zMessage from the Director-General

Reconsidering the National Land and Social
Infrastructure

Photo

NISHIKAWA Kazuhiro
Director-General
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management(Key words) National land, social infrastructure, population decline, falling birth rate and aging of society,next-generation
1. Introduction
I recently had the opportunity to tour the Science
Museum of Map and Survey at the Geographical
Survey Institute. One of its many exhibits is the Earth
Plaza, a popular attraction which provides visitorswith the actual feeling of seeing the JapaneseArchipelago from an artificial satellite on an outdoor
22m diameter spherical map, which includes the entire
domain of the national land of Japan (cut from a giant
terrestrial globe). It is reported that many visitors are
deeply impressed by this exhibit. I was, of course, also
deeply moved. It motivated me to reconsider, from abrand new perspective, the ideal form of the national
land and social infrastructure, which are usuallyconsidered from the ground level perspective.
As the population, car ownership, and various otherindices are declining, Japan has entered a new era. The
social economy suited to a shrinking population is
now widely discussed. I would, therefore, like to takea fresh new approach to the question, “How should thenational land, where nearly 130 million citizens areliving their lives, be managed?”
2. Our domain as the foundation of social
infrastructure
The foundation of the nation is probably constructed
on its land. Consequently, maintaining this domain instable condition must be considered as part of social
infrastructure. Japan seems to be recognized as a small
country consisting of many islands enclosing a large
sea area, but in actuality, it possesses the world’s sixth
largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and thenatural resources existing in this zone have attracted
international attention. This is the reason why
maintaining the stability and protecting the coastlines,
being essential to maintain the EEZ, should becontinued. Words such as “domain” may soundexaggerated, but it is well known that a road network,
which symbolizes infrastructure, was constructed andmaintained by the military of the Roman Empire
primarily to protect its expanding domain.
In addition to considering this matter in this way, it
is important to consider whether or not our domain
will, through the improvement of the social
infrastructure, become user friendly as the foundationof the lives and activities of the people. In other words,
how will it efficiently and reliably support economic

activities with international competitiveness? Or will it
allow us to maintain natural environments comfortableenough for people to spend their lives safely andsecurely? From this perspective, we will occasionallyhave the chance to notice the need to revise existing
indices of social infrastructure improvement and waysof representing social infrastructure on maps.
3. National land continually collapsing
Viewed from the topographical perspective, most of
the land of the Japanese Archipelago consists of steep
mountains protruding from the ocean surface. Thesemountains have, since ancient times, continuallycollapsed under meteorological impacts produced byheavy rainfall and sunlight. It includes places where
soil collapsed and discharged from the mountains has
finally settled and, over a long period, formed gently
sloping land., where people have settled by cultivating
the land. They are ephemeral plains created originallyby the collapse and run off of mountains, so stabilizingthem is acting against the natural force of nature, andwe are forced to continue to battle this process. The
Japanese Archipelago exists in a high earthquake
frequency zone where a number of plates collide andannual typhoons arrive like uninvited guests, causing
the destruction of the national land.
The history of flood control in Japan, which isalmost synonymous with containing the flow of waterand sand in usually unusable space such as river areas,
can be called a record of a fierce struggle to overcome
the forces of nature. In the face of a continuous
population decline and ongoing financial pressure, wehave to rack our brains from a variety of perspectives
to decide how to efficiently manage the continuously
changing national land.
4. River basins and transportation infrastructureContinuous rains and collapsed soil form river basin
topography along the course of the flowing water. It is
not so difficult to envision, from the perspective ofwater use, how a culture matured through agriculture,and its economy has been created and developed as
river basin units. But when you try to travel from one
river basin to another, you are unfailingly forced totravel over mountains. So in Japan, transportation has
historically been developed on water, while that onland developed later, remaining poor until recent

●所長メッセージ
years.
So many railways, roads, and other landtransportation systems in Japan are often constructedin river basins, that the maintenance of these structures
must attempt to preserve the national land fromlandslides, slope failures etc., especially inmountainous regions. If these structures are built along
the sea coast to avoid these threats, salty sea spraycauses harsh corrosion, shortening their lives. A battlewith landslides on National Highway 112 Gassan
Road and with salt damage to concrete bridges andslope collapses on National Highway 7 along thecoastline help me recall my impressive experiences at
the Tohoku Regional Bureau, Sakita River and Road
Office almost 20 years ago. An overview of the
management of Japan’s national land can remind us
how the social infrastructure has been provided underharsh national conditions.
5. Considering the population decline, falling birthrate and aging society
As mentioned above, the population of about 130
million people now living on the national land has
begun to fall. The National Institute of Population andSocial Security Research has predicted that the
population of Japan will drop below 100 million
around 2050. And according to another report by thisresearch institute, the population of Asia and the entire
world population including that of Africa will bothpeak at the same time in 2100.
So, setting aside discussions of the estimatedpopulation size and of the population appropriate forthe national land, perhaps the configuration of the
population of Japan in 2050 will display a certain
constancy in line with its low birth rate. Whether or
not the structure of the population returns to its
previous pyramid shape, the structure of society willprobably change accordingly. What this structure will
be must be discussed, but a more serious question is
how we are to live for next 40 years. In other words, todeal with this structure, which will be extremely top
heavy under the impact of the falling birth rate andaging of society, we must complete the renovation of
the nation to adapt it to future conditions, through thefirm support of economic activities under the burdenof huge welfare costs.
So, we must reconsider what sort of social
infrastructure to establish and how to operate it so a
reduced population can use it effectively and easily. It
will definitely be impossible to construct good
infrastructure with high costs and with the large
quantity of labor which will be needed for its
maintenance, considering the poor energy efficiency
of its use. I think that this is a strategic researchchallenge.
6. Conclusion
Now in this age of population decline, theimprovement of social infrastructure is being replacedby its management and its use. The necessary
conventional economic policies are no longer effective
under deflation and declining growth, and theconventional economic indices are also ineffective as
tools for national land management.
A new book titled Theory of Japan as an Outlying
Country is now a best seller 1).An example of
Nihonjinron, which means writings on the theory of
the uniqueness of Japanese people, it argues that themain stream of scholarship or religion has always beenelsewhere, and that Japan, an outlying country fromthe world’s perspective, can only be consideredimpertinent to do its upmost to try to become a model.
It correctly points out the principle of behavior by
Japanese people, and that the time has come when wemust consider the fact that there are no models in othercountries. The global standard has simply been theAmerican standard or the Anglo Saxon standard,
rapacious capitalism without morality, a lack shown in
the process of sub-prime loans ending in Lehman
shock. Japan has existed as a unique civilization up to
today because, although it has continually accepted
Confucianism, Buddhism and other inflowing culturesfrom outside the country, it has been able to discard
aspects which do not match its essential character toaccept only that which is suitable and beneficial.
As you watch only sensational news, you might
have noticed the fact that the food, fashion, comics,
animated movies and other aspects of the culture of
the younger Japanese generation are imitated aroundthe world. When considering the future social
infrastructure, you had better realize that its users are
the next generation.
References:
1) Uchida Tatsuru: Theory of Japan as an Outlying
Country, Shinchosha, November 2009

z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Perspectives in developing and managing social
infrastructure for the next generation
TERAKAWA Akira
Executive Director for Research Affairs andDirector of the Research Center for Land and Construction Management(Key words) National land management, construction management, development and management of social
infrastructure
1. Introduction
The Research Center for Land & Construction
Management (hereinafter “the Center”) is one of threeCenters set up to tackle cross-sector initiatives.
Through research activities based on the key conceptsof “national land management” and “construction
management”, the Center’s mission is to support theplanning and proposal of policies related to housing
and social infrastructure development under thejurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism(MLIT).
With the steady progress of population decline,
falling birth rates and population aging, together with
the increasing reality of limitation on resources, thetarget of research activities in the “national land
management” sector is to consider how Japan’snational land infrastructure should be developed andutilized as a foundation that supports a safe,
comfortable and vibrant national way of life.
Meanwhile, to develop and manage social
infrastructure smoothly and efficiently as a means ofnational land management, it is vital that we constantly
review all aspects of construction production systems.
Only by doing so, can we ensure and improve thequality of public works, as well as gaining the supportof taxpayers through a highly transparent andcompetitive procurement system. Research on“construction management” technology is an effort tothis end.
2. National land management and social
infrastructure development
As a new image of national land infrastructure, theNational Spatial Strategies (nationwide plans)
formulated on the basis of the National Spatial
Planning Act (2005) state that “As well as building
national land infrastructure in which diverse, wide-area
blocks can develop independently, steps will be taken
to form national land infrastructure that is beautiful andcomfortable to live in”.
A major task in achieving this is to cope with thenationwide increase in settlements whose sustenanceand existence is threatened by population decrease andprogressive aging. In many cases, these face a variety
of problems, including uncertainty over public
transport, healthcare, welfare and other livelihood
aspects, as well as loss of traditional local culture andabandonment of land. Since fiscal 2006, the Center has
promoted studies on the transformation of local
community functions in areas facing problems ofdepopulation, focusing on the importance of local
communities in promoting sustainable national land
management1). We plan to link this to studies on future
maintenance measures.
For example, encouraging the use of domestic
timber (including thinnings) in housing and social
infrastructure development serves to support theforestry industry and ensure the appropriate
management of forests. This, in turn, ensures that
forests properly play the role of retaining water andcontrolling sediment runoff, and that the prerequisites
for flood control and water use planning in the wholeriver basin are maintained. This also encourages
interregional collaboration between upstream anddownstream areas, culminating in firmly groundedregional development. Preparing and revising
standards with a primary focus on encouraging the useof timber has large potential as a trigger for theformation or maintenance of this kind of socially
positive cycle.
To form safe and beautiful national land
infrastructure while maintaining stable economic
growth, the development of quality social
infrastructure based on regional characteristics willneed to be promoted efficiently as a priority issue. On
the other hand, addressing maintenance and renewal
accompanying the dilapidation of existing social
infrastructure stock is also a pressing task. Inspections
based on individual facility characteristics, along withsystematic maintenance and repairs based ondeterioration prognosis, will be indispensable if we areto reduce lifecycle cost by increasing longevity. They
will also reduce the impact on the socio-economy
caused by fatal damage under the harsh natural
conditions peculiar to Japan, including earthquakes,
floods, tsunamis and high tides, sediment disasters andsnowpiles. To this end, based partly on the results ofpreliminary studies by a cross-sector stock
management research group inside the Institute , weaim to tackle the development of inspection andmonitoring technology for preventive conservation
management of social capital in a three-year plan
starting from fiscal 2010.

z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

3. Ensuring and improving the quality of public
works and construction management technology
Following the enforcement of the Act for Ensuring
the Quality of Public Works (2005), the Center is
responsible for analyzing issues in projects under direct
jurisdiction of MLIT, and studies on necessary
revisions based on this2). This work is linked to various
initiatives aimed at ensuring or improving the quality of
public works, including the Overall Evaluation Bidding
Method, the Integrated Design-and-Build Procurement
Method and the Construction Management (CM)
Method.
An important task is to revise the standards,
guidelines and others needed for accurate and efficient
supervision, testing and works performance appraisalin public works, while responding to the increased
sophistication of execution management technology(such as the full introduction of IT-compatible
execution). This will enable us not only to obtainreliable outcomes with a high level of quality at theindividual works level, but also to establish systems
whereby companies’ track records and efforts areappropriately reflected in the process of selecting
suppliers.
We are also conducting research aimed at
appropriately deploying the unit price cost estimation
method (a method of cost estimation by multiplying theprice for each works unit division, including direct
expenses such as material costs and labor costs, andindirect expenses by the construction volume) andexpanding construction processes subject to trials. This
will not only reduce the cost estimation work load on
in-house engineers , but also promises effects that will
help to normalize transaction prices between contractor
and subcontractor in the construction market.
4. Summary
At the end of last year, the government’s Council for
the Formulation of Growth Strategy (chaired by Prime
Minister Yukio Hatoyama) presented the framework of
a new strategy for economic growth. The strategy
highlighted “Environment & Energy” and “Health(Healthcare & Nursing)” as sectors in which Japan
should show greater strength than other countries infuture, and “Asia” and “Tourism & Regional
Revitalization” as frontiers in which greater demandcan be expected in future. Strategic efforts are to bemade in six priority sectors, with the addition of“Science & Technology” and “Employment & Human
Resources” that form the foundation for the others
mentioned above. Steps will be taken to create demandand secure employment, and the aim will be to achieve
real economic growth averaging more than 2% by
2020.
It would be no exaggeration to say that the work ofdeveloping and managing social infrastructure serves
to underpin all of these. Tourism packages that use
express coaches depend wholly on networks ofexpressways, while the “Super Sento” public baths now

booming as local health and leisure facilities could only
exist with social infrastructure for a reliable watersupply and water treatment. In many cases, social
infrastructure facilities, such as beautiful bridges anddam reservoirs harmonized with surrounding
environment, themselves have become tourism
resources. Moreover, to enhance a region’s wide-area
healthcare services, it is vital that plans should also
include the development of public transport
infrastructure.
Social infrastructure development through public
investment also plays a major role in promoting R&D
in science and technology. Namely, it incorporates
science and technology from almost every sector, notonly in developing new materials and works execution
technology, but also in monitoring and inspection
technology after the construction of facilities. The
result is that these are efficiently utilized for the publicwelfare. It should not be forgotten that social
infrastructure development projects led to the conceptof electronic government becoming a reality, throughthe electronic conversion of work processes in the formof electronic bidding, electronic delivery and others,
and the provision of road services using information
technology (e.g. the ETC system). These technologies
have the potential to contribute greatly to social
infrastructure development in Asia and all countries of
the world.
Based on the problem awareness described above,
the Center would continue tackling survey and research
activities that support the development andmanagement of social infrastructure for the next
generation, in close collaboration and appropriate
sharing of roles with the Public Works ResearchInstitute, the Building Research Institute, the Port andAirport Research Institute and other relatedorganizations, as well as all departments within
NILIM.
References
1) H.Kawasaki, M.Suzuki, T.Monma, S.Ohashi:
Research on the sustainability of local communities,
Technical Note of NILIM No. 520, Feb. 2009(http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0520.htm)

2) A.Terakawa: Initiatives aimed at ensuring andimproving the quality of public works, FY2009 NILIM
Lectures, Technical Note of NILIM No. 546, pp.
135-150, Dec. 2009(http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0546.htm)

z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIMFor Sustainable National Land and Urban
Environments in Harmony with Nature

Photo

KISHIDA Hiroyuki , Director
Environment Department(Key words) National land and urban environments, sustainability, biodiversity, global environment
1. Introduction
Japan is surrounded by oceans and exposed to
extremely harsh natural conditions. Being in the path ofPacific typhoons, for example, means that abnormallyhigh tides are prone to occur, while flooding andsediment disasters are frequent. Japan also sits on an
overlap between tectonic plates, which increases thelikelihood of earthquakes and causes numerous
tsunamis. On the other hand, Japan has limited accessto minerals and other resources, and the foodself-sufficiency ratio is only about 40% on a calorie
basis. Given such natural conditions, Japan faces thetask of achieving harmony with “environments” in
symbiosis with nature.
Another problem is Japan’s constricted landmass
and the restricted availability of habitable land. These
have produced a national land infrastructure in which
about 130 million people live cultural lives inmodern-day comfort, efficiency and convenience.
However, the population of Japan has already started toshrink, and population aging is expected to advancefurther in future. To bequeath a healthy environment toposterity, therefore, the question now is what we should
do to create sustainable “environments” while we stillcan.

to conserve, revive or create good national land andurban environments in harmony with nature wheneverdeveloping or managing social infrastructure (such as
roads, rivers, parks and green areas closely related to
the Japanese way of life and production activities). We
also see this as the mission of our research.
The themes of our research strategy include issues on
a global scale (“global warming”, “sustainability” and“biodiversity”) and issues closer to home (“beautiful,rich and vibrant lifestyles”). These provide the basis forour research and development.
 Environment DivisionRiver

Landscape & Ecology Division䂓 Technology to conserve to restore riverenvironments䂓 Basin management support technology
䂓 River environment assessment
technology䂓 Support for environmental
assessment technology䂓 Revival of urban water, greenery,
environments and beauty䂓 Technology for creating biotopes

National
land

Global environment

Natural environment,
ecosystems
National
land

Roads

Livingenvironment

RiversParks,
green areas

Road Environment Division

2. The direction targeted by environmental research
Whilerecognizing
thelimitationsof“environments”, we see it as our pressing task to form
national land infrastructure that has sustainability andis in harmony with nature.
Of course, the environmental problems of today are
becoming increasingly complex and broad in scope, as
illustrated by problems of the global environment. As
such, it is important that we pursue comprehensive andstrategic R&D on the issues concerned, whileclarifying their relevance within the overall picture ofbroad-ranging problems.
In the Environment Department, amid these marked
developments concerning the environment, we see it as
an important policy task of national land administration

䂓 Technology for measures to predict and assess noiseand pollution along roads䂓 Technology to assess global warming
countermeasures䂓 Road environment assessment and policy
management

Outline of research by the Environment Dept.

To tackle these issues, we not only conduct research
designed to solve problems based on natural sciences;
we also conduct research based on social sciences, as isnecessary for research related to national technology
policies. Besides these, we also undertake
demonstration research in collaboration with related
institutions and localities.
Since the environmental sector is very broad-ranging
and complex, we collaborate positively with related
government departments, independent administrative

z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
organizations, the private sector, and universities andresearch institutions both in Japan and abroad whenpursuing this research. We coordinate with thesethrough a variety of channels.
3. Pointers for future research
When pursuing environmental research, we focus
our attention on three key points.
The first is to strive positively to produce “visible
results” from environmental research on social
infrastructure. For example, we aim to devise our“Research on the conservation and revival of brackish
water environments” in such a way that the behavior ofbrackish water environments is shown in an easily
intelligible form. Again, since our “Development ofenvironmental assessment technology for the lifecycleof social infrastructure” is an important research themein terms of the global environment and sustainability,
we will plan our technical development so that more
people can take part. In future, we will need to makeeven more positive efforts to ensure such “visible
results” in various fields.
The second point is to amalgamate natural and social
sciences. History often tells us a lot about environments,
and in the environmental sector it is particularly
important to research the historical changes that haveaffected society. On changes in coastlines due tomovements of the earth’s crust, for example, theappearance of coastal regions in antiquity is mentioned
in old books 1), while research on the relationshipbetween economic trends and climate change has been
published 2). We feel that this kind of positive link withsocial sciences will be even more necessary in future.
The third point, finally, is to positively gather andorganize data. We refer to a lot of data when drawing
conclusions from our research, but once the research iscomplete, these data tend to merely lie dormant
somewhere. While this may also apply to other fields,in the environmental field, in particular, we often
handle complex or new data, and we think thesignificance of retaining these data is even more
important.
In research on the environment, we sometimes haveto proceed with a process of trial and error. We would
like to pursue basic research while positively taking on
new challenges and tackling research that can be used
to develop and manage social infrastructure in future –for example, “Research on the predicted impact of
habitat environment disruption using DNA”.

4. Conclusion
The very environment that surrounds us is going
through some marked changes. Rivers, roads, parks andother social infrastructure close to us may sometimes
be difficult to understand, in terms of their convenienceor the changes that affect them. To manage our national
land infrastructure based on the natural and social
characteristics of Japan, it is very important that ourdevelopment and management of social infrastructure
closely related to our daily lives are harmonized withthe environment. With this in mind, we wish to tackle
research and development on the conservation, revival
and creation of environments, with the aim of creating
wonderful national land and urban environments inharmony with nature that can be bequeathed to the next
generation. While there is a surfeit of information in
our contemporary society, we would like to strive forresearch and development through a process of trial anderror as well as self-examination. In this way, we hopeto achieve real environments in which outstanding
natural beauty can be seen, while remaining sensitive to
movements concerning the environment.
References
1.Chusei no Tokaido wo Yuku (Walking the Medieval
Tokaido Road): Masaharu Ebara (Chuko Shinsho)
2.Taiyo Katsudo to Keiki (Solar Activity and theEconomy): Yuji Shimanaka (Nikkei Bijinesu-jin
Bunko)

Brackish water environment with a rich natural environment:
Near the estuary of the Tenryu River (Sept. 30th, 2005)

z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Towards a new evolution for sewerage

Photo

SHIMIZU Toshiaki , Director
Water Quality Control Department(Key words) Stock management, sanitary safety, membrane bioreaction, greenhouse gases
1. Sewerage approaches a turning point
Sewerage works in Japan are approaching a major
turning point. Until now, the policy emphasis has beenon diffusion and expansion as a matter of pressing
concern. From now on, however, stress will steadily
shift towards safety and environment, with demands forproper management and operation. The basic tasks
facing sewerage amid this process may be outlined asfollows.
٤ Immediate tasks in developing sewerage
infrastructure¾ Eliminating areas that lack wastewater treatment
facilities¾ Addressing the frequent occurrence ofconcentrated torrential rains and the expansion offlood damage associated with climate change¾ Improving water quality in closed water areas
through high-grade treatment¾ Reducing risks to aquatic systems by improving
and upgrading sewerage functions related to publichygiene (e.g. improving combined sewerage)
٤ Tasks in terms of stock management¾ Risk management related to facility dilapidationand systematic asset management facilitating
sustainable management¾ Enhanced earthquake resistance of seweragefacilities and retention of functions in the event ofan earthquake٤ Tasks associated with demographic change¾ Dynamic revision of plans in response topopulation decline and aging, introducing efficientmethods of development and management¾ Strengthening
seweragemanagement
infrastructure¾ Contributing to vibrant regional development bymaking effective use of sewerage facilities andrecycled water٤ Tasks concerning the contribution to newenvironmental problems¾ Creating positive water environments byincreasing the soundness of water and substancecirculation systems¾ Helping to solve problems of global warming,
resources and energy by using the resources,
energy, etc., provided by sewerage
2. Research areas subject to priority efforts
In the field of sewerage research, we undertakepriority research with emphasis on the following areas.
In this way, we provide technical support for policies

that will form a pillar of national sewerageadministration in line with the basic directions of new
sewerage technology.
(1) Areas related to sewerage stock management
Sewerage stock management is a field that is
attracting attention internationally, as illustrated by thefact that reviews are in progress with a view to ISO
standardization. On the other hand, against a spate ofroad collapses and other incidents, there is increasing
concern over the proper management of sewer pipes.
Although pipe renewal and repair technology has
progressed tremendously in recent years, we need toaccurately grasp the state of deterioration of pipes, inorder to make effective use of these technologies. To
this end, we are conducting research in various areas
based on information from local authorities all overJapan. These include research to establish a formula forpredicting soundness that will provide a foundation for
estimating the volume of future modification works,
and research on methods of deciding priorities forsurveys and modification (Fig. 1).
(2) Areas related to sanitary safety of treatedwastewaterWith the spread of sewerage systems, the volume ofwater carried by them has steadily increased, and thishas had a relatively large impact on water environments.
Meanwhile, the roles of treated wastewater as a water
resource are expanding, as illustrated by its reuse inurban landscaping, recreational water, and so on. On
the other hand, there have been outbreaks of healthhazards caused by waterborne infectious pathogenic
microbes including protozoa and viruses. As a result,
there are demands that sanitary safety also be
guaranteed for treated wastewater, reflecting the role itplays in water environments. Therefore, we are
currently drawing up measures to ensure sanitary safetyin line with the state of water use and purpose of using
recycled water at sites of treated wastewater discharge,
in connection with the norovirus (Fig. 2). We have also
started studies on measures to address new types ofinfluenza virus that are feared likely to become
prevalent in connection with sewerage.
(3) Areas related to wastewater treatment using
membrane treatment technology
Treatment technology using membranes in theprocess of solid-liquid separation efficiently removes
microbes and has a strong capacity for retaining
activated sludge. This is therefore considered apromising technique that can not only improve water
treatment performance but also make treatment

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Fig. 1 Example of calculations for future works volume
in a model city
(top: with simple modification after 50 years, bottom:
when using the formula for predicting soundness)

Residual rate (Ct/Co)

3. Further use of sewerage technology
Currently, activities designed to solve the world’s
water and sanitation problems and the problems ofglobal warming using sewerage technology
accumulated by Japan are being developed in the fieldof sewerage. The Global Center for Urban Sanitation(GCUS), a body representing the industrial, public andacademic sectors, was established for this purpose.
GCUS is now pursuing concrete studies based on the
hypothesis of targeted countries and issues, and our
Department is playing a positive part by contributing totechnical aspects. Through this kind of initiative, we
expect that steps will be taken to diffuse sustainablesewerage systems based on accumulated Japanese
knowhow, from planning and construction to
management and operation; and that this, in turn, willassist the further development of Japan’s seweragetechnology.

Cumulative
length requiringᡷ▽ᔅⷐᑧ㐳⚥⸘㧔MO㧕
modification㧔km㧕Length requiring
modification㧔km/year㧕ᡷ▽ᔅⷐᑧ㐳㧔MOᐕ㧕

facilities more compact, make facility modification andrenewal smoother, save resources in operational
management, and so on, thereby solving a number ofproblems currently facing wastewater treatment
facilities. Thus, as well as promoting objective
evaluation of the water treatment performance of
membrane bioreaction (a combination of theconventional activated sludge with membrane
treatment technology), we are also looking into
technical issues and matters for study when attempting
to introduce it into actual facilities as a method oftreating wastewater.
(4) Areas related to reducing the burden on the global
environment
With the effectuation of the Kyoto Protocol, we are
expected to take initiatives to meet targets forgreenhouse gas reduction. While sewerage works are asource of greenhouse gas emissions, their rich potential
as resources and energy (such as treated wastewater andwastewater sludge) could contribute to solving thedepletion of resources and problems of the global
environment. We are currently studying this dual
relationship between sewerage and greenhouse gases,
with respect to reducing emissions of nitrous oxide
arising from the wastewater treatment process(mitigation measures), and the effect of reducing
greenhouse gases through recycled use of treatment
water (adaptation measures). Finally, we are also
studying the LCA technique in relation to seweragefacilities, with a view to accurately assessing theenvironmental burden arising from sewerage and theeffectiveness of countermeasures.

Length requiring
modification㧔km/year㧕ᡷ▽ᔅⷐᑧ㐳㧔MOᐕ㧕z Messages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

E.coliE.coli colony Norovirus
G1

Norovirus
GII

Fig. 2 Comparison of chlorine sterilization fornorovirus and E.coli

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Implementing River Projects Adapted to
Climate Change

Photo

YAMAMOTO Satoshi, Director
River Department(Key words) Climate change, flood control, risk assessment, adaptation
1. National land susceptible to flooding
In Japan, about 1/2 of the total population and 3/4 of
total assets are concentrated on alluvial plains
covering only 10% of the national land. The landsurrounding three large bays (Tokyo Bay, Ise Bay,
Osaka Bay) which adjoin the three large metropolitan
regions, includes zero-meter belts of land below sea
level, occupied by 4.04 million people. And Japan is
located at the eastern end of the Asian monsoon zone,
one of the world’s heaviest rainfall zones, where it is
exposed to the risk of the approach and landfall of
typhoons. Japan can, for these reasons, be described asland susceptible to direct attack by flooding, sedimentdisasters and storm surge disasters.
To overcome such national land conditions, theJapanese have worked unremittingly to implement
flood control measures such as building series oflevees and constructing dams and other flood
regulation structures, achieving great improvements insafety from floods. But the state of provision of flood
control facilities remains at a low level of only about
60% of the present targets.
On the other hand, a poetic term for the beauty ofJapan’s mountains means “purple hills and crystal
streams”, giving the strong impression of a beautiful
country endowed with abundant water, and the annual
average rainfall in Japan is about 1,700mm, which isabout double the worldwide average. But nevertheless,rainfall per unit of population in Japan is low at 1/3 ofthe world average, so Japan does not possess abundantusable water. Japan has, therefore, responded byproviding water resource development systems, but inrecent years, annual rainfall has fluctuated widely andyears of extremely low rainfall have tended to occur,
arousing renewed fears of a decline of the safety of thewater supply and of droughts.
Social factors include the declining population, afalling birthrate and aging of society, the concentrationof the population and assets in large metropolitan
regions, and deteriorating regional economies. Among

farming and fishing villages, so-called villages at theviability limit are increasing, mainly in mountainous
regions. Such villages are gradually losing their ability
to maintain functions they need to protect theirresidents from natural disasters, and it is assumed thatwhen a severe disaster does occur, they will suffer
unprecedented damage. In Japan, a country susceptible
to flooding, droughts, storm surges, and other natural
disasters, finding ways to respond to intensifying risk
caused by climate change is an important challenge
facing future management of the national land.
2. Increase of risk caused by climate change
Severe natural disasters which can be associatedwith the impact of global warming are occurringaround the world. Examples include flooding triggeredin various parts of Japan by concentrated rainfall in
Yamaguchi Prefecture in 2008 and by the recently
increasing landfall of typhoons, and the terrible
disaster in the southern U.S. caused by storm surges
produced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2007, theFourth Report of the IPCC predicted prolonged
climate change and severe damage caused by thistrend.
Japan has prepared concrete estimates of the impact
of increasing rainfall during torrential rainstorms, thedecline of the flow rate of melting snow etc., inregional and drainage basin units. For example, thedegree of flood control safety (annual probability ofexceedance) which is a goal under present plans, hasdeclined by between 40% and 70% according to many
estimates, and it is reported that in Hokkaido and in
Tohoku in particular, there are river systems where it
has fallen to about 30%.
And if it is assumed that in the zero meter zones
around the three large bays, the average sea level willrise 59cm which is a predicted upper limit shown in
the IPCC report, the population living in zero-meterzones will increase about 50%.
In order to survey the impact of and adaptation tozMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
climate change, it is essential to appropriately assess
the social and economic impacts of changes ofexternal forces. In Japan, systematic studies have notbeen conducted, so we must quickly carry out suchstudies.

3. Basic concept of adaptation
The fact that both adaptation and mitigation are vitalin order to respond to global warming is not only
written in the Fourth Assessment Report by the IPCC,
it is also an awareness shared worldwide. But
awareness of this point is low in Japanese society
where, discussions are liable to be biased toward
mitigation. In Japan, a country particularly susceptible
to flood disasters, it is vital to increase awareness ofthe need for adaptation.
And floods, sediment disasters, storm surge
disasters etc. which are intensified by climate change,
are assumed to vary widely in scale, so it is difficult toprovide total protection from all such disasters. It istherefore important to adapt to climate change by
clarifying to what extent structures will provide
protection from flooding, then based on the results,
study measures to restrict runoff in river basins,measures to mitigate damage by submersion ofinundation of the land, and measures to restore
damaged structures and help damaged regions recover,and in these ways, achieve the goal of “zero victims”
of flooding of all scales likely to occur.
And in the Tokyo region and others where corefunctions are concentrated, it is essential to takepriority action to avoid paralysis of the nation’sfunctions and to minimize damage. And according toregion, flood disasters may occur in many river basinssimultaneously, so it is necessary to plan for a wide
area response encompassing more than a single river
basin.

To study research on climate change, flood disasters
caused by the change of the weather which is thepremise for the study, and the impact on society andthe economy must be assessed as disaster risks, andthe results represented in a form easily understood by
the public and by concerned organizations. Whendealing with flood disasters, it is possible to include
flooding of every scale which could occur by
analyzing the forms of inundations in the river basin toevaluate the flood risk posed by each form ofinundation. It is vital to show the results visually as arisk map. Assessing flood risk is important in thesense that it not only reveals an existing state ofsusceptibility, but also permits a comparison of thepresent susceptibility with a case where adaptation has
been introduced and the clarification of the results.
(2) Minimization of inundation damage
In order to prepare a flood control plan byevaluating the results of calculation of the risks ofinundation by flooding caused by climate change,
comprehensive measures combining measures in river
basins (for example, setting flood control safetyaccording to land use, and controlling inundation bybuilding backup levees etc.) are studied to compensate
for inadequate flood control measures on rivers. When
proposing such measures, a classification is madebased on conditions on each river (not only natural
conditions such as the scale, gradient, etc. of the river,
but social conditions which include population, landuse, state of concentration of assets etc. in the river
basin) in order to propose patterns of adaptation suited
to each set of conditions.
To also minimize the harm to residents of the river
basin, basic studies of the best way to improve
evacuation guidance systems, to guide land use, and toprovide flood insurance which economically provides
for the risk (risk financing).

4. Responding to growing risk
So at the National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management, an organization including
the River Department, Water Quality Control
Department, and the Research Center for Disaster Risk
Management has jointly established the ?Climate
Change Adaptation Research Headquarters?, which
undertakes research on rivers and coastline
management to respond to climate change as its
priority challenge. Specifically, it is now undertaking
the following research projects.
(1) Assessment of risk caused by climate change

5. To implement adaptations to climate change
It is essential for Japan, as a nation susceptible toflooding, to clarify assessments of risk under the
impact of climate change and to propose appropriate
and effective responses. And at the same time it isJapan’s duty to share information of advanced
technologies in this field with countries around theworld. In either case, there are time restrictions on theprocess of proposing adaptations to the impact ofclimate change, so we wish to quickly undertake
research.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

For more efficient use of existing road stock

Photo– Key lies in accumulating and using data–
SATO Hiroshi, Director
Road Department

1. A historic turning point
Japan’s social infrastructure development isundergoing a historic paradigm shift, and the road
sector is no exception. The systems and environments
involving roads are changing enormously; earmarked
funding for roads has been converted to generalfunding, budgets vastly reduced, the Road Structure
Ordinance devolved to regulations, expressway tollmeasures revised, subsidies converted to grants, and soon. Essentially, the fundamental role of a road is auniversal one that transcends time and space. Whileremaining cognizant of this fact, the issues to beresolved will also of course change, in line withsocio-economic conditions and changes in public
opinion, the development of science and technology,
etc.; policies and the R&D that support them must also
adapt to the new era. Amid harsh limiting conditions,creative ideas in various organizations and aspects havebecome even more important, and it is surely vital that
we apply reliable technology to support the efficient
implementation of policy issues, in particular.
Amid these recent changes to limiting conditions andpolicy needs, “effective use and appropriate
maintenance of existing stock” could be cited as one
major issue. And the key to resolving this issue is“continuously and efficiently accumulating, updating
and analyzing data”. This paper will introduce some of
the initiatives for R&D in the Road Department, in linewith this perspective.
2. Integrated analysis of road traffic data
When carrying out measures to reduce traffic
congestion or manage traffic demand as means ofmaking effective use of existing stock, it is difficult toachieve this with road traffic censuses held only once
every five years, and even then only on one typical day.
Locations need to be selected and countermeasures
proposedafter
comprehensively
ascertaining,
accumulating and analyzing hourly fluctuating traffic
volumes and traveling speeds for the whole country’s
trunk roads. To this end, we are pursuing the following
research with a view to obtaining, accumulating,calibrating, supplementing, and finally using various
traffic data such as OD traffic volume, cross-sectionaltraffic volume and traveling speeds.
1) Efficient methods of obtaining traffic data
- Techniques for estimating traffic fluctuation over awide area using a traffic volume constant observation
system- Techniques for using probe data and other ITS data toobtain traveling speed data, etc.
2) Methods of standardizing and accumulating traffic
data- Methods of standardizing positional data, data
headings, etc., and methods of electronic delivery
3) Techniques for calibrating and supplementing traffic
data- Methods of supplementing data in unobserved
sections and time zones- Techniques of reverse-estimating OD traffic volumeusing traffic volume data
4) Methods of computing evaluation indices, etc., using
traffic data
- Congestion-related indices (aggregation of losthours, etc.)- Indices related to time constancy (time reliability,etc.)- Indices related to traffic demand (vehicle kilometers
traveled by type of vehicle, etc.)
Our aim is to be able to evaluate the effects andpriority levels of individual locations subject tocongestion measures by using detailed and highly
reliable congestion-related indices, achieve qualitativeevaluation from the user’s viewpoint by using time
constancy indices, and ascertain traffic demand
fluctuation on national trunk roads in real time by using
traffic demand-related indices.
3. Improving traffic safety
In 2009, traffic accidents resulted in 4,914 deaths, thenumber falling below 5,000 for the first time in 57
years. However, this is still an unacceptable figure, andthe new administration has set the target of halving
road deaths by 2018 and achieving the safest roadtraffic environment in the world. Improving traffic
safety is synonymous with improving the quality ofexisting stock, and is one of the most important
policies.
On trunk roads, priority measures are effective insectors with a high rate of accident occurrence. As withcongestion countermeasures, we will need to selectlocations for implementing measures, propose
measures, evaluate their effects, etc., while
continuously accumulating data on traffic accidents
and the implementation of safety measures. To this end,
we are pursuing the following research aimed at
upgrading techniques for analyzing the current status of
accidents, efficiently obtaining data on accidents andhazards, and analyzing the effects of countermeasures,among others.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

1) Expanding techniques for ascertaining the current
status of hazards and upgrading analytical techniques- Techniques for analyzing and ascertaining thecurrent status by driving experiments involving
eye-mark recorders and video data analyses- Methods of using private-sector drive recorderinformation to glean the present status of hazards2) Upgrading techniques for selecting safety measures- Techniques for building a safety measure database,improving accuracy when evaluating the effects ofsafety measures, and evaluating composite measures- Establishing techniques for factor analysis based on
driving experiments, etc., in locations where thecause of accidents is difficult to ascertain
We aim to tackle research that will not only enhancethe effects of traffic safety policies amid severebudgetary constraints, but will also promote
understanding and trust in various regions and in public
opinion. This will be done by making it possible toselect effective countermeasure locations based on thepresent status of each location, as well as increasing thereliability of countermeasure effects and making it
possible to ascertain and express these quantitatively.
4. Towards “preventive conservation” and “total
optimum”
Japan, as a mountainous archipelago, has a road
network supported by a vast complex of roadstructures, including more than 150,000 bridges and
9,000 tunnels. There have been repeated reports ofserious deterioration and damage to these structures inrecent years. This is the result of aging, compounded byharsh natural conditions not often found in otherdeveloped nations (earthquakes, typhoons, torrential
rains, heavy snow, tidal waves, etc.). Establishingconservation measures for these structures is therefore
an important task.
To prevent accidents and terminal damage due to thedeterioration of structures, we need to carry out
accurate inspections, diagnosis, etc., and accumulatedata, correctly analyze and ascertain the nature of thedeterioration or damage based on the accumulated data,and carry out appropriate repair, reinforcement or
preventive conservation measures based on the resultsof highly reliable prognosis. Roads also have tofunction as networks, and when assessing structures orimplementing countermeasures, we need not only to
optimize in units of individual structures, but also to
optimize the content of countermeasures, their timing
and sequences, etc., for whole groups of structures.
This could also be seen as an important perspective interms of achieving the maximum investment effectamid budgetary and other constraints.
To this end, we are pursuing the following research
aimed at gaining an accurate grasp of the status ofindividual structures, more correctly evaluating theirperformance, and evaluating whole groups ofstructures with a view to the total optimum.
1) Techniques for accurately ascertaining the status ofstructures- Techniques for optimizing the system of inspections- Techniques for prognosis on the status ofdeterioration, etc., of structures
2) Techniques for more correctly evaluating theperformance of structures- Techniques for estimating the load resistance
performance of structures subject to deterioration anddamage- Techniques for estimating the effects of repair andreinforcement
3) Techniques for evaluating whole groups of roadstructures- Techniques for quantitatively evaluating themaintenance status of groups of road structures
Our aim is to achieve a balance between reducing
lifecycle cost and improving the reliability of roadservices. We will do so by supporting a shift from post
facto conservation after carrying out remedial
countermeasures for individual structures, to strategic
preventive conservation based on the latest data andhigh-precision prognosis.
5. The role of “roads” as universal entities
transcending time and space
As it happens, the city of Nara is now celebrating the
1,300th anniversary of the establishment of the Heijo
capital there. Roads were part of the core infrastructure
supporting the birth of the nation at Nara and its
subsequent glory. The “Takeuchi Kaido” was a
regional trunk road that could be called the very first
National Route in Japan. “Taishi Michi” was an accessroad that supported the project to build the Ikaruga
Palace. “Kami-tsu-Michi, Naka-tsu-Michi and
Shimo-tsu-Michi” (Upper, Middle and Lower Roads)
were urban planning roads to assist area demarcation,and “Yamanobe-no-Michi” (Mountainside Road) was adomestic road that linked settlements on the shores of
Lake Yamato. These ancient Nara roads provide
conclusive evidence that the fundamental roles andvaluable nature fulfilled by “roads” are universal ones
that will always transcend time and space. Encouragedby this irrefutable evidence, we would like to tackle
research and development with a view to providing arobust response to all kinds of change.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM  

To incorporate the latest findings inseismology and earthquake engineering in
the practice of seismic design

Photo

NISHIYAMA Isao, Director
Building Department(Key words) Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion, seismic motion prediction, building seismic design,Comprehensive Project on Sophistication of Seismic Design

2. Matters to consider when using seismic motion
prediction for practical seismic design work
Seismic motion predictions for various types of earthquake
are also made by the Central Disaster Management Council andothers, besides the Earthquake HQ mentioned above. Studies
are also being made, from different aspects, by theArchitectural Institute of Japan and the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers, among others. In some cases, these have proudly
announced completely different seismic motion predictions forthe same location during the same earthquake, leading
seismologists to wonder which of them is actually to bebelieved.
Quite aside from analytical techniques, seismic motion
prediction depends on the intricacy of epicenter models
describing how the destruction advances from the epicenter,
underground structure models showing the course of
propagation from the epicenter to the location where seismic
motion is to be predicted, and so on. In the proposals by
Earthquake HQ, seismic motion is predicted with these models

as givens; there is not necessarily enough explanation as to how
the predicted seismic motion is influenced by error inherent in
the employed modeling itself. As a result, we must first
ascertain the impact of this error when applying thesepredictions to practical seismic design work.
While the predicted seismic motion is generally assessed at
ground level, the seismic motion used in seismic design is the
input seismic motion observed directly below the building.
Essentially, therefore, these are two different things; it is really
not appropriate to apply the proposed seismic motion
prediction to practicalseismic design work, as if it were input
seismic motion, without first studying the relationship between
the two.
1000

Peak acceleration

500
Peak Acc. at Base (cm/s2)

1. Introduction
Recently, it has become quite common to see 3-dimensional
reconstructions of massive earthquakes occurring along the
Nankai Trough. Here, the processes whereby an earthquake
occurs and radial earthquake waves spread from the epicenter
to the Japanese archipelago are realistically reproduced. We see
how high-rise buildings in the center of the capital region swayfrom side to side, and how major fires are started. When I firstsaw Sakyo Komatsu’s film “Nihon Chinbotsu” (Japan Sinks), it
all felt very artificial, but these new visuals are a world apartfrom those old attempts. And it’s not just the video technologythat has progressed; we have accumulated so much morescientific knowledge on earthquakes since then.
When the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake struck in 1995,
it led to the establishment of the Headquarters for Earthquake
Research Promotion (Earthquake HQ)1), a body for unified
promotion of research on earthquakes. Every year, it updates its
website with announcements of new research findings. In Julylast year, it uploaded a compilation of these in the form of“National Seismic Hazard Maps”, followed by “Long-period
Seismic Hazard Maps: 2009 Prototype” in September.
For a hypothetical earthquake, seismic motion is predictedby following a “recipe” (so called because the same results will
be produced, whoever uses it), setting models for the epicenterand underground structure, etc. As a specific example, theshaking of the Aichi Prefectural Government Buildings during
an earthquake in the Tonankai area is shown in the form ofwaves. Given sufficient time, however, it is even possible tocalculate seismic motion in the grounds of individual building
structures during the hypothetical earthquake.
We now need to make studies aimed at using these seismic
motion predictions, proposed from the latest research, forpractical seismic design work.

200
100
50
20
10
ABase = 0.38 AGL

5ABase = 0.36 AGL

X
Y

2
2

5

10 20
50 100 200
Peak Acc. on GL (cm/s2)

500 1000

Fig. 1 Strong motion observation inside and outside
Hachinohe City Hall (Source: Building Research Institute)
Fig. 1 compares the results of strong motion observation
directly beneath Hachinohe City Hall and at ground leveladjacent to the building (including observed data from the
Iwate-Ken Engan-Hokubu earthquake of July 24th, 2008). The
vertical axis shows observation results directly beneath thebuildings. Compared to the observation results at ground level,
as shown in the horizontal axis, this shows an acceleration ofaround 40% less. If the relationship between the two is formallyconverted to the difference in JMA (Japan Meteorological
Agency) instrumental seismic intensity, input seismic motion
will be around 0.75 smaller than the seismic motion at groundlevel. Although input loss is known to result from dynamic
interaction and other factors, this makes it perfectly clear thatseismic motion prediction at ground level must be treatedseparately from input seismic motion as the force that actually
impacts on buildings.
3. “Notification waves” in the Building Standards Law

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Building’sᑪ▽‛䈱ടㅦᐲ䊂䊷䉺acceleration
data

Gathering᷹ⷰ䊂䊷䉺෼㓸observed data

Sample 䉰䊮䊒䊦ᑪ▽‛䌁
building A䉰䊮䊒䊦ᑪ▽‛䌂䉰䊮䊒䊦ᑪ▽‛䌃Samplebuilding B Sample
building C࿾㔡⸘Seismometer

Acceleration
data at ground level࿾⴫㕙䈱ടㅦᐲ䊂䊷䉺

丆丶
䷾

Data
Data

丆丶
䷾

Data

丆丶
䷾

丆丶
䷾

4. Comprehensive Project on Sophistication of Seismic
Design – Developing technology for evaluating the seismic
performance of building structures in response to theadvance of seismic motion information –To study whether seismic motion prediction based on thelatest findings in seismology and earthquake engineering canbe applied as they are to building seismic design, and toascertain what kind of study is needed in order to use it, etc., wewill start a Comprehensive Project on Sophistication of Seismic
Design3) in fiscal 2010.
The core of research in this project will lie in surveying therelationship between seismic motion at ground level and input
seismic motion by studying the soil-structure interaction model,using existing observed data of strong motion inside andoutside buildings. Another important component will be toenumerate the relationship between input seismic motion andseismic motion at ground level for each ground condition,building scale, and frequency. This will be done byaccumulating observed data of strong motion inside and outsidebuildings for ground conditions, structural types and scales ofbuilding structure not handled by existing strong motion
observation.

Specifically, by conducting the study shown in Fig. 2, wewill develop 1) techniques for assessing earthquake force
taking into account the properties of both the building and theground, 2) methods of continuously improving seismic design
technology based on strong motion observation results, and 3)
efficient seismic restoration technology, including groundfoundations, based on strong motion observation results.
To conduct this research, it will also be vital to have thecooperation of the private sector, universities and other related
institutions, and to gather and analyze earthquake observation
records from as many building structures as possible. As such,
we look forward to significant cooperation from related
institutions and individuals.

Data

丆丶
䷾

An Enforcement Order was used to provide performancestandards in 2000 following the 1998 amendment to the
Building Standards Law. The Order specified the acceleration
response spectrum (5% damping) at engineering foundations,converted from the earthquake force that had been used inseismic regulations until then (the 1981 amendment to the
Building Standards Law, or the New Seismic Design Method).
This is known as the notification spectrum, and the“notification wave” that fits this spectrum is used as the input
seismic motion in time-history response analysis for buildings
approval.
While it has already been pointed out that input seismic
motion should be distinguished from seismic motion at groundlevel, instrumental seismic intensity is sometimes calculated
formally from the notification wave created as a unidirectional
wave. In Soil Type 2, instrumental seismic intensity has been
known to reach around 5.9. Since the instrumental seismic
intensity during an actual earthquake is calculated from a
3-directional component earthquake wave, if we similarly
consider the notification wave with a 3-directional component,
the instrumental seismic intensity will become about 6.05.
From this numerical fact alone, some have expressed concernthat buildings designed under existing seismic design standards
will invariably collapse if the earthquake magnitude is larger
than the instrumental seismic intensity of 6.05 (i.e. 6+ or 7). In
fact, however, it is not so simple.
This is because an Interim Report2) from the Building
Earthquake Damage Survey Committee stated that buildings
designed in line with the New Seismic Design Method
generally manifested good seismic performance, following
damage surveys in Kobe City and surrounding areas that
suffered human judged seismic intensity 7 during the Great
Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
Why was there so little terminal damage even in an area
subjected to human judged seismic intensity 7, when the
instrumental seismic intensity formally calculated from thenotification wave was about 6.05? It is conceivable that even inareas with human judged seismic intensity 7, the input seismic
motion may in reality have been small, for the reasons shown in
Fig. 1. Another reason may well be the point that, since theminimum specified value is used as the strength of materials
used in practical seismic design work, there is already a margin
in there; an increase in resistance could also be anticipated due
to redistribution of stress after plasticization of the buildings;
and so on.

Data

Clarify the relationship between seismic motion at ground level and input࿾⴫㕙਄䈪䈱࿾㔡േ䈫ᑪ‛⋥ਅ䈮૞↪䈜䉎౉ജ࿾㔡േ䈫䈱㑐
seismic motion working directly beneath buildingsଥ䉕᣿䉌䈎䈮䈜䉎

Fig. 2 Image of research in the Comprehensive Project on
Sophistication of Seismic Design
5. Conclusion
Methods of seismic design for building structures have learnt
many lessons from past earthquakes, leading to their present
format.
To boldly incorporate cutting-edge findings from seismology
and earthquake engineering, as presented by Earthquake HQand others, in practical seismic design, we will need to achievea good balance between research on aspects of seismic motion
and research on aspects of building structures. We will alsoneed to aim for an even higher level of regulation on
performance than heretofore.
In the Building Department, as one aspect of this kind ofresearch, we plan to embark on the Comprehensive Project on
Sophistication of Seismic Design from fiscal 2010.
References
1. http://www.jishin.go.jp/main/index.html
2.http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/directory/eqb/book/11-43/index.
html
3. http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/hcg/index.htm

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM   

Toward Housing Stock Management for a
Mature Society

Photo

OTAKE Ryo, Director
Housing Department(Key words) Housing stock, housing market, prolonging service lifetime, energy conservation, effects of housing
measures, renovation
1. Is housing social infrastructure?
Homes are, needless to say, an element of the threenecessary preconditions for life: clothing, food, andshelter. They are required by everyone, normally infamily units, as places for human life. But unlike theother elements necessary for human life (clothing andfood), a home is immovably anchored to the land, islarge, is expensive, and can be used for a long time.
And it is not sufficient to simply provide enough for
all households; it is extremely vital where each islocated (location), how large it is (size) and how
comfortable it is (performance).
On the other hand, a home is not used by a large
undetermined number of people, but it is occupied
exclusively by a specified household, and homeowners include few public bodies such as those
operating public housing; an overwhelming majority,
both occupant owned and rented, are privately owned.
Most homes are, similarly, constructed by privatebuilders and distributed mainly through transactions
on the private market, by real estate dealers, etc. In
this sense, housing has a strong character as a private
asset which is owned by the private sector anddistributed on the market.
But housing has special features; it is fixed to theground, is large and expensive and it is used for a longtime once it has been constructed, so it is difficult for
housing to respond flexibly to social change broughtby new human needs and technological revolutions, asother products can. The housing stock now includes
approximately 57 million homes, and in recent years,
about 1 million new homes have been constructedannually, so even if the level of new housing improves,
it is impossible for the overall form of the housing
stock to change.
Consequently, in an era when the population soared
and was concentrated in large cities for example,
resolving housing problems caused by an absolute
shortage of homes became a major challenge. This
increase was followed by quantitative provision of afull supply, but a period when it was impossible tomeet size, location, and price needs continued. A
classic example of this were tiny high-rent homes inhousing estates accompanied by long-distancecommuting: a situation referred to as “far, costly, andnarrow” housing. In recent years, the movement toprovide barrier-free housing has not kept up with therise in the elderly population, and seismic retrofittingof homes has achieved little progress.
Considered this way, most individual homes are notpublicly constructed, managed, and utilized, but if theoverall housing stock of Japan is not constituted in aform needed to meet social needs, it will not function
appropriately through the market. Thus, housing is notsocial infrastructure in the narrow sense, but is a social
asset which is often included in policies which
integrate housing and social infrastructure.
2. Housing problems in the second half of thetwentieth century
Policy approaches are necessary in order for theprivate stock of homes which are places for private
life to form part of the overall social stock. During thepostwar years when there was an overwhelming
shortage of housing, high volume building
construction was the policy challenge. Then as
population was concentrated in large cities, it wasnecessary to not only ensure a quantitative supply, but
to provide new urban neighborhoods as places forhuman life, in housing estates or new towns forexample. And when the quantitative pressure ended,
the major challenge was providing larger homes, andthe target was a level of housing with floor area suited
to household size.
As means to overcome such challenges, in addition
to systems such as municipal housing, housing
supplied by the Urban Development Corporation andother directly supplied by public bodies, and theGovernment Housing Loan Corporation which offers
long-term low interest financing, the government
enacts housing construction plans which stipulate
medium-term housing construction goals, tosystematically supply housing. Eight Housing
Construction Five-year Programs (1965 to 2005) havebeen enacted and changing housing problems havebeen accompanied by a gradual shift of their priority
from ensuring quantities of housing to improving thelevel of housing.
3. Housing challenges in the first half of thetwenty-first century
A changing trend seen in Japanese society as thetwentieth century ends and the twenty-first century
begins is a shift from growth to maturation and fromzMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
flow to stock. The population has stopped rising andbegun to fall, and the same trend will soon appear inhouseholds. And in the field of economic growth,stable growth is now more realistic than high-speed
growth seen in the past. The population is also beingtransformed by a rapidly falling birth rate and aging ofsociety. The flow of the population to large cities has
slowed, but the absolute depopulation of outlying
regions is advancing.
At the same time, daily life needs are advancing anddiversifying accompanied by a boom in highly
convenient city center housing. Concern for safety ishigh as a result of continuous large earthquakes andthe problem of seismic design frauds. Environmental
problems have become a topic of great interest, andattention has begun to focus on energy conservation
performance. Consequently, it is necessary to form afull-scale stock with high location, size, andperformance levels. In order to smoothly provide
private homes with a variety of properties to people
who demand them, the market environment must be
improved and suitable compensation paid to theelderly and other people who require public support.
In light of such trends, the government’s housing
construction program has been replaced by the Basic
Program for Home Life (from 2006). Its goals are notspecific numbers of new homes, but improving theoverall performance of the housing stock, andpromoting the renovation and redistribution of oldhomes. The direct goals are the formation andmanagement of a public stock.
4. Housing research: present state and directions
The research challenges we face have changed in
response to the state of new housing policies.
The initial goal was popularizing long-term superior
housing—building good homes, caring for themproperly, and using them carefully for a long time—inorder to form a full-scale housing stock. In response,
the NILIM has, as part of “development of multiple
generation use type housing and housing land
formation and management technologies”, taken
pace-setting initiatives concerning fundamental
performances necessary to construct housing which
can withstand long-term use, management systems,
renovation methods etc., but it will also researchtechnologies and systems which have not yet beenadequately established and promote these throughsummarizing the results in written guidelines (the
2009
to
2011
Comprehensive
Technology
Development Project is now in progress).
It is also necessary to increase the percentage ofoverall housing stock which is housing endowed withbasic performances which can meet social demands,
for seismic resistance, energy conservation, andbarrier free etc. Taking energy conservation
performance as an example, legal systems have been
gradually strengthened, and newly constructedhousing provides a higher level in this area, but

measures for the vast existing stock of housing
remains a challenge. As “Research on energy
consumption performance according to class of
housing” we wish to clarify the effectiveness ofenergy saving improvements according to construction
period, scale, structure etc. of existing housing inparticular, and to contribute to its promotion (plannedfor 2010 to 2012).
The effectiveness of such measures must be
evaluated. And in order to clarify the degree of
inducement effectiveness of policies extending fromthe government level to local government levelaccording to regional characteristics in regard to theentire housing stock, which consists of an
overwhelming share of private housing and tinyminority of public housing, we are undertaking
Research on Methods of Evaluating the Effectivenessof Housing Policies According to Regional
Characteristics (2008 to 2010, in progress).
It is predicted that new housing (includingreconstructed housing) will eventually achieve a very
high level, but measures focused on the existing stock
are indispensable to transform the overall stock into
more desirable form and use it more effectively.
Japanese housing includes more new homes than in
the advanced countries of Europe and America, but it
is extremely far behind these regions in terms of theresale and renovation of old homes. There is also an
insufficient supply of statistics which accurately
clarify the performance of the overall housing stock. A
system to appropriately evaluate the performance ofexisting housing and to predict the effectiveness andcost of improvements must be developed. Other major
technical challenges are protecting consumers throughquality assurance and information provision, andintroducing housing stock management for a maturesociety.
In conclusion, because many homes are privately
owned, not only must the achievements of our housing
research be reflected directly in government policies,
but must also contribute to the private sector housing
market. If this conforms with the direction of
government policies, it will contribute indirectly to its
policies.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM   

Towards the Creation of Safe and Secure
CitiesPhoto—Urban Disaster Prevention Research: Its Past and Future—
YAMASHITA Koichi, Director
Urban Planning Department(Key words) Urban fire, evacuation simulation, densely populated urban area, cooperative reconstruction
1. Introduction
A long time has passed since we recognized just
how susceptible Japan’s cities are to earthquakes, tourban fires in particular. According to a damage
estimate by the Expert Panel on Measures to Prepare
for an Earthquake Directly Under Tokyo of theCentral Disaster Management Council, in the worst
case, of approximately 850,000 homes which would
be damaged, about 80% would be burned down, andof the 12,000 anticipated fatalities, more than half
would be killed by fire.
To plan urban disaster prevention, it is, of course,
essential to consider disasters of many kinds,
including flooding caused by torrential concentrated
rainfall which has increased in recent years, storm
surges, strong winds, tornadoes, etc., but the Urban
Planning Department has conducted a series ofresearch projects concerning urban fires. This reportsummarizes past initiatives and considers the future
direction regarding research on urban disasterprevention, including the perspective of densely
populated urban areas where the risk of fire is
extremely high.
2. Evaluating the disaster prevention performanceof urban areas focused on urban fire simulations
A General Technology Development Project
implemented from 1998 to 2002, Development ofDisaster Prevention Assessment and Countermeasure
Technologies for City Planning, was a study of adamage prediction simulation concerning 1) the
danger of fire spreading and the 2) difficulty ofactivities (evacuation, rescue, first-aid, andfire-fighting activities) as a result of road closures.
Specifically, regarding 1), to perform urban fire
simulations, a program which visually represents theway fires spread by elapsed time in the process,outbreak of fire Æ spread of the fire Æ damage tosurroundings Æ ignition of nearby buildings, has beendeveloped based on data concerning the state ofindividual buildings in urban areas, positional
relationships of buildings, and shielding. Concerning2), activity simulations, a study was performed toevaluate the degree of difficulty of evacuation,
fire-fighting, rescue, and first-aid activities according
to the state of the area’s facilities, parks, city streets,
etc., under conditions where roads have been closed

following an earthquake.
These studies incorporated knowledge concerning
the situation when many fires broke out
simultaneously in densely populated urban areas andthe effectiveness of fire break belts (wide streets,parks, rows of noncombustible buildings) during the
1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Disaster.
Urban area fire simulations are performed todevelop 1) advanced urban area fire simulation
technology, 2) urban area fire imaging technologies,
and 3) urban area data and building data control
technologies as part of Development of Support Tools
for Comprehensive Urban Area Fire Measures (2007
to 2009), in order to continue to improve the precisionof simulations and visualization technologies.
3. Disaster prevention performance evaluations for
densely populated urban areas
The 2002 Urban Recovery Project (Third decision)
stipulated that during the next 10 years, priority
improvement of approximately 8,000 hectares atparticularly high risk of major fires during earthquakes
from among a total of 25,000 hectares of densely
populated urban areas nationwide would beundertaken. And the 2007 Urban Recovery Project(Twelfth decision) stipulated that because, in densely
populated urban areas, there are many bottlenecks,
including numerous lots which cannot be usedeffectively under building regulations, and houses
difficult to reconstruct, it is necessary to accelerate
improvements of such areas.
In response, we tackled disaster prevention
problems in densely urban areas based on the resultsof the General Technology Development Projectreferred to above as part of Research on Human
Suffering During Earthquake Fires Based on the
Improvement of Area Facilities in Densely Populated
Urban Areas (2006 to 2008). Specifically, the themeof the study was 1) evacuation simulation technologies
performed to predict the state of evacuation by area
residents incorporating residents’ evacuation site andevacuation route selection actions and obstruction ofroads caused by the collapse of buildings and by fire.
The study also included 2) methods of evaluating theeffectiveness of providing small empty spaces (pocketparks, etc.) to prevent the spread of fire by performing
urban area fire simulations. Based on 1) and 2), azMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
technique to clarify methods of effectively improving
area facilities etc. comprehensively considering thecharacteristics of the area was studied and, forexample, a method of clarifying a road project site toeffectively prevent the spread of fire was presented.
And concerning evacuation simulations, Research
on Smoothing Wide Area Evacuation During an
Earthquake Fire began in 2009 in order to develop awide-area evacuation multi-agent program which canbe used to deal with a variety of problems encounteredduring wide area evacuation, including the analysis oflocations of evacuation problems and obstructive
factors.
4. Densely populated urban area improvement
promotion policies
And regarding research on improvement promotion
policies for densely populated urban areas, as part ofStudy and Survey of Early Safety Assurance
Promotion Policies for Densely Populated Urban
Areas (2004 2005), studies from the perspective ofreconstructing deteriorated housing etc., were carriedout focused on the use of Special Methods of
Cooperative Reconstruction such as special exceptions
to building form restrictions under the Building Codeof Japan, for example, cityscape inducement type areaplans, special approvals of building coverage ratios,
and the special design method for group buildings etc.
The term, Special Methods of Cooperative
Reconstruction used above means effectively linking
individual building plans to reconstruction, byapplying special methods under the Building Standard
Law as reinforcement measures of so-called bean jam
buildings inside urban blocks.
And beginning in 2010, the Development of
Cooperative Reconstruction Rule Enactment Support
Technologies for Densely Populated Urban Areas wasstarted in order to construct guidelines to theenactment of cooperative reconstruction rules topromote the improvement of densely populated urban
areas. And in order to discover reconstruction needs
based on the application of Special Methods of
Cooperative Reconstruction, plans call for thedevelopment of area performance prediction andassessment tools which local governments andconsultants can use easily, including environmental
performance items such as access to sunlight andventilation in addition to disaster prevention
performance. (see following figure)5. Conclusions
Disaster prevention research has advanced under the
methodology—considering future measures taking
past disasters which have actually occurred as
lessons—but severe disasters which actually occur
usually trigger damage greater than that anticipatedand greatly exceeding past knowledge. In response,
we considered that it might be possible to go beyond
conventional methodology to use simulation
technologies to clarify new forms of disaster damage.
It is assumed that from the macroscopic perspective,
damage hypotheses of earthquakes bear this role to acertain degree, but it might be possible to search forforms of damage which apparently cannot be
imagined applying past knowledge, that related toevacuation after earthquake fires in particular,
according to the specific conditions in various urban
areas.
Resources:
Guidebook to the Operation of Group Regulations to
Improve Densely Populated Urban Areas, Technical
Note of the NILIM January 2007.
㧔http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0368.
htm㧕

Development of Simple Prediction and Assessment Tools for Urban District Performance inኒ㓸Ꮢⴝ࿾䈮䈍䈔䉎ⴝ඙ᕈ⢻䈱◲ᤃ੍᷹䊶⹏ଔ䉿䊷䊦䈱㐿⊒ኒ㓸Ꮢⴝ࿾䈮䈍䈔䉎ⴝ඙ᕈ⢻䈱◲ᤃ੍᷹䊶⹏ଔ䉿䊷䊦䈱㐿⊒Densely
Populated Urban Areasᣣᾖ

Sunlight

Access to
sunlight

Passageway
㆏〝

ἫἻ
Fire

㆏
Passage
Wall
ო
way 〝
㕙
surface
Roof
ደᩮ

ណశ

Air
Ventilation

឵᳇

Wind
Ventilation?

ㅢ㘑
䊶
䊶
䊶

Roof
ደᩮ
Ἣἴᑪ‛
Burningbuilding<Fire
prevention>䋼㒐Ἣ䋾<Sunlight(shade)>䋼ᣣᾖ ᣣᓇ
䋾

<Access to sunlight <Ventilation>䋼ណశᾖᐲ 䋾 䋼ㅢ㘑䊶឵᳇䋾(luminance)>

Integration andsimplification

㒐Ἣ

⛔ว丵
◲ᤃൻ

Advanced specialized existing urban area performance evaluation and㜞ᐲ䈪ኾ㐷⊛䈭ᣢሽ䈱ⴝ඙ᕈ⢻⹏ଔ䊶੍᷹ᚻᴺ
prediction method

Fire prevention

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Seeking beautiful, trash-free oceans

Photo

SUDO Tsutomu, Director
Coastal and Marine Department(Keywords) Drift trash, cooperation with the private sector, numerical model, remote sensing
1. Introduction
The amount of trash that drifts along and onto theshores of the East China Sea and Sea of Japan has
been increasing in recent years. This trash, which
drifts into sea areas around Japan and then onto its
coastlines, is causing problems that include
degradation of marine and coastal environments.
Much of the trash is made of artificial materials that
do not exist in the natural world, such as plastic.
Because it is not biodegradable, once the trash entersthe environment, it will exist as semipermanent drift
trash unless it is recovered. This phenomenon occurs
not only in the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan.
In the North Pacific Ocean near Hawaii, there is a highconcentration of trash called the Great Pacific Garbage
Patch that is roughly twice the size of Texas.
There are many cases where regions faced withserious drift trash problems are also grappling with the
problem of declining population. In such regions, thecost of disposing of onshore drift trash is an excessive
burden on local government finances. And even if
no financial problems exist, trash that drifts ashore
tends to remain where it is because it cannot bereached by people, to say nothing of heavy equipment.
Moreover, it is clear that some of the trash that drifts
ashore comes from other countries.
Given these circumstances, Japan enacted a “Law for
the Promotion of Marine Litter Disposal” in July 2009
to preserve favorable coastal sceneries andenvironments and to promote smooth disposal andcontrol generation of driftage.
In addition torequiring coast managers and others to take necessary
measures to dispose of driftage, the law enables thegovernment to quickly enact laws and implement
necessaryfinancialmeasurestopromotecountermeasures against driftage.
The law’s
enactment represents a significant step toward
resolving the drift trash problem, and it is expectedthat even further measures will be taken in the future.
To solve the drift trash problem, it will be importantto reduce the amount of trash that washes out to sea aswell as to collect trash that is already in the sea.
Accomplishing this will require clarification of trashsources and drift processes together with continuous
monitoring. The Coastal and Marine Department isengaged in research in these areas in cooperation withconcerned organizations.
The content of thisresearch is presented below.
2. Drift trash prediction experiment in the East
China Sea
Implemented under the Ministry of theEnvironment’s Global Environment Research Fund,
this research is a collaborative undertaking involving
researchers from Ehime University, the University ofTokyo, NILIM, and AIST as well as an NGO (Japan
Environmental Action Network [JEAN]) and local
citizens (Goto City). The main research objectives
are: 1) identification of places of origin, seasons, andamounts of drift trash; 2) prediction of drift seasonsand locations based on the results; and 3) preparationof recommendations on methods for continuous trashsurvey. Figure 1 provides a research outline.

Figure 1: Research outline1)

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
To begin, drift trash is collected on Fukue Island of
the Goto Island chain. The trash is then sorted,counted, and weighed. The origins of PET plastic
bottles, lighters, and other items are deduced fromlabels and other clues with the help of the NGO andlocal residents. Then the locations of origin, seasonsof origin, and amounts are back-calculated from asimulation that is based on data obtained in this way.
From this, predictions of trash drift to the Goto Islands
are made using these calculations as boundary
conditions.
To identify areas where trashaccumulates, which is information necessary for trashcollection on the sea, sea areas of accumulation are
deduced in real time from surface flow distribution
data that are obtained from high-frequency (HF) ocean
surface radar for the areas off the west coasts of theGoto Islands. Web camera-based technology formonitoring drift trash is used to verify the accuracy of
season and location predictions.
From this research, it has become apparent that large
amounts of trash drift ashore during the winter, andthat there are clear seasonal fluctuations in locations oforigin and deduced by-country drift amounts.
Moreover, the researchers successfully performed
inverse-estimation based on simulations of drift trash.
At the present time, research is focusing on one-monthprediction of drift trash with forecasted wind patterns
issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, using theinverseestimatesasboundary
conditions.
Furthermore, the researchers developed methods for
identifying trash accumulation regions using theresults of HF radar observations, and a method forquantifying movement speed and coverage area by
analyzing digital images of trash that is scattered overmarine surfaces.
3. Issues for the future
The researchers believe that the “drift trash
prediction experiment in the East China Sea”
produced value data and developed useful methods forresolving problems associated with drift trash. They
also intend to make proposals on regional andlong-term trash monitoring in the future based on thedeveloped
image-analysis
technologies
andcorrelations among the amounts of various trash types
that were actually collected.
It should be noted that many organisms—including
drifting seaweed, juvenile fish, and floating
larvae—gather in marine areas of accumulated trash,and thus the possibility exists that collecting all
floating matter could have a serious impact onorganisms that, for example, use the junction between
two currents in their life cycles. Consequently, it
may be necessary to engage in technical developmentthat goes one step beyond “effective collection” to“appropriate collection.”
Furthermore, hazardous substances such as PCB and
DDT are absorbed in the surfaces of plastic drift trashin high densities. This suggests that drift trash is not
only a problem in terms of scenic beauty but also a
serious problem for the ecology. As a result, it isthought that efforts to tackle the drift trash problem
will be required from the standpoint of transport ofhazardous materials as well.
4. Conclusion
Everyone wants to see beautiful, trash-free oceans.
There can be no doubt that the best way to achieve thiswill be to not release trash into the ocean.
Although we may prefer not to think about it, it ispossible that hazardous substances attached to drift
trash are becoming concentrated through the foodchain and winding up in the fish on our dinner tables.
Moreover, it is reported that much of the Great PacificGarbage Patch is made up of trash originating fromJapan. Thus, we must recognize that we are not only
the victims of the drift trash problem but also its
perpetrators. Each of us must understand the drift
trash problem and do take whatever action we can tosolve it.
At the same time, however, no matter how much we
strive to reduce the amount of trash that is discharged
into the ocean, some trash will always end up there
nonetheless. Thus, in collaboration with variousorganizations, the researchers intend to continue theirresearch toward development of technologies forappropriate collection and ascertainment of the effects
of drift trash.

1) Isobe, Atsuhiko, “East China Sea marine-litter
prediction experiment conducted by citizens andresearchers”, Ship & Ocean Newsletter, No.205, pp.
2-3 (2009)

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM 

Reconsidering Northeast Asian container
flow to North America

Photo

TAKAHASHI Hironao, Director
Port and Harbor Department(Keywords) Northeast Asia, international marine container flow, Sea of Japan
1. Annual Report 2009: Continuation of the backcover
The back cover of the last year’s Annual Report(2009) displayed trends in North America-boundcontainer flow from Northeast Asia as analyzed by thePort and Harbor Department (up to December 2008).
This analysis clearly demonstrates how flow to North
America dropped rapidly following the Lehman
Brothers’ collapse in September 2008. Figure 1
shows what happened afterwards. Flow from Japanbottomed out in May of last year, that from China in
February of last year, and that from South Korea inJanuary of last year; since then, flow from all three
countries has been growing. However, the reboundfrom Japan is weak compared to the other two
countries.
Such trade trends between Northeast Asia—andparticularly China—and North America will be an
important factor in the future economic growth of not
only Japan but the entire globe. Thus, it is importantto analyze such trends from a variety of standpoints.
For this reason, the Port and Harbor Department isanalyzing container cargo flows (such as those shownin Figure 1) as well as actual port calls bycontainerships. In the research described here, thedepartment newly analyzed the actual sailing ofcontainerships in the seas near Japan. Based on this,the department succeeded in ascertaining actual sailingof containerships through the Tsugaru Strait, forexample, and therefore sailing on Japan’s Sea of Japan
side.

China
South
Korea

2. Ascertaining actual sailing by containerships
Japan Coast Guard steadily established Automatic
Identification System (AIS) land stations in response
to a new regulation requiring that ships carry AIS.
Nationwide development of the AIS network wasattained when coverage of the seas south of Kyushu
was completed in June 2009. As a result, it has beenpossible to uniformly ascertain ship sailing in all
coastal areas of Japan since July 2009. With AIS
data supplied by Japan Coast Guard, the Port andHarbor department analyzed actual sailing ofcontainerships in seas near Japan using an AIS data
analysis system (NILIM-AIS) that was developed by
the department. Figure 2 shows containership tracks
for one week (18 to 24) in July 2009. It should be
noted that areas where actual observations werelacking were supplemented in the figure by
NILIM-AIS.
(1) Large containerships (Panamax ship or larger)
Figures 3 and 4 show the results of an analysis offour-week periods for both eastbound and westboundsailing by containerships of Panamax size (Pmax) orlarger.
The results reveal that the share of ships
sailing in the Sea of Japan is roughly 40% for both
eastbound and westbound directions, and that, of theseships, the percentage of ships that do not stop in South
Korea is 20% or more in the eastbound direction and
30% or more in the westbound direction. The results
also reveal that the share of ships that do not stop inContainerᣣᧄోၞships in allsea㪇㪐㪅㪎㪅㪈㪏䌾㪉㪋areas of Japan fromJuly
18 to 24, 2009䉮䊮䊁䊅⦁(corrected)
⵬ᱜ䈅䉍

Japan

Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct

Lehman Brothers’ collapse

Figure 1: Northeast Asia ψ North America
container flows

Analysis by NILIM’s NILIM-AIS system (with AIS data࿖✚⎇䈱㪥㪠㪣㪠㪤㪄㪘㪠㪪䈮䉋䉍⸃ᨆ 䋨䌁䌉䌓䊂䊷䉺䈲ᶏ਄଻቟ᐡឭଏ䋩provided by Japan Coast Guard)

Figure 2: Container ship tracks

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
Japan is 60% or more for eastbound ships and 40% ormore for westbound ships, and that the percentage ofships that do not stop in South Korea is 50% or more
for both eastbound and westbound directions.
(2) Oversized containerships (over-Panamax ships)
Figures 5 and 6 show the results of a similar
analysis for eastbound and westbound directions foroversized containerships that cannot pass through the
Panama Canal (over Panamax: O-Pmax). Here, it isrevealed that, of containerships that are Pmax or larger,
up to roughly 70% are O-Pmax for both eastbound andwestbound directions.
3. Transport of Japan-China cargo on the
China-North America route
Looking at the results of 2 above, it is obvious that
China occupies the central position of the Northeast
Asia-North America route. Containerships plying
Northeast Asia-North America route number 10 per
day when both eastbound and westbound directions
are combined. However, only roughly half of theseships stop in Japan. Nonetheless, it is possible toview these voyages as being on the Japan-China route.
In other words, every day 10 containerships boundfor/leaving China pass Japan, and only half of them do
not stop.
Currently, Japan’s largest trading partner is China,
and thus it is thought that this route can be used as ameans of transport for Japan-China trade.
Traditionally, marine container transport to China has
been conducted by small- and medium-sized
containerships plying coastal routes, and routes thatstop at multiple ports have been the norm. However,having large high-speed ships on the North
America-China route stop by Japan may serve as a
new “idea” here. The key to realizing such aframework will be the question of whether or not the
number of China-bound containers that can begathered will provide sufficient advantage to justify
large containerships’ stopping in Japan.
The Port and Harbor department intends to conduct
further analysis of this topic.
References
1) Takahashi, Hironao, “Clarification of State of Ship
Navigation on Seas Surrounding Japan to Ensure
Safety on the Sea,” Japan Policy Workshop, 1st
Annual Meeting, December 2009.

Sea
of Japan route: 43%
43%
ᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝
Sea
of Japan route with no stopᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝ౝ䈪㖧࿖ᛮ᷼in South Korea (23%)
䇴23%䇵
No stop in Japan: 63%
ᣣᧄ
63%
No
stop in ᛮ᷼
South Korea:
56%
㖧࿖
56%
No
stop in ᛮ᷼
Japan andSouth
Korea:
30%ᣣ䊶㖧 ᛮ᷼ 30%

䋶䋵
䋱䋵䋰
䋵䋵

䋵䋰
䋱䋵

3 major ports

䋵

䋲䋵

䋳䋰
䋷䋰

䋱䋵

䋱䋵

᧲ ⥶
Eastbound䋹䋰Container ship size of Panamax (B 30 meters or more or 40,000 DWT or more) orlarger for Jul. 4 to 31, 2009) 5 unit: ship
Analysis by NILIM’s NILIM-AIS system (with AIS data provided by Japan Coast
Guard)

Figure 3: Sailing by container ships (Pmax) (eastbound)Sea
of Japan route: 43%
ᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝
43%
Sea of Japan route with no stopᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝ౝ䈪㖧࿖ᛮ᷼in South Korea (31%)
䇴31%䇵
No stop in Japan: 46%
ᣣᧄᛮ᷼Korea:46%
Nostop in South50%
No
stop in JapanSouth㖧࿖ᛮ᷼and50%
Korea: 17%䋶䋵ᣣ䊶㖧 ᛮ᷼ 17%

䋱䋵䋰
䋷䋰

䋴䋵
3 major ports

䋲䋰

䋵

䋱䋵
䋷䋵

䋲䋵

䋱䋵

䋲䋰

䋱䋰

⷏ ⥶

䋸䋰

WestboundContainer ship size of Panamax (B 30 meters or more or 40,000 DWT or more)or larger for Jul. 4 to 31, 2009) 5 unit: ship
Analysis by NILIM’s NILIM-AIS system (with AIS data provided by Japan
Coast Guard)

Figure 4: Sailing by container ships (Pmax) (westbound)
O-Pmaxshare: 67%
O-PmaxᲧ67%
Sea of Japan route: 40%
ᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝
40%
Sea
of Japan routewith no stopᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝ౝ䈪㖧࿖ᛮ᷼in South Korea (25%)
䇴25%䇵
No stop in Japan: 60%
ᣣᧄNostop inᛮ᷼
South 60%
Korea: 55%
㖧࿖Nostop inᛮ᷼
Japan 55%
and South
Korea:
ᣣ䊶㖧30%
ᛮ᷼ 30%

䋴䋰
䋱䋰䋰
䋴䋰

䋳䋰
3 major ports

䋱䋰

䋲䋰
䋰
䋴䋵

䋵

䋱䋵

᧲ ⥶
Eastbound䋵䋰Container ship size of Panamax (B 30 meters or more or 40,000 DWT or more)or larger for Jul. 4 to 31, 2009) 5 unit: ship
Analysis by NILIM’s NILIM-AIS system (with AIS data provided by Japan
Coast Guard)

Figure 5: Sailing by container ships (O-Pmax) (eastbound)
O-Pmaxshare: 73%
O-PmaxᲧ73%
Sea of Japan route: 45%ᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝 45%
Sea of Japan route with no stopᣣᧄᶏ⥶〝ౝ䈪㖧࿖ᛮ᷼in South Korea (20%)
䇴20%䇵
No stop in Japan: 45%ᣣᧄᛮ᷼Nostop inSouth45%
Korea: 54%㖧࿖ᛮ᷼Nostop inJapan54%
and South
ᣣ䊶㖧9%
ᛮ᷼ 9%
Korea:

䋵䋰
䋱䋱䋰
䋵䋰

䋴䋰
䋱䋰
䋵
䋵䋰
䋱䋰

3 major ports

䋰
䋵

䋵

䋵䋵

⷏ ⥶
Westbound䋱䋰Container ship size of Panamax (B 30 meters or more or 40,000 DWT or more)or larger for Jul. 4 to 31, 2009) 5 unit: ship
Analysis by NILIM’s NILIM-AIS system (with AIS data provided by Japan
Coast Guard)

Figure 6: Sailing by container ships (O-Pmax) (westbound)zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Research themes at a time of reform

Photo

HASEGAWA Kou, Director
Airport Department(Keywords) Demand simulation, regional activation by airports, risk management, airport maintenance andmanagement
1. Discussion of the roles of aviation and airports
Fiscal 2009 was a difficult year for Japan’s aviationindustry. Or more precisely, it may have marked the
beginning of a difficult era.
The worldwide
recession that began with Lehman Brothers’ collapse
led to cooling demand that resulted in the failure ofJapan Airlines International Co., Ltd., a company thatwas operating with high expenses.
Amid
expectations that international aviation demand willgrow over the long term, particularly in Asia, as
globalization continues, one cannot escape the sensethat there is something incongruous about JAL’s being
forced to scale back its routes. It is therefore hopedthat JAL will compete its reform and make an early
fresh start.
Aviation serves as a public transport system.
Almost all passengers traveling long distances use
aviation. Aviation is also a valuable means of getting
around in the daily lives of people living on remoteislands and regions with poor overland transport.
Thus, the question of whether or not this means oftravel should be abandoned due to the businesscircumstances of airlines presents a problem. In fact,
the plan to bail out JAL is based on the belief that a
discontinuation of flights must not occur. Railway
companies and bus companies are similar in that they
have two aspects; i.e., they are both private companies
and public transport systems.
However, how
airlines—which are subject to international
competition and face unstable demand—should exist
presents an important topic for discussion.
On the other hand, airports are also a major topic ofdiscussion. Because demand influences how airlines
act, airports such as Kansai Airport face severe
management conditions when airlines curtail theirflights. Currently, discussion is focusing not only on
management problems but also on the question of how
to use the three airports in the Kansai area. Aviation
is a public transport system, and airports are public
transport infrastructure. Even internationally, it iscommon for regional airports to be operated withlanding fees combined with the general accounts oflocal governments. Because airports were originallybuilt to provide convenience for users and stimulate
the regional economy, rather than to earn money, it
makes no sense to talk about profitability.
Discussion is also underway regarding the use of
special accounts for nationally operated airports;

specifically, people are asking, “Who will bear thecosts of airport maintenance and operation?”
Several years have passed since it was said that
airports are moving away from an era of construction
to one of operation. No substantial construction of
new airports has begun during the past several years.
However, insufficient airport capacity in major
metropolitan areas, including the Tokyo metropolitanarea, continues to be a problem. Even in the Tokyo
metropolitan area, where airport functions are being
expanded, there are limits to what can be achieved,
and therefore efforts are underway to find the best
possible way of using airport capacity.
The future airport strategy of the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Growth
Strategy Council focuses on the “open skies” approachand tourism. However, what will be needed tocontribute to these goals?
Regardless of thedirections the above-mentioned discussions take, there
are many issues that are essential to maintaining airtransportation.
Given these circumstances, theAirport Department sees the following points aspriority research topics.
2. Research on aviation networks and airport
management and operation- Development of demand simulation methods Demand forecasts are essential for aviation andairport policies. Although the Airport Department
has developed methods for predicting demand for airtransport, demand depends on the destinations andnumbers of routes that airlines establish. As was
mentioned above, route planning is based on not only
actual demand but also on airlines’ circumstances.
Thus, although realistic forecasting must take into
account airlines’ behavior, in an era of liberalization,in which routes may be taken over by other airlines, it
is impossible to consider the management
circumstances of each individual airline. However,as liberalization progresses under “open skies,” it islikely that airlines will gradually behave in patterns
that are more in line with market principles. At thevery least, it will be necessary to develop forecast
methods capable of taking into account market
principles-based behavior that are in addition to thecurrent demand projection methods. It is hoped that
this will raise the accuracy of pre-implementation
simulations of aviation and airport policies and lead tozMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
the formulation of more precise policies. If “openskies” gains momentum, it can be expected thatoverseas low-cost carriers (LCC) will enter Japan’s
market and that domestic LCC will become prominent.
This in turn will further complicate use of multiple
airports in major metropolitan areas. Thus far, thedepartment has put a model that considers airlines’
behavior to trial use in an attempt to estimate theimpact that policies to limit the number of flights at
multiple airports will have. However, improving themodel’s accuracy and expanding its scope of
application remain challenges to be tackled.
The department also intends to study possibilities
for routes to come into existence if small aircraft areused even at the regional level, and possibilities for theestablishment of new international routes toneighboring countries under the open skies policy.
Looking forward, the need for better simulation
technology will be required. This is because thefuture will demand not only airport construction thatmatches demand forecasts but also strategic
maintenance and operation that are based on demand
forecasts.
3. Research on higher service levels at airports- Striving for airport-led tourism strategies andregional activation As aviation has become a mass transit system,
airport-related needs have become more diversified
and sophisticated. Examples of such needs include
barrier-free facilities, simplified check-in, and higher
security. At the same time, although airports are nottourist destinations in themselves, they are entryways.
Therefore, an airport plays a role in how visitors view
the surrounding region. While it is of course
important to enhance hospitality and guidance foroverseas visitors, promotion that makes use of themerits of each region and airport as a tourism strategy
is also important. Although it goes without sayingthat airport usage differs from airport to airport, andthat regional characteristics, geographical conditions,and economic scales vary from place to place, acertain degree of speculation is possible based on
traveler movement surveys. The Airport Department
hopes to propose tourism strategies that areappropriate for airports based on such speculation, as
one of the intentions behind the building of airports
should be regional revitalization.
4. Research concerning safe and secure airports
Regardless of what growth strategies are employedor who pays the bills, the building and maintenance ofsafe facilities form the basis of public transport
infrastructure. This point cannot be overemphasized.
Today, countermeasures against liquefaction of
runways are being implemented at major airports.
Airports in Japan, and particularly hub airports, wereconstructed by taking advantage of various special
technologies. This was due to a variety of factors,

including the fact that they had to be built in areas
with poor ground conditions or were constructed withmassive paved areas. In addition to the design
standards for new facilities it has formulated thus far,the Airport Department is currently urgently working
to draft an outline for repairs. The department is also
studying probability theory-based design methods thatare in line with a trend toward performance design offacilities.
As for non-infrastructure-related areas, thedepartment is engaged in research toward quickly
securing alternate routes if international air transporthubs become inoperable due to an earthquake or othersuch event. If there are deficiencies in the current
situation, immediate responses will become necessary.
This is important from the standpoint of maintaining
not only safety and security but also international
competitiveness.
5. Research on management of airport assets
Like other forms of infrastructure, how to efficiently
maintain the functions of airport facilities that havebeen built thus far is a question that deserves attention.
Although the technologies involved here differ interms of content, what they strive to achieve is thesame. As expenditure for public works projects
shrinks, the need to repair infrastructure continues toincrease. It will therefore be necessary to overcome
various problems, including how to engage in routine
management that minimizes this need to the greatest
degree possible, and how to perform suchmanagement with minimum staffing. And, where thepossibility exists that repair costs will balloon as
infrastructure deteriorates with age, how should signsof deterioration be identified and what steps should
then be taken?
Appropriate response lowers
life-cycle costs, and implementing repairs that do notaffect operation is part of good maintenance andmanagement.
6. Conclusion
The truth is, the research topics described in thispaper are extensions of research undertaken thus far.
Although circumstances seem ready to undergo rapidchange, there does not appear to be any need for adramatic shift in facilities-related research themes ifthey are considered separately from issues concerning
airlines and bearing of airport expenses. In fact, we
who work in the Airport Division believe that the needto continue research in areas we have already targeted
as necessary has grown even greater.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Computerized Construction

Photo

FUJIMOTO Akira, Director
Research Center for Advanced Information Technology(Key words): Computerized construction, information communication technology (ICT), standardization
1. Introduction
In July 2008, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism enacted the Computerized
Construction Promotion Strategy.
This promotion strategy considers the significance ofcomputerized construction to be, “a general term for a
new execution system which achieves highproductivity and execution quality using ICT for
construction execution.” In other words, computerized
construction is an execution method intended toachieve high productivity, quality etc., and has anextremely broad meaning extending from using thenewest ICT to applying simple ICT.
But, according to the results of a questionnaire
survey conducted during a trial execution ofcomputerized construction by the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in 2008, while
the term, computerized construction, is known on theclient side in particular, specific technologies have notpenetrated the construction field very much. For suchreasons, we wish to introduce the general frameworkof computerized technologies by classifying andorganizing such technologies used for trial executions
which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport
and Tourism has performed since 2008 (total of 241
cases).
2. Computerized construction technologies
Figure 1 roughly systematizes computerized
construction technologies used for past trial executions.
If these groups of technology are first classified
according to purpose, they can be divided into
technologies which support mechanized execution andtechnologies which support execution control.
Technologies in the former group are 1) machine
guidance technologies (MG technologies) for
construction machinery and 2) machine control
technologies (MC technologies) for construction
machinery, and these are technologies categorized as
those mainly developed by the private sector.
Technologies in the latter group are 3) finished work
control technologies which apply ICT and 4) quality
control technologies which apply ICT, and trial
executions are being performed to verify theirefficiency and reliability when applied to execution
control by a contractor and to supervision andinspections by a customer.

Technologies which
support mechanizedexecution
Technologies which
support execution
control

1) MG technologies2) MC technologies
3) Finished work control
technologies which apply
ICT4) Quality control
technologies which apply
ICT

Figure 1. Classification of Computerized
Construction Technologies
1) MG Technologies (machine guidance technologies)
These are technologies which combine measurement
and positioning technologies such as TS (total station)
or GPS (positioning system using satellites) etc. with
angle sensors, inclinometers and other sensors to
obtain data concerning the position and state ofoperation of a construction machine and provide theoperator of the machine with information on an
in-board monitor along with three-dimensional design
data which has been input to the construction machine.
Taking MG technology installed in a back hoe used
for cutting work as an example, the object of the
excavation is shown on a screen, replacing finishing
stakes. It can, therefore, be counted on to eliminate
stake installation work and speed up finishing work.
2) MC Technologies (machine control technologies)
This is technology which, in addition to the MG
technology monitor display, includes a function whichcalculates the difference between the positions of thebulldozing blade, bucket, etc. of the construction
machine with the three-dimensional design data andperforms automatic control to achieve the stipulated
execution precision. Taking MC technology installed
on a grader etc. used for road work as an example, it
automatically controls the excavation height. It can,therefore, be counted on to effectively reduce the workof installing and inspecting finishing stakes used as
markers and effectively reducing redoing of work.
3) Finished work control technologies which apply
ICT
This technology converts coordinate values obtainedby TS, GPS or other measurement and positioning
technologies(forexample,three-dimensional

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM
coordinate values, elevation and latitude and longitude
based on GPS) to finished work values such as lengthor height, permitting the use of the coordinate values
to control finished work. Taking the state of finishedwork control based on TS in the embanking work
shown in Figure 2 as an example, by inputting
three-dimensional design data to TS, the design values,
measured values, and the difference between them of
elevation and horizontal distances are displayed on the
TS screen, permitting the operator to confirm that thestandard values are satisfied as the measurements are
performed.

Table 1. Comparison of Conventional and TS Based
Finished Work Control

Specificationof location offinished work
control point
Completedworkmeasurement

Conventional
methodManual positioning
calculation andplacing markers(stakes etc.)
Measuring heightwith a level andlength with ameasuring tape

Section: No. 0+4.512, first on the right
MeasurementpointElevationPreparingledgers frommeasureddata

Preparing ledgers
by transferring datafrom fieldnotebooks

TS method
Automatic positioning
calculation so it is notnecessary to placemarkers (stakes etc.)
Measuring
three-dimensional
coordinate values
with TS, andautomaticallyconverting them tolength, etc.
Automatically
preparing ledgers

Measurement
LowSeparation Design: right 1.000 (m)Measurement: right 1.012 (m)In
mid-section

0.012(m)right side

Figure 2. View of Measurement Based on TS used for
Finished Work Control

4) Quality control technologies which apply ICTThis is a technology which uses measurement andpositioning technologies such as TS or GPS toperform planar control of qualities such as density,
strength, etc. at the same time as the execution. Taking
embankment soil density control as an example, it is amethod of measuring compaction frequency or
acceleration response which are correlated withdensity and which can be measured at the same time
as execution as quality control items to replacedensity.
3. Finished work control technology based on TS
The Research Center for Advanced Information
Technology has been conducting research anddevelopment of finished work control systems basedon TS since 2005.
As shown by Table 1, until now, contractors
performed finished work control by, repeatedly foreach control section, performing calculations to
specify the location for finished work control, placing
stakes etc. to mark the site and measuring the finishedform using levels, measuring tapes, etc., recordingthese data in their field notebooks, and transferring thedata to ledgers and section drawings in the office.
But in the case of finished work control systems
based on TS, calculation and marker placement are
unnecessary, and this method can be counted on toautomate the preparation of ledgers from finishedwork calculation data, reducing preparation work. It
makes it easier for the customer to confirm thefinished work control performed by the contractor, and
it is counted on to simplify the task of confirming
finished work devised by the customer at any control
section. Until now, we have 1) studied the functions ofsoftware installed in finished work control use TS anddeveloped prototypes, 2) standardized data formats for
input to TS, 3) verified the effectiveness of its
introduction, and 4) enacted finished work control
instructions using TS. Beginning in 2010, we will use
it for standardization of directly managed earth works.
4. Conclusion
This report has introduced the overall framework oftechnologies related to computerized construction. As
stated in the introduction, these technology groups are
extremely diverse, and details of each technology
could not be introduced because of a shortage of space,but please refer to documents such as, “Construction
ICT Overview Series (kensetsu ICT zakkuri shirizu)
published by the ICT Introduction ResearchCommittee at the Chubu Regional Development
Bureau as a document clearly explaining their details.
We hope that people in each field will take aninterest in such computerized construction related
technologies and apply them to boost building
construction performance.

zMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

Characteristics of damage in recent natural
disasters and initiatives aimed at mitigating
damagePhoto

TERADA Hideki,Director
Research Center for Disaster Risk Management(Key words) Flood and sediment disasters, large-scale earthquakes, disaster-vulnerable persons, warning andevacuation, instantaneous damage prediction, local disaster prevention capability
1. Introduction
In 2009 alone, July brought torrential rains to
Chugoku and northern Kyushu, while August saw anearthquake with its epicenter in Suruga Bay and flood
damage caused by Typhoon No. 9. And no sooner had
the new year started than a powerful earthquake struck
Haiti, causing damage that threatened to ruin thisCaribbean island nation. As well as enumerating theissues that have come clear as a result of these disasters,
this paper will introduce initiatives being undertakenby the Research Center for Disaster Risk Management
to develop technology designed to mitigate the damage
caused by natural disasters.
2. Main disasters in 2009 and the issues theyhighlighted
The torrential rains that ravaged the Chugoku regionin July caused 22 deaths, mainly in the city of Hofu,
Yamaguchi Prefecture. There alone, a debris flowburied an old people’s home, killing seven people.
Throughout Japan, as many as 13,800 old people’s
homes and other facilities for disaster-vulnerable
persons are at risk of sediment disasters like this.
Conventionally, places like this have been subject topriority countermeasures; even the location in question
was said to have recently undergone a survey fordevelopment of sabo (erosion control) facilities. We
need to step up work for the development of sabo dams
and other facilities in places considered vulnerable tocalamitous damage.
Owing partly to fiscal constraints, however, it isinconceivable that sabo dams and other facilities will
all be developed at once. This increases the importanceof “soft” countermeasures, such as clearly specifying
the scope of hazards and making them publicly known
in line with the Sediment-Related Disaster Prevention
Act, controlling the use of land in hazardous areas, andgiving warnings and encouraging early evacuation attimes of danger due to heavy rains, etc.
The disaster location in question had already been
designated as a sediment disaster warning zone, and thedisaster occurred three and a half hours after theannouncement of sediment disaster warning
information. Boulders in the debris flow weresedimented on flat land upstream of the old people’shome, which was made of steel-reinforced concrete.
However, smaller debris entered the facility throughthe windows. When this happened, most of theresidents were evacuated to upper floors by staff, but
seven lost their lives.
Besides the conventional problem that, even when
sediment disaster warning information has beenreleased, no recommendation is made by the municipal
leader for residents to evacuate, or the recommendation
is delayed, other major issues emerge. For example,
even if an evacuation recommendation is issued, few of
the residents actually evacuate; or, as seen in thisdisaster with the old people’s home, issues remain in
deciding how to evacuate disaster-vulnerable persons
in need of assistance or care, and how to ensure theirsafety.
Meanwhile, when Typhoon No. 9 struck land in
August, the town of Sayo-cho in Hyogo Prefecture wasparticularly hard hit. Nine members of threehouseholds who were voluntarily evacuating from theirhomes to the evacuation site due to flooding from the
Makuyama River were caught up in the deluge andtragically lost their lives. This was a “voluntary disasterprevention activity” prior to the issue of an evacuation
recommendation by the town, at a time when therainfall volume had increased dramatically. Since thehomes of the disaster-affected residents were only
damaged by flooding on the ground floor, problems
pointed out include the timing of evacuation in
conditions of flooding at night, and the need forselective judgment of appropriate evacuation routes
and sites in accordance with the situation. On the other
hand, depending on the situation, in some cases it may
not even be completely safe to evacuate to the top floorof a house, as the house could be carried off in the flood
flow. In the damage at Sayo-cho, moreover, the local
council office, which should have become a focal pointat the time of a disaster, had its own floor covered inwater, creating a situation that hindered disaster relief.
From these facts, another issue was seen in creating andproviding information that would allow residents tochoose the appropriate action in the event of an
emergency.
In these disasters caused by torrential rains, thedamage in both Hofu and Sayo was caused by sudden
heavy rains in excess of 70mm in one hour. From thesefacts, the speed with which information on torrential
rains, water levels and furthermore floodplain
situations, etc., can be ascertained and provided is ofzMessages from Departments and Centers of NILIM

4. Conclusion
Mainly based on notable disasters in 2009, I havedescribed the issues for damage mitigation that havebeen clarified by them, and have also introduced someof the support technology being developed by the
Research Center for Disaster Risk Management toimprove crisis response capability in the event of adisaster.
In Japan, a country where major disasters are prone
to occur, disaster countermeasures are a basic theme atthe very core of the nation. Although it is difficult toprevent disasters completely, we will continue ourefforts to develop technology that will mitigate theireffects as far as possible, as well as tackling technicalsupport aimed at reducing damage in the event of adisaster.
Research on techniques for instantaneous damage prediction in the event of anearthquake
Information for emergency response by facility managers immediately after an earthquake
Earthquake
occurs

Initialmobilization
systemestablished

Emergency checks
and emergency
measures

Emergency
recoveryEmergency
response

Passage of time, and volume and certainty of damage information
Individual
Meteorological Depends on time ofDamagedamageAscertaining state ofDamageAgency earthquake occurrence, but about information
information fromdamage, studying
information frommagnitude stage 1-2 hours after disasterfrom
emergency
and deciding
residents,
information
helicopters, etc.
occurrence
media, etc.
checksrecovery measures
Blank time for damage information

Improved grasp and certainty of overall damage image from individual damage
information

Provision of outline damage
prediction information based onseismic motion characteristics
Objectives: x Share micro-image of damage
x Project locations requiring priority checks
x Start preparations for subsequent projected emergency
response (readiness for arrangement of personnel and materiel)

Research institute

Speedy start ofemergency response
preparation

Local office

Results of predictionof outline damage

Earthquake
occursResults of analysis of seismic
motion characteristics

Provision of instantaneous earthquake prediction information (seismic motion characteristics and outline damage)using seismograph data
Transmission and downloading ofseismic motion information

3. Developing support technology aimed at
improving crisis response capability
In the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 13th
this year, although the conditions differ greatly fromthose in Japan, catastrophic damage to urban andresidential facilities due to the earthquake striking amajor urban area led to a massive death toll in excess of
150,000. It also led to the loss of administrative andinformation functions, and the rescue operation fordisaster victims is colossal in scale. At times of damageof this order, it is considered necessary, firstly, toascertain information on what sort of damage ordisaster phenomena have specifically occurred where,
including forward projections, as soon as possible; andthen to incorporate this information into speedy
recovery measures as quickly as possible.
We are therefore researching techniques for
instantaneous damage prediction (Fig. 1) to support theinitial mobilization of local headquarters for disastercountermeasures in the event of an earthquake. With
this technique, we ascertain an outline of damage near
the epicenter and estimate damage to management
facilities, based on analysis of seismic motion dataobtained from the strong motion seismographs network
immediately after the occurrence of an earthquake.
Immediately after the occurrence of a disaster,
meanwhile, there is a period in which the local
residents have no choice but to cope by themselveswith self-help or helping each other until public support
from the government and others arrives. Even here,
support measures from the administration are
considered necessary to improve the disasterprevention capability of local residents, such as being
fully prepared for disasters in advance and safely
evacuating in the event of occurrence. We are therefore
studying techniques for improving local disasterprevention capability.
On this issue of improving local disaster prevention

capability, as a task common to disasters, we are
drawing on the center functions of the Research Center
for Disaster Risk Management and are studying theissue in a Disaster Risk Management Team set up in
April 2009.

Seismic motion information(seismograph network, NRIESDP,
K-net, etc.)

paramount importance.
Also, to encourage early warning and evacuation,
another issue will be how to provide sediment disasterwarning information with an indication of imminence,
including supplementary information, and how to
inform residents, as receivers of information, at bothnormal and abnormal times.
Furthermore, flood hazard maps are expected toprovide necessary information whereby residents canchoose appropriate evacuation in accordance with thesituation, such as the risk of homes collapsing or being
washed away, etc., together with floodwater depth
information.
It is also thought important to study realistic safetyassurance methods, such as ascertaining and analyzing
the distribution and structures of old people’s homes
and other facilities for disaster-vulnerable persons in
anticipated flood zones and sediment disaster warningzones, and methods of evacuation in accordance withthe situation of the respective facilities.

Ministry, response
headquarters

Outline prediction of damage
Provision of data for judgement on response(Target: within a few hours after earthquake
occurrence)

Seismic motion characteristics analysis information and facility damage prediction information based on seismograph data
Observed seismic motion(impact range prediction)

Seismic motion characteristics
analysis

Results of outline damage prediction(area, individual facilities)
Facility damage predictionareaÆOO Similar characteristics to earthquake
OO Significant earthquake damage possible

ÆOO Facility damage possible

Fig. 1 Research on techniques for instantaneous
damage prediction in the event of an earthquake

Realization of a Safe and Secure SocietyzResearch Trends and Results

Research on Evaluation andCountermeasure Technology to Ensure
Safety During Daily Life Activities ofPeople Using Architectural Space
TAKAMI Shinji, Head
Standards and Accreditation System Division, Building Department
ONO Kumiko, Researcher
Bridge and Structures Division, Building Department

Research Trends & Results(Key words) Everyday disasters, safety and security, accident prevention measures, knowledge base
1. Background to and Purpose of the Research
As a reflection of the aging of society, many accidents
occur within buildings in the course of daily life,
including falls in corridors, falling down stairs, and so on.
When estimated based on statistics, the number of deaths
caused by such accidents will rise as rapidly as traffic
accident fatalities in the future. Although there are cases
where such accidents are caused by the lack of care ofbuilding users, there are also cases where they are theresult of inadequate awareness of the occurrence ofaccidents by building designers and managers, and if
these cases are analyzed, it will be possible for users,
designers, and managers to each clarify risk throughaccident cases, and to prevent many accidents by
exercising a specified degree of care.
This research collected examples of accidents whichhave occurred in the normal daily lives and activities ofusers (building users) in such buildings at the same time
as it clarified accident occurrence mechanisms andstudied accident prevention measures. The results havebeen collected and released to the public on the internet
since mid August 2009 as the Building Accident
Prevention Knowledge Base (Fig. 1).
2. Outline of the Building Accident Prevention
Knowledge Base
To prevent accidents in buildings during use, it isnecessary to deal thoroughly with each part of a building
according to the way it is presumably used or the way it
is actually used, and in many cases this cannot becovered by building standards which are uniformly
applied. The Building Accident Prevention Knowledge
Base (below called, “Knowledge Base) must reduce
accidents caused by carelessness in buildings (and onlots) by serving as reference materials to encourage
designers, managers, and users to exercise adequate care.
The Knowledge Base deals mainly with accidents inpublic buildings, and contains 750 (scheduled to be
increased regularly in the future) accidents andnear-accidents, judicial precedents concerning accidents

caused in buildings which were collected throughquestionnaire surveys, searches for judicial precedents,
and reports on accidents in schools, permitting people tosearch for and refer to accidents based on the type anddegree of accidents, places accidents occur etc. And in
addition to these, the Knowledge Base provides a wide
range of knowledge and information, by permitting
searches for related records and documents, providing
survey reports, and permitting experts to contributeinformation regarding 110 accident patterns prepared byclassifying accidents and countermeasures andprecautions for each of these patterns. And theknowledge base is also equipped with a function for thesubmission by building users of their experience ofaccidents and of near-misses which did not become real
accidents, and a function allowing the contribution of
information such as examples of innovations introduced
during design and execution and during building
operation regarding measures to prevent everyday
accidents on the assumption that building designers andbuilding managers will contribute information. And to
expand information of use in predicting accidents, it iscounted on to aggressively provide information frompeople in various fields who have referred to the
Knowledge Base.

Figure 1. Building Accident Prevention Knowledge
Base (Top Page)
http://www.tatemonojikoyobo.nilim.go.jp/

Realization of a Safe and Secure SocietyzResearch Trends and Results

Drive Recorders
Towards their Application to Safety
Measures for Community Roads







KANEKO Masahiro, Head NAKASU Keita, Senior Researcher
Advanced Road Design and Safety Division, Road Department(Key words) Community roads, traffic safety measures, drive recorder
1. Background of the research
Traffic accident fatalities in Japan have tended todecrease in recent years, and fell below 5,000 in 2009
for the first time in 57 years. However, on community
roads, the state of traffic safety improvement is stillsevere compared to that on arterial roads, because
hazardous spots are scattered over the extremely hightotal length of these roads . It is impossible to clarify
causes of accidents for each location by analyzing
accident data as it is on arterial roads.
Recently, the use of drive recorders has spread
rapidly, mainly in taxies, delivery trucks etc. These
devices record images of the road ahead, position,
speed, acceleration, application of brakes and so on, of
motor vehicles in operation. The use of drive recorders
enables us to efficiently collect large quantities ofaccident or near-miss data on community roads.
The NILIM is conducting research on methods ofusing scientific data collected by drive recorders toplan and implement safety measures on community
roads.

Example of equipment configuration
Examples of stored data
Unit
·Image of road ahead ·Speed
Camera and acceleration·Acceleration·Braking
sensor·Location information
Memory·Turning signal lights
card

Figure Example of Drive Recorder Configuration

2. Research on use of scientific data
The NILIM is conducting research focused on thefollowing two areas in order to apply drive recorder’sdata to safety measures on community roads.
1) Extracting Method of near-misses data
Drive recorder’s data contain useless data for roadsafety measures such as data on level differences, asdata recorded according to changes in acceleration. In
order to apply drive recorder’s data for road safetymeasures, it must be possible to efficiently extract
near-misses data. The NILIM is researching methodsof efficiently extracting near-misses data focusing on
the properties of speed and acceleration wave forms
etc.

2) Methods of sharing and accumulating data
In order to apply drive recorder data to road safetymeasures, road administrators must obtain thecooperation of the taxi and delivery companies who
possess such data. The NILIM is researching data
sharing and accumulation methods taking advantage
of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), restoring
analysis results, etc., to build cooperative relationships
which can gain the benefits of public – private sector
interactions.
3. Future research directions
Simple extraction algorithms proposed by the
NILIM increased the percentage of near-miss data tomore than 80%. The result of research revealed thatdrive recorder’s data improves the selection of
hazardous spots and evaluation of safety measures byroad administrators without the complex task of image
confirmation etc.
The NILIM will provide technical notes on drive
recorder data collection and use to regional roadadministrators who can get an adequate quantity ofdata from corporations with taxi or delivery
companies, citizens, local governments, police, etc. As
it is difficult to promptly obtain sufficient data on
community roads throughout the nation, we wish toclassify patterns of near-misses and safety measureson community roads based on existing data.
The Road Transport Bureau and the Road Bureau of
the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport andTourism, the National Police Agency, and various
other organizations are showing growing concern withthe application of drive recorders to traffic safety. The
NILIM will deepen its links and cooperative
relationships with concerned organizations, in order tomake further use of scientific data in the traffic safety
field.

z Research Trends and Results

Realization of a Safe and Secure SocietyRoad Marking Design Know-how
KANEKO Masahiro, Head MINOSHIMA Osamu, Researcher
Advanced Road Design and Safety Division, Road Department

directionᷫㅦ䊙䊷䉪䈮䉋䉎䊌䉺䊷䊮
Patternbased on speed
reduction marks

Intersection
warning

Traveling
ㅴⴕᣇะ

੤Ꮕὐᵈᗧ

ㅊ⓭ᵈᗧ

Rear-end collision
warning

2. Analysis of cases of measures
Figure 1. shows typical road marking patterns,
which road managers selectively install according to
the situation at each location. There are also cases
where road managers have designed innovative roadmarkings and combined them with colored pavement.
This research involved collecting and classifying roadtraffic conditions and accident reduction effectivenessand carrying out interviews with road managers andidentify the design know-how applied to each case.
Figure 2. is an example: markings installed on an
approach to an intersection to prevent rear-end
collisions. In this case, 1.25 rear end collisions/year(4-year average) occurred before this measure wastaken, but none occurred during the 2 years after it
was taken. At the design stage, the planners studied
the road marking installation point considering theaccident’s point, the intersection congestion length(length of congestion of cars waiting for the

Patternbasedᢥሼ䈮䉋䉎䊌䉺䊷䊮on characters

Figure 1. Typical Road Marking Patterns
intersection signal), and the car braking distance. The“rear-end collision warnings”, which show the content
of the risk, are placed in advance of the accident’s
point and “speed reduction marks (dotted lines)” areinstalled further on to urge drivers to slow down.

3. Conclusion
The following design know-how has been abstracted

After measuresBefore measures

1. Introduction
Traffic safety measure projects often adopt roadmarking measures, which can be installed cheaply andtake effect immediately (this research examines roadmarking and colored paving intended to preventrear-end collisions, intersection collisions). But
because design concepts for road markings have notyet been organized, they are often designed based on
the experience of road managers. The NILIM hascollected examples of road marking measures andanalyzed their accident reduction effectiveness tocreate an inventory of know-how which can be applied
to design road markings.

Accidents causing death/injury(accidents/year)(Key words) Traffic safety measures, accident analysis, road markings

Speed reduction mark (165m)

Rear-end collision warning letters 19m

zRear end collision before
measures: 1.25/year
Distance from stop line (m)(stop line)zNo rear-end accidents after themeasuresIntersection (stop line)

Measure execution year: 2005
Pre-measure evaluation years:
2001 – 2004
Post-measure evaluation years:
2006 – 2007

Ŷ Rear-end collisions
Ŷ Other accidents
Slanted lines arenighttime accidents
Traveling
direction

View of congestion inadvance of the intersection

Figure 2. Highly Effective Cases
by a detailed survey of cases in various regions.
࡮ In many cases, characters are marked on the roadsurface to clearly inform drivers of what they should
be careful of. At locations where it is difficult fordrivers to notice danger, dangerous locations areemphasized by speed reduction marks.
࡮Road markings are often placed in front of theaccident’s point or intersection congestion length
considering the braking stopping distance etc. of cars.
࡮There are cases where the road markings are difficult
to see because of cars ahead on sections with heavy
traffic, so the study included the joint use of
signboards which are relatively easy to see, evenduring congestion.
Plans for the future include the verification frommany aspects of the design know-how which has been
abstracted accompanied by the clarification of
conditions for application of each type of know-how,and the provision of the information for roadmanagers.
[Reference:] Web site of the Advanced Road Design
and Safety Division (giving access to related reports)
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/gdg/index.htm

zA Case of Utilizing Results

Realization of a Safe and Secure Society

Trial Application of the Partial
Repainting Manual for Steel
Bridges (Draft)
TAMAKOSHI, Takashi, Head HOSHINO, Makoto, Senior Researcher
Bridge and Structures Division, Road Department(Keywords) Steel bridge, local corrosion, repainting, durability
1. Background and purpose
On many steel road bridges, severe paintdeterioration and corrosion occurs at ends of girders
and parts of other members exposed to harsh corrosion
environments 1), and if corrosion on a supporting part
important for load-bearing capacity advances to an
extreme degree, even if only within a narrow range on
the part, there is a danger of the corrosion severely
impacting the performance of the bridge (Photo 1).
Although general items regarding repainting methods
are specified in, for example, the “Painting andCorrosion-proofing Manual for Steel Highway
Bridges (Japan Road Association, December, 2006)”,
technical methods for partial repainting, which isdifficult to perform with guaranteed high execution
quality, have not been established, and there is fearthat it is dangerous to leave local paint deterioration,
which advances rapidly, until the deterioration of theentire paint membrane has advanced to the point
where overall repainting is performed.
Thus, technology to partially repaint narrow parts
such as the ends of girders on existing road bridges(referred to below as, “partial repainting”) has beendeveloped, summarized as technical manual, and trial
application of it has been carried out on an MLITT

Photo 1. Example of Girder Edge of Main Girder Showing
Local Corrosion

IKUTA, Koichi, Research Coordinator

operated bridge.
2. Outline of the partial repainting manual (draft)
The following items are main technicalcharacteristics of the partial repainting manual (draft).
Ԙ To develop a method of ensuring sufficientsurface preparation quality on parts where
execution conditions are spatially harsh, a test
execution was done using full-size specimens
taken from a bridge which was removed to set
execution specifications based on the combined
use of open blast and machine tools.
ԙ Because a weak point of executing partial
painting is the paint quality along the boundarywith the old paint film which has not beenrenewed, based on existing knowledge and theresults of a trial execution, a painting system
which considers recoating width and otherexecution specifications plus the adhesiveness ofthe new and old paint films was established.
Ԛ In order that rational and economical partial
painting can be done, precautions required whenplanning painting, conditions under which partial
painting should be studied, and methods ofrecording an execution for maintenance purposes
and other standards have been prepared.
And a final version of this manual (draft) has been
prepared by confirming its applicability in the field
through a trial execution at an actual bridge (Photo 2).
3. Trial application on an existing bridge
The trial application of this manual (draft) is now
beginning on MLITT operated bridges, and in the
future, follow-up surveys of these applications of themanual and of the trial execution specimens duringcontinuous exposure testing will be carried out andreflected in the revision.
[References]1) Survey Research on Local Corrosion of Steel
Bridges, Technical Note of the NILIM, No. 294,
January 2006
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0294.htm

Photo 2. Trial Execution on an Actual Bridge

zA Case of Utilizing Results

Realization of a Safe and Secure Society

Publication of Collected Highway Bridge
Repair and Retrofitting Cases (2009
Edition)TAMAKOSHI Takashi, Head HOSHINO Makoto, Senior Researcher
Bridge and Structures Division, Road Department(Key words)Highway, damage, repair, retrofitting, fatigue cracking

Highway bridges in Japan deteriorate and are damaged
in a variety of ways as they age, increasing their need foras measures taken in typical damage cases have beenreviewed.

repair or retrofitting work. And to repair or retrofit

With regard to fatigue cracking of corners on steel

existing bridges, it is necessary to carry out a detailed

bridge piers and of steel deck slabs for example, thestudy of each bridge at each step from hypothesizing theDivision has clarified measures and precautions to dealcauses of the deterioration and damage to selecting thewith this problem by analyzing the results of surveys andcountermeasure method because, as a result of theinspections by regional development bureaus throughout

complex interaction of an extremely wide range ofJapan, by analyzing past designs and executions, and byfactors, universal countermeasure methods have not beensurveying bridge manufacturing technologies.

established.

The achievements of these survey and research

Based upon precautions clarified by the study of the

projects have been reviewed along with repairs andanalysis of deterioration and damage and by research on

retrofitting works by other road companies and local

its evaluation, technical guidance for repair andgovernments, and reflected in the Collected Cases ofretrofitting measures is provided. To take advantage ofHighway bridges Repair and Retrofitting (2009 Edition)

the results, the Division has collected and analyzed

published by the Japan Road Association, a technicalinformation concerning deterioration of and damage todocument prepared for road administrators and engineers

highway bridges which have been the objects ofperforming repair and retrofitting work in the field.

technical guidance by the National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management. Based on these, detailed

References

surveycauses,1) Note on structural details about the beam-column

know-how concerning the selection of repair andconnection of steel pier of highway bridges, Technicalretrofitting work methods and measures to ensure quality

Note of NILIM, No. 229, January 2005, etc.

methods

neededtohypothesize

during execution have been organized at the same timezA Case of Utilizing Results

Realization of a Safe and Secure Society

Design Points of Bicycle SpaceKANEKO Masahiro, Head,HONDA Hajime, Senior Researcher,

MINOSHIMA Osamu, Researcher
Advanced Road Design and Safety Division, Road Department(Key words) bicycle path, bicycle lane, intersection design

2. Outline of the “Design Points”
The Design Points hypothesizes simplified
intersection patterns to present design concepts andprecautions by bicycle path and bicycle lane, and byintersections of two arterial roads and intersections ofarterial roads with narrow back streets. At this stage,
few such improvements have been in Japan, andknowledge is inadequate, so priorities and selection
concepts for each pattern have not been included.
Their design and improvement will advance throughcoordination between road managers and traffic
managers, thoroughly accounting for the state of roads
and traffic conditions which differ at each location.
Figure 1 shows an example of a design point for anintersection with a narrow back street in a case where
the bicycle lane is provided along the arterial road.

· The car turning left travels on theleft䊶Ꮐ᛬⥄േゞ䈲੤Ꮕὐᚻ೨
edge before reaching the䈪䈲Ꮐ஥┵䈮ᴪ䈦䈩ㅢⴕ䇯
intersection.
䊶Ꮐ᛬⥄േゞ䈏⥄ォゞኾ↪
· The car turning left will travel inㅢⴕᏪ䉕ㅴⴕ䈚䈩䈒䉎䈱䈪the bicycle
lane, so safety must be቟ో䈱⏕଻䈏ᔅⷐ䇯
ensured.

· The
structure demarcating䊶⚦ⴝ〝䈎䉌ᐙ✢㆏〝䈮วᵹ
betweenthe sidewalk and vehicle䈜䉎⥄േゞ䈎䉌⥄ォゞኾ↪
lane ㅢⴕᏪ䉕ㅢⴕ䈜䉎⥄ォゞ䉕is constructed to give goodⷞ⹺䈚䉇䈜䈇䉋䈉䇮ᱠ㆏䈫ゞ
visibility so that bicycles traveling㆏䉕඙↹䈜䉎Ꮏ૞‛䈲⷗ㅢ
on thebicycle lane can be easily䈚䈱䉋䈇᭴ㅧ䈫䈜䉎䇯
seen from cars entering the arterial
road from the narrow back street.

· The bicycle lane is clearly
indicatedby coloring etc.,䊶⥄ォゞኾ↪ㅢⴕᏪ䈲䇮੤Ꮕὐౝ䉅฽䉄䉦䊤䊷ൻ╬
includingat the䈮䉋䉍᣿⏕ൻ䇯intersection.

㕍㩷 䋺⥄ォゞኾ↪ㅢⴕᏪ
Blue:
Bicycle lane· 䊶⚦ⴝ〝䈎䉌ᐙ✢㆏〝䈮วᵹThe corner cutoff should
ensurethat bicycles traveling on䈜䉎⥄േゞ䈎䉌ᱠ㆏䉕ㅢⴕ䈜
the䉎sidewalk
can
⥄ォゞ䉕
ⷞbe
⹺easily䈚 䉇 䈜seen䈇䉋䈉䇮㓈ಾ䉍䈏⏕଻䈘䉏䉎䈖䈫䈏fromcars entering the arterial
ᦸ䉁䈚䈇䇯
road
from the narrow backstreet.

Figure 1. An Example of the “Design Points”
3. Application of the Results and Future Development
The “Design Points” which has been sent tomanagers of each model district and explanation
meetings have been held to publicize its contents.
Figure 2 shows an example of improvement
performed applying the “Design Points” in a model
district.
࿑㧞 ᢛ஻੐଀㧔౓ᐶ⋵ዦፒᏒ㧕

Figure 2. Sample Provision(Amagasaki City in Hyogo Prefecture)
In the future, it will be revised as necessary toreflect new knowledge gained through improvements
in model districts.

Application of Research Results

1. Introduction
Cycling has flourished as a consequence of growing
concern with environmental problems and health. This
trend has also revealed problems with bicycles, suchas the soaring numbers of accidents involving cyclists
and pedestrians during the past ten years. The National
Police Agency and the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism have worked toensure bicycle space separated from pedistrians by, inJanuary 2008, designating a total of 98 districts
nationwide as bicycle space improvement model
districts.
The NILIM has supported improvements in thesemodel districts by inventorying concepts of the designof bicycle traveling space focused on intersection
points separately for bicycle paths and for bicycle
lanes and in compliance with existing laws, and hassummarized the results as Design Points of Bicycle
Space (below called, the “Design Points”).

TOPICS Impact of Transfer of Structural Experiment෗┿Technology to the Research Institute for Human
Settlements, Ministry of Public Works in Indonesia
GOTO Tetsuro, Researcher
Housing Stock Division, Housing Department(Key words) Technology cooperation, technology transfer, building component structural testing method,
Research Institute for Human Settlement of the Ministry of Public works
1. Introduction
A lesson taught by the disaster caused by the Kanto
Earthquake of 1923 (Report by the Imperial
Earthquake Investigation Committee, No. 100, Part
3, Vols. 1 and 2, 1926) was that a public testing
institute must be established with the ability toverify not only the economic merits and efficiencyof building production, but also the safety andrationality of building structures, and to achieve thisgoal, to provide standards and verify theperformance of buildings. Immediately after WorldWar II, Japan established the National ResearchInstitutes, which performed structural testing atuniversities and private sector research institutes,
and now plays a leading role in this field ininternational society. This report describes theresults of the transfer of structural experiment
technology to the Research Institute for Human
Settlements of the Ministry of Public Works
㸦http://puskim.pu.go.id㸧of Indonesia and to thestructure division, which receives technicalassistance from Japan.

institution.
2) The functions of the experimental equipment
include the ability to apply axial force to perform
positive – negative cyclic horizontal loading ofmembers in order to verify their strength,
deformation, failure properties etc. (Photo 1).
3) The equipment places a light maintenance burden
on its users.
4) The test organization included researchers who
had completed study and training in earthquake
engineering(BuildingResearch
Institute,International Institute of Seismology and
Earthquake Engineering (IISEE))

2. Background to the technology cooperation
Indonesia is located in an earthquake zone where
it is important to ensure structural safety, and the
Research Institue is, as the only national testingorganization in the housing construction field,
responsible for this task. The Research Institue built
a building (site area: 96ha) with interest-free
investment support by Japan in 1990 under theBandung Science City Concept Plan, and has
moved to Cileunyi about 16km to the east ofBandung. Later, the Government of Indonesia
requested that Japan provide technical assistancewith the development of collective dwellings
suitable for low-income people (periods: 1993 to1998 and 2005 to 2007), and the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (then the
Ministry of Construction) provided this assistanceas an organization specializing in the field. The
author, then an expert in the charge of the structural
field of this technical assistance monitored theeffectiveness of the transfer of structural experiment
technology and its impact on the building
construction industry in Indonesia from the
beginning to the conclusion of the project.
3. Contents of the technological transfer of building
component structural experiment methods
1) We built experimental equipment which could be
used to test columns, beams, walls and otherstructural members of medium to high buildings,
enabling the center to satisfy housing construction
policies and meet social needs as a public

Photo 1. View of an Element Structure Test (White
Part: Specimen)
4. Impact of the transfer of the structural experiment
technology
1) The Research Institue center has systematized theverification and confirmation of structural
performance thanks to its ability to conduct
experiments adding compound forces to building
structure members, and has been carrying out
housing building production related development.
In 1999, it established the Prestressed - Precast
Association.
2) Building methods it has developed have been
applied by the Ministry of Housing and regional
governments to build collective dwellings anduniversity dormitories throughout the country. The
center has studied the reconstruction of schoolbuildings damaged by the Padang Earthquake of
September 2009.
3) Researchers who studied at the IISEE in Japanare working in the structure division of the ResearchInstitute and in the private sector, contributing to
the improvement of safe building production
technology in Indonesia.

TOPICS

Efforts by the Typhoon
Committee to Popularize
Sediment Disaster Warning and
Evaluation Systems

MIZUNO Hideaki, Senior Researcher, HAYASHI Shinichiro, Researcher
Research Center for Disaster Risk Management, Erosion and Sediment Control Division(Key words) Typhoon Committee, sediment disaster, early warning information
1. Introduction
The Typhoon Committee, which is an organization
formed jointly by the World MeteorologicalOrganization and the Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific, held its
Forty-second General Meeting in the Republic ofSingapore from January 25 to 29, 2010. The
Erosion and Sediment Control Division submitted
its final report on the Sediment Disaster Forecastingand Warning System Project, which is a project led
by the Division, and reported on the state ofprogress of a new project, the Sediment Disaster
Hazard Map Project.
2. Sediment Disaster Forecasting and Warning
System ProjectThis project was undertaken to build a sedimentdisaster forecasting and warning system during theseven year period from 2002 to 2008. The
participating countries built the system applying a
judgment method which applies Japan’s Critical

Rainfall for Sediment Disaster Occurrence Riskwith modifications suited to conditions in eachcountry. The six participating countries include
China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand,
and the United States (Guam) in addition to Japan.
3. Sediment Disaster Hazard Map Project
The Sediment Disaster Hazard Map Project will be
undertaken for three years from 2009 to 2011 as thesecond step following the Sediment Disaster
Forecasting and Warning System Project. Its final
purpose is to share Japanese methods of setting
sediment disaster risk districts with other countries
and to prepare a guideline. At the General Meeting,the state of progress of the project was reported at
the same time as the plan and budget for fieldtraining scheduled for the autumn workshop werediscussed. At the next meeting, technical challenges
to the field training will be discussed by thecountries participating in the project.



TOPICS The New Influenza Virusin Sewers









OGOSHI Masashi, Head
FUJIWARA Takashi, Researcher
KOMIYA Yoshihito, Collaborating Researcher
Wastewater System Division, Water Quality Control Department
Key words) Sewerage system, public hygiene, new influenza virus
Water flowing into sewerage systems contains adischarged from two water treatment plants in Japanvariety of bacteria and viruses originating in humanduring the peak of the period of prevalence of new

excrement. It is known that during the norovirus

influenza from October to December 2009. The

season in the winter, the norovirus concentration in

results of the survey show that during the prevalent

inflowing water is high, and it is assumed that thisperiod, the quantity of new influenza virus flowing

reflects its prevalence in the drainage district.

into sewerage systems is extremely low and water

The swine derived new influenza virus (H1N1)

treatment plants remove it efficiently, so that almost

confirmed to be prevalent in Mexico in March 2009none of the virus remain in the water discharged

was also confirmed in Japan in May, and had spreadfrom the plants. The results have provided basic

nationwide by between October and December. It

information to be applied to study measures to deal

has been reported that a survey conducted in Osakawith spread of bird flu which, it is feared, may gain

in May 2009 revealed that 23% of patientsthe ability to infect humans in the near future.

complained of symptoms of diarrhea

1). Thissuggests that the new influenza virus may be[References]flowing in sewerage water, and to clarify the actual1) National Institute of Infectious Diseases:

situation, it was necessary to study impacts on

Epidemiological Survey of Epidemics of New

workers and on receiving waters. To meet this need,

Influenza in Osaka Prefecture, September 2009.

an emergency survey was conducted.

(http://idsc.nih.go.jp/disease/swine_influenza/2009i

The emergency survey was a survey of influenza
virus genes in water flowing into and water

dsc/report_osaka.html㧕


1

Topic

A survey of container drift damage
in Mikawa Port caused by the storm
surge of Typhoon No. 18

Photo

KUMAGAI Kentaro, Senior Researcher, Coastal Disaster Prevention Division, Coastal and Marine Department(Keywords) Typhoon No. 18, storm surge, container, drift, damage survey
1. Overview of the damage survey
On October 8, 2009, Typhoon No. 18 came ashore near
the Chita Peninsula. The surge associated with thetyphoon caused flooding and scattered a large number ofcontainers on the wharves of Mikawa Port (Photo 1).
In cooperation with the Chubu Regional Bureau’s Portand Airport Department and the Port and Airport
Research Institute, the author surveyed damage to the
Jinno-Nishi Wharf in Mikawa Port and its vicinity on
October 9, the day following the typhoon’s landfall.
The main components of the survey were 1) a survey ofthe conditions of flooding
caused by the storm surge,2) interviews on theactual circumstances ofcontainer drift, and 3) asurvey of damage to theport facilities.
2. Survey results

Photo 1: Scattered containers(provided by Japan Coast Guard)(1) Damage caused by the storm surge: Tide observation
records of the Chubu Regional Bureau showed a highest
tide level of D.L.+4.40 meters at 6:20. It should be
noted that the tide observation station is locatedapproximately one kilometer from the pier. The groundheight of the wharf’s No. 8 pier is D.L.+4.11 to 4.16
meters, and there is a gentle upward slope inland fromthere that reaches D.L.+4.34 meters at its highest point.
Behind this is a gentle downward slope to around D.L.+4
meters and then a relatively flat area. Accordingly, it isthought that the flood depth of the wharf, minus theeffects of the waves and wind, was between 0.1 and 0.4
meters. In some locations, this is equivalent to a flood
depth at which even double-stacked containers would
float (see reference*). Grass that had drifted due to the
influence of the waves and wind was entangled in thefence surrounding the wharf (ground height of D.L.+4
meters) to a height of 0.7 to 0.9 meters.
(2) Actual conditions of container drift: According to the
Aichi Prefecture’s Mikawa Port Office, which has
jurisdiction over the port, 136 containers out of 887 stored
on the wharf moved significantly. The maximum
straight-line distance of movement was approximately
250 meters. Most of the containers were stopped by asteel fence or nets that surround the wharf. The resultsof an interview with a witness are shown in Table 1.
Marks indicating places where containers had been

dragged were found in several areas on the pavement near
the highest point in the No. 8 pier yard (Photo 2). Thus,
it was found that some of the containers did notcompletely float but were rather dragged.
Table 1: Interview results
Time
5:45
6:20
7:00
7:30

Witnessed conditions
Seawater was confirmed overflowing from the No. 8 pier.
Container drift was confirmed. Containers did not startmoving all at once, but little-by-little. They bobbed likeboats made of bamboo leaves as they floated. Some
containers were carried away while still stacked.
The containers stopped moving.
The water was withdrawn completely from the top of thewharf at this time.

(3) Damage to wharf facilities: The posts of the steel
fence surrounding the wharf were deformed due to theimpacts of the containers. In one example, a post
measuring 6 cm in diameter was deformed in two
locations at heights of 0.5 and 0.9 meters above theground (Photo 3). There were no instances where theentire fence was knocked down.

Photo 2; Drag marks

Photo 3: Fence post

3. Conclusion
While referring to the results of the survey, the author
intends to conduct a numerical analysis of cargo thatdrifted from the wharf and study appropriate cargo
management measures needed for countermeasuresagainst drift damage. The author wishes to express his
gratitude to Mr. Yoji Hirai, head of the Chubu Regional
Bureau’s Mikawa Port Office, and others for theircooperation in this survey.
*Generally, there is a raised height of approximately 0.15 metersthat serves as a tunnel recess (depression for trailer loading), etc.
Considering this, it is thought that empty 40-foot containers
would float in floodwater having a depth of 0.28 meters whensingle stacked and 0.39 meters when double stacked.

Realizing a vibrant society that sustains international competitiveness

zResearch Trends and Results
How efficient is shipping of major bulk cargoes (coal, ironore, and grain) to Japan?

Photo

AKAKURA Yasuhiro, HeadPort Planning Division, Port and Harbor Department

Research Trends & Results(Keywords) Bulk cargo, Bulk carrier, Berth depth
1. Introduction
Bulk cargoes are the basic materials for industry
and food ingredients for daily life. They are loaded
directly into the holds of bulk carriers in unpackaged
form for shipping. The efficiency of such shipping isan essential element in raising the international
competitiveness of industry and ensuring stability inthe national livelihood. However, because bulk
cargo shipping is tramp shipping conducted forspecified shippers, information on it is extremely
limited. In this research, the author devised a methodfor determining shipping performance for major bulk
cargoes (coal, iron ore, and grain). The author thenanalyzed the circumstances of such performance inorder to contribute to the planning and proposal ofmeasures to improve shipping efficiency.
2. Method for determining the shipping
performance of major bulk cargoes
To begin, a list of bulk carriers that can ship therelevant items and worldwide loading ports was
prepared. Then, using the worldwide record of port
calls by bulk carriers, it was determined that a bulk
carrier was loaded with the relevant bulk cargo
whenever it visited a loading port.
From this, roughly 60 to 90% of all shipping could
be determined from contrasting various forms of data.
3. Results of comparison of major countries inNortheast Asia
The bulk cargo shipping conditions in majorcountries of Northeast Asia (Japan, China, South
Korea, and Taiwan) were compared.
Table 1
presents average per-port discharge volumes that wereobtained by dividing loaded volumes when all carriers
are fully loaded by the number of discharge ports.
Here, if carriers are larger and the number of discharge
ports per shipment is smaller, then the average
discharge volume grows larger and shipping becomes
more efficient. As a result, in the case of coal andgrain, Japan had a low average discharge volume
because its carriers were small and it had many
discharge ports. Particularly in the case of grain,
there was a gap of at least roughly 20,000 tons incarrier capacity between Japan and the other majorcountries. In the case of iron ore, Japan had large
carriers, but it also had a large number of discharge
ports.

Table 1: Average per-port discharge volume (tons)
CountryJapan
ChinaSouth Korea
TaiwanCoal
49,09759,887
68,33069,603Iron ore
123,335
103,781
166,941
131,698

Grain
17,16847,72744,672
38,140

Table 2: Rates of insufficient berth depth for fully
loaded carriersCountryJapan
ChinaSouth Korea
Taiwan

Coal
39.3%
16.8%
15.5%

Iron ore
79.5%
19.1%
37.7%
-

Grain
36.2%
85.4%
58.6%
57.0%

Note: Because China is a coal exporting country and data could beobtained for only one iron ore port in Taiwan, analyses were notconducted for these items.

The possibility that discharge ports lack capacity ispresumed based on the small size of carriers and large
number of discharge ports. Here, a comparison ofwater depth required to handle fully loaded carriers at
each port and the maximum berth depth of each port
was conducted.
Percentages of ports having
insufficient berth depths that were obtained from theresults are shown in Table 2. In the cases of coal andiron ore, Japan had large berth depth insufficiency
rates compared to the other countries. Japan had asmaller insufficiency rate in the case of grain.
However, because the carriers were small, thisinsufficient rate exceeds 80%—the same level as
China—if carriers having the same size as China’s had
been used in shipping.
4. Conclusion
The author intends to continue his analyses in thehope that they will help raise the efficiency ofshipping to Japan.
[References]
Technical
Note
of
NILIM
No.
525
http://www.nilim.go.jp/
Journal of the JSCE, Division D，Vol. 65，No. 3，pp.
336-347

Realizing a vibrant society that sustains international competitivenessz Research Trends and Results
Photo

Vessel shelter conditions ascertained by
NILAM-AIS at the time of Typhoon No. 18
of 2009

Course of Typhoon
No. 18-CentrairShip movement
ToyohashiEntering the bay

25 m/s or higher(high-wind zone)
Locations of measurement:
Centrair Toyohashi
Wind direction: ENE
E

Irago Suido Traffic
Route
Exiting the bay

Wind speed

Figure 1: Shelter conditions
Landfall at Chita Peninsula→Tue, Oct, 6

Wed, Oct, 7Thu, Oct, 7

6:00～8:00

4:00～6:00

8:00～10:00

2:00～4:00

0:00～2:00

22:00～24:00

20:00～22:00

18:00～20:00

16:00～18:00

12:00～14:00

6:00～8:00

10:00～12:00

4:00～6:00

2:00～4:00

0:00～2:00

22:00～24:00

20:00～22:00

18:00～20:00

16:00～18:00

14:00～16:00

12:00～14:00

6:00～8:00

10:00～12:00

4:00～6:00

8:00～10:00

2:00～4:00

5

8:00～10:00

100Power outage

No measurement

Entering the bay
Exiting the bay

15

14:00～16:00

20

0:00～2:00

2. Actual conditions of vessel shelter
Figure 1 shows conditions immediately before thetyphoon made landfall at the Chita Peninsula at 4:00 A.M on
October 8. The wind speed at Central Japan International
Airport (Centrair) was 22.1 meters/second. Each of theships taking shelter is pointed into the wind direction thatwas observed in its vicinity.
The ship movement shown in the center of the figure
pertains to an ordinary cargo ship of approximately 9,000
tons that was anchored in Mikawa Bay. Until the typhoon
made landfall at around 5:00 A.M. on October 8, the ship isswinging around in a circle with little change in the central
anchor point.
NILIM-AIS also ascertained the number of ships passing
through the Irago Suido Traffic Route in two-hour units.
The results are shown in Figure 2. From this figure, it ispossible to confirm the following trends:
1) During the roughly 20-hour period centered on the time of
maximum measured wind speed, no ships entered or exitedthe bay. Peaks are observed before and after this period.
2) The number of ships entering the bay peaked prior to thetyphoon’s approach, and the number exiting the bay peaked
after the typhoon passed.
It should be noted that no measurements were made during
the period between 4:00 A.M. and noon on October 8 due toa typhoon-caused power outage.

22:00～24:00

1. Outline
The “Technical Standards for Port and Harbor Facilities
and their Interpretation” that were revised in 2007 make noquantitative statements regarding anchorage size during
times of stormy weather. Although, in the past, theStandards/Interpretation did provide a quantitative formulafor calculating anchorage size, this formula was removed at
the time of the 1999 revision because the grounds for it were
unclear.
A real-world problem here is difficulty inascertaining actual shelter conditions of vessels duringstormy weather, and particularly the area of water needed for
shelter, and as a result no calculation formula has been
proposed.
In 2008, a regulation requiring both ocean-going anddomestic vessels that meet or exceed a certain size to carry
the Automatic Identification System (AIS) was implemented.
Against this backdrop, the Port Planning Division isconstructing an NILIM-AIS system by setting up AIS land
stations in Japan’s major sea areas. This system functions
to observe ship movement in real time and conduct data
analyses. The data analysis function was used to ascertain
actual conditions surrounding vessel shelter, anchoring bylarge ships, and movement into/out of ports during thepassage of Typhoon No. 18, which struck Japan in October
2009.

No. of ships

Research trends and results

TAKEMURA Shinji, Researcher
Port Planning Division, Port and Harbor Department(Keywords) NILIM-AIS, anchorage size, shelter conditions

Fri, Oct, 8Observation times

Figure 2: Time-series analysis of numbers of passing ships
The author intends to conduct a more detailed analysis ofthese results and to reconsider the formula for calculating
anchorage size during stormy weather in the TechnicalStandards/Interpretation.
[References]
Technical Note of NILIM Nos. 431, 500, 529, 561

Realizing a vibrant society that sustains international competitivenesszExample of results application
Photo

Evaluation of major ASEAN logistics infrastructure projects

SHIBASAKI Ryuichi, Senior Researcher
Port and Harbor Department

1. Purpose of research
In 2007, ASEAN formulated projects for logistics
infrastructure as means of contributing to the development of
the entire region as well as multiple countries within the region.
These projects targeted roads (38), railroads (13), sea transport(20), airports (9), and logistics facilities (11). However, theselection of these projects was made qualitatively based oninterview surveys and locational relationships with majortransport corridors. This research project expands a multimodeinternational cargo flow model that was developed by theauthors to include land and sea transport for all of ASEAN, andapplies it toward quantitative ascertainment of the effects the
projects will have in reducing transport costs. It should be
noted that the research was carried out under a transport
logistics working group of the Japan-ASEAN Transport
Cooperation project, which is led by the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure and Transport’s Policy Bureau.
2. The model and envisioned scenario
The authors’ model is a traffic assignment model that selects
transport routes and ports for import/export based on cargotransport demand (OD cargo volume). The service levels of
various infrastructure forms—such as roads, railroads, and ports
and harbors—are inputted into the model, and link traffic
volume, volumes handled by ports and harbors (as aggregatedvalues), etc., are outputted.
Furthermore, future cargo transport demand for the year 2020
was separately predicted and inputted for simulation. This wasdone given the strong implication that projects will serve as
investments for future economic development. Moreover, in
the area of international land transport, consideration was given
to a measure (Cross-Border Transport Agreement [CBTA])
intended to lessen resistance caused by cross-border transport,
which is a major obstacle because it requires customs
procedures, cargo transshipment, etc.
3. Simulation results(1) Impact on arriving/departing cargo for ASEAN as awhole
It was estimated that the overall amount of reduction intransport costs for arriving/departing ASEAN cargo that would
result from implementation of all projects and a regional CBTA
would be approximately 15.7 trillion yen per year (equivalent to8.8% of ASEAN’s total cargo transport costs). Moreover, thebenefits of land projects (62), sea transport projects (19), and
CBTA were estimated to be approximately 8.0 trillion yen, 6.9
trillion yen, and 7.5 trillion yen, respectively. Differences inprojected land transport flow arising from whether or notprojects are implemented are shown in the figure below.
(2) Impact on individual countries
The table below shows the reduced transport cost benefit andrate of reduction against total transport costs forarriving/departing cargo for each country. Looking at theby-country effects of each policy, there are some cases in which,due to circumstances in each country, almost no effect isgenerated. On the other hand, if all policies are implemented
simultaneously, a reduction effect of at least 3 to 4% can be
expected. In other words, it is suggested that simultaneous
implementation of policies is important for ensuring that all
countries receive the benefits of policies that are implemented ina relatively fair manner and for formulation of agreements on
project implementation among countries of the region.
[Reference]
Shibasaki, Watanabe: “Higashi/Tonan Ajia Chiiki ni okeru
Maruchimodo Kokusai Butsuryu Moderu no Kochiku to Asean
Butsuryu Infura Shisaku no Hyoka,” NILIM Report No. 40, pg.
161，September 2009
Difference
in international cargo flow (container/year, 2020)
国際貨物フローの差異（台／年，2020）（プロジェクト実施ケースの結果－(Result when
projects implemented —プロジェクト非実施ケースの結果）
result when
projects not implemented)

Figure: Differences in land transport flow when projects are
implemented/not implemented
Table: Rate of transport cost reduction for arriving/departing cargo ofeach country
Country/region

Japan
Philippines
Vietnam
Laos
Cambodia
Thailand
Malaysia
Singapore
MyanmarIndonesia
BruneiWorld total
Arriving/departing
ASEAN cargo

When all measures
are implemented
simultaneously

When only sea
transport projects are
implemented

When only landtransport projects
are implemented

When only measures to reducecross-border resistance are
implemented

1.5%
3.7%
12.3%
22.6%
4.3%
12.9%
6.6%
6.8%
5.6%
12.8%
9.0%
1.9%

0.9%
2.3%
1.8%
2.1%
0.3%
7.1%
1.4%
2.0%
1.3%
8.3%
0.0%
0.6%

1.2%
2.5%
7.1%
-0.2%
0.4%
10.6%
2.2%
1.9%
1.5%
2.2%
0.9%
1.1%

0.5%
0.9%
5.4%
19.2%
2.8%
4.0%
6.2%
4.2%
3.6%
5.7%
7.8%
0.9%

8.8%

3.9%

4.5%

4.2%

Application of Research Results(Keywords) International logistics, infrastructure project, ASEAN, policy simulation

Realization of an Active Society that Supports International Competitiveness

zResearch Trends and Results

Relationship between
Characteristics of Freight andFreight Truck Expressway Use
Ratio

Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo

SEKIYA Hirotaka, Senior Researcher KOBAYASHI Masanori, Researcher
NANBU Hiroyuki, Guest Researcher UESAKA Katsumi, Head
Traffic Engineering Division, Road Department
1. Introduction
The Traffic Engineering Division is conducting
research to develop a “route selection model” to be
used to predict how freight flow on road networks will
be changed by freight truck traffic measures
introduced to strengthen international competitivenessand improve living environments in residential
districts. This report introduces an outline of ananalysis of the relationship between “characteristics offreight” and “expressway use ratio”, which is the mostfundamental freight truck route selection behavior inorder to obtain basic information for the model.
2. Outline of the analysis
We set hypotheses, “the ratio of expressway use,which ensures rapid delivery, is high in the case of thetransport of perishables such as raw fish, for which
express transport is preferred,” and “delivery
time-specified freight is highly likely to be transported
via expressways, which are known to be more travel
time reliable, as any delay in the delivery of such
freight is not allowed,” and verified the hypotheses
using data from the Commodity Flow Census (2005).
A Z-test performed as shown in Figure 1 confirmedthat the ratio of expressway use is higher in the case ofrefrigerated and frozen freight and delivery time
specified freight than it is for other kinds of freight at
a significance level of 0.1%.
11
a: Freight shipped fromrefrigerator warehouses (Pa)

80%

60%

40%

20%

b: Freight shipped fromother facilities (Pb)significant)
Z=14.8 (0.1%(0.1%有意）0%0100 200 300 400 500
Transport distance (km)100%

Ratio of expressway use

100%

Ratio of expressway use

Research Trends & Results(Keywords) Freight truck traffic, Route selection, Expressway use ratio

1

Table 1. Parameter Estimation Result
0

1

1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

Estimated coefficients
Coefficients

Estimate

Std. Error

Z valueSignif.

(Intercept)-0.5182

0.0522-9.92***

X1: Transport distance

0.00500.0002

31.47***

X2: Freight refrigeration status

0.7231

0.0536

13.50***

X3: Delivery time specification

0.20720.0513

4.04***

X4: Freight lot-0.15310.0200-7.66***

0.1% confidence level

Change in expressway use ratio accompanying
improvement of commercial practices was simulatedusing the above equation. As shown in Table 2, it isconfirmed that the rise of the just-in-time transport
ratio increases the expressway use ratio by 2.6 points.
Table 2. Description and Results of the Simulation
Case 1

Change of commercial practiceIncreasing transport distanceCase 2

Increasing just-in-time transport

Case 3

Reducing lot size

Description of SimulationfChange50% increase in transport 74.3%+7.4
distance
Delivery time specification 69.6%+2.6
ratio of 100%
Average lot size decrease of 67.7%
+0.8
50%

a: Delivery time specified freight (Pa)

80%
60%
40%

b: Not-specified freight (Pb)20%
0%time specification dummy(x3) and lot (x4)) obtained
an equation which estimates the expressway use ratio
according to characteristics of freight (Table 1).
Coding conditions conform, and a significance level of
0.1% was satisfied. This suggests that all of the above
four parameters are factors which explain freight truck
route selection behavior.

significant)
Z=10.6 (0.1%(0.1%有意）0100 200 300 400 500
Transport distance (km)Figure 1. Significant Difference Test

Regressing the Logit converted expressway use
ratio f to four parameters (transport distance (x1),refrigerated, frozen freight dummy (x2), and delivery

3. Conclusion
This report has shown that it is possible to estimate“change of expressway use ratio caused by future
improvement of commercial practices” by applying
the resulting relational equation.
It is anticipated that the “relationship between roadstructure specifications and route selection
characteristics” will be studied to further improve theroute selection model, and that this knowledge andmodel will be applied to evaluate freight truck traffic
measures.

Realization of an Active Society that Supports International Competitiveness

zResearch Trends and Results

Management of Sewers

MATSUMIYA Yosuke, HeadYOSHIDA Toshiaki, Senior Researcher

FUKUDA Yasuo, Researcher

Wastewater System Division, Water Quality Control Department(Keywords) Sewers, asset management, micro-management, failure risk

Research Trends & Results

1. Introduction
Sewers constructed rapidly since the late 1960s havedeteriorated in recent years, demanding appropriate
maintenance and large rehabilitation works. It is
predicted that population decrease makes it difficult tosecure satisfactory budgets for sewer management.
From now on, measures must be taken to minimize thefailure risk such as road sinkholes and to reduce orlevel expenses.
This report introduces a study of micro-management,
which is a part of sewer asset management.
2. Micro-management of sewers
The core of asset management consists of medium- tolong-term rehabilitation cost predictions based on
statistical analysis of survey results (macro-management) and prioritizing of rehabilitation or
maintenance works in individual spans (sewer lines
between manholes) (micro-management).
In FY 2009, risk assessments were studied on
micro-management. Risk assessments are quantitativeevaluations performed by combining “probability ofsewer failure” and “consequence which failed sewers
might
cause.”
Prioritizing
rehabilitationormaintenance to minimize the risk such as roadsinkholes is studied by this method.
3. Studying risk assessments
Quantifying the probability of sewer failure isconducted by analysis based on the relationship ofsewer survey results (e.g., corrosion or infiltration as
in Photo 1) with sewerage registry items (e.g., type ofmaterial, age, diameter). Since sewers are buried undera variety of urban environments and ground conditions,registry items cannot cover all factors which influence
the occurrence of failure.
This study combines two approaches: logistic
regression analysis applied for registry items, and the
AHP method for factors other than registry items.
Logistic regression analysis is a study approach using
sewer survey results and registry items obtained fromsampled cities. The AHP method is conducted througha questionnaire survey of engineers of major cities
who have much experience in sewer maintenance.

Photo 1. Examples of failed sewers

Equation 1 is a probability equation for failure
occurrence with registry items as the independent
variables and sewer survey results as the dependent
variable, while Equation 2 is an assessment equationby the AHP method. The quantification of theconsequence of failure is studied similarly using theabove AHP method.

Pr (Y = 1) =1

1 + exp[− (β 0 + β1 X 1 + β 2 X 2 L + β r X r )]Equation 1( β i : coefficients, Xi: independent variables (registry
items), r: number of independent variables)
Assessment of probability of failure occurrence= (Weight of large vehicle passage) × (Score of large
vehicle passage) + (Weight of tree planted zones) ×(Score of tree planted zones) + ----- + (Weight ofground conditions) × (Score of ground conditions)
Equation 2
4. Conclusion

This assessment is a simple method which can be
adopted in medium and small cities where expertise ofcity engineers is limited, contributing greatly to theintroduction of nation-wide asset management.
References

Matsumiya, Y. et. al.: Projection of Sewer
Rehabilitation Needs and Evaluation of Sewer Failure
Risk, Civil Engineering Journal, No.11, Vol.51, Public
Works Research Center, November 2009http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ebg/ (Wastewater System
Division)

Realization of a Society in Harmony with the Environment

zResearch Trends and Results

Development of a Land-based
Pollution Load Model inNorthwest Pacific
MATSUMIYA Yosuke, Head, YOSHIDA Toshiaki, Senior Researcher, FUJIWARA Hiromichi, Researcher
Wastewater System Division, Water Quality Control Department

2. Development of a land-based pollution loadmodel
To clarify the future pollution load reduction
effectiveness of providing sewerage systems, ourDivision adopted a method of verifying theeffectiveness of pollution load reduction measures bydeveloping a land-based pollution load model andsetting future scenarios. In 2009, our Division started
by developing a land-based pollution load model for
China.
To develop the model, our Division referenced theframework of Comprehensive Basin-wide Planning of
Sewerage Systems in Japan, and adopted a model
where pollution loads are calculated by totaling
pollution loads (COD, T-N, and T-P) discharged fromsources of each category such as residential andindustrial in each drainage basin block, then totaling
pollution loads from the upstream to the downstreamof rivers to obtain pollution loads reaching coasts. The
basic land unit for land-based pollution load
calculation is an administrative unit (prefecture or
Number of river basin
上流から下流までのblocks from upstream
流域ブロック分割数
to downstream
黄河流域
7 7
Yellow
River Basin
淮河流域
3 3
Huai River
Basin
Chang長江流域
Jiang River Basin
7 7
Major
主要流域
river basins

）

Chang
Jiang River
長江流域
Basin

生活系
Residential
600
600

Paddies
水田

Factories
工場系
Fields
畑

Live
畜産系
stock
Urban
市街地

Others
その他

Urban
市街地

山林
Forests

Fields畑
Paddies
水田

500
500

Forests
山林

400
400

Others
その他
Livestock
畜産系
Factories

300

300

工場系

200

200

Residential

100

生活系

100
-

0

Bohai
Yellow
China Sea
渤海Sea
黄海 Sea East東シナ海
Figure 2. Results of Approximate Calculation of Annual
Discharged Load (CODMn) in 2005
渤海

黄海

東シナ海

city), and river basin block divisions for each water
quality monitoring points (where both water quality
and water quantity are measured) are set in majorrivers.
Figure 2 shows the results of applying the land-based
pollution load model to approximately calculate theannual discharged COD loads in each drainage basin
in 2005. The modeling included uncertain elements,
but it can clarify trends in the annual total discharged
loads and the percentages of total discharged pollution
loads of each category. More accurate results for thedischarged loads will be obtained in 2010.
3. Cooperation with Overseas Researchers
Our Division is working cooperatively withresearchers from China, Japan, Korea, and Russia toconfirm the appropriateness of the land-based
pollution load model and to promote concerted efforts
by the countries. Fruitful discussions have been
conducted at an international symposium at Kyoto
University in January 2009 and at an international
conference in Tokyo in February 2010.

Bohai
渤海Sea

Yellow
River Basin
黄河流域

Huai
River Basin
淮河流域

700
700

排出負荷量（万ｔ/年）

1. Introduction
In countries adjacent to Japan, recent rapid population
growth and industrial development have beenaccompanied by an increasingly serious river andocean water pollution problem. To propose water
quality environment conservation measures forNorthwest Pacific (Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China
Sea, and Sea of Japan) by reducing land-based
pollution loads mainly through sewerage systems, ourDivision is conducting a research in collaboration withresearchers from the concerned countries (China,
Japan, Korea, and Russia).

Discharged
load （万(10,000）
排出負荷量t/年t/year)

Research Trends & Results(Key words) marine environment, pollution load, simulation, sewerage system

Yellow
Sea
黄海

East
China
Sea
東シ
ナ海

Figure 1. Major River Basin Blocks in China

4. Future Works
Based on past research results, our Division conducts
improvement of the land-based pollution load model,
setting of future scenarios and clarification of future
pollutant loads, prediction of the marine water quality
through marine simulations, and also the preparationof proposals for marine water quality environment
conservation for Northwest Pacific.
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ebg/kinkai1.pdf.pdf
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ebg/ (Wastewater System Div.)Creating a Society in Harmony with the Environment z Research Trends & Results

Slope revegetation using forest topsoil
MATSUE Masahiko,Head KUBO Masako,Reseacher
Landscape and Ecology Division, Environment Department
Forest topsoil utilization works, buried seeds, revegetation

1. Introduction
Given the problems of genetic disturbance andproliferation of alien species when introducing plants
for revegetation, local character needs to be taken into
account when selecting plants for public revegetation
works. Meanwhile, buried seeds in forest topsoil
include many of a local character, and are thought fairly
easy to collect. In light of this, revegetation works
using forest topsoil (forest topsoil utilization works) arethought to present a viable substitute for revegetation
using alien plants. In public revegetation works, it is ofparamount importance to predict the initial state of
growth when judging whether to carry out revegetation
using this method. In this study, therefore, we studied
the initial state of plant establishment achieved in forest
topsoil utilization works.

works with topsoil mixture ratios of 10%, 20% and30%. On slopes 1 and 2, fewer individual plants grew.
This was thought to be because the installation took
place in summer, when not enough germination wasachieved, and also because the topsoil contained a large
quantity of clethra. On slope 3, conversely, the numberof individual plants was large in the first year of
installation but had decreased by the third year. This
was thought to result from compression by goldenrod
and other herbaceous plants. Therefore, when wishingto establish plant colonies quickly, this method may be
unsuitable for use in summer installation and inlocations where there are many alien species nearby.
Vegetation established through revegetation with
forest topsoil is influenced by the slope attributes of theinstallation site and the season of installation, among
others. We plan to produce guidelines for thisinstallation method, in which we clarify the
relationship between slope attributes and vegetation
based on numerous case examples. In this way, thesuitability or unsuitability of use can be judged fromthe conditions of land scheduled for installation in
public works projects.
1

slope1: Summer
installation
法面１：夏施工0.5
01.5

A hi llsi de pl ant ed with gree nery usi ng forest topsoil (Kyoto )No.ofplants per m2 2
木本個体数/mResearch Trends & Results(Key words)

1

Slope2:Spring installation
法面２：春施工

0.5
0
4.5
4
3.5
3

Slope3:
Spring installation
法面３：春施工

1st year of
施工当年
installation
nd
22年目
year
rd
33年目
year

2.5

A clet hra se edl ing

A sumac se edl in g

Fig. 1 A hillside treated with forest topsoil utilization
works, and examples of plant seedlings
2. Types of buried seeds
Buried seeds mainly exist in around the upper 10cm
of forest topsoil; the topsoil of secondary forests is
known to contain many seeds of sumac, mallotus,
clethra and others. Although present as buried seeds,
however, clethra and others have a known tendency not
to become established on slopes, depending on the
installation conditions.
3. Examples of forest topsoil utilization works
We carried out installation experiments on slopes inthree national parks, using forest topsoil utilization

2
1.5
1
0.5
0

zone
10%区

zone
20%区

zone
30%区

Fig. 2 Number of plants growing on each experimental
slope[Bibliography]
D. Hosogi, S. Yonemura, A. Kameyama (2004),
Potential of forest soil seed bank as revegetationmaterial in Kanto district and its examination method,
Journal of the Japanese Society of Revegetation
Technology, 29 (3) ：412-122.

Realization of a Society in Harmony with the Environment

zResearch Trends and Results

Water Reuse
for Global Warming Mitigation
YAMAGATA Hiroki, Researcher MIYAMOTO Ayako, Researcher
Wastewater and Sludge Management Division, Water Quality Control Department(Keywords) Reuse of treated wastewater, Greenhouse gas reduction

Research Trends & Results

1. Trends in the reduction of energy consumption of water
cycle systems.
As global warming mitigation becomes an international
challenge, lowering energy consumption of water cycle systems,
which include water supply and sewer systems, has become
important. Most of the energy consumed in water supply systems
is used for water intake and conveyance, water distribution andother water transport functions. It is reported that relocating water
intake sites and purification plants upstream could cut total
emissions of carbon dioxide from water works in the Tokyo
region by approximately 60% 1).
In sewer systems on the other hand, approximately 98% oftreated wastewater is discharged into the ocean or rivers without
reuse. But treated wastewater is considered as a fresh water source
available near urban areas. It is expected that reusing treatedwastewater as “reclaimed water” for toilet flushing andenvironment water could lead to further reduction of energy
consumption in urban water cycle systems 2). The Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) released theReport of the Panel on Waster Reuse in 2009 3) to encourage theuse of reclaimed water for global warming mitigation.

3. Development and Evaluation of Water Reuse
Technologies for the Establishment of a 21st century type
Water Circulation System (CREST)
To reduce energy consumption by water cycle systems, theWastewater and Sludge Management Division implements the
CREST project named “Development and Evaluation of Water
Reuse Technologies for the Establishment of a 21st century type
Water Circulation System” (2009 – 2014) funded by the Japan
Science and Technology Agency (JST) collaborating with theWater Management and Dam Division andResearch
Coordinator for Environmental Affairs of NILIM, Kyoto
University, and private companies on membrane filtration.
Considering technology development on energy saving of
membrane treatment, the project aims at developing and assessing
cascade water use systems (Figure) including the relocation ofwater supply and sewer systems, water reuse and the heatutilization of wastewater for further reduction of energy
consumption of water cycle systems inside and outside of Japan.

Cascade Water Use System
Farmland2. Assessment of the global warming mitigation effects ofwater reuse.
The Wastewater and Sludge Management Division of the
National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management(NILIM) collaborating with the Sewerage and Wastewater
Management Department of MLIT conducts surveys and researchon reclaimed water quality management and environmental andsocio-economic assessment of water reuse systems.
Establishing reclaimed water quality standards is an importantrole of the national government in ensuring the sustainable use ofreclaimed water. In 2005, the Sewerage and Wastewater
Management Department of MLIT and the NILIM established the
Guidelines for Reclaimed Wastewater Quality Criteria based on
the discussions of a committee of academic experts. Guidelines
have been enacted outside Japan in recent years, including Water
recycling criteria of the California Code of Regulations(“Title-22”), which assume multi-purpose reclaimed water uses
including agricultural irrigation, and the WHO Guidelines for the
Safe Use of Wastewater, Excreta, Greywater (3rd ed.) which aims
at safe use of reclaimed water in developing countries (revised in2006) 4). Revision of the Guidelines for Reclaimed Wastewater
Quality Criteria of Japan might be needed as uses of recycledwater expand.
With regard to the assessment of water reuse systems, researchis being performed regarding LCA for water reuse systems
including wastewater reclamation facilities, reclaimed water
distribution facilities and users 5) and the evaluation of thesocio-economic benefits of water reuse 6).

Water purification
City
plant

Reservoir

OnsiterecyclingRiver

Nutrient input(fertilization)
Agricultural irrigation

Wastewater
reclamation facility(Applying innovativetechnologies including
membranes and ozone)

SewerageHeat use
Large area
recycling
Effluent

Ocean

Figure: Concept of Cascade Water Use System[Sources]
1) Cuts Carbon Dioxide by Sixty-percent: Metropolitan Water Cycyle Study Committee ofJapan Federation of Water Industries Associations: Suido Sangyo Shimbun, Jan. 4, 20102) H. Tanaka (2009): Expectations of Sewage Systems as Twenty-first Century Urban
Metabolic Systems, Shintoshi, Vol. 63, No. 9, pp. 16 – 233) Sewerage and Wastewater Management Department, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (2009): To Promote Use of Reclaimed Water for New Social
Significance4) Asano, T., F. Burton, H. Leverenz, R. Tsuchihashi, and G. Tchobanoglous (2007) Water
Reuse: Issues, Technologies, and Applications, McGraw-Hill, New York.
5) M. Minamiyama, M. Ogoshi, A. Miyamoto (2009): Quantitative Effect of Water Reuse asa Global Warming Control Measure, FY2008 Annual Report of Wastewater Management
and Water Quality Control, Technical Note of NILIM, No. 543
6) M. Minamiyama, H. Yamagata, D. Yamanaka (2009): Research on Restoration of Water
Cycle in Collaboration with Community-based Activities: FY2008 Annual Report of
Wastewater Management and Water Quality Control, Technical Note of NILIM, No. 543

Realization of a Society in Harmony with the Environment zA Case of Utilizing Results

Biomass in Sewerage Systems
Effective Use of Sewage Sludge
OGOSHI Masashi, Head, HIRAYAMA Takahiro, Senior Researcher
MIYAMOTO Ayako, Researcher
Wastewater and Sludge Management Division, Water Quality Control Department

The growing environmental load caused by the
consumption of resources and energy is presumed to becausing global warming. The aggressive use of biomass
is counted on to help fight global warming, and althoughsewage sludge and treated wastewater in sewage systems
have potential use as resources or energy, their actual use
is limited. The NILIM has surveyed the state of theeffective use of sewage sludge, treated wastewater, andenergy in sewage treatment plants through Japan andsummarized sewage sludge recycling rates etc. in orderto study, implement, and follow up on measures topromote their effective use.
The sewage sludge recycling rate is the percentage
finally reused in terms of its solid dry weight when it isproduced, but is an index which does not reflect theeffective use of digestion gas. To promote the aggressive
use of sewage sludge as biomass, the “Sewage Biomass
Recycling Rate” calculation method, which defined“Quantity of organic material in sludge which iseffectively used, as energy for gas powered thermal
plants or on green farm land” has been established as a
new index for the effective use of sewage sludge
including the use of digestion gas, and has been
computed.
The results of these surveys will be announced
publicly by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism and are applied as basic material
in the inventory of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change.

Application of Research Results(Key words) Sewage sludge, digestion gas, biomass, effective use

Topics

Membrane Treatment Technology～Guidelines and General Evaluation～
OGOSHI Masashi, Head FUJIWARA Takashi, Researcher
NISHIMURA Shunsuke, Researcher
KOMIYA Yoshihito, Collaborating Researcher
Water Quality Control Department, Wastewater and Sludge Management Division（Keywords） Membrane treatment technology, guidelines, A-JUMP, general evaluation
In plants applying conventional seweragetreatment methods, sedimentation tanks or filter
basins provide a solid-liquid separation function inorder to remove suspended substances fromwastewater, but in recent years, the membrane
separation activated sludge method (MBR) whichapplies membrane to replace this function has
attracted attention. Applying MBR eliminates theneed for a sedimentation tank or filter basin,
reducing the land area requirements, and can also
improve treated water quality and simplify system
maintenance. Until now, it has been introduced
mainly in small scale wastewater treatment plants,
but research and development work is now being
performed in order that in the future it can beapplied to the reconstruction and renewal ofdeteriorated medium and large-scale wastewater
treatment plants and to the enhancement oftreatment functions.
In May, 2009, the Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLITT)
enacted the Guideline to the Introduction of
Membrane Treatment Technology to Sewerage
Systems (First Edition) to summarize basic

information
concerning
present
membranetreatment technologies and the significance of theirintroduction to sewerage systems, plus items to bestudied and precautions followed to introduce MBR
to a new or existing treatment plant, in order topopularize and expand the use of membrane
treatment technologies. The MLITT is now
conducting the study, Japanese Version Next
Generation MBR Technology Development Project(A-JUMP), in order to enact the Second Edition of
the Guideline with more complete technicalelements in addition to achievements of MBR
proving projects at actual facilities including its
application to medium and large scale wastewater
treatment plants accompanied by the most
up-to-date knowledge from both inside and outsideof Japan. The ministry is now evaluating treatedwastewater quality based on results from MBR
facilities now in operation (referred to as, “generalevaluations”) in order to position MBR as astandard wastewater treatment technology under the
Enforcement Order of the Sewerage Law.
(http://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000046580.pdf)
Guideline (First Edition) MLITT website

Creating a Society in Harmony with the EnvironmentzApplication of Research Results

Formation of urban landscapes startingfrom urban parks– Creation of (Draft) Guidelines for the development and managementof urban parks with links to adjacent facilities, streets, etc. –Landscape and Ecology Division, Environment Department
Head
Masahiko MATSUE Senior Researcher Nobuaki KAGEMOTO

1. Background and development
In Japan, the “Three Landscape Greenery Laws”
were enacted in June 2004 with the aim of forming
beautiful and characteristic national land, creating richliving environments and giving individuality andvitality to local communities. Urban parks, as corefacilities for the formation of good urban landscapes,
are indispensable facilities for green and refreshingurban development. By linking related projects
together, it is expected that even better urban
landscapes can be formed.
To meet this expectation, departments in charge ofdeveloping and managing urban parks are also
expected to give due consideration to links with theareas around parks, adjacent facilities, etc., with a view
to forming integrated landscapes. However, ways ofachieving such links have yet to be identified, muchless evaluated. By researching good examples of this,
therefore, we have drawn up principles for effective
links with surrounding areas, adjacent facilities, etc.,
points to bear in mind, and other matters related to thedevelopment and management of urban parks.
2. Outline of the creation of (Draft) Guidelines(1) Compilation of case studies from Japan andabroadWe gathered and surveyed cases of good urban
landscapes, in which urban parks are integrated withadjacent facilities and their surrounding areas, are“open”
and“have
beautifulneighborhood
characteristics”, mainly in urban areas. Of these, we
produced a compilation consisting of 20 domestic and10 overseas cases.
The compilation starts by giving an “Outline ofIntegration and Links with Adjacent Facilities, etc.”,
continues through “Outline of Urban Parks”, “Outlineof Adjacent Facilities, etc.”, “Main Steps When
Creating Links”, “Location and Landscape Status of
Urban Parks, Adjacent Facilities, etc.”, and “Content ofLinks”, and concludes with a data section.

(2) Study of principles for developing and managing
urban parks
Our (Draft) Guidelines bring together the principles,
matters to be borne in mind, and other issues when
promoting the development and management of urban
parks with links to adjacent facilities and surrounding
areas, as came clear in our analysis of case studies.
The Guidelines have been created so that urban
parks can make a greater contribution to forming goodurban landscapes through wide-ranging, diverse links
with adjacent facilities, etc. The aim is that local
authority departments in charge of developing andmanaging urban parks will use the Guidelines whenseeking ideas for diverse links in line with thecharacteristics of their respective areas.
The Guidelines consist of “Part 1: Steps When
Creating Links”, in which we indicate general mattersto bear in mind when forming good landscapes throughlinks, divided into stages; “Part 2: Links in Tune with
Adjacent Facilities”,
in which we show thepoints to bear in mind
for each type of linked
adjacent facility; and“Case Studies”, acompilation of cases
from Japan and abroadthat will provide
useful reference forthese.
Photo 1 Greenery along
3. Publication of
Jozenji-dori, a case study
results
The
resultant in Sendai City
(Draft) Guidelines were published under that title in“NILIM Material No. 542” in August 2009. They havealso been published as a pdf file on the NILIM website.
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/bcg/siryou/tnn/tnn0542.htm

Application of Research Results(Key words) Urban parks, urban landscapes, Landscape Act, public facilities of landscape importance, public facilities

Creating a Society in Harmony with the EnvironmentzApplication of Research Results

Creation of a “Conservation Manual for
Trees of Landscape Importance”
MATSUE Masahiko,Head IIZUKA Yasuo,Ssenior Researcher
Landscape and Ecology Division, Environment Department

1. BackgroundIn 2004, a Landscape Act was passed to promote thecreation of good landscapes in Japan’s cities and rural
areas. The law makes it possible to specify landscapeplanning areas and designate “trees of landscapeimportance” (trees that are important to the formationof good landscapes in those areas). The designatedtrees then need to be managed appropriately to ensurethat good landscapes are not lost. Many of these trees
are thought to be giant trees or old trees that function as
symbols for their local areas. So far, not enough has
been done to establish techniques or technology for
maintaining or improving the vitality of these trees inconsideration of their landscapes. This has made itnecessary to create guidelines for managing trees oflandscape importance.
Therefore, as a basic material for drawing up
management guidelines for trees of landscapeimportance, we have compiled a manual on techniquesof conservation for trees. The manual is mainly
designed for giant trees and old trees, in considerationof their landscapes.

growth, and explains the specific content of surveys
and diagnosis.
Chapter 4 is concerned with proposals ofconservation plans. As well as giving a commentary
on setting conservation targets and selecting
conservation work, it also illustrates methods ofdrawing up conservation plans and other documents.
Chapter 5, the section on installation andmanagement, provides commentary on basic mattersto be borne in mind when carrying out work, andprecautions in each type of work involved inconservation. It also highlights the need to verify
effects after the conservation work, and explains
methods of doing this.
3. Publication
The “Conservation Manual for Trees of LandscapeImportance” has been published as NILIM Material
No. 565. We have also published a “Case Study
Collection of Conservation Measures for Giant Treesand Old Trees”, in which we compile past methods ofconservation measures for giant trees and old trees,
together with information on their subsequent
growth.
It is hoped that these publications will promote thedesignation of trees of landscape importance in future,and that precious trees that have been caringly
protected at local level will continue to be conservedin good condition in the future.
http://www.nilim.go.jp/lab/ddg/index.htm
image
Present state and Ecology Division) Targeted(Landscape

2. Outline of the “Conservation Manual for Trees ofLandscape Importance”
Chapter 1: Basic matters concerning trees oflandscape importance
As well as explaining the significance attached to treesof landscape importance in the Landscape Act, thischapter introduces the specific profile of these trees andexamples of designation. It also includes commentaries
Loss of leaf volume
on standards and aims applied when designating trees Diminishedleaf size
Leaf discolorationof landscape importance.
Chapter 2: Basic matters on conserving trees of
蚕の亀裂
landscape importanceThis chapter gives a commentary on the need forconservation and the targets of conserving trees oflandscape importance. It also explains ideal systems
Poor occlusion
when carrying out conservation and ways of using trees Broken branchesof landscape importance.
Chapters 3-5: Methods of tackling the conservationof trees of landscape importance
Damaged trunk
Cracked trunk
Chapter 3 gives information on surveys androttingdiagnosis. It highlights points of note in methods of SoilHollows,
compaction
surveying and diagnosing landscapes and the state of Loss of nutrients

Dead branches
pruned,leaves andbranches revived

Tree vigor restored
Withered branch ends

蚕の回復

蚕葉の再生

Peeling barkOcclusion ofhollowed androtten parts

Fungal growth
Holes
Fungal growth
Roots exposed
Installation of protective fence

Drawing showing problems with the present state

Revived bark

Revived roots
Drawing after problem points are improved

Application of Research Results(Key words) Trees of landscape importance, giant trees, landscapes, conservation measures, tree diagnosis,
maintenance & management