／Do you have any expectation for
OCARINA?

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

2

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
Vice Director, OCARINA

Naoteru Shigekawa
Graduated from the Department of Physics, Faculty of
Science, University of Tokyo in March 1984, andcompleted the master s course at the Department of
Physics, Graduate School of Science in March 1986.
Studied chemical semiconductor hetero binding devices
at NTT Atsugi Research Institute for ElectricalCommunication (present NTT Device Technology
Laboratories) from April 1986 until Sep. 2011. Took up
his present post in Oct. 2011. Doctor of science

3

Professor, OCARINA

Yutaka Amao
Obtained a Doctorate in Engineering at the Graduate
School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Instituteof Technology in March 1997. Was a researcher at the
Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology
Foundation and the National Aerospace Laboratory ofJapan (present-day JAXA). In addition, he was alecturer, an assistant professor, and then an associate
professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Oita University.
He became a professor of OCARINA in April 2013. He
has also been acting as the Director of the ResearchCenter for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis since April 2015.

Dr. Saeki／At present, only our group is involved in the
project of medical engineering. We need to establish anorganization equipped with medical instruments that canmeet the need for drug development during this time of
integration of prefectural and municipal organizations. We
are in a good environment to form a team and make it areality. We will be glad if we can receive support for our
project as a symbol of joint research from not only one
faculty but from multiple faculties.

particular, in organic chemistry, and there are many
researchers specialized in the ﬁeld.
In our group, Dr. Usuki is studying natural material
synthesis, and he sometimes uses reactions developed byus to produce molecules he needs.
We are also developing reactions according to the needs ofthe group of natural material synthesis, so people making
natural things, medicine or agricultural chemicals are alsointerested in our research.

Dr. Miyano／It is important to grow the momentum in
OCARINA in various respects, including through the
integration of prefectural and municipal universities.

Dr. Miyano／Do you have relationships with the Facultyof Engineering?

Research of organic materials has
great potential for development
through integration of multiple ﬁelds.
Dr. Satoh／I joined the project of advanced materials led
by Dr. Shigekawa this year. In the project, my group is
specialized in organic materials. We are developing
catalytic reactions for the synthesis of π conjugate
molecules.
For the synthesis of π conjugate molecules, cross coupling
reactions are used widely; however, there are
disadvantages such as waste emission and diﬃculty ingetting materials. Our group is trying to ﬁnd new coupling
reactions, using homogeneous catalysts.
In short, we are trying to develop reactions for thesynthesis of organic materials, using easy-to-get reagents.
Dr. Miyano／You have been selected as a highly citedresearcher by Thomson Reuters for three consecutive
years. I hear many people in diﬀerent ﬁelds of study are
citing your reports.

Dr. Satoh／We are communicating with researchers of
the Faculty of Engineering in order to develop functional
molecules for liquid crystal, organic solar batteries andluminescence materials.
When I came to this university, I noticed there was nobase organization for researchers of catalysts, so I made a
proposal for this sub-project.
Dr. Miyano／I hope the relationships with diﬀerent ﬁelds
will increase as a result of this project.
Dr. Satoh／I agree. It is said that catalysts are used in
90% of production processes of commercial chemicals. If
there were a place for researchers of catalysts to gather, it
would create chances for joint research with various ﬁelds.
I expect OCARINA to be used as a gathering place byresearchers of diﬀerent ﬁelds with the same purpose of
catalyst research.
Dr. Miyano／I think there are many things OCARINA
can do to support you.
Now, let us talk about our future activities.

Dr. Satoh／Yes. I am developing reactions that bondcommercially available reagents, which can be carried out
by anyone. That s why my reports are often cited.

Opening up the future and promoting
multiple perspectives throughdisciplinary integration

Dr. Miyano／Then, is there a possibility of joint researchwith diﬀerent ﬁelds of study?

Dr. Miyano／Let s move on to the issue of joint research,
industry-academia collaboration and collaboration ofuniversities. When I was listening to Dr. Saeki s words, I
thought that it may be necessary to cultivate humanresources who have expertise in multiple ﬁelds.
There are some young specially-appointed researchers, but

Dr. Satoh／We are already conducting joint researchwith various companies using organic materials. This
university is strong in natural material synthesis, in

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Associate Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU

Soichi Saeki

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at the
Department of System Quantum Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, University of Tokyo in March
1999. He became a doctoral researcher at MIT in 1999,
a lecturer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, Yamaguchi University
in 2001, an associate professor of the Department ofApplied Medical Engineering, Graduate School of
Medicine, Yamaguchi University in 2004, a guest
associate professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT in 2008, and an
associate professor of the Department of Mechanical and Physical Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, OCT in 2013.

we have not established a training system for them. How
should we train young researchers in the system, with afocus on researchers who are carrying out project
research? What do you think about this issue?
Dr. Kamiya／I think that training of young researchers
is really important. It will take 20 or 30 years for artiﬁcial
photosynthesis to become popular in society. Therefore, it
should be supported by students. Whether it is artiﬁcial
photosynthesis or another project, every research ﬁeld has
its ups and downs. Research ﬂourishes when it is attracting
attention, but it loses its speed when it is not. Therefore, I
think continuity is a key.
Dr. Miyano／You mean our organization should be aplace to train next-generation researchers in addition to aplace of advanced research.
Students who experience learning from multiple
perspectives naturally tend to be able to integrate diﬀerent
ﬁelds of study. It would be great if such young people go
into not only academia but also industry, and start up abusiness or play an active role.

Seeking innovative ideas produced by
combining diﬀerent ﬁelds
Dr. Saeki／This might be a digression, but when I wasworking for MIT, people from various ﬁelds such as
science, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and materialscience gathered together. We were presented with asponsored project and told to divide it into diﬀerent ﬁelds toachieve the purpose.
I wonder if it might be possible to do the same thing at
OCARINA. We have a system to support obtaining
external funds, and it would be really beneﬁcial to our
research. For example, the research support department
forms a team in collaboration with OCARINA, and theteam supports fundraising and takes the initiative insupporting research.
Dr. Miyano／It would be diﬃcult for OCARINA to do italone. We should cooperate with the research support
department and the coordinators of the URA center, which
was established last year for providing support. But it s not
impossible.

Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU

Tetsuya Satoh

Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry,
Division of Engineering, Osaka University. Obtained adoctoral degree (Engineering) at the Department ofApplied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering,Osaka University. After working as an assistant and an
associate professor in the Division of Engineering, Osaka
University, he became a professor at OCT in 2015. Healso worked as a guest researcher at the University ofRochester (MEXT overseas researcher) (2000˜2001)
and a guest professor at Osaka University (2015˜2017).

Dr. Saeki／At MIT, it did not seem that thoseresearchers had had relationships before that. I did notknow if there was some kind of database to determine therequired researchers according to companies needs or
how those researchers were selected.
Dr. Shigekawa／Did you feel that the university was
assuming leadership?
Dr. Saeki／Yes. It may not be popular in Japan yet, but I
wish we could do that here. I usually work only with mycolleagues within my ﬁeld of study, but then, people
studying in totally diﬀerent ﬁelds from mine gathered
together, and proceeded with the project, thinking about
what was needed for the project s success. Seeing that, I
learnt a lot. I wish we could do the same thing here at
OCARINA.
Dr. Miyano／Such management should be conducted by
the URA center, but it was established just last year andhas not matured to that stage yet. However, I think they
are considering a similar thing. OCARINA can provide
such an occasion through support for other organizations.
Dr. Satoh／Individual researchers will be able to work
easily if the goal is clear, even if the project is a little
separate from their own ﬁeld.
Dr. Miyano／The project groups are not interacting
actively now. If OCARINA can deepen relationships
between people of diﬀerent specialties, disciplinary
integration can be realized right here.
I will be very delighted if people who meet here form newgroups which are not limited by boundaries between
projects, to take on challenges for innovation.
Dr. Kamiya／I totally agree with you. At present, eachproject is moving in parallel with others. However,
OCARINA s original concept is to provide a place forcreating new projects through integration. First, we aim torealize one example of such a project.

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

4

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
Vice Director, OCARINA

Naoteru Shigekawa
Graduated from the Department of Physics, Faculty of
Science, University of Tokyo in March 1984, andcompleted the master s course at the Department of
Physics, Graduate School of Science in March 1986.
Studied chemical semiconductor hetero binding devices
at NTT Atsugi Research Institute for ElectricalCommunication (present NTT Device Technology
Laboratories) from April 1986 until Sep. 2011. Took up
his present post in Oct. 2011. Doctor of science

3

Professor, OCARINA

Yutaka Amao
Obtained a Doctorate in Engineering at the Graduate
School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo Instituteof Technology in March 1997. Was a researcher at the
Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology
Foundation and the National Aerospace Laboratory ofJapan (present-day JAXA). In addition, he was alecturer, an assistant professor, and then an associate
professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Oita University.
He became a professor of OCARINA in April 2013. He
has also been acting as the Director of the ResearchCenter for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis since April 2015.

Dr. Saeki／At present, only our group is involved in the
project of medical engineering. We need to establish anorganization equipped with medical instruments that canmeet the need for drug development during this time of
integration of prefectural and municipal organizations. We
are in a good environment to form a team and make it areality. We will be glad if we can receive support for our
project as a symbol of joint research from not only one
faculty but from multiple faculties.

particular, in organic chemistry, and there are many
researchers specialized in the ﬁeld.
In our group, Dr. Usuki is studying natural material
synthesis, and he sometimes uses reactions developed byus to produce molecules he needs.
We are also developing reactions according to the needs ofthe group of natural material synthesis, so people making
natural things, medicine or agricultural chemicals are alsointerested in our research.

Dr. Miyano／It is important to grow the momentum in
OCARINA in various respects, including through the
integration of prefectural and municipal universities.

Dr. Miyano／Do you have relationships with the Facultyof Engineering?

Research of organic materials has
great potential for development
through integration of multiple ﬁelds.
Dr. Satoh／I joined the project of advanced materials led
by Dr. Shigekawa this year. In the project, my group is
specialized in organic materials. We are developing
catalytic reactions for the synthesis of π conjugate
molecules.
For the synthesis of π conjugate molecules, cross coupling
reactions are used widely; however, there are
disadvantages such as waste emission and diﬃculty ingetting materials. Our group is trying to ﬁnd new coupling
reactions, using homogeneous catalysts.
In short, we are trying to develop reactions for thesynthesis of organic materials, using easy-to-get reagents.
Dr. Miyano／You have been selected as a highly citedresearcher by Thomson Reuters for three consecutive
years. I hear many people in diﬀerent ﬁelds of study are
citing your reports.

Dr. Satoh／We are communicating with researchers of
the Faculty of Engineering in order to develop functional
molecules for liquid crystal, organic solar batteries andluminescence materials.
When I came to this university, I noticed there was nobase organization for researchers of catalysts, so I made a
proposal for this sub-project.
Dr. Miyano／I hope the relationships with diﬀerent ﬁelds
will increase as a result of this project.
Dr. Satoh／I agree. It is said that catalysts are used in
90% of production processes of commercial chemicals. If
there were a place for researchers of catalysts to gather, it
would create chances for joint research with various ﬁelds.
I expect OCARINA to be used as a gathering place byresearchers of diﬀerent ﬁelds with the same purpose of
catalyst research.
Dr. Miyano／I think there are many things OCARINA
can do to support you.
Now, let us talk about our future activities.

Dr. Satoh／Yes. I am developing reactions that bondcommercially available reagents, which can be carried out
by anyone. That s why my reports are often cited.

Opening up the future and promoting
multiple perspectives throughdisciplinary integration

Dr. Miyano／Then, is there a possibility of joint researchwith diﬀerent ﬁelds of study?

Dr. Miyano／Let s move on to the issue of joint research,
industry-academia collaboration and collaboration ofuniversities. When I was listening to Dr. Saeki s words, I
thought that it may be necessary to cultivate humanresources who have expertise in multiple ﬁelds.
There are some young specially-appointed researchers, but

Dr. Satoh／We are already conducting joint researchwith various companies using organic materials. This
university is strong in natural material synthesis, in

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Associate Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU

Soichi Saeki

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at the
Department of System Quantum Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, University of Tokyo in March
1999. He became a doctoral researcher at MIT in 1999,
a lecturer of the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, Yamaguchi University
in 2001, an associate professor of the Department ofApplied Medical Engineering, Graduate School of
Medicine, Yamaguchi University in 2004, a guest
associate professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, MIT in 2008, and an
associate professor of the Department of Mechanical and Physical Engineering, Graduate
School of Engineering, OCT in 2013.

we have not established a training system for them. How
should we train young researchers in the system, with afocus on researchers who are carrying out project
research? What do you think about this issue?
Dr. Kamiya／I think that training of young researchers
is really important. It will take 20 or 30 years for artiﬁcial
photosynthesis to become popular in society. Therefore, it
should be supported by students. Whether it is artiﬁcial
photosynthesis or another project, every research ﬁeld has
its ups and downs. Research ﬂourishes when it is attracting
attention, but it loses its speed when it is not. Therefore, I
think continuity is a key.
Dr. Miyano／You mean our organization should be aplace to train next-generation researchers in addition to aplace of advanced research.
Students who experience learning from multiple
perspectives naturally tend to be able to integrate diﬀerent
ﬁelds of study. It would be great if such young people go
into not only academia but also industry, and start up abusiness or play an active role.

Seeking innovative ideas produced by
combining diﬀerent ﬁelds
Dr. Saeki／This might be a digression, but when I wasworking for MIT, people from various ﬁelds such as
science, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and materialscience gathered together. We were presented with asponsored project and told to divide it into diﬀerent ﬁelds toachieve the purpose.
I wonder if it might be possible to do the same thing at
OCARINA. We have a system to support obtaining
external funds, and it would be really beneﬁcial to our
research. For example, the research support department
forms a team in collaboration with OCARINA, and theteam supports fundraising and takes the initiative insupporting research.
Dr. Miyano／It would be diﬃcult for OCARINA to do italone. We should cooperate with the research support
department and the coordinators of the URA center, which
was established last year for providing support. But it s not
impossible.

Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU

Tetsuya Satoh

Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry,
Division of Engineering, Osaka University. Obtained adoctoral degree (Engineering) at the Department ofApplied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering,Osaka University. After working as an assistant and an
associate professor in the Division of Engineering, Osaka
University, he became a professor at OCT in 2015. Healso worked as a guest researcher at the University ofRochester (MEXT overseas researcher) (2000˜2001)
and a guest professor at Osaka University (2015˜2017).

Dr. Saeki／At MIT, it did not seem that thoseresearchers had had relationships before that. I did notknow if there was some kind of database to determine therequired researchers according to companies needs or
how those researchers were selected.
Dr. Shigekawa／Did you feel that the university was
assuming leadership?
Dr. Saeki／Yes. It may not be popular in Japan yet, but I
wish we could do that here. I usually work only with mycolleagues within my ﬁeld of study, but then, people
studying in totally diﬀerent ﬁelds from mine gathered
together, and proceeded with the project, thinking about
what was needed for the project s success. Seeing that, I
learnt a lot. I wish we could do the same thing here at
OCARINA.
Dr. Miyano／Such management should be conducted by
the URA center, but it was established just last year andhas not matured to that stage yet. However, I think they
are considering a similar thing. OCARINA can provide
such an occasion through support for other organizations.
Dr. Satoh／Individual researchers will be able to work
easily if the goal is clear, even if the project is a little
separate from their own ﬁeld.
Dr. Miyano／The project groups are not interacting
actively now. If OCARINA can deepen relationships
between people of diﬀerent specialties, disciplinary
integration can be realized right here.
I will be very delighted if people who meet here form newgroups which are not limited by boundaries between
projects, to take on challenges for innovation.
Dr. Kamiya／I totally agree with you. At present, eachproject is moving in parallel with others. However,
OCARINA s original concept is to provide a place forcreating new projects through integration. First, we aim torealize one example of such a project.

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

4

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Special Project
Authorized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT)
Joint Usage / Research Center
COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis

5

One of Osaka City University (OCU) s priorities is
researching solutions for urban and international
environmental problems and new energy production. We
have obtained high-level research results in the area of
artiﬁcial photosynthesis for the production of fuel fromsolar energy. The Research Center for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis (ReCAP) was established in June 2013 withthe support of Osaka City as a base ofindustry-university-government cooperation. Joint researchchairs and departments were organized by OCU
instructors who have been engaged in advanced
photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis research, aswell as companies involved with that research, to realize
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, which was until now considered
an impossible technology. This is the only facility in Japanfor industry-university joint research that has facilities andequipment for artiﬁcial photosynthesis.
Artiﬁcial photosynthesis is a groundbreaking technologythat produces hydrogen and methanol from water andcarbon dioxide, using inexhaustible solar energy; it willsolve the energy problem that the world will be faced within the near future. Artiﬁcial photosynthesis technology not
only contributes to solving environmental problems bydecreasing carbon dioxide concentrations that have been
increasing due to the use of fossil fuels such as gasoline,
but also enables the creation of an ideal sustainable society
in which carbon circulates, since low-carbon fuel producedby this technology will reconvert to carbon dioxide after
consumption.
Our center is equipped with chemistry laboratories,
biochemical laboratories and analysis instrument facilities
for joint research chairs and departments. The analysis
instrument facilities house state-of-the-art high-accuracy
analyzing equipment such as a nuclear magnetic resonancespectrometer, a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonancemass spectrometer, and an ultra-high luminance X-ray
crystal diﬀractometer, which can also be used by outside
researchers. In addition, the center endeavors to provide a
better environment for researchers by providing, forexample, a female researcher support facility.
In April 2016, ReCAP was authorized by MEXT as a Joint

Professor, OCARINA

Yutaka Amao
Obtained a Doctorate in Engineering at the Graduate
School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo
Institute of Technology in March 1997. Was a
researcher at the Kanagawa Academy of Science andTechnology Foundation and the National Aerospace
Laboratory of Japan (present-day JAXA). In addition,
he was a lecturer, an assistant professor, and then an
associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Oita
University. He became a professor of OCARINA in
April 2013. He has also been acting as the Director of
the Research Center for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
since April 2015.

Usage/Research Center focusing on the research of
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, making the best use of research
results that have been achieved so far all over the world.
The period of authorization is six years.The Kickoﬀ
Seminar on CEO formation for artiﬁcial photosynthesis
was held on August 17, 2016. Tomoyuki Sakaba, AssistantManager of Scientiﬁc Research Institutes Division,
Research Promotion Bureau, MEXT explained MEXT
activities for the Joint Usage/Research Center andProject to Promote Characteristic COE ̶ Start-up
support, as well as the promotion of research centers forthe planning of large-scale academic research projects. He
also talked about expectations with regard to the center.
Haruo Inoue, Specially-appointed Professor of Tokyo
Metropolitan University, delivered a commemorative
lecture entitled The Current Situation and Vision with
Regard to Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis . He talked about aclear target and the present conditions for the practical useof artiﬁcial photosynthesis in society, and explained thedrastic measures that will be necessary in the future to
bring about change.

of next-generation energy and as a solution forenvironmental problems.
I would like to explain the features of COE formation for
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, as well as future activities.
This center is expected to expand the domestic andoverseas communities of researchers and joint research
networks related to photosynthesis and artiﬁcial
photosynthesis, disseminate research results, and promote
the industry and university collaboration system forpractical application of research results. ReCAP is a core of
excellence organized by many researchers in various ﬁelds
to promote the research of artiﬁcial photosynthesis and theapplication of related technology.The situation is such that
there is nowhere for researchers studying natural
photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis systems todiscuss their research results in Japan or abroad. Now, an
artiﬁcial photosynthesis system based on natural
photosynthesis has been studied vigorously. We have beenpromoting the study of an innovative photosynthesis
system, a hybrid system integrating biological organizationand functional materials. The center is disseminating
highly original study output focusing on Photosynthesis
and Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, which other laboratories
cannot follow. The center s state-of-the-art analytical
instruments enable us to respond to joint research invarious ﬁelds.
In order to advance the joint research at the Joint
Usage/Research Center, we set the study period per
research topic to three years, and select topics for the
departments by advertising outside the university. We
conduct joint research to explore new research topics,

Organization of COE Formation
for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis Basic
Research Department
Administration committee

Director

Deputy director

Joint Usage/Research Center
Research topic screening
committee
Expert committee including
administration committee
members

Fig.1 COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis

Based on OCU s photosynthesis and artiﬁcial
photosynthesis research results, ReCAP started as a centerof research activities to develop the technology ofphotosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis for the creation

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Corporate units

Catalyst/Biocatalyst
Research Department

including the use of analyzing instruments and facilities,
and contribute to the training of next-generation humanresources. In order to carry out joint research, wereorganized ReCAP and established four departments
related to the creation of next-generation energy, so that
we can accept a wide range of topics from fundamental
studies to application of research results in cooperation
with companies. Many joint research projects focusing on
artiﬁcial photosynthesis are expected to be carried out at
this center to foster researcher communities and networks
both inside and outside of Japan for practical use of thetechnology.
We advertised for joint research topics for FY2016
including the following: Analysis of photosynthetic protein
mechanism and its application to artiﬁcial photosynthesis;
Invention of polymer catalyst/biocatalyst for molecularconversion of carbon dioxide; Production of photo-hydrogenusing semiconductor photocatalyst / carbon dioxide
restoration system; Creation of artiﬁcial light collection
system and its application to artiﬁcial photosynthesis; Solarcell / Energy carrier / Study of artiﬁcial photosynthesis tocompose chemicals, and selected about 20 projects.
We have great expectations for research results related to
new photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis.
In addition to joint research, we provide information
related to the Joint Usage/Research Center via thewebsite, the new ReCAP facebook page, and semiannual
newsletters. In addition, we plan to hold lectures related to
artiﬁcial photosynthesis on a regular basis, so please havehigh expectations for the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis.
Please access the following:

Website of COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, OCU
http://recap.osaka-cu.ac.jp/ap-coe/index.html

Catalyst Design andResearch Department
International Renewable
Energy Research
Department
Industry-University
Collaboration Department
Equipment Analysis
Department(Technical Research
upport Department)

Facebook page of COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis, OCU
https://www.facebook.com/RECAPOSAKACUACJP/

Advanced research laboratory /Science research laboratory /Engineering research laboratory

Fig.2: Organization of COE Formation for
Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

6

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Special Project
Authorized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT)
Joint Usage / Research Center
COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis

5

One of Osaka City University (OCU) s priorities is
researching solutions for urban and international
environmental problems and new energy production. We
have obtained high-level research results in the area of
artiﬁcial photosynthesis for the production of fuel fromsolar energy. The Research Center for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis (ReCAP) was established in June 2013 withthe support of Osaka City as a base ofindustry-university-government cooperation. Joint researchchairs and departments were organized by OCU
instructors who have been engaged in advanced
photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis research, aswell as companies involved with that research, to realize
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, which was until now considered
an impossible technology. This is the only facility in Japanfor industry-university joint research that has facilities andequipment for artiﬁcial photosynthesis.
Artiﬁcial photosynthesis is a groundbreaking technologythat produces hydrogen and methanol from water andcarbon dioxide, using inexhaustible solar energy; it willsolve the energy problem that the world will be faced within the near future. Artiﬁcial photosynthesis technology not
only contributes to solving environmental problems bydecreasing carbon dioxide concentrations that have been
increasing due to the use of fossil fuels such as gasoline,
but also enables the creation of an ideal sustainable society
in which carbon circulates, since low-carbon fuel producedby this technology will reconvert to carbon dioxide after
consumption.
Our center is equipped with chemistry laboratories,
biochemical laboratories and analysis instrument facilities
for joint research chairs and departments. The analysis
instrument facilities house state-of-the-art high-accuracy
analyzing equipment such as a nuclear magnetic resonancespectrometer, a Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonancemass spectrometer, and an ultra-high luminance X-ray
crystal diﬀractometer, which can also be used by outside
researchers. In addition, the center endeavors to provide a
better environment for researchers by providing, forexample, a female researcher support facility.
In April 2016, ReCAP was authorized by MEXT as a Joint

Professor, OCARINA

Yutaka Amao
Obtained a Doctorate in Engineering at the Graduate
School of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Tokyo
Institute of Technology in March 1997. Was a
researcher at the Kanagawa Academy of Science andTechnology Foundation and the National Aerospace
Laboratory of Japan (present-day JAXA). In addition,
he was a lecturer, an assistant professor, and then an
associate professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Oita
University. He became a professor of OCARINA in
April 2013. He has also been acting as the Director of
the Research Center for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
since April 2015.

Usage/Research Center focusing on the research of
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, making the best use of research
results that have been achieved so far all over the world.
The period of authorization is six years.The Kickoﬀ
Seminar on CEO formation for artiﬁcial photosynthesis
was held on August 17, 2016. Tomoyuki Sakaba, AssistantManager of Scientiﬁc Research Institutes Division,
Research Promotion Bureau, MEXT explained MEXT
activities for the Joint Usage/Research Center andProject to Promote Characteristic COE ̶ Start-up
support, as well as the promotion of research centers forthe planning of large-scale academic research projects. He
also talked about expectations with regard to the center.
Haruo Inoue, Specially-appointed Professor of Tokyo
Metropolitan University, delivered a commemorative
lecture entitled The Current Situation and Vision with
Regard to Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis . He talked about aclear target and the present conditions for the practical useof artiﬁcial photosynthesis in society, and explained thedrastic measures that will be necessary in the future to
bring about change.

of next-generation energy and as a solution forenvironmental problems.
I would like to explain the features of COE formation for
artiﬁcial photosynthesis, as well as future activities.
This center is expected to expand the domestic andoverseas communities of researchers and joint research
networks related to photosynthesis and artiﬁcial
photosynthesis, disseminate research results, and promote
the industry and university collaboration system forpractical application of research results. ReCAP is a core of
excellence organized by many researchers in various ﬁelds
to promote the research of artiﬁcial photosynthesis and theapplication of related technology.The situation is such that
there is nowhere for researchers studying natural
photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis systems todiscuss their research results in Japan or abroad. Now, an
artiﬁcial photosynthesis system based on natural
photosynthesis has been studied vigorously. We have beenpromoting the study of an innovative photosynthesis
system, a hybrid system integrating biological organizationand functional materials. The center is disseminating
highly original study output focusing on Photosynthesis
and Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, which other laboratories
cannot follow. The center s state-of-the-art analytical
instruments enable us to respond to joint research invarious ﬁelds.
In order to advance the joint research at the Joint
Usage/Research Center, we set the study period per
research topic to three years, and select topics for the
departments by advertising outside the university. We
conduct joint research to explore new research topics,

Organization of COE Formation
for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis Basic
Research Department
Administration committee

Director

Deputy director

Joint Usage/Research Center
Research topic screening
committee
Expert committee including
administration committee
members

Fig.1 COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis

Based on OCU s photosynthesis and artiﬁcial
photosynthesis research results, ReCAP started as a centerof research activities to develop the technology ofphotosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis for the creation

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Corporate units

Catalyst/Biocatalyst
Research Department

including the use of analyzing instruments and facilities,
and contribute to the training of next-generation humanresources. In order to carry out joint research, wereorganized ReCAP and established four departments
related to the creation of next-generation energy, so that
we can accept a wide range of topics from fundamental
studies to application of research results in cooperation
with companies. Many joint research projects focusing on
artiﬁcial photosynthesis are expected to be carried out at
this center to foster researcher communities and networks
both inside and outside of Japan for practical use of thetechnology.
We advertised for joint research topics for FY2016
including the following: Analysis of photosynthetic protein
mechanism and its application to artiﬁcial photosynthesis;
Invention of polymer catalyst/biocatalyst for molecularconversion of carbon dioxide; Production of photo-hydrogenusing semiconductor photocatalyst / carbon dioxide
restoration system; Creation of artiﬁcial light collection
system and its application to artiﬁcial photosynthesis; Solarcell / Energy carrier / Study of artiﬁcial photosynthesis tocompose chemicals, and selected about 20 projects.
We have great expectations for research results related to
new photosynthesis and artiﬁcial photosynthesis.
In addition to joint research, we provide information
related to the Joint Usage/Research Center via thewebsite, the new ReCAP facebook page, and semiannual
newsletters. In addition, we plan to hold lectures related to
artiﬁcial photosynthesis on a regular basis, so please havehigh expectations for the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis.
Please access the following:

Website of COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, OCU
http://recap.osaka-cu.ac.jp/ap-coe/index.html

Catalyst Design andResearch Department
International Renewable
Energy Research
Department
Industry-University
Collaboration Department
Equipment Analysis
Department(Technical Research
upport Department)

Facebook page of COE Formation for Artiﬁcial
Photosynthesis, OCU
https://www.facebook.com/RECAPOSAKACUACJP/

Advanced research laboratory /Science research laboratory /Engineering research laboratory

Fig.2: Organization of COE Formation for
Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

6

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Research Introduction

Professor, OCARINA

Tomoko Yoshida
Development of solid photocatalysts for artiﬁcial photosynthesis

7

I moved from the Eco Topia Science Institute of Nagoya
University to OCARINA on April 1, 2015. At Nagoya
University, I studied solid materials that express
functions when illuminated by radial rays with various
energetic spectra (infrared rays to γ-rays).
For instance, when solid materials are illuminated byhigh-energy radial rays such as γ-rays and X-rays,
many low-energy electrons are generated due to theCompton eﬀect and photoelectric eﬀect. Using theseelectrons, we succeeded in making harmful chemicals
harmless as well as decomposing water and eﬀectively
producing hydrogen, a substance that has been
attracting attention as a clean energy source.
We applied this method to the development of a power
generation system (battery) that uses high-energy radialrays existing in space. At OCARINA, I have been
studying solid photocatalysts that express functions bysolar radiation.
In order to realize a sustainable society, we needtechnologies that enable an eﬀective use of the ultimate
recyclable energy of solar light and environment-friendly
material circulation.
Photocatalysts allow for material transformation withenergy accumulation, which is disadvantageous from athermodynamic perspective; therefore, they are able torealize direct energy conversion from solar light tohydrogen and artiﬁcial photosynthesis (CO 2 reduction
and generation of hydrogen from water). This is asigniﬁcant technology that can solve environmental andenergy problems.
I am involved in the synthesis and preparation of solid
photocatalysts as well as the study of various
environment-friendly chemical reactions by means of

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at
Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University in
1996. Through a fellowship (PD) of the Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science, she became
an assistant of the Graduate School of Engineering,
Nagoya University in June 1996. After working as
an associate professor of the above graduate
school and Eco Topia Science Institute of Nagoya
University, she became a professor of OCARINA in
April 2015.

photocatalysts, in order to understand and improve thefunctions and performance of photocatalysts.
Meanwhile, in order to control photocatalytical
reactions, it is indispensable to understand the atomic
structures and electronic conditions of active sites,
which continue to change during reactions. I am also
engaged in research of advanced nano analysis
technology that has integrated synchrotron
spectroscopy (XAFS, XPS) and electron microscopy(TEM, STEM, EELS). I am using this technology toseparate various atomic structures and chemical
conditions in solid photocatalysts, and to clarify atomic
structures and chemical conditions of active sites.
I am also studying the reactive mechanisms of active
sites by mapping their positions in solid photocatalysts
at a resolution of one nanometer and observing during
reactions (OperandoIR, optical absorption andluminescence measurement). I believe these analytic
technologies will enable rational design and developmentof new solid photocatalysts.
The following are the main two ﬁelds of my studies.
１）CO 2 reduction by semiconductor photocatalysis
This research group is engaged in the study ofgenerating CO, hydrogen and oxygen from CO 2 andwater using the gallium oxide photocatalyst with silver
particles added.

One of the disadvantages of the main photocatalyst,
titanium dioxide (Ti O 2), is that it does not absorb light thathas less energy than ultraviolet rays; however, it responds
to visible light when the band gap is narrowed by adding
nitrogen. We added nitrogen to Ti O 2 by means of the ion
implantation method, which can control concentration anddepth of nitrogen introduction. As a result, we conﬁrmedthat the structure and chemical condition around the added
nitrogen atoms depend on local nitrogen concentration. In
concrete terms, we could present the atomic and electronic
structure of a type of nitrogen that could express
responsiveness to visible light by means of XAFS, EELS
and TEM measurements and theoretical calculation. The
ﬁgure below presents the diﬀerence in hetero structures ofnitrogen with diﬀerent chemical and electronic conditions,which were formed in Ti O 2 , and their special distribution
visualized at a nano level resolution. The mechanism of
responsiveness to visual light, about which there is still noconsensus, is now being clariﬁed by means ofstate-of-the-art analysis technology that combines the two
methods of radiant light analysis and electro microscopy.

We examined the atomic structure and chemical
condition of the silver-additive catalyst by various
analytical technologies (TEM, HAADF-STEM, XAFS),
and identiﬁed the dynamic behavior of CO 2 on thesurface of the photocatalyst by in-situ FT-IR
measurement. As a result, we discovered that the CO 2
generation mechanism changes according to thevariance of silver particles in size on a nanometer scale.
It was also conﬁrmed that the generation of formate, areaction intermediate of CO generation, was accelerated
when it was close to silver particles of one nanometer indiameter on gallium oxide, and that CO was eﬀectively
generated.

Illumination
Gallium oxide
photocatalyst

Silver nano particles(Approx. 1nm)

[1] T. Yoshida, Y. Minoura, Y. Nakano, M. Yamamoto, S. Yagi andFig.: CO 2 reduction on gallium oxide withsilver nano particles added

H. Yoshida, J. Phys: Conference Series, vol. 712 (2016) 012076.
[2] M. Yamamoto, T. Yoshida, N. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto, A.

２）Semiconductor photocatalyst s responsiveness tovisible light
We are studying photocatalytic reaction that generates
hydrogen from water and biomass with the aim of
producing hydrogen not from fossil resources but fromrecyclable energy and resources. Most hydrogen generation
by semiconductor photocatalysts proceeds only underultraviolet rays. In order to use solar light eﬀectively, it isimportant to develop photocatalysts that react undervisible light.

Yamamoto, H. Yoshida and S. Yagi, J. Phys: Conference
Series, vol. 712 (2016) 012074[3] T. Yoshida, S. Niimi, M. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto and S. Yagi, J.
Colloid Interf. Science vol. 447 (2015) 278-281.
[4] M. Yamamoto, T. Yoshida, N. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto, Y.
Yamamoto, S. Yagi and H. Yoshida, J. Mater. Chem.
A, vol. 3 (2015) 16810-16816.

Inactive
component

Electromagnetic
prism

Chemical potential（a）Active component

Activecomponent（b）Inactive component

Product
Reactant

Fig.: CO 2 reduction mechanism by silver-additive
gallium oxide (Ag/Ga 2O3)The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Fig.: Spacial distribution mapping of active/inactive types ofnitrogen by means of XANES/ELNESThe OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

8

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Research Introduction

Professor, OCARINA

Tomoko Yoshida
Development of solid photocatalysts for artiﬁcial photosynthesis

7

I moved from the Eco Topia Science Institute of Nagoya
University to OCARINA on April 1, 2015. At Nagoya
University, I studied solid materials that express
functions when illuminated by radial rays with various
energetic spectra (infrared rays to γ-rays).
For instance, when solid materials are illuminated byhigh-energy radial rays such as γ-rays and X-rays,
many low-energy electrons are generated due to theCompton eﬀect and photoelectric eﬀect. Using theseelectrons, we succeeded in making harmful chemicals
harmless as well as decomposing water and eﬀectively
producing hydrogen, a substance that has been
attracting attention as a clean energy source.
We applied this method to the development of a power
generation system (battery) that uses high-energy radialrays existing in space. At OCARINA, I have been
studying solid photocatalysts that express functions bysolar radiation.
In order to realize a sustainable society, we needtechnologies that enable an eﬀective use of the ultimate
recyclable energy of solar light and environment-friendly
material circulation.
Photocatalysts allow for material transformation withenergy accumulation, which is disadvantageous from athermodynamic perspective; therefore, they are able torealize direct energy conversion from solar light tohydrogen and artiﬁcial photosynthesis (CO 2 reduction
and generation of hydrogen from water). This is asigniﬁcant technology that can solve environmental andenergy problems.
I am involved in the synthesis and preparation of solid
photocatalysts as well as the study of various
environment-friendly chemical reactions by means of

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at
Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University in
1996. Through a fellowship (PD) of the Japan
Society for the Promotion of Science, she became
an assistant of the Graduate School of Engineering,
Nagoya University in June 1996. After working as
an associate professor of the above graduate
school and Eco Topia Science Institute of Nagoya
University, she became a professor of OCARINA in
April 2015.

photocatalysts, in order to understand and improve thefunctions and performance of photocatalysts.
Meanwhile, in order to control photocatalytical
reactions, it is indispensable to understand the atomic
structures and electronic conditions of active sites,
which continue to change during reactions. I am also
engaged in research of advanced nano analysis
technology that has integrated synchrotron
spectroscopy (XAFS, XPS) and electron microscopy(TEM, STEM, EELS). I am using this technology toseparate various atomic structures and chemical
conditions in solid photocatalysts, and to clarify atomic
structures and chemical conditions of active sites.
I am also studying the reactive mechanisms of active
sites by mapping their positions in solid photocatalysts
at a resolution of one nanometer and observing during
reactions (OperandoIR, optical absorption andluminescence measurement). I believe these analytic
technologies will enable rational design and developmentof new solid photocatalysts.
The following are the main two ﬁelds of my studies.
１）CO 2 reduction by semiconductor photocatalysis
This research group is engaged in the study ofgenerating CO, hydrogen and oxygen from CO 2 andwater using the gallium oxide photocatalyst with silver
particles added.

One of the disadvantages of the main photocatalyst,
titanium dioxide (Ti O 2), is that it does not absorb light thathas less energy than ultraviolet rays; however, it responds
to visible light when the band gap is narrowed by adding
nitrogen. We added nitrogen to Ti O 2 by means of the ion
implantation method, which can control concentration anddepth of nitrogen introduction. As a result, we conﬁrmedthat the structure and chemical condition around the added
nitrogen atoms depend on local nitrogen concentration. In
concrete terms, we could present the atomic and electronic
structure of a type of nitrogen that could express
responsiveness to visible light by means of XAFS, EELS
and TEM measurements and theoretical calculation. The
ﬁgure below presents the diﬀerence in hetero structures ofnitrogen with diﬀerent chemical and electronic conditions,which were formed in Ti O 2 , and their special distribution
visualized at a nano level resolution. The mechanism of
responsiveness to visual light, about which there is still noconsensus, is now being clariﬁed by means ofstate-of-the-art analysis technology that combines the two
methods of radiant light analysis and electro microscopy.

We examined the atomic structure and chemical
condition of the silver-additive catalyst by various
analytical technologies (TEM, HAADF-STEM, XAFS),
and identiﬁed the dynamic behavior of CO 2 on thesurface of the photocatalyst by in-situ FT-IR
measurement. As a result, we discovered that the CO 2
generation mechanism changes according to thevariance of silver particles in size on a nanometer scale.
It was also conﬁrmed that the generation of formate, areaction intermediate of CO generation, was accelerated
when it was close to silver particles of one nanometer indiameter on gallium oxide, and that CO was eﬀectively
generated.

Illumination
Gallium oxide
photocatalyst

Silver nano particles(Approx. 1nm)

[1] T. Yoshida, Y. Minoura, Y. Nakano, M. Yamamoto, S. Yagi andFig.: CO 2 reduction on gallium oxide withsilver nano particles added

H. Yoshida, J. Phys: Conference Series, vol. 712 (2016) 012076.
[2] M. Yamamoto, T. Yoshida, N. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto, A.

２）Semiconductor photocatalyst s responsiveness tovisible light
We are studying photocatalytic reaction that generates
hydrogen from water and biomass with the aim of
producing hydrogen not from fossil resources but fromrecyclable energy and resources. Most hydrogen generation
by semiconductor photocatalysts proceeds only underultraviolet rays. In order to use solar light eﬀectively, it isimportant to develop photocatalysts that react undervisible light.

Yamamoto, H. Yoshida and S. Yagi, J. Phys: Conference
Series, vol. 712 (2016) 012074[3] T. Yoshida, S. Niimi, M. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto and S. Yagi, J.
Colloid Interf. Science vol. 447 (2015) 278-281.
[4] M. Yamamoto, T. Yoshida, N. Yamamoto, T. Nomoto, Y.
Yamamoto, S. Yagi and H. Yoshida, J. Mater. Chem.
A, vol. 3 (2015) 16810-16816.

Inactive
component

Electromagnetic
prism

Chemical potential（a）Active component

Activecomponent（b）Inactive component

Product
Reactant

Fig.: CO 2 reduction mechanism by silver-additive
gallium oxide (Ag/Ga 2O3)The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Fig.: Spacial distribution mapping of active/inactive types ofnitrogen by means of XANES/ELNESThe OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

8

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Project Introduction
Associate Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU

Advanced Biomedical Technology: Soichi Saeki
Micro tomographic diagnosis
using multi-functional OCT
˜ Application to the diagnoses of skin andcartilage diseases, arteriosclerosis, cancer
and regenerative medicine ˜

9Wrinkles and sagging of the skin, which are caused byaging and ultraviolet rays, are also related to a decrease in
the metabolism of skin tissue; therefore, micro circulation
system including exchanges of interstitial ﬂuid from/totissues and cells are regarded as an important evaluationindex for skin care and anti-aging.The skin tissue consistsof the three main layers of epidermis, dermis andhypodermis, and capillaries with a diameter of 10μm to 20
μm run from the papillary layer under the epidermis tothe subpapillary layer at the upper dermis, covering adepth of 500 microns from the skin surface.The propertiesof micro blood ﬂow and diapedesis of interstitial ﬂuid maychange the viscosity and elasticity of the skin as well as
metabolic functions. Hence, it is necessary to conduct
non-invasive measurement of micro blood ﬂow in order toclarify skin mechanisms such as the generation of
wrinkles.
Also, in malignant tumors, which are the top cause ofdeath, metastasis via neovascularization as well as theinvasion depth of the tumor determine the cancer stage.
Neovascularities grow around tumors, and they transmit
more interstitial ﬂuid and activate more exchanges ofinterstitial ﬂuid compared with normal blood vessels;
therefore, the risk of lymph node metastasis increases
before that of blood metastasis. Accordingly, the blood
dynamics of neovascularities is an important factor in
determining treatment policies.The NBI endoscopic system,
which is generally used for the diagnosis of cancer ofdigestive organs, only provides a surface image including
overlapping mucosal layers that display the running statusof blood vessels. Therefore, it is impossible to evaluate theinvasion depth quantitatively or evaluate blood ﬂow
mechanisms, and the rate of correct diagnoses depends on
doctors skills.Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was
developed recently [1], and it has enabled in vivo
non-invasive visualization of morphological distribution of
biological tissue. However, this system is based on the
low-coherence interferometer; therefore, although it ispossible to visualize biological tissue structures on a micro
scale, it is impossible to evaluate the functional propertiesof biological tissue by visualizing blood ﬂow dynamics.
We proposed the optical coherence Doppler velocigraphy(OCDV) system [2], which allows for precise detection of
Doppler modulation frequencies in OCT interference

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at the
Department of System Quantum Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo
in March 1999. He became a doctoral researcher at
MIT in 1999, a lecturer of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School ofEngineering, Yamaguchi University in 2001, an
associate professor of the Department of Applied
Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine,
Yamaguchi University in 2004, a guest associate
professor of the Department of MechanicalEngineering, MIT in 2008, and an associate professorof the Department of Mechanical and PhysicalEngineering, Graduate School of Engineering, OCT in2013.

signals. We are now developing an instrument for micro
tomography that measures blood ﬂow velocity distribution
in the capillaries based on video signal rates.Our OCDV
system is a low-coherence interferometer based on theﬁber-type Michelson interference optical system, using thelight source of a near-infrared band of 1,300nm. The
reference arm optical system adopted the system thatreﬂects light emitted from the diﬀracting grating on a
curved mirror and conducts tomographic scanning bymeans of a resonant mirror. It realized high-speed optical
path scanning and dispersion compensation.In addition, theadjoining self-correlation method has been introduced todetect phase changes in rear incoherence interference
signals from biological tissues, and Doppler modulation
generated by the dynamic changes of red blood cells, whichindicate the blood ﬂow dynamics, is examined by means ofhigh-precision micro tomographic visualization.As shown in
Fig. 1, a system using this technology was produced incooperation with Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd. and is to be
exhibited in Medical Japan 2017 in Osaka this February. It
is scheduled to be on the market starting next year.
Figure. 2 shows examples of tomographic images
produced by means of our OCDV. These are the images
produced by means of micro tomography at 6cm from thewrist of a human forearm ﬂexor for examining themorphological distribution in the skin surface layer andcapillary blood ﬂow distribution. Figures. 2 (a) and (b) show
the normal condition and avascularization condition using
tourniquet respectively.Since the diameter of red blood
cells is about the same as the capillary diameter (10micron), red blood cells ﬂow very slowly (approx. 100 μm/s) and intermittently while deforming, and intermittent
Doppler modulation signals are observed. This ﬁgureshows the images at the maximum blood ﬂow speed in thedata for about two seconds, which are projected on OCT
tomographic images.It has been conﬁrmed that the ﬂow
speed of blood that comes up from the upper dermis to thebottom of the epidermis is lower in the avascularization
condition than in the normal condition. Also, in morphologic
distribution of OCT tomographic images, Doppler
modulation was detected in the low-brightness part, which
was presumed to be blood vessels. Doppler modulation
generated from red blood cells ﬂowing in the capillaries
was thought to be detected.Hence, this system was found

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

to be eﬀective in the quantitative evaluation of micro
circulation mechanisms (metabolism) of skin tissues byvisualizing in vivo blood ﬂow speed. This result is expected
to become an important evaluation index for skinmechanisms for anti-aging and smart aging. This researchis expected to be important not only for medicine but also
for the cosmetics industry, and we have been receiving
inquiries from transdermal medicine companies andcosmetic companies.We are also studying theappropriateness of micro tomography for examining theblood ﬂow speed distribution and neovascular network
blood vessels in micro tumors by applying this method tothe animal model of gallbladder cancer. We aim to diagnose
the invasion depth of tumors, based on blood ﬂow speed
and 3D blood vessel images. This method is expected to be
applied to the diagnosis of not only cancers of digestiveorgans, but also malignant neoplasms of skin cancer andbrain tumors. It is also useful in the evaluation of medicine
that prevents generation of neovascularization, and can beused for the monitoring of brain blood behavior inneurosurgery for brain infarctions, etc. We are now
engaged in the application of this technology toneurosurgery and plastic surgery.
Meanwhile, the main factor leading to cardiac disease,which is one of the three main causes of death, isarteriosclerosis. In this regard, it is important to identify
the changes in dynamic properties of biological tissue. Also,
it is estimated that 40 million people in Japan suﬀer fromosteoarthritis of the knee, and the understanding ofviscosity and elasticity of cartilage is a key to early
diagnosis; however, it has not been realized yet.We havedeveloped a multi-functional OCT system, which contains
our OCDV system [3] [4] [5], and we are developing a micro
tomographic instrument for the diagnosis of dynamic
properties of biological tissue (biomechanics, viscosity andelasticity). This can also be used to examine the skin in theﬁelds of cosmetic skin care and plastic surgery and we areworking jointly with a cosmetic company.In particular,
evaluation of the dynamic quality of regenerative tissues
is key to the realization of regenerative medicine andrelated business plans. We have already obtained theresults of experiments using cultured skin models, andthis method is expected to be eﬀective for theevaluation of tissue quality.As stated above, we aim torealize a diagnosis system using micro tomography tovisualize the functional properties of biological tissue suchas blood ﬂow speed, viscosity and elasticity, throughcollaboration of medicine, engineering and the private
sector, and apply the accomplishments to the medical
instrument industry, pharmaceutical industry and aesthetic
and health industry, thus contributing to society throughour support for the treatment of patients.
[1] Joseph M. Schmitt, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) : A
Review , Interface Focus, 1, (2011), IEEE Journal on Selected
Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 5, No. 4, (1999),

pp.1205-1215.
[2] D. Furukawa, S. Saeki, R. Nishino, S. Mishima: Accuracy
veriﬁcation of the micro tomography for ﬂow speed distribution,using the high-frequency modulation low-coherence
interferometer , Experimental Mechanics, in printing[3] S. Saeki, D. Furukawa, Y. Sakata: Micro tomographic
visualization of dynamic properties (multi-functional OCT) ,Optronics, in printing[4] S. Saeki, Y. Nakamichi: Application of the functional OCT using
two wavebands to DDS (multi-functional OCT) , Hikari Alliance,
2015[5] Souichi Saeki, In vivo and in situ Tomographic Micro-Diagnosis
using Functional OCT , Japanese Society of MechanicalEngineering, 26th Bioengineering Conference, Korea and Japan
Symposium, 2014, (on CDrom).

Fig. 1: Smart aging skin diagnosis instrument (OCDV system)
The system based on the accomplishment of this project was
produced in cooperation with Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd. and is to be
exhibited in Medical Japan 2017 in Osaka this February.

Fig. 2: Micro tomography of tissue morphological distribution andcapillary blood ﬂow velocity distribution on the wrist side of ahuman forearm ﬂexor
The blood ﬂow velocity is lower in avascularization condition
using tourniquet (b) than in normal condition (a).

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

10

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Project Introduction
Associate Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU

Advanced Biomedical Technology: Soichi Saeki
Micro tomographic diagnosis
using multi-functional OCT
˜ Application to the diagnoses of skin andcartilage diseases, arteriosclerosis, cancer
and regenerative medicine ˜

9Wrinkles and sagging of the skin, which are caused byaging and ultraviolet rays, are also related to a decrease in
the metabolism of skin tissue; therefore, micro circulation
system including exchanges of interstitial ﬂuid from/totissues and cells are regarded as an important evaluationindex for skin care and anti-aging.The skin tissue consistsof the three main layers of epidermis, dermis andhypodermis, and capillaries with a diameter of 10μm to 20
μm run from the papillary layer under the epidermis tothe subpapillary layer at the upper dermis, covering adepth of 500 microns from the skin surface.The propertiesof micro blood ﬂow and diapedesis of interstitial ﬂuid maychange the viscosity and elasticity of the skin as well as
metabolic functions. Hence, it is necessary to conduct
non-invasive measurement of micro blood ﬂow in order toclarify skin mechanisms such as the generation of
wrinkles.
Also, in malignant tumors, which are the top cause ofdeath, metastasis via neovascularization as well as theinvasion depth of the tumor determine the cancer stage.
Neovascularities grow around tumors, and they transmit
more interstitial ﬂuid and activate more exchanges ofinterstitial ﬂuid compared with normal blood vessels;
therefore, the risk of lymph node metastasis increases
before that of blood metastasis. Accordingly, the blood
dynamics of neovascularities is an important factor in
determining treatment policies.The NBI endoscopic system,
which is generally used for the diagnosis of cancer ofdigestive organs, only provides a surface image including
overlapping mucosal layers that display the running statusof blood vessels. Therefore, it is impossible to evaluate theinvasion depth quantitatively or evaluate blood ﬂow
mechanisms, and the rate of correct diagnoses depends on
doctors skills.Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was
developed recently [1], and it has enabled in vivo
non-invasive visualization of morphological distribution of
biological tissue. However, this system is based on the
low-coherence interferometer; therefore, although it ispossible to visualize biological tissue structures on a micro
scale, it is impossible to evaluate the functional propertiesof biological tissue by visualizing blood ﬂow dynamics.
We proposed the optical coherence Doppler velocigraphy(OCDV) system [2], which allows for precise detection of
Doppler modulation frequencies in OCT interference

Obtained a doctoral degree (Engineering) at the
Department of System Quantum Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo
in March 1999. He became a doctoral researcher at
MIT in 1999, a lecturer of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School ofEngineering, Yamaguchi University in 2001, an
associate professor of the Department of Applied
Medical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine,
Yamaguchi University in 2004, a guest associate
professor of the Department of MechanicalEngineering, MIT in 2008, and an associate professorof the Department of Mechanical and PhysicalEngineering, Graduate School of Engineering, OCT in2013.

signals. We are now developing an instrument for micro
tomography that measures blood ﬂow velocity distribution
in the capillaries based on video signal rates.Our OCDV
system is a low-coherence interferometer based on theﬁber-type Michelson interference optical system, using thelight source of a near-infrared band of 1,300nm. The
reference arm optical system adopted the system thatreﬂects light emitted from the diﬀracting grating on a
curved mirror and conducts tomographic scanning bymeans of a resonant mirror. It realized high-speed optical
path scanning and dispersion compensation.In addition, theadjoining self-correlation method has been introduced todetect phase changes in rear incoherence interference
signals from biological tissues, and Doppler modulation
generated by the dynamic changes of red blood cells, whichindicate the blood ﬂow dynamics, is examined by means ofhigh-precision micro tomographic visualization.As shown in
Fig. 1, a system using this technology was produced incooperation with Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd. and is to be
exhibited in Medical Japan 2017 in Osaka this February. It
is scheduled to be on the market starting next year.
Figure. 2 shows examples of tomographic images
produced by means of our OCDV. These are the images
produced by means of micro tomography at 6cm from thewrist of a human forearm ﬂexor for examining themorphological distribution in the skin surface layer andcapillary blood ﬂow distribution. Figures. 2 (a) and (b) show
the normal condition and avascularization condition using
tourniquet respectively.Since the diameter of red blood
cells is about the same as the capillary diameter (10micron), red blood cells ﬂow very slowly (approx. 100 μm/s) and intermittently while deforming, and intermittent
Doppler modulation signals are observed. This ﬁgureshows the images at the maximum blood ﬂow speed in thedata for about two seconds, which are projected on OCT
tomographic images.It has been conﬁrmed that the ﬂow
speed of blood that comes up from the upper dermis to thebottom of the epidermis is lower in the avascularization
condition than in the normal condition. Also, in morphologic
distribution of OCT tomographic images, Doppler
modulation was detected in the low-brightness part, which
was presumed to be blood vessels. Doppler modulation
generated from red blood cells ﬂowing in the capillaries
was thought to be detected.Hence, this system was found

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

to be eﬀective in the quantitative evaluation of micro
circulation mechanisms (metabolism) of skin tissues byvisualizing in vivo blood ﬂow speed. This result is expected
to become an important evaluation index for skinmechanisms for anti-aging and smart aging. This researchis expected to be important not only for medicine but also
for the cosmetics industry, and we have been receiving
inquiries from transdermal medicine companies andcosmetic companies.We are also studying theappropriateness of micro tomography for examining theblood ﬂow speed distribution and neovascular network
blood vessels in micro tumors by applying this method tothe animal model of gallbladder cancer. We aim to diagnose
the invasion depth of tumors, based on blood ﬂow speed
and 3D blood vessel images. This method is expected to be
applied to the diagnosis of not only cancers of digestiveorgans, but also malignant neoplasms of skin cancer andbrain tumors. It is also useful in the evaluation of medicine
that prevents generation of neovascularization, and can beused for the monitoring of brain blood behavior inneurosurgery for brain infarctions, etc. We are now
engaged in the application of this technology toneurosurgery and plastic surgery.
Meanwhile, the main factor leading to cardiac disease,which is one of the three main causes of death, isarteriosclerosis. In this regard, it is important to identify
the changes in dynamic properties of biological tissue. Also,
it is estimated that 40 million people in Japan suﬀer fromosteoarthritis of the knee, and the understanding ofviscosity and elasticity of cartilage is a key to early
diagnosis; however, it has not been realized yet.We havedeveloped a multi-functional OCT system, which contains
our OCDV system [3] [4] [5], and we are developing a micro
tomographic instrument for the diagnosis of dynamic
properties of biological tissue (biomechanics, viscosity andelasticity). This can also be used to examine the skin in theﬁelds of cosmetic skin care and plastic surgery and we areworking jointly with a cosmetic company.In particular,
evaluation of the dynamic quality of regenerative tissues
is key to the realization of regenerative medicine andrelated business plans. We have already obtained theresults of experiments using cultured skin models, andthis method is expected to be eﬀective for theevaluation of tissue quality.As stated above, we aim torealize a diagnosis system using micro tomography tovisualize the functional properties of biological tissue suchas blood ﬂow speed, viscosity and elasticity, throughcollaboration of medicine, engineering and the private
sector, and apply the accomplishments to the medical
instrument industry, pharmaceutical industry and aesthetic
and health industry, thus contributing to society throughour support for the treatment of patients.
[1] Joseph M. Schmitt, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) : A
Review , Interface Focus, 1, (2011), IEEE Journal on Selected
Topics in Quantum Electronics, Vol. 5, No. 4, (1999),

pp.1205-1215.
[2] D. Furukawa, S. Saeki, R. Nishino, S. Mishima: Accuracy
veriﬁcation of the micro tomography for ﬂow speed distribution,using the high-frequency modulation low-coherence
interferometer , Experimental Mechanics, in printing[3] S. Saeki, D. Furukawa, Y. Sakata: Micro tomographic
visualization of dynamic properties (multi-functional OCT) ,Optronics, in printing[4] S. Saeki, Y. Nakamichi: Application of the functional OCT using
two wavebands to DDS (multi-functional OCT) , Hikari Alliance,
2015[5] Souichi Saeki, In vivo and in situ Tomographic Micro-Diagnosis
using Functional OCT , Japanese Society of MechanicalEngineering, 26th Bioengineering Conference, Korea and Japan
Symposium, 2014, (on CDrom).

Fig. 1: Smart aging skin diagnosis instrument (OCDV system)
The system based on the accomplishment of this project was
produced in cooperation with Takaoka Toko Co., Ltd. and is to be
exhibited in Medical Japan 2017 in Osaka this February.

Fig. 2: Micro tomography of tissue morphological distribution andcapillary blood ﬂow velocity distribution on the wrist side of ahuman forearm ﬂexor
The blood ﬂow velocity is lower in avascularization condition
using tourniquet (b) than in normal condition (a).

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

10

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Project Introduction

Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU

Tetsuya SatohDevelopment of Environmentfriendly Cross Coupling Reacction

11

Biaryl and phenylenevinylene skeletons are widely
observed in functional aromatic molecules of medicines,
agricultural chemicals and organic electronicalmaterials, and eﬀective production methods have been
actively developed. At present, one of the eﬀective
methods is the coupling of aromatic halides witharylmetal reagents or alkene, using transition metal
catalysts such as palladium, i.e., cross coupling.
This reaction has become famous since Dr. Suzuki, Dr.
Negishi and Dr. Heck were awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 2010. In this reaction, it is possible toinduce aryl-aryl bonding or aryl-vinyl bonding
regioselectively under mild conditions in a simple
manner; therefore, it is widely used in the synthesis offunctional molecules not only in laboratories but also inindustry. Fig 1(a) shows a representative example ofpalladium-catalyzed biaryl synthesis reaction.
This conventional cross coupling reaction, however,produces a large amount of waste including metal salt
(MX in Fig. 1(a)) in the coupling process, which is aserious issue in synthesis on a large scale. Also, it isdiﬃcult to prepare starting materials such as aromatic
halides and arylmetal reagents, and their processing canbe multi-stage in some cases.
(a) Conventional cross coupling(b) Modiﬁed cross coupling(c) Next-generation cross couplingFig.1: Evolving cross coupling reactions

Accordingly, modiﬁed cross coupling reactions havebeen developed in recent years by replacing one of the

Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry,
Division of Engineering, Osaka University. Obtained adoctoral degree (Engineering) at the Department ofApplied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering,Osaka University. After working as an assistant andan associate professor in the Division of Engineering,Osaka University, he became a professor at OCT in
2015. He also worked as a guest researcher at the
University of Rochester (MEXT overseas researcher)(2000˜2001) and a guest professor at Osaka
University (2015˜2017).

pairing materials with aromatic hydrocarbon involving
the carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage. (Fig. 1(b)). In 1997,
our research group reported the ﬁrst modiﬁed crosscoupling reaction in the world, the palladium-catalyzed
cross coupling of iodobenzene with 2-phenylphenol. (Fig.
2) [1] Since this reaction does not use an aryl metal
reagent, the waste amount was reduced (HX in Fig. 1

intermolecular oxidative cross coupling between two
aromatic hydrocarbons using this rhodium catalyst.
Oxidative coupling had been studied using palladiumcatalysts, and there were few studies conducted using
rhodium catalysts. We, therefore, studied the oxidative
coupling of aromatic substrates with unsaturated
compounds such as alkene and alkine.
As a result, we conﬁrmed that this rhodium catalyst

using similar rhodium catalysts, and various reactions
have been developed. We succeeded in the developmentof other catalysts such as ruthenium and iridium in
addition to rhodium, and discovered a number ofoxidative coupling reactions speciﬁc to these catalysts.
In particular, we recently conﬁrmed that cross coupling
reactions are possible not only between carbons, butalso between carbon and oxygen [6] or nitrogen [7].

Fig.3: Coupling of benzene with N-acetylindole [2]Fig.6: Carbon-oxygen oxidative coupling [6]Fig.4: Intramolecular aryl-aryl coupling of tritylamine [3,4]Fig.7: Carbon-nitrogen oxidative coupling [7][1] Satoh, T.; Kawamura, Y.; Miura, M.; Nomura, M.
1997,[2] Stuart, D. R.; Fagnou, K.

Fig.2: Coupling of iodobenzene with 2-phenylphenol [1](b)), and the total number of reaction steps decreased.
After that, next-generation cross coupling, which
replaces both of the paring materials with aromatichydrocarbon, began attracting attention. (Fig. 1(c)) This
new cross coupling involves the cleavages of two sets ofcarbon-hydrogen bonding, and can be implemented in
the presence of an oxidant. In particular, whenmolecular oxygen is used as an oxidant, the waste is
only water; therefore, this is an environmentallyfriendly, clean reaction.
First, palladium was used as a catalyst in the samemanner as in conventional cross coupling, and thestoichiometric amount of copper salt was used as anoxidant. (Fig. 3) [2] Palladium catalyst, however, is easy
to deactivate under the condition of using molecularoxygen as an oxidant, and it was diﬃcult to realize
clean coupling. Therefore, we used rhodium as acatalyst instead of palladium. Under rhodium catalysis,tritylamine underwent intramolecular oxidative
aryl-aryl coupling smoothly. (Fig.4) [3] We found out that
this reaction can proceed eﬃciently under the conditionof using air as an oxidant. [4] This is the next-generationof aryl-aryl coupling, which produces only water as
waste. At present, we are studying how to develop

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

12, 1740.
, 2007,, 1172.

[3] (a) Morimoto, K.; Itoh, M.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Shibata, Y.;
Tanaka, K.; Miura, M.

2012,

,

5359. (b) Itoh, M.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Shibata, Y.; Tanaka,K.; Miura, M. J.

2013,, 1365.

[4] Baars, H.; Unoh, Y.; Okada, T.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Tanaka,K.; Bolm, C.; Miura, M.

2014,, 1782.

[5] For the ﬁrst example, see: (a) Ueura, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
2007, , 1407. See also reviews: (b) Satoh, T.;
Miura, M.
T.; Hirano, K.

J. 2010,, 11212. (c) Miura, M.; Satoh,2014,, 751.

[6] Okada, T.; Nobushige, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
2016,, 1150.

[7] Suzuki, C.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
, 1597.

Fig.5: Examples of oxidative couplings using
rhodium catalysts [5]can be applied to a variety of aromatic substrates andshows a very high activity in each reaction. (Fig.5) [5]This oxidative coupling can easily synthesize vinyl
arene and condensed hetero aromatic compounds withvarious structures in one step.
Now many studies have been carried out in the world
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech2015,

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Project Introduction

Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU

Tetsuya SatohDevelopment of Environmentfriendly Cross Coupling Reacction

11

Biaryl and phenylenevinylene skeletons are widely
observed in functional aromatic molecules of medicines,
agricultural chemicals and organic electronicalmaterials, and eﬀective production methods have been
actively developed. At present, one of the eﬀective
methods is the coupling of aromatic halides witharylmetal reagents or alkene, using transition metal
catalysts such as palladium, i.e., cross coupling.
This reaction has become famous since Dr. Suzuki, Dr.
Negishi and Dr. Heck were awarded the Nobel Prize in
Chemistry in 2010. In this reaction, it is possible toinduce aryl-aryl bonding or aryl-vinyl bonding
regioselectively under mild conditions in a simple
manner; therefore, it is widely used in the synthesis offunctional molecules not only in laboratories but also inindustry. Fig 1(a) shows a representative example ofpalladium-catalyzed biaryl synthesis reaction.
This conventional cross coupling reaction, however,produces a large amount of waste including metal salt
(MX in Fig. 1(a)) in the coupling process, which is aserious issue in synthesis on a large scale. Also, it isdiﬃcult to prepare starting materials such as aromatic
halides and arylmetal reagents, and their processing canbe multi-stage in some cases.
(a) Conventional cross coupling(b) Modiﬁed cross coupling(c) Next-generation cross couplingFig.1: Evolving cross coupling reactions

Accordingly, modiﬁed cross coupling reactions havebeen developed in recent years by replacing one of the

Graduated from the Department of Applied Chemistry,
Division of Engineering, Osaka University. Obtained adoctoral degree (Engineering) at the Department ofApplied Chemistry, Graduate School of Engineering,Osaka University. After working as an assistant andan associate professor in the Division of Engineering,Osaka University, he became a professor at OCT in
2015. He also worked as a guest researcher at the
University of Rochester (MEXT overseas researcher)(2000˜2001) and a guest professor at Osaka
University (2015˜2017).

pairing materials with aromatic hydrocarbon involving
the carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage. (Fig. 1(b)). In 1997,
our research group reported the ﬁrst modiﬁed crosscoupling reaction in the world, the palladium-catalyzed
cross coupling of iodobenzene with 2-phenylphenol. (Fig.
2) [1] Since this reaction does not use an aryl metal
reagent, the waste amount was reduced (HX in Fig. 1

intermolecular oxidative cross coupling between two
aromatic hydrocarbons using this rhodium catalyst.
Oxidative coupling had been studied using palladiumcatalysts, and there were few studies conducted using
rhodium catalysts. We, therefore, studied the oxidative
coupling of aromatic substrates with unsaturated
compounds such as alkene and alkine.
As a result, we conﬁrmed that this rhodium catalyst

using similar rhodium catalysts, and various reactions
have been developed. We succeeded in the developmentof other catalysts such as ruthenium and iridium in
addition to rhodium, and discovered a number ofoxidative coupling reactions speciﬁc to these catalysts.
In particular, we recently conﬁrmed that cross coupling
reactions are possible not only between carbons, butalso between carbon and oxygen [6] or nitrogen [7].

Fig.3: Coupling of benzene with N-acetylindole [2]Fig.6: Carbon-oxygen oxidative coupling [6]Fig.4: Intramolecular aryl-aryl coupling of tritylamine [3,4]Fig.7: Carbon-nitrogen oxidative coupling [7][1] Satoh, T.; Kawamura, Y.; Miura, M.; Nomura, M.
1997,[2] Stuart, D. R.; Fagnou, K.

Fig.2: Coupling of iodobenzene with 2-phenylphenol [1](b)), and the total number of reaction steps decreased.
After that, next-generation cross coupling, which
replaces both of the paring materials with aromatichydrocarbon, began attracting attention. (Fig. 1(c)) This
new cross coupling involves the cleavages of two sets ofcarbon-hydrogen bonding, and can be implemented in
the presence of an oxidant. In particular, whenmolecular oxygen is used as an oxidant, the waste is
only water; therefore, this is an environmentallyfriendly, clean reaction.
First, palladium was used as a catalyst in the samemanner as in conventional cross coupling, and thestoichiometric amount of copper salt was used as anoxidant. (Fig. 3) [2] Palladium catalyst, however, is easy
to deactivate under the condition of using molecularoxygen as an oxidant, and it was diﬃcult to realize
clean coupling. Therefore, we used rhodium as acatalyst instead of palladium. Under rhodium catalysis,tritylamine underwent intramolecular oxidative
aryl-aryl coupling smoothly. (Fig.4) [3] We found out that
this reaction can proceed eﬃciently under the conditionof using air as an oxidant. [4] This is the next-generationof aryl-aryl coupling, which produces only water as
waste. At present, we are studying how to develop

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

12, 1740.
, 2007,, 1172.

[3] (a) Morimoto, K.; Itoh, M.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Shibata, Y.;
Tanaka, K.; Miura, M.

2012,

,

5359. (b) Itoh, M.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Shibata, Y.; Tanaka,K.; Miura, M. J.

2013,, 1365.

[4] Baars, H.; Unoh, Y.; Okada, T.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Tanaka,K.; Bolm, C.; Miura, M.

2014,, 1782.

[5] For the ﬁrst example, see: (a) Ueura, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
2007, , 1407. See also reviews: (b) Satoh, T.;
Miura, M.
T.; Hirano, K.

J. 2010,, 11212. (c) Miura, M.; Satoh,2014,, 751.

[6] Okada, T.; Nobushige, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
2016,, 1150.

[7] Suzuki, C.; Hirano, K.; Satoh, T.; Miura, M.
, 1597.

Fig.5: Examples of oxidative couplings using
rhodium catalysts [5]can be applied to a variety of aromatic substrates andshows a very high activity in each reaction. (Fig.5) [5]This oxidative coupling can easily synthesize vinyl
arene and condensed hetero aromatic compounds withvarious structures in one step.
Now many studies have been carried out in the world
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech2015,

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Activity Report
7th OCARINA International Symposium and 2nd International Symposium in honor ofDistinguished professor Michael Nobel
Special Lecture
Dr. Michael Nobel (Distinguished professor, Osaka City University/ Chairman, Nobel Sustainability Trust Foundation (NSTF)
Keynote Lecture
Kazunari Domen (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo)
Invited Speckers
Dr. Dror Noy（Principal Investigator, Migal-Galilee ResearchInstitute, Israel）
Dr. R.N. Frese（Assistant Professor, VU University Amsterdam,
the Netherland）
Dr. Z.-Y. Wang-Otomo (Professor, College of Science, Ibaraki
University)
Dr. Chunhong Yang（Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China）
Shuji Nakanishi (Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry,
Osaka University)
Yusuke Yamada (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Kenji Iwasaki (Associate professor, Institute of Protein Research,
Osaka University)
Hideki Kandori (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering,
Nagoya Institute of Technology)
Yasuhisa Nakaso (Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.)
Tomoyasu Noji (Specially-appointed Lecturer, OCARINA)
Ryo Nagao (Specially-appointed Assistant Professor, Graduate
School of Engineering, Nagoya University)

13

Yasufumi Umena (Specially-appointed Associate Professor,
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama
University)
Keisuke Saito (Lecturer, Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo)
Akihito Ishizaki (Specially-appointed Associate Professor, Institutefor Molecular Science, National Institute of Natural Sciences)
Project-team Presenters
Naoteru Shigekawa (Professor, Electric and Information
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Seiya Kobatake (Professor, Applied Chemistry and Bioengineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Masatoshi Kozaki (Professor, Molecular Materials Science,
Graduate School of Science, OCU)
Kazunobu Sato (Professor, Molecular Materials Science, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Makoto Miyata (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Akihisa Terakita (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Muneki Mitamura (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Masatoshi Nishioka (Professor, Urban Design & Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)

International Symposiums were held in the OCU Media Center (10F: Large conference room) on
March 17 and 18, 2016. The 7th OCARINA International Symposium (in the morning of the 17th andafternoon of the 18th) was held in conjunction with the 2nd International Symposium in honor of Dr.
Michael Nobel (in the afternoon of the 17th and morning of the 18th). Eight world-class researchers
were invited to each of the two symposiums.
At the OCARINA International Symposium, 16 researchers including OCARINA project teammembers made presentations in four sessions with the following themes; 1) Studies on photosynthesis,
2) Advanced materials, 3) Advanced biology, 4) Urban energy / Aquifer heat storage research. A lively
discussion was held. In addition, presentations on 44 topics were given in the poster session. Poster
prizes were awarded to two presenters selected from among 25 topics through a vote held among the
symposium participants. (right-hand photos)
At the Dr. Michael Nobel International Symposium, Dr. Nobel delivered a presentation on advantages
and problems with regard to fuel-cell vehicles and electric vehicles from the economical viewpoint, andgave his opinions based on a comparison with hybrid ships developed by a research group in
OCARINA. An animated discussion ensued. (bottom photo)
Meanwhile, Dr. Kazunari Domen, a leading photocatalyst researcher (Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo) gave a keynote lecture, and Yusuke Yamada, (Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU) gave a lecture on a related theme in the session. In the session on the use ofphotosynthesis and photo energy, domestic and overseas young
leading researchers including Dr. Dror Noy (Migal-Galilee Res.
Inst., Israel), Dr. R.N. Frese (VU, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Dr.
Chunhong Yang (Chinese Acad. Sci., China), Prof. Seiu Otomo,(Professor, College of Science, Ibaraki University) and Shuji
Nakanishi ( Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry,
Osa ka University) gave presentations . There was lively
discussion throughout the session, and the symposium wasvery successful.
*A n article about this symposium appea red in the Japa nesemaga zine S eibutsu Butsuri ( Vol . 5 6 No. 6) (S eria l vol . 3 2 8)
published by the Biophysical Society of Japan.

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Science Café Color changes!, Color illuminates! Let s observe the reaction ofphotosynthesis ‒ From photosynthesis to artiﬁcial photosynthesis
The Science Café was held in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory in the Science Faculties
General Experiment building on January 21 (Sat), 2 017. It was held in commemoration of
Kodansha s publication of the Blue Backs Series Dreamy new energy: what is artiﬁcial
photosynthesis? This book was given to the participants by OCARINA instructors (Professor
Nobuo Kamiya and Associate professor Ritsuko Fujii). At the Science Café, Ritsuko Fujii gave abrief introduction of the Research Center for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, and Tomoyasu Noji,specially-appointed lecturer, gave a lecture. An experiment was explained brieﬂy, and thenconducted. Students who had appeared sleepy during the lecture perked up for picking up the leaves from living plants, and for starting
experiment with them. The students asked many questions, and some added a new twist to the experiment; they evidently found it very
interesting.
On July 16 (Sat), 2016, a similar seminar entitled Easy Science and Technology Seminar was held by Japan Prize Foundation in thesame venue. Twenty-two junior high school students participated in the seminar. On November 4 (Fri), 2016, a similar seminar was held
in English. Nine international high school students and teachers from Taiwan and Singapore who participated in the 13th High School
Chemistry Grand Contest organized by OCU were invited. Both seminars were well received; we realized that people are very
interested in the topic, and that it is disseminated widely in Japan and overseas.
Lastly, we would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone for this opportunity, and to the students for their support andcooperation. (Written by the coordinators, Ritsuko Fujii and Tomoyasu Noji)OCU Tenure Track Study Conference
OCU Tenure Track Study Conference was held at the OCU Media Center on December 9 (Fri),
2016. The conference, which had the sub-theme of The Future of Science, Technology andSociety, was organized and administered by tenure-track instructors. After the opening speech by
Takashi Uchida, Professor of Graduate School of Engineering, OCU, Tetsuo Arakawa, President of
OCU, delivered a lecture. The audience listened intently to him talking about interesting topics
such as the samurai spirit of Tomoatsu Godai, and the most important issues with regard to thecity of Osaka.
Five tenure-track instructors gave presentations, and Hideaki Takeuchi, Associate professor of Okayama University and Michio
Murakami, Associate professor of Fukushima Medical University, gave lectures. They explained high-level research themes in a waythat was easy to understand. Many participants, including students and our instructors, asked questions, and a lively discussion ensued.
The conference ended with a closing speech by Hiroyuki Sakuragi, Vice-President of OCU, who thanked the guest speakers andencouraged the tenure-track instructors with regard to their future activities. The conference was highly successful.

OCARINA Seminars
OCARINA seminars are held to provide opportunities for the members of OCARINA to talk with other researchers and givepresentations on their research results. In addition to seminars inviting leading scientists from inside and outside of the country, a wide
variety of activities such as study tours and PR activities are also held.
Poster prize winners and instructors(top) Natsuho Terahara (M1,
Laboratory of Functional
Biosciences, Graduate School of
Science, OCU) (right), Makoto
Miyata (Professor, OCU) (left)“Novel Chemotactic System
Induced by Anaerobic Conditionsfor Spiroplasma Swimming,
Unknown Energy-Conversion
Mechanism(bottom) Nami Yamano (M2,
Laboratory of Biological Structural
Chemistry, Graduate School of
Science, OCU)(right), Ritsuko Fujii,
Associate professor (left)“Structure and Function of theLight-Harvesting Complex II
Binding Heterologous
Carbonyl-Carotenoids

Date:

2016年2月29日

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.7 Lecture Room

29th

Tam Mignot (CNRS-Aix Marseille University- Marseille France)
Theme: The Myxococcus Xanthus motility complex: moving parts and ﬁxed anchor points

30th

Guest:

Guest:
Date:

June 29, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

Masahiko Hibi (Professor, Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University)
Theme: Analysis of the Mechanism of Axis Formation and Neural Circuit Formation Using Zebraﬁsh
Date:

Aug 1, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

Guest:

31th

Takashi Maoka (Research Institute for Production Development)
Theme: Distribution and Functions of Natural Carotenoid
Guest:

Kentaro Ifuku (Laboratory of Molecular & Cellular Biology of Topipotency, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University)

Theme: Crystal Structure of Photosystem II of Higher Plants̶ Conﬁguration and Functions of Extrinsic Proteins
Guest:Norihiko Misawa (Research Institute for Bioresources and Biotechnology, Ishikawa Prefectural University)

Theme:

Production of Functional Isoprenoid by Means of Pathway Engineering

Date:Aug. 26, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

32th

Shuichi Nakamura (Tohoku University)
Theme: Motility Mechanism of Bacteria that Uses Stickiness

33th

Guest:

Guest:
Date:

Sep. 2, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.1 Lecture Room

Mitsuo Shoji (Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba)
Theme: Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanisms of Oxygen-evolving Complex of Photosystem II
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

14

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA Communication 6■Activity Report
7th OCARINA International Symposium and 2nd International Symposium in honor ofDistinguished professor Michael Nobel
Special Lecture
Dr. Michael Nobel (Distinguished professor, Osaka City University/ Chairman, Nobel Sustainability Trust Foundation (NSTF)
Keynote Lecture
Kazunari Domen (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo)
Invited Speckers
Dr. Dror Noy（Principal Investigator, Migal-Galilee ResearchInstitute, Israel）
Dr. R.N. Frese（Assistant Professor, VU University Amsterdam,
the Netherland）
Dr. Z.-Y. Wang-Otomo (Professor, College of Science, Ibaraki
University)
Dr. Chunhong Yang（Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China）
Shuji Nakanishi (Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry,
Osaka University)
Yusuke Yamada (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Kenji Iwasaki (Associate professor, Institute of Protein Research,
Osaka University)
Hideki Kandori (Professor, Graduate School of Engineering,
Nagoya Institute of Technology)
Yasuhisa Nakaso (Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc.)
Tomoyasu Noji (Specially-appointed Lecturer, OCARINA)
Ryo Nagao (Specially-appointed Assistant Professor, Graduate
School of Engineering, Nagoya University)

13

Yasufumi Umena (Specially-appointed Associate Professor,
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama
University)
Keisuke Saito (Lecturer, Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo)
Akihito Ishizaki (Specially-appointed Associate Professor, Institutefor Molecular Science, National Institute of Natural Sciences)
Project-team Presenters
Naoteru Shigekawa (Professor, Electric and Information
Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Seiya Kobatake (Professor, Applied Chemistry and Bioengineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)
Masatoshi Kozaki (Professor, Molecular Materials Science,
Graduate School of Science, OCU)
Kazunobu Sato (Professor, Molecular Materials Science, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Makoto Miyata (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Akihisa Terakita (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Muneki Mitamura (Professor, Biology & Geosciences, Graduate
School of Science, OCU)
Masatoshi Nishioka (Professor, Urban Design & Engineering,
Graduate School of Engineering, OCU)

International Symposiums were held in the OCU Media Center (10F: Large conference room) on
March 17 and 18, 2016. The 7th OCARINA International Symposium (in the morning of the 17th andafternoon of the 18th) was held in conjunction with the 2nd International Symposium in honor of Dr.
Michael Nobel (in the afternoon of the 17th and morning of the 18th). Eight world-class researchers
were invited to each of the two symposiums.
At the OCARINA International Symposium, 16 researchers including OCARINA project teammembers made presentations in four sessions with the following themes; 1) Studies on photosynthesis,
2) Advanced materials, 3) Advanced biology, 4) Urban energy / Aquifer heat storage research. A lively
discussion was held. In addition, presentations on 44 topics were given in the poster session. Poster
prizes were awarded to two presenters selected from among 25 topics through a vote held among the
symposium participants. (right-hand photos)
At the Dr. Michael Nobel International Symposium, Dr. Nobel delivered a presentation on advantages
and problems with regard to fuel-cell vehicles and electric vehicles from the economical viewpoint, andgave his opinions based on a comparison with hybrid ships developed by a research group in
OCARINA. An animated discussion ensued. (bottom photo)
Meanwhile, Dr. Kazunari Domen, a leading photocatalyst researcher (Graduate School of Engineering,
University of Tokyo) gave a keynote lecture, and Yusuke Yamada, (Professor, Graduate School ofEngineering, OCU) gave a lecture on a related theme in the session. In the session on the use ofphotosynthesis and photo energy, domestic and overseas young
leading researchers including Dr. Dror Noy (Migal-Galilee Res.
Inst., Israel), Dr. R.N. Frese (VU, Amsterdam, Netherlands), Dr.
Chunhong Yang (Chinese Acad. Sci., China), Prof. Seiu Otomo,(Professor, College of Science, Ibaraki University) and Shuji
Nakanishi ( Research Center for Solar Energy Chemistry,
Osa ka University) gave presentations . There was lively
discussion throughout the session, and the symposium wasvery successful.
*A n article about this symposium appea red in the Japa nesemaga zine S eibutsu Butsuri ( Vol . 5 6 No. 6) (S eria l vol . 3 2 8)
published by the Biophysical Society of Japan.

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Science Café Color changes!, Color illuminates! Let s observe the reaction ofphotosynthesis ‒ From photosynthesis to artiﬁcial photosynthesis
The Science Café was held in an undergraduate chemistry laboratory in the Science Faculties
General Experiment building on January 21 (Sat), 2 017. It was held in commemoration of
Kodansha s publication of the Blue Backs Series Dreamy new energy: what is artiﬁcial
photosynthesis? This book was given to the participants by OCARINA instructors (Professor
Nobuo Kamiya and Associate professor Ritsuko Fujii). At the Science Café, Ritsuko Fujii gave abrief introduction of the Research Center for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis, and Tomoyasu Noji,specially-appointed lecturer, gave a lecture. An experiment was explained brieﬂy, and thenconducted. Students who had appeared sleepy during the lecture perked up for picking up the leaves from living plants, and for starting
experiment with them. The students asked many questions, and some added a new twist to the experiment; they evidently found it very
interesting.
On July 16 (Sat), 2016, a similar seminar entitled Easy Science and Technology Seminar was held by Japan Prize Foundation in thesame venue. Twenty-two junior high school students participated in the seminar. On November 4 (Fri), 2016, a similar seminar was held
in English. Nine international high school students and teachers from Taiwan and Singapore who participated in the 13th High School
Chemistry Grand Contest organized by OCU were invited. Both seminars were well received; we realized that people are very
interested in the topic, and that it is disseminated widely in Japan and overseas.
Lastly, we would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone for this opportunity, and to the students for their support andcooperation. (Written by the coordinators, Ritsuko Fujii and Tomoyasu Noji)OCU Tenure Track Study Conference
OCU Tenure Track Study Conference was held at the OCU Media Center on December 9 (Fri),
2016. The conference, which had the sub-theme of The Future of Science, Technology andSociety, was organized and administered by tenure-track instructors. After the opening speech by
Takashi Uchida, Professor of Graduate School of Engineering, OCU, Tetsuo Arakawa, President of
OCU, delivered a lecture. The audience listened intently to him talking about interesting topics
such as the samurai spirit of Tomoatsu Godai, and the most important issues with regard to thecity of Osaka.
Five tenure-track instructors gave presentations, and Hideaki Takeuchi, Associate professor of Okayama University and Michio
Murakami, Associate professor of Fukushima Medical University, gave lectures. They explained high-level research themes in a waythat was easy to understand. Many participants, including students and our instructors, asked questions, and a lively discussion ensued.
The conference ended with a closing speech by Hiroyuki Sakuragi, Vice-President of OCU, who thanked the guest speakers andencouraged the tenure-track instructors with regard to their future activities. The conference was highly successful.

OCARINA Seminars
OCARINA seminars are held to provide opportunities for the members of OCARINA to talk with other researchers and givepresentations on their research results. In addition to seminars inviting leading scientists from inside and outside of the country, a wide
variety of activities such as study tours and PR activities are also held.
Poster prize winners and instructors(top) Natsuho Terahara (M1,
Laboratory of Functional
Biosciences, Graduate School of
Science, OCU) (right), Makoto
Miyata (Professor, OCU) (left)“Novel Chemotactic System
Induced by Anaerobic Conditionsfor Spiroplasma Swimming,
Unknown Energy-Conversion
Mechanism(bottom) Nami Yamano (M2,
Laboratory of Biological Structural
Chemistry, Graduate School of
Science, OCU)(right), Ritsuko Fujii,
Associate professor (left)“Structure and Function of theLight-Harvesting Complex II
Binding Heterologous
Carbonyl-Carotenoids

Date:

2016年2月29日

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.7 Lecture Room

29th

Tam Mignot (CNRS-Aix Marseille University- Marseille France)
Theme: The Myxococcus Xanthus motility complex: moving parts and ﬁxed anchor points

30th

Guest:

Guest:
Date:

June 29, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

Masahiko Hibi (Professor, Bioscience and Biotechnology Center, Nagoya University)
Theme: Analysis of the Mechanism of Axis Formation and Neural Circuit Formation Using Zebraﬁsh
Date:

Aug 1, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

Guest:

31th

Takashi Maoka (Research Institute for Production Development)
Theme: Distribution and Functions of Natural Carotenoid
Guest:

Kentaro Ifuku (Laboratory of Molecular & Cellular Biology of Topipotency, Graduate School of Biostudies, Kyoto University)

Theme: Crystal Structure of Photosystem II of Higher Plants̶ Conﬁguration and Functions of Extrinsic Proteins
Guest:Norihiko Misawa (Research Institute for Bioresources and Biotechnology, Ishikawa Prefectural University)

Theme:

Production of Functional Isoprenoid by Means of Pathway Engineering

Date:Aug. 26, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.6 Lecture Room

32th

Shuichi Nakamura (Tohoku University)
Theme: Motility Mechanism of Bacteria that Uses Stickiness

33th

Guest:

Guest:
Date:

Sep. 2, 2016

Venue:

Faculty of Science No.1 Lecture Room

Mitsuo Shoji (Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba)
Theme: Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanisms of Oxygen-evolving Complex of Photosystem II
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

14

OCARINA Communication 6

OCARINA通信
OCARINA Communication 6

What is OCARINA?
The mission of OCARINA (OCU Advanced Research Institute for Natural Science andTechnology) is to ﬁnd solutions for global-level energy and environmental issues andcomplex and advanced research subjects, and contribute to the establishment of asustainable society. As an urban-type university that promotes multidisciplinary
research, we set up research projects across the graduate schools.
Since its foundation in 2010, OCARINA has been carrying out large-scale projects withcompetitive research funds, while promoting globalization, integration of diﬀerent ﬁelds,
training of young researchers, and recruitment of female researchers.
Currently, we have ﬁve big projects at the four OCU research departments of Graduate
School of Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science andGraduate S cho ol of Med icine . The most d ist ing u ish ing feature of O CA R I NA is t hei nt eg r at ion of d i ﬀ erent ﬁeld s , wh ich is c onduct ed by a s m a l l nu mb er of s ele ct ed
researchers. With the major city of Osaka as our base, we will continue to promote original
research, including collaborative research related to medicine.

The OCU Advanced Research Institute for Natural Science and Technology

History of the Osaka City University Advanced Research Institute for
Natural Science and Tehnology
2008 March
April
December2010 March
March
OctoberNovember
December
2011 March2012 March
April
July
2013 March
April
June
2014 February
February
March
March
April
April
2015 March
April
April
2016 March
April
April
April

Founding Anniversary International Symposium held
The OCU strategic key research project (2008-2011) started
International Workshop held on the eﬃcient use of sunlight energy
1st International symposium held
Enforcement of oﬃcial regulations(start of activities as an oﬃcial bureau)
Building 2 renovated for research ﬂoors of OCARINA
Opening symposium for building 2 of OCARINA held
2nd International symposium held
3rd International symposium, “Kakuno memorial,” held
Annual meeting and the OCU strategic key research project(2008-2011) debrieﬁng held
The OCU strategic key research project (2012-2014) started
School of Science Building C completed, partial occupation
4th International symposium held
2 new full-time staﬀ members appointed
Research Center of Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis opened
Partial occupation for the new School of Science Building
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
5th International symposium held
One new full-time tenure track staﬀ member appointed
The OCU strategic key research project (2014-2015) started
6th International Symposium held
One new full-time staﬀ member appointed
New project started
7th International Symposium held
The OCU strategic key research project (2016-2017) started
ReCAP authorized as a Joint Usage/Research Center by Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)
One new project started

̶Joint Project of OCARINA and the COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis ̶Approval as a joint usage/research center and the new projects and roles of OCARINA

While each project is making steady progress, issues with regard topromoting multidisciplinary research are being identiﬁed.
̶ Special Project̶
Yutaka Amao

Professor, OCARINA「Authorized by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT) Joint Usage / Research Center
COE Formation for Artiﬁcial Photosynthesis」

̶Research Introduction̶
Tomoko Yoshida

Professor, OCARINA「Development of solid photocatalysts for artiﬁcial photosynthesis」

̶Project Introduction̶
Soichi Saeki

Associate Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, OCU「Advanced Biomedical Technology: Micro tomographic diagnosis using multi-functional OCT
˜ Application to the diagnoses of skin and cartilage diseases, arteriosclerosis,
cancer and regenerative medicine ˜」

Tetsuya Satoh Professor, Graduate School of Science, OCU「Development of Environment-friendly Cross Coupling Reactions」

̶Activity Report̶

7th OCARINA International Symposium and 2nd International
Symposium in honor of Distinguished professor Michael Nobel

Osaka City University Advanced Research Institutefor Natural Science and Technology
3-3-138 Sugimoto, Sumiyoshi-ku,
Osaka 558-8585, Japan
http://www.ocarina.osaka-cu.ac.jp/
The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech

Outreach Activities & Science Café
OCU Tenure Track Study Conference

Vol.6

OCARINA Seminars

The OCU Advance Research Institute for Natural Science and Tech