Contents
Message from the Director-General

2

RIHN Philosophy and Approach

5

Organizational Structure

6-8

Project Index

10-11

Research Projects

12-29Core Projects

30-32

Completed Research

34-36

Current Feasibility Studies

38-41

Coordination

42-43

Science Communication

44-45

Facilities

46-47

Ecohealth & Future Earth48

Collaboration

49

Administrative Structure

50-52

A Brief History of RIHN

53

National Institutes for the Humanities
Access

54-55
56

1

Message from the Director-General
The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)

in fiscal year 2015 we reformed the ways in which wewas established in April 2001 to conduct integrated

conduct and promote research projects in order to enhanceresearch in the field of global environmental studies. In

coordination and integration of the projects for achieving

2004, RIHN became one of the original members of thethe goals of the RIHN mission. As part of this reform, in

National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU), an Inter-

April of 2016 (beginning of fiscal year 2016), we launched

University Research Institute Corporation.

a new research initiative to achieve “Transformation
Towards Sustainable Futures in Complex Human-Nature

Environmental degradation can be understood as an

Systems in Asia.” For this purpose, we started a set of

imbalance in interactions between human beings andResearch Programs, a Core Program, and the RIHN Center.

natural systems. Our mission is, therefore, to conduct

With a new structure in place, we are now pursuing oursolution-oriented research aimed at exploring how these

initiative through enhanced collaboration within ourinteractions between humanity and nature ought to be.

institute, across the diverse research community, and withTo achieve this mission, RIHN has been conducting

society in general.

interdisciplinary research spanning the natural sciences,humanities, and social sciences, and in recent years, has

To enhance international activities of RIHN, we are also

developed towards transdisciplinary research that involves

collaborating with the international research platform

collaboration with various stakeholders in society.

Future Earth, which aims to integrate global environmental
change research for achieving global sustainability.

Since its establishment, RIHN researchers have formulated
creative projects to address social needs in diverse fields

In fiscal year 2018 we are fully implementing these newof environmental interaction. Following an external

research initiatives.

review of research activities and organizational structures,

YASUNARI Tetsuzo
Director-General
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature2

3

Above: WADE Shin-ichi, Short summer,
Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Bottom: OSHIUMI Keiichi, Old market, Siem
Reap, Cambodia

RIHN Philosophy and Approach
For several decades, researchers have attempted to

the role of science in society, improve dialogue between

find solutions to the environmental problems that now

different traditions of knowledge, and stimulate new multi-

confront human communities at all scales, but despite

actor local, national and international collaborations. Thisextensive research in individual disciplines, many

approach needs to draw on multiple, diverse perspectives

environmental problems have remained unresolved.

from a range of disciplines including the natural and social

There is therefore a need to go beyond partial

sciences, arts and humanities, and engineering and design.

descriptions of discrete environmental problems towards
holistic understandings of the underlying causes of

Science cannot be uniformly applied to the world but

these problems and for integrated approaches to theirshould instead enable solutions to social-environmental

solutions.

problems that are informed by lived social practices andcommunal values. RIHN research is developed globally,

The Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

but with Asia as a core focus area. Not only is Asia’s impact

is a national research institute established by theon global development increasingly conspicuous, but at theGovernment of Japan in 2001 and it is part of thesame time it is also home to many examples of long-term

National Institutes for the Humanities. RIHN research

cultural-ecological continuity that need to be understood instarts from the premise that environmental problems areterms of their own significance to regional dynamics. RIHN

rooted in human society, culture, and values. The goal

research crucially depends on long-established networks inof RIHN is to seek concepts, theories and mechanisms

Asia and contributes to transdisciplinary initiatives in thecapable of describing and enabling transformation ofregion, among others by hosting the Regional Centre forhuman-environment interactions. This implies that

Future Earth in Asia.

RIHN research involves a normative dimension, driven
by questions such as what the relationship between

RIHN research is guided by the following three objectives:

humanity and nature ought to be like. To this end,

・Conduct research that analyzes the interaction between

RIHN solicits, funds, and hosts integrative researchhumanity and nature and critically examines the

projects investigating environmental change problems

sustainability of human societies, based on past RIHN

in specific settings. Research projects are undertaken byresearch and international literature and experiencesinterdisciplinary teams at RIHN, partner institutions, and・Apply research results to solve real-world sustainability

societal stakeholders in Japan and abroad.

problems
・Promote solution-oriented research on environmental

We at RIHN believe that research ought to contributechallenges that is co-designed and co-produced in close

to the search for solutions to real-world problems and,collaboration with societal stakeholders

therefore, we promote a co-design and co-production

While other regions are not excluded, the primary

approach where researchers and societal actors join

geographical focus of RIHN research is on Asia. Morehands in exploring problems and developing new

broadly, RIHN strives to deploy an Asian perspective in its

framings and possible solutions. RIHN research isresearch on global environmental change

increasingly transdisciplinary in that it seeks to redefine5Organizational Structure
RIHN is fundamentally a project-based institute, with projects alternating
through a 5-7-year cycle. Identification of ideas for projects happens
through public solicitation. Through a process of evaluation and selectionthat includes “incubation” and “feasibility” stages, these ideas are graduallydeveloped into fully-fledged projects and only get officially underway after
evaluation by an international external review committee. At this point, theproponent becomes joins the RIHN community by becoming a staff memberof the Institute. In most cases projects run for five years. They include a coreteam of researchers based at RIHN and a much larger network of partners at
research institutions throughout Japan and abroad.

RIHN Programs
RIHN research is organized into Programs and Projects rather than preexisting academic disciplines or domains. Three Research Programs andone Core Program are each home to multiple projects that carry out
research in line with the Program’s broad direction. The bundling andintegration of Projects within the Programs facilitates synthesis of research
results and allows for strategic planning of research. Programs are subject
to annual review by the External Research-Evaluation Committee (seeRIHN Project Trajectory on pages 7 & 8). RIHN endeavors to improve its
research by making good use of the review results while also respecting theindependence of each Program.

6

Research Programs

Program 2: Fair use and management of diverse resources

Research Programs are organized around three themes

Taking tradeoffs into account, this program provides

identified in the Phase III Medium-Term Plan. In

multifaceted options to stakeholders involved inaddressing environmental problems, technological andproduction, distribution, and consumption of resources,

institutional developments are important, but RIHN

in order to realize fair use, optimal management, andrecognizes that these need to build on the foundation

wise governance of diverse natural resources includingof people’s awareness, value systems and culture. Theenergy, water and ecological resources.

programs collaborate closely with society in developing
and proposing options that contribute to the transition of

Program 3: Designing lifeworlds of sustainability andsociety.

wellbeing

Our “lifeworlds” are composed of the physical spaces
Program 1: Societal transformation under environmental

and socio-cultural spheres of our everyday lives. Theychangeare continually reproduced, reimagined, and evolving

This program aims at providing realistic perspectives

through an interactive and reflexive relationship withand options to facilitate the transition to a society thatsociety, culture, and nature. Program 3 proposes research

can flexibly respond to environmental changes caused

aimed at illuminating reciprocal linkages between

by human activities such as global warming and air

diverse rural and urban lifeworlds and contributing

pollution, as well as to natural disasters.

to the solution of sustainability problems by working
with various societal partners such as governments,
companies, and citizen groups. Special emphasis isplaced on envisioning sustainable futures that improve
wellbeing and gauging their feasibility.

RIHN Project Trajectory : Research Project

Incubation Studies (IS) are proposed by individual researchers to the RIHN Project Review Task Committee. If approved,
the researcher is granted seed money to prepare a proposal for Feasibility Study.
Feasibility Studies (FS) allow the study leader a period to develop a proposal for Full Research.
In the transitional Pre-Research (PR) period, the project leader formally assembles the team, establishes MOUs necessary
for collaboration with other institutions and makes other preparations to enable Full Research.
Full Research (FR) lasts from three to five years. It typically involves a research team at RIHN and concurrent activity
with collaborators overseas, several periods of field study, workshops and presentations, and outreach or communication
to relevant communities. FR projects are evaluated by the External Research Evaluation Committee at the beginning(selection) , mid-term and the end (final evaluation).
7

Core Program
Based on the mission of RIHN and in order to realize the strategies and policies
formulated by the Council for Research Strategy, the Core Program undertakes research
on an ongoing basis. During Phase III, the Core Program will develop concepts andmethodologies to solve global environmental problems in collaboration with society.

RIHN Project Trajectory : Core Project

RIHN Center
The RIHN Center provides the foundations for collaborative research and activities
at RIHN. Its four Divisions manage and operate the laboratories and the information
systems of the Institute, and facilitate communication, networking and capacity building(see detailed description on page 42.). Center faculty also engage in research in pursuing
the goals of the Center. Collaboration is fundamental to the operation of the RIHN
Center: it works closely with the Core Program and Research Programs by providing
tools, facilities and methods. It also collaborates with the wider academic community
in support of RIHN’s role as a joint-use Inter-University Research Institute and engages abroad range of societal stakeholders in problem-solving research processes.

Above: TERAMOTO Shun, Life with a well pump, Los Baños, Philippines
Bottom: HONDA Naomi, Investigating electrical resistance on a beach, Fukushima, Japan8

9

Project Index

10

Full Research

FR

Research Program 1: Societal Transformation under Environmental Change

SUGIHARA Kaoru

12-13

Societal Adaptation to Climate Change: Integrating
Palaeoclimatological Data with Historical andArchaeological Evidences

NAKATSUKA Takeshi

14-15

MIZUNO Kosuke

16-17

YOSHIDA Takehito

18-19

Research Field : Japan

Toward the Regeneration of Tropical Peatland Societies:
Building International Research Network on Paludiculture
and Sustainable Peatland Management
Research Fields : Indonesia, Malaysia

Research and Social Implementation of Ecosystem-based
Disaster Risk Reduction as Climate Change Adaptation in
Shrinking Societies
Research Field : Japan

Research Program 2: Fair Use and Management of Diverse Resources

NAKASHIZUKA Tohru 20-21

Biodiversity-driven Nutrient Cycling and Human Well-beingin Social-Ecological Systems

OKUDA Noboru

22-23

Research Program 3: Designing Lifeworlds of Sustainability and Wellbeing

SAIJO Tatsuyoshi

24-25

Lifeworlds of Sustainable Food Consumption and Production:
Agrifood Systems in Transition

Steven R. McGREEVY

26-27

YAMAUCHI Taro

28-29

TANIGUCHI Makoto

30

TAYASU Ichiro

31

KONDO Yasuhisa

32

Research Fields : Japan, Philippines

Research Fields : Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, China

The Sanitation Value Chain: Designing Sanitation Systems as
Eco-Community-Value System
Research Fields : Zambia, Burkina Faso, Indonesia, Japan

Core Program

Proposal and Verification of the Validity of Isotope
Environmental Traceability Methodology in Environmental
Studies
Research Field : Japan

Information Asymmetry Reduction in Open Team Science forSocio-environmental Cases
Research Field : Japan, Oman

11

Research Program 1

Societal Transformation under
Environmental ChangeThis program aims at providing realistic perspectives and options to facilitate the transformation
towards a society that can flexibly respond to environmental changes caused by human activities
such as global warming and air pollution, as well as to natural disasters.
To demonstrate the fundamental significance of global environmental sustainability for humansociety, we need to make intellectually explicit the links between environmental change and natural
disasters on the one hand, and social issues such as livelihood, inequality, social security andconflict on the other, and reinforce understanding of these links in the real world. RIHN’s Societal
Transformation under Environmental Change research program contributes to this task.
The Program follows two lines of inquiry. The first conducts research on Asia’s long-term pathsof social and economic development in relation to climate change and environmental history. Suchstudies offer historical understandings of the human-nature interface, and evaluate each region’s
political and economic conditions and cultural and social potentialities in comparative perspective.
For example, postwar development of the industrial complex along Asia’s Pacific coast was madepossible by the combination of imported fossil fuels and utilization of rich local resources of land,
water and biomass. Industrial development in the region produced both rapid economic growth
and at times severe environmental pollution and degradation. It is important to recognize the causes
and consequences of these historical processes in their own light, as well as for their significance tofuture societal change and policy deliberations.
The Program’s second line of inquiry examines the kinds of motivations that affect people’s
livelihood, by working closely with various stakeholders in local society in Asia. Our projectbased in Sumatra’s tropical peat swamp forest, for example, has identified four principal kinds ofmotivations—local livelihood; profit of local farmers and agricultural and industrial enterprises;
local and centrally-based governance; and conservation measures implemented by governments,
NGOs and international institutions—and examines how they can best be coordinated to promotesustainability at the village level. Research also helps implement policies at local, national andinternational levels. This ongoing project, which cooperates with local universities, companies andofficials, has already contributed to the development of regional and national policies to control
peatland fires, which became a significant environmental issue in Indonesia and beyond.
This program coordinates a variety of research projects along these lines in order to develop aperspective that helps direct research and social transformation in Asia.

12
Recent land development activities in some parts of tropical peatlands have led to unpreceded scales of forest fire incidents, which are a serious health threat to people of local
areas and neighboring countries. This photograph shows a peatland fire in Riau Province, Sumatra Island, Indonesia.

Program seminar at RIHN, 29th January 2018

Program Director

SUGIHARA Kaoru RIHN

Trained in Japan (Doctorate at the University of Tokyo), I have held positions at the History Department of the
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto
University, the Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy
Studies (Japan). My research concerns the history of intra-Asian trade and labor-intensive industrialization in thelast two centuries. I am currently working on the economic and environmental history of Monsoon Asia in longterm perspective. I also act as Vice-Chair of the Future Earth Committee of the Science Council of Japan

Researchers
MASUHARA Naoki

Senior Researcher

YAMAMOTO Aya

Research Associate

13Historical Climate Adaptation Project

Societal Adaptation to Climate Change: Integrating
Palaeoclimatological Data with Historical andArchaeological Evidences
Project Leader

NAKATSUKA Takeshi RIHN

Progra m 1

Professor Nakatsuka’s specialties are palaeoclimatology and isotope biogeochemistry. Since his early career as a graduate student, hehas been using nitrogen isotopes to study long-term variations of climate and its impacts on oceanic biogeochemical cycles. Recently,
he changed his main research area from oceans to land and focused on using tree-ring oxygen isotopes to examine the relationshipbetween climate change and human history. Investigating periodicity of climate during the last three millennia in Japan and the world,
he now hypothesizes that past human societies were often damaged by multi-decadal climate variations as they were caught in a cycleof over-adaptation and subsequent failure of adaptation.

Background and objectives

rate and long-lasting family system in Japan, innumerable
historical documents dating back to the 8th century arepreserved in both private and governmental sectors. Third,
rapid land developments during last several decades haveallowed for precise archaeological excavations at numerous
sites all over Japan. In addition, a palaeoclimatological tool
(tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotope ratio) particularly usefulin the Asian monsoon region has recently been developed
to reconstruct summer precipitation on which rice paddy
cultivation in Japan depends, providing archaeologists witha reliable tool for annual dating of numerous excavatedwoods (Photo 3).

If global warming causes many societal diﬃculties, how
can we adapt to the change? Remarkable recent progress inpalaeoclimatology has elucidated the fact that large climate
variations often underlay epochs of human history. How
did our ancestors address such change in the past?
Human history must include many examples from which
we can extract common lessons relevant to contemporary
global environmental change. The research target of thisproject is Japanese history from the prehistorical Jomon era
to the present. First, we reconstruct past climate variationsin Japan and Asia at annual time resolutions for the last
several millennia, using up-to-date palaeoclimatologicalmethods to identify outstanding periods of climate
variation. Then we use historical and archaeologicalapproaches to investigate how local societies reacted toclimate variation in order to clarify common socioculturalcharacteristics of societies that are tolerant or vulnerable tochanges in climate.

Remarkable results
We have used many tree-ring samples from around Japanin order to analyze tree-ring oxygen isotope ratios during
the last 4800 years in annual time resolution. We have alsocollected many tree-ring width datasets from all over Asia
in the framework of an international palaeo-climatologicalproject (PAGES) and reconstructed inter-annual variationsof averaged East Asia summer temperatures. Comparisonof annual climate records and paleographic informationsuch as yearly tax accounts in early modern villages andadministrative documents on water control in medieval
manors, archaeological evidence on prehistorical andancient societies excavated from farmland and habitat
remains, and the newest isotopic dendrochronological
data (Fig. 1) allows us to investigate how variations intemperature or precipitation influenced agricultural
production, human livelihoods, and water management.
As a result, we can understand how historical societies
could or could not overcome serious climate changes in
the past. For example, in the Medieval period, sudden

Research methods
In this project, past climate variations are reconstructedbased on various proxies, such as tree rings (Photo 1),
historical weather records, lake and marine sediments,
coral rings and speleothem, and compared with human
responses recorded in historical documents (Photo 2)
and archaeological archives. There are three reasons why
we have chosen Japan as the main research area in thisproject. First, Japan is located at northeastern rim of the
Asian summer monsoon, where small changes in monsoon
dynamics might have significantly affected rice paddy
cultivation on which Japanese sustenance has historicallydepended. Second, due to the historically high literacy

14

Photo 1 Sampling of a tree ring core from aliving tree using an increment borer

Photo 2 Collection of historical information by investigationof old documents

http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/H-05.html
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/nenrin/index_e.html

FS①

FS②

PR

Photo 3 Extraction of tree ring cellulose from archaeologically
excavated wood

FR①

FR②

FR③

FR④

FR⑤
2018

decreases in summer temperature often caused serious
famines in Japan, though there were important exceptions
during late 13th and 14th centuries (Fig. 2). On the other
hand, sudden increases in precipitation often caused water
disasters and subsequent social conflicts, analysis partly
infered from the number of old documents relevant toemergence of “Akuto” (outlaws) in the Kamakura era (Fig.
3). Such relationships between precipitation, disaster andsocietal change can be traced back to the early period of
the Yayoi era about 2500 years ago.

Figure 1 N umerous wooden posts along an ancient waterway excavatedfrom Shoji remain in Neyagawa city, Osaka prefecture (a) andvariations in their tree-ring cellulose oxygen isotope ratios (b).
Coincidence of the variations among many posts indicates that
this waterway was constructed in 227AD. Samples of wooden
posts were provided by Neyagawa city board of education.

Final goal
As our present concerns for global warming clearly
illustrate, large climate variations in the past have hadserious impacts on our ancestors. As shown in Figs.
2 and 3, significant multi-decadal climate variations
had especially negative impacts on historical societies.
However, some past societies continued to attempt toovercome the influence of climate variations, whileother societies collapsed. Comparative evaluation ofhistorical climate adaptations may allow us to explain
Japanese history since the Jomon era as a sequence ofsocietal transformations designed to overcome large-scaleintermittent climate variation. The final goal of thisproject is to bring such historical analysis to bear on
fundamental adaptation strategies considered in relation tocontemporary global environmental problems.

Figure 2 Variations in East Asia summer temperature (red: reconstructed from tree ring width
database in Asian wide region) and famine reports in Japan (green: number of old
documents from each year containing famine-words) during Medieval period.

Figure 3 Variations in Central Japan summer precipitation (blue: inferable from tree-ring oxygen isotope ratio) and documents related to “Akuto” (outlaws) (red: yearly ratios
in all paleography) during the Kamakura era, 1185-1333 AD. Thick lines indicate five-year averages.

Sub Leader
KAMATANI Kaoru
Researchers at RIHN
ITO Keisuke
TSUSHIMA Akane
LI ZhenMain Members
SANO Masaki
WAKABAYASHI Kunihiko
HIGAMI Noboru
TAMURA Noriyoshi
MIZUNO Shoji

Ritsumeikan University

Researcher
Researcher
Researcher

Waseda University
Doshisha University
Aichi Prefectural Center for Archaeological Operations
Beppu University
The University of Shiga Prefecture

TESHIMA Mika
KURIU Harumi
MIZUMA Sakiko
SATO Daisuke
WATANABE Koichi
YASUE Koh
ABE Osamu
YOSHIMURA Kei

Research Associate
Research Associate
Research Associate

Tohoku University
National Institute of Japanese Literature
Shinshu University
Nagoya University
The University of Tokyo

15

Tropical Peatland Society Project

Toward the Regeneration of Tropical Peatland Societies:
Building an International Research Network on Paludiculture
and Sustainable Peatland Management
Project Leader

MIZUNO Kosuke RIHN/Kyoto University

Progra m 1

Kosuke Mizuno has been studying the Indonesian economy since 1978, focusing primarily on how economic change unfolds in ruralWest Java. Mizuno places special attention on issues of land, capital, and labor relations. Following the Indonesian democratization
process and particularly the restoration of the right to organize in 1998, when former President Suharto stepped down, Mizuno has
analyzed institutional change, economic development, and resource management within people’s organizations such as farmers’
unions and trade unions. He became the leader of an integrated natural and social science study on peatland society in Riau province in2008, and continues to conduct action research on peatland rehabilitation. Mizuno strives for a deeper understanding of the historicaland social dimensions of peatland society, and considers the commodities found therein, such as palm oil, to be crucial for the analysisof the Indonesian economy as a whole.

Necessity of the study

solutions to the current crisis of peat degradation andrelated fire and haze in tropical regions through action
research. The project seeks to identify and implement
alternative practices in collaboration with local people,
academics, governmental offices and officials, NGOs, andinternational organizations.
The project conducts multidisciplinary research inorder to clarify the entire process of peatland degradation.
We focus on: A) gathering social and ecological baseline
data on peatlands and measuring the impacts of fire andhaze; B) implementing paludiculture projects in wetland
areas as a potential strategy for the mitigation of peatland
degradation; and C) identifying governance structuresand incentives, including strengthening the land rightsof people situated on state land, which can support
sustainable peatland management. These studies are
conducted in collaboration with local people, migrants,
NGOs, plantation companies, and local and national
governments.

Peat swamp forests are found throughout Southeast Asia,
especially Indonesia, and contain massive stores of carbon
and water. Over the last two decades, these swamps havebeen intensively exploited in order to create commercial
acacia and oil palm plantations. As these tree species
cannot grow in swamps, peatlands have been drained,creating extensive areas of dried peatlands that are
extremely vulnerable to fire.
In 2015, peatland fires burned 2.1 million hectares offorest in Indonesia, affecting 45 million people. A half
million people suffered from upper respiratory tract
infections, and thousands of people, especially children,were aﬄicted with asthma. The government responded tothis disaster by mobilizing the army, punishing people who
set fires, and refusing to issue new peatland development
permits. These measures were urgently needed, but
provided only short-term relief. The public has demanded
longer-term and more sustainable measures, such as therewetting and reforestation promoted by this project since
2012.
The government of Indonesia established the Peatland
Restoration Agency in January 2016, and declared that two
million hectares of degraded peatlands will be restored by
2019. The objective of this research project is to generate

Achievements to date
Project researchers introduced the practice of rewetting
and reforestation in peatland areas in Bengkalis District,
Riau Province in 2010. This experimental site has attracted
significant attention, especially since 2015 when fireand haze became very serious. Along with project-led
international seminars, the site has significantly enhanced
public awareness of the potential for rewetting andforestation to regenerate peatland.
On August 10, 2016, the Research Institute of Humanity
and Nature, Kyoto University, and Hokkaido University

Photo 1 R ewetting by small wooden dam in Kepau Baru
village, Meranti, Riau

16
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/peatlands/

Photo 2 Sago paludiculture in Kepau Baru village, Meranti, Riau

FS①

FS②

PR

FR①

FR②
2018

FR③

FR④

FR⑤

signed a Memorandum of Understanding with thePeatland Restoration Agency of Indonesia to conduct
action research to restore degraded peatland. Our project
has created action plans based on this MOU and has
accordingly begun to implement a restoration program in
Meranti District, Riau Province. We started to discuss thesocial forestry programs that are designed to strengthen
the land rights of people on the degraded state land among
local people, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry,
local governments and NGOs.

Research Targets
Peatland ecosystems are vulnerable. Damage from humandisturbance can be irreversible. In order to achieve longlasting solutions to peatland degradation, we investigate thesocial and ecological aspects of peatland vulnerability, andpropose many programs to transform these vulnerabilities.
Our research objective is to examine alternative livelihood
strategies while building/changing the institutions thatcan encourage people to restore and make sustainable useof degraded peatlands. The project supports communityinitiated paludiculture as a sustainable livelihood modelin rewetted peatlands while strengthening land rights onstate land though social forestry programs. This researchthus demonstrates the future potential of peatland-basedsocieties, the phasing out of monoculture production
activity, the development of paludiculture, and theenlargement of protected peatland areas.

Publications
Catastrophe and Regeneration in Indonesia’s Peatlands:
Ecology, Economy and Society was published by the
National University of Singapore Press in 2016. This
volume provides inter-disciplinary field-based andhistorical analyses of peatland degradation throughexamination of the survival motives of local people, theprofit motives of companies, and the conservation motivesof Government and NGOs. The book showcases thepotential solution of rewetting and reforesting “the people’s
forest”. The book has been reviewed across various forms of
media, including leading international academic journals.
Our project will continue to build on this research in orderto develop new insights on tropical peatland management.

Photo 3 Seedling for reforestation in Kepau Baru village, Meranti, Riau

Sub Leader
KOZAN Osamu
Researchers at RIHN
KAJITA Ryosuke
OSAWA Takamasa
SHIODERA Satomi
Main Members
OKAMOTO Masaaki
ITOH Masayuki
SHIMAMURA Tetsuya
NAITO Daisuke
KAWASAKI Masahiro
SATO Yuri

Kyoto University/RIHN

Researcher
Researcher
Researcher/Kyoto University

Kyoto University
University of Hyogo
Ehime University
Kyoto University
RIHN
Institute of Developing Economies

SUZUKI Haruka
YAMANAKA Manabu
KATSURA Tomomi
PAGE, Susan
GUNAWAN, Haris
SABIHAM, Supiandi
SETIADI, Bambang
DHENY, Trie Wahyu Sampurno

Researcher/Kyoto University/Universitas Riau
Researcher/Kobe University/JAMSTEC
Research Associate

University of Leicester, UK
Peatland Restoration Agency, Indonesia
Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia
Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology, Indonesia
Indonesian Agency of Geospatial Information, Indonesia

17

Eco-DRR project

Research and Social Implementation of Ecosystembased Disaster Risk Reduction as Climate Change
Adaptation in Shrinking Societies
Project Leader

YOSHIDA Takehito RIHN/The University of Tokyo

Progra m 1

Takehito Yoshida is an ecologist and limnologist who studies diversity and complexity of organisms and ecosystems from theviewpoints of adaptation and system dynamics, and explores human-nature interactions and sustainability in local communities inJapan. Trained in Kyoto University (PhD) and Cornell University (postdoc), he was a member of the faculty at the University of Tokyo at
Komaba before jointly appointed at RIHN and the University of Tokyo.

Outline of the project
The rate of natural disaster occurence has been increasing,partly due to contemporary climate change, and adaptation
to natural disaster risks is increasingly important tothe sustainability of human societies. At the same time,
many societies are experiencing shrinking populations.
Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) takes
advantage of the multi-functionality of ecosystems andbiodiversity, including their capacity to mitigate natural
disasters while providing multiple ecosystem services,and population decline provides ample opportunity for
implementing Eco-DRR. Our project will develop practicalsolutions for implementation of Eco-DRR by visualizing
natural disaster risks, evaluating multi-functionality of
Eco-DRR solutions, conducting transdisciplinary scenario
analysis, examining traditional and local knowledgeof disaster risk reduction, and collaborating with theinsurance industry and other sectors.

Background and goals
Climate change impacts natural and human systems andis projected to intensify in the future. Our project focuseson natural disasters, and it aims to contribute to risk
reduction and management strategies. Climate change or
natural disaster risks result from the interaction between aclimate-related hazard, and the exposure and vulnerabilityof human activities (Fig. 1), so that adaptation to natural
disaster risk can be realized by reducing exposure (e.g. byimproving land use) and vulnerability to hazards.
Hard-engineering natural disaster countermeasures havetarget safety levels, below which natural disasters can beprevented. Although these countermeasures are effective if
the hazard level of natural disaster is below the target safetylevel, we are increasingly faced with situations in whichhazard levels exceed safety levels, resulting in devastating
natural disasters. Eco-DRR approaches focus on lowering
the exposure of human activities to natural hazards, so
reducing, if not preventing, associated losses and damages.
Eco-DRR approaches, meanwhile, take advantage of themulti-functionality of ecosystems, so complementing
conventional approaches to natural disaster management,
although the effectiveness and multi-functionality of EcoDRR is not yet clearly and quantitatively understood.
Japan’s population is aging and shrinking, leading to
the abandonment of farmlands, houses and decreases inother intensive land uses, a challenging circumstance thatnevertheless provides an opportunity for improving landuse. The population of Japan increased substantially overthe last century, increasing the risk of and public exposure
to natural disasters. Evaluating past natural disaster risks
therefore provides valuable information of adaptation

Hazard × Exposure × Vulnerability = Risk of natural disaster(e.g. river flood) (e.g. land use) (e.g. building structure)

Eco‐DRR
land useRiver

Floodplain
WetlandPark & Garden

Residence
Business
SchoolHospital

Agriculture

Hazard HighLow

Exposure/
Low
Vulnerability

High

Risk Low

Low

Figure 1 Ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction not only lowers disaster risks but also receives benefits of ecosystem services byreducing the exposure of human activities in high-hazard locations and supporting human activities in low-hazard places.

18
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2018-01.html

FS①

FS/PR

FR①
2018

FR②

FR③

FR④

FR⑤

strategies considered in Japan as well as in other countries.
Given this background, the ECO-DRR Project sets two
main goals: first, it develops methodologies to evaluate
Eco-DRR multi-functionality and assess Eco-DRR by
comparing multi-functionality between the past, thepresent and the future. Secondly, the Project supports
Eco-DRR implementation through transdisciplinary
collaborations with local communities, governments,
insurance industry and other stakeholders.

Research objectives
Three research components contribute to achieve the above
two goals.
(1) Visualizing the risks of natural disasters in thepresent and the past		 The exposure and vulnerability associated withdifferent natural disasters will be analyzed, and the risks
evaluated and visualized as risk maps of the present andpast. Modeling risk for the different exposure scenarios
will contribute to future Eco-DRR assessments andplans.
(2) Evaluating and modeling multi-functionality of
Eco-DRR		 Provisioning, regulating and cultural ecosystemservices will be evaluated, and their spatial distribution
will be modeled in relation to population and land use.
The model will be used for evaluating the ecosystemservices for different land use scenarios.
(3) Transdisciplinary scenario analysis and developing
social and economic incentives of Eco-DRR
Together with local communities and governments,
transdisciplinary platforms will be formed at research sites
to deepen understanding, discuss future options, and build
consensus around Eco-DRR approaches. Transdisciplinary
scenario analysis will be conducted in consideration ofclimate change and shrinking population. In addition,
traditional and local knowledge of disaster risk reduction
will be inventoried and evaluated for multi-functionalities
shared in the platform.
In collaboration with the insurance industry, a researchforum will be formed to discuss the possibility andfeasibility of insurance industry-led contributions to andeconomic incentives for Eco-DRR. The research forum will
also assess various laws and institutions in national andlocal governments related to disaster risk reduction andland use.

Photo 1 Mikatagoko area in Fukui Prefecture, one of the research sites.

Photo 2 Hira mountains and their base area in Shiga Prefecture, one of the research sites.
Photo courtesy of MATSUI Kimiaki.

Researchers at RIHN
HUANG, Wanhui
NAKAI Minami
Main Members
FUKAMACHI Katsue
FURUTA Naoya
HASHIMOTO Shizuka
ICHINOSE Tomohiro
MIYOSHI Iwao
NISHIHIRO Jun

Researcher
Research Associate

Kyoto University
Taisho University / IUCNThe University of Tokyo
Keio University
Kyoto Prefectural University
Toho University

SENDA Masako
SHIMAUCHI Risa
SAITO Osamu
SHIBASAKI Ryosuke
TAKI Kentaro
UEHARA Misato
URASHIMA Hiroko

Research Associate
Research Associate

United Nations University
The University of Tokyo
The University of Shiga Prefecture
Shinshu University
MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.

19

Research Program 2

Fair Use and Management ofDiverse Resources
Global environmental problems are inter-related. Studies concentrating on single issues are often
not effective; consideration of inter-linkages of multiple resources involving stakeholders are
essential. Recently, the nexus structure linking energy, water and food production has become aprominent area of study, but truly sustainable societies require more comprehensive understandingsof the ecological resources that provide ecosystem services and cultural resources. The production,
circulation and consumption of resources should be discussed in a wide range of spatial scales, andstakeholders should be involved in these discussions. Sustainable use of resources requires fair andwise systems and proper indices to manage these processes.
In particular, it is necessary to transform existing socio-economic or human behavioral systems
to new systems that pay greater attention to renewable natural resources, as these have sometimes
been externalized from conventional economics. Asia is experiencing rapid change in economy,
urbanization and population, though traditional techniques for sustainable resource management,
associated with the relatively rich humanospere and cultural background in this region, also
survive. Studies of such experience of resource use in Asia may thus give important suggestions tosustainability in general.
RIHN research projects have accumulated information and suggestions necessary for thistransformation, though gaps remain. Program Two therefore explores wise and fair management
systems capable of addressing multiple resource-uses by multiple stakeholders, in multi-spatial
scales. We encourage new project proposals including those by innovative young scientists
addressing such novel and under-examined subjects. Internal Program discussion will address theconditions necessary for transforming values and human behavior, as we propose new indices andinstitutions for fair resource management.
In fiscal 2017, we conducted a research review on the issue of equity in relation to the conceptof fair use. We considered several dimensions of equity, including (1) economic equity related tothe burdens and benefits of resource use, and procedural equity focusing on procedures for making
such decisions; (2) the question of equity between whom, for instance, between modern generations,modern generation and future generations and human society and natural society; and (3) thequestion of who will or should evaluate equity is also an important element. In addition, in our firstyear of activity we also established a framework for understanding fair use.

20
Agricultural land in India

Logging of tropical rain forest in Malaysia

Palm oil factory in Malaysia

Program Director NAKASHIZUKA Tohru RIHN
Tohru Nakashizuka has studied forest ecology, biodiversity and ecosystem services at the Forestry and Forest
Products Research Institute, Kyoto University as well as at Tohoku University. At RIHN, he is to study wise and fairuse of diverse resources.

Researchers
KOBAYASHI Kunihiko

Researcher

SHIBATA Rei

Researcher

KARATSU Fukiko

Research Associate21

e-REC Project

Biodiversity-driven Nutrient Cycling andHuman Well-being in Social-Ecological Systems
OKUDA Noboru RIHN

Project Leader

Progra m 2

My specialty is ecology, the field of study concerned with the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. One of
ecology’s central questions is why humankind should conserve biodiversity. As a member of the Center for Ecological Research at Kyoto
University, I have approached this question by integrating different research fields related to biodiversity from gene to ecosystem. At
present, I am developing methods for adaptive watershed governance that allow new environmental knowledge to reconcile global,
regional, and local ecological issues. I should also say that I love nature and humanity and how they come together very much!

Research background and objectives
Technological innovations in the use of nutrients for foodproduction, in particular nitrogen and phosphorus, haveallowed global increases in population and economic
prosperity in the twentieth century. Overexploitation ofnutrient resources, however, affects biogeochemical cycles
and can lead to nutrient imbalances, eutrophication andloss of biodiversity. It is now recognized that nutrient
imbalances and biodiversity loss are prevalent inwatersheds around the world, and pose a risk to sustainablehuman development.
In spite of such risk, most citizens are not so interested
in global environmental issues but are rather concerned
about local issues related to their lives and livelihoods.
Considering this dissonance in environmental
consciousness, we aim to develop a framework for adaptive
watershed governance to enhance social-ecological healthof watershed system (Fig. 1).

Research methods
We facilitate stakeholder engagement in community
activities in order to enhance biodiversity, nutrient cycling
and human well-being, according to our hypothesisthat these are three components essential to the socialecological health of watershed system and, like gears, alsointerdependently linked into community activities (Fig.
2). We begin with action research to empower membersof each community within a watershed to conserve
indigenous environmental icons, defined as indigenous
nature with special significance to local life and livelihood(Process 1 in Fig. 2). As the value of engaging in suchconservation efforts is shared among community members,
community-based well-being is altered and reinforced

through bonding social capitals in a positive feedback of
biodiversity conservation and biodiversity-driven nutrient
cycling.
If such community activities enhance nutrient recyclingat the watershed scale, they may benefit a variety of
stakeholders other than the community members inways not easily registered by local cultural values but
inspired by the social-ecological health of watershedsystem . In disseminating our scientific understandingof the community dimensions of nutrient recycling, ourproject will facilitate social involvement in conservation
activities as well as green consumption of local products by
non-community members who appreciate social-ecologicalhealth. Such links accumulate bridging social capital andincrease economic incentives (Process 2 in Fig. 2). With
this scientific knowledge, community members may also
gain institutional support from local governments. Suchintegration of local and scientific knowledge further
enhances community-based well-being, and leads toempowerment of community activities.

Photos 1 Social engagement in biodiversity monitoring in the mid-stream
community of the Yasu River sub-watershed

Watershed scale

Social‐ecologicalhealth

Biodiversity
Nutrient
cyclingHumanwell‐being

Enhancement of
human well‐being

Enhancement of
biodiversity &nutrient recycling
Integration ofknowledge

Assessment

Synoptic
research

Dissemination
Process 2

Economic
incentives

Assessment

Sharing of cultural values

Social‐ecologicalhealthBridgingsocial capitals

Institutional
supportGreen consuming

Social involvement

Biodiversity

Community
activity

Well‐being

Learning from local knowledge

Nutrient cycling
Empowerment
Scientist
Learning from scientific knowledge
ForestIndigenous
environmental icon
Process 1

Local community
Institutional support

Local scale

Urban

Communal cooperation
Bondingsocial capitals

Lake

River
CroplandGovernment

Figure 1 A conceptual schema of adaptive watershed governance22
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/e-rec/

Figure 2 A working hypothesis of how biodiversity, nutrient cycling and humanwell-being are enhanced through the adaptive watershed governance

FS

PR

FR①

FR②

FR③

FR④
2018

FR⑤

160

To investigate this positive feedback process, we compare
consequences of our watershed governance activities in
two extreme watersheds in Asia: the Lake Biwa Watershed(Japan) and the Laguna de Bay Watershed (Philippines).
The former is an infrastructure-oriented society and thelatter a high-nutrient loading society.

winter irrigation. Sharing of cultural values among thecommunity members improved local engagement inconservation activities (Photos 1 & Fig. 3). We also foundthat eco-friendly farming had positive effects on wetland
biodiversity, suggesting that the brown frog can serve as anindicator of local biodiversity as well as of the communitybased well-being.
In the Laguna de Bay Watershed, in contrast, recent
economic development has led to expansion of residential
areas into the mid-stream area of the Silan-Santa Rosa
sub-watershed. In downstream urban areas, nutrient
loadings and eutrophication have led to significant loss of
biodiversity. At present, people within the watershed are
dependent on groundwater resources for drinking andirrigation and they are therefore highly concerned about
groundwater overexploitation and pollution. Following ourassessment of groundwater pollution, a watershed forum
will be organized as a platform to discuss sustainable andfair use of groundwater resources. We will also conduct theaction research to empower the mid-stream community
to conserve a communal spring as an indigenous
environmental icon (Photos 2).

Research progress

Perspectives

We practiced action research in the mid-stream
community of the Yasu River sub-watershed of Lake Biwa.
Based on exercises to explore the cultural significance ofindigenous nature, farmers identified a brown frog as an
indigenous environmental icon and practiced eco-friendly
farming to conserve its habitat. Monitoring revealed thatthe brown frog prefers to spawn in rice paddies with

In developed societies, sewage treatment and tap water
infrastructure systems have reduced eutrophication andimproved comfort and convenience. Environmental
consciousness, however, has receded from the nature ofwetlands. What enhances our well-being? Is it enhanced
by infrastructure? Our research seeks answers to thesequestions together with a variety of stakeholders.

Winter irrigation
Inner drainage

140
120
100
80

Indigenous environmental icon

60
40
20
0

2014

2015

2016

2017

Figure 3 A nnual changes in the number of rice paddies in which eco-friendly
farming was practiced. The community members regarded a brownfrog as an indigenous environmental icon in 2016

No. of egg clutch
in 2015

No. of egg clutch
in 2016

Figure 4 The number of rice paddies spawned by brown frog increased with the prevalence of eco-friendly farming

a

b

c

d

e

f

Photos 2 In the mid-stream community of Silan-Santa Rosa sub-watershed, a communal spring serves as a drinking fountain (a), a chapel(b), a bath (c). Its admission fee is used for a community feast (d). A workshop on the sustainable use of communal spring (e-f)

Sub Leader
YACHI Shigeo
Researchers at RIHN
IKEYA Tohru
ISHIBASHI Hiroyuki
ISHIDA Takuya
Main Members
IWATA Tomoya
BAN Syuhei
OSONO Takashi
TAYASU Ichiro

Kyoto University

Researcher
Researcher
Researcher

University of Yamanashi
The University of Shiga Prefecture
Doshisha University
RIHN

LAMBINO, Ria Adoracion Apostol Researcher
UEHARA Yoshitoshi
Researcher
WATANABE Kirie
Research Associate
WAKITA Kenichi
ASANO Satoshi
SANTOS-BORJA, Adelina C.

Ryukoku University
Lake Biwa Environmental Research Institute
Laguna Lake Development Authority, Philippines23Research Program 3

Designing Lifeworlds of Sustainability
and Wellbeing
More than 60% of the world’s population resides in Asia and over a third of global economic activity
occurs there. Asia is comprised of an incredible diversity of cultures, histories, societies, economies,
livelihoods, and ecologies. Asia is also affected by myriad global and local environmental issues,
such as population increase, air, water, soil, and coastal pollution, increasing greenhouse gas
emissions, and biodiversity loss. The region is also affected by growing wealth disparity, social
isolation, rising levels of poverty, and the disappearance of traditional cultures and knowledge.
The combination of migration between the countryside and cities, rural depopulation, and urban
concentration is accompanied by rapid socio-cultural change, over-exploitation of resources, anddeterioration of natural environments. Both urban and rural lifeworlds are disintegrating rapidly.
As a consequence, in reconstructing the lifeworld concept and highlighting the reciprocal
linkages between rural and urban spaces, Program 3 designs lifeworlds of sustainability andwellbeing and co-creates concrete pathways for their realization. Program research is based on thediverse world-views and accumulation of experience of human-nature co-existence. These latentsocio-cultural elements, such as livelihood styles, lay knowledge, conflict resolution strategies, andthe vitality of the people themselves can be called upon to address contemporary problems andto help chart a course toward possible future societies. Program 3 builds upon these experiences
and knowledges of human-nature interaction to propose concrete changes needed to achieve asustainable society.
The transformations and frameworks leading to sustainable urban and rural lifeworld design, will
also entail fundamental shifts in existing economic systems, markets, and political decision-making
systems. Rather than investigating top-down approaches to system change, Program 3 will work withlocal residents, government officials, companies, citizen groups and other stakeholders to propose
sustainable alternatives and gauge their feasibility.
In order to avoid the risk of developing proposals that are only applicable to specific regions orsites, Program 3 will aim for research results that are generalizable while also retain the diversity at
the heart of local lifeworlds and wellbeing.

24
The varieties of fruits and vegetables for sale at the market in Kanchanaburi reflect Thailand’s changing societySocialization of composting type toilet in Burkina Faso, Photo by ITO Ryusei

Program Director SAIJO Tatsuyoshi RIHN
Tatsuyoshi Saijo (4th from left) specializes in designing social systems that promote sustainability and equity
without inhibiting individual incentive. His interest is in developing the field of “Future Design”, one that links thehappiness and wellbeing of current generation to that of future generations.

25

FEAST Project

Lifeworlds of Sustainable Food Consumption
and Production: Agrifood Systems in Transition
Project Leader

Steven R. McGREEVY RIHN

Steven R. McGreevy is an environmental sociologist (Kyoto University Ph.D. 2012) and associate professor at RIHN. He has a backgroundin agriculture, rural sustainable development, and environmental education. His research focuses on novel approaches to rural

Progra m 3

revitalization that utilize local natural resources, sustainable knowledge dynamics, sustainable agrifood and energy transition, and therelinking of patterns of food consumption and production in local communities.

Research Background

FEAST’s process of co-design and co-production ofsustainable food systems seeks to challenge mainstream
economic thinking on consumption and growth. In
engaging the public in structured debate of societal
relationships with food and nature, our project reorientsconsumers to consider themselves as citizens andco-producers of the foodscapes on which they depend.
FEAST seeks knowledge and mechanisms that can redefine
the notion of long-term food security.
FEAST Working Groups will produce four types ofknowledge relevant to catalyzing agrifood transitions(Figure 1). These are: 1) contextual knowledge ofcontemporary national, regional, and local food systems(production, distribution, and consumption); 2)
co-produced visions of alternative food consumption andproduction practices and corresponding municipal-leveltransition plans identifying research, education, andpolicy needs; 3) modeling- and scenario-based knowledge
supporting deliberation and planning processes; and4) knowledge of two intervention strategies: the social
learning dynamics affecting execution and effectivenessof workshop-based consensus-building for collective foodaction; and the significance of new methods of market
transparency (e.g. eco-labels, food impact smartphoneapps) in food system change.

Agrifood systems in Asia face a myriad of sustainability
challenges related to declining environmental health(GHG emissions, resource overuse, pollution, soil fertility),loss of diversity (biological, cultural, knowledge), anddeterioration of small-scale farming due to globalizing
market forces. At points of consumption, over-relianceon globalized food flows limits consumer agency anddecreases food security and sovereignty. Diets increasingly
composed of processed foods also negatively impact publichealth (rise in diabetes, obesity). The ways in which food isprovided, consumed and governed need urgent change, but
we lack understanding of how agrifood transitions emerge
and take root, or of the role of existing and alternative
institutions and policy, social practices, future visions,and economic arrangements, in advancing sustainabletransitions.

Research Overview and Objectives
The FEAST project takes a transdisciplinary approach
to explicate the reality of, and potential for, sustainableagrifood transition in Asia. Individual field sites arelocated in Japan, Thailand, Bhutan, and China. Taking
a lifeworld perspective, we analyze patterns of foodconsumption, the socio-cultural significance of foodpractices, and the potential of consumer-based agency
to change deeply held cultural notions and regional foodsystems. We also develop structural descriptions of thefood system, by mapping national, regional, and local
production, distribution, and consumption contexts. In
combining socio-cultural and structural descriptions of therelationships between production and consumption, we areable to conduct visioning workshops with stakeholders andinitiate food citizenship-oriented experiments and actions.

Progress to Date
Over the past year, FEAST has made progress on a numberof areas of research.
The Ecological Footprint of Japan’s food consumption
by sector and COICOP category was analyzed, revealing

Figure 1 Diagram detailing how each FEAST working group is organizedaround the question of “What knowledge is necessary to catalyze
sustainable agrifood transition?” Four kinds of knowledge arelisted: 1) Current system and contextual knowledge; 2) Visions ofsustainable future systems knowledge; 3) Future system scenario
knowledge; and 4) Knowledge associated with intervention andtransition strategies.

Photo 1 Urban agricultural land use change in Kyoto City from 2007 to 2017.
A loss of 10% of agricultural productive land (1897 ha to 1696 ha)(Colored grids indicate mapped area, white = persistent, black = lost,
yellow = gained).

26
feastproject.org

FS①

FS②

PR

FR①

FR②

FR③
2018

FR④

FR⑤

that importation of animal feed and ingredients processed
into ready-to-eat meals sold at convenience store andsupermarkets are the most impactful.
Satellite imagery was used to map both formal andinformal urban agricultural land use change in Kyoto
City. The research found that Kyoto City has lost about
10% of its agricultural productive land (from 1897 ha in2007 to 1696 ha in 2017) in the last 10 years to housingdevelopment (40% post-ag. use) and abandonment (28%post-ag. use), even though it is a shrinking city. (Photo 1)
A comprehensive, multi-method survey of consumer
eating habits and orientations to food including a web
survey (n=1300) for Kyoto City, Nagano City, andNoshiro City (Akita) was conducted, as well as focus
group interviews and photograph records of consumed
foods for Kameoka City. Statistical analysis showed avariety of consumer types based on diet diversity and rice
acquirement.
Multi-method workshops to envision ideal meals
and food systems were held in Kyoto City (visioning,backcasting, and role-playing) and Kameoka City
(visioning) with local food-related actors and government
officials. Over fifty participants joined altogether. The
visions and backcasting results will be included into futurescenario modelling next year. (Photo 2)
Focus-group workshops on the future of food-related
practices—purchasing, home cooking, and eating
out—with “green,” “general,” and “innovative” consumer
groups were conducted in Bangkok. Found that each group
had very different ideas about desirable futures for eachpractice and that consensus building is needed to form
concrete policy recommendations.
Municipal agricultural policies and policy plans in
Akita, Nagano, and Kyoto were surveyed to gauge policy
orientation toward agroecological principles and a “food as
a commons” perspective. An intensive analysis of 14 plansfound a significant disconnect in municipal and national
government policy orientation.
FEAST has finalized research partnerships with Noshiro
City, Akita, and Royal University of Bhutan.

Photo 2 Consumer workshops on visioning food futures, held in Kyoto City
(upper left), backcasting group work output (upper right), food systemrole-playing video game (bottom left), food policy council simulator game(bottom right).

Photo 3 Kyoto Farmer’s Market and Symposium “Transition to a Sustainable Society
with Farmers Markets” held November 23, 2017 at RIHN.

Photo 4 FEAST Project Annual Assembly held January 6-7, 2018 at RIHN.
Sub Leader
TAMURA Norie
Researchers at RIHN
KOBAYASHI Mai
RUPPRECHT, Christoph D. D.
OTA Kazuhiko
Main Members
TSUCHIYA Kazuaki
HARA Yuji
AKITSU Motoki
TACHIKAWA Masashi
TANIGUCHI Yoshimitsu
NAKAMURA MariRIHN Senior Researcher

Researcher
Researcher
Researcher

The University of Tokyo
Wakayama University
Kyoto University
Nagoya University
Akira Prefectural University
Nagoya Bunri University

IMAIZUMI Aki
SPIEGELBERG, Maximilian
MATSUOKA Yuko
KOBAYASHI Yuko
TANAKA KeikoSUDO Shigeto
SHIBATA Akira
KISHIMOTO-MO Ayaka
INABA Atsushi

Researcher
Researcher
Research Associate
Research Associate

University of Kentucky, USA
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Ritsumeikan University
National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
Kogakuin University

27

Sanitation Project

The Sanitation Value Chain: Designing
Sanitation Systems as Eco-Community-Value
SystemProject Leader

YAMAUCHI Taro RIHN/Hokkaido University

Progra m 3

Dr. Taro Yamauchi is a professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University. He has a B.S., a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Health Sciencesfrom the University of Tokyo. He does intensive fieldwork in a hunter-gather society, rural villages and urban slums in developing
counties to understand lifestyle and health of local populations and their adaptation to their living environments. His researchinterests also include sanitation and participatory action research involving local children, youth and adults. He is Vice-President of
the International Association of Physiological Anthropology (IAPA) and an executive member of International Society for the Study of
Human Growth and Clinical Auxology (ISGA).

Sanitation generally refers to the provision of facilities andservices for the safe disposal of human urine and feces.
UN Millennium Development Goals Report 2015 reported
that 2.4 billion people are still using unimproved sanitation
facilities, including 946 million people who are stillpracticing open defecation. The developing world still has
high under-five mortality and poverty rates. The world’s
population is estimated to reach approximately 10 billion
in 2050, and this population growth will happen mostly
in developing countries. At the same time, depopulation
and aging are increasing, especially in rural area ofdeveloped world, and the financial capability of many local
governments—which are key agents in the management ofsanitation systems—is getting weaker.
Sanitation systems are essential for promoting publichealth, preventing environmental pollution, conserving
ecosystem functions, and recycling resources. The questionof how to handle the waste of 10 billion people is therefore
highly relevant to the global environment.

Working hypothesis of the research
The project investigates the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Current sanitation problems are caused bya dissociation between the value which is provided by thesanitation system and the values of the individual people
and/or the community of the people.
Hypothesis 2: Sanitation technologies cannot work wellwithout a social and institutional support system. The
mismatch between prerequisites of technologies and local
characteristics additionally complicates sanitation issues.

Key concept – Sanitation Value chain as a solution(Figure1)
The project proposes a new concept, the Sanitation Value
Chain, which has the following dimensions:
1) Places the values of people and community in thecenter of discussion, and prepares the sanitation system tocorrespond to this value chain; 2) Designs the sanitation
system by focusing on direct incentives for individual
users and communities; 3) Recognizes a sanitation
system as an integrated system with social and technicalunits; 4) Designs the sanitation system by making a good
match between social characteristics and prerequisites oftechnologies

Goals of the project
The goals of this research project are to: 1) propose theconcept of Sanitation Value Chain in relation to bothdeveloping and developed countries; 2) design several
pilot studies demonstrating the significance of societal,
academic, and professional involvement in the co-creationof this value chain; and 3) contribute to the establishmentof a new interdisciplinary academic foundation regardingon sanitation.

Research topics for achieving the goals
Topic–1 Life and Sanitation: By field survey, we learn about
the values of people and the norm for humanexcreta, and reevaluate the sanitation system in
relation to the residents lives.
Households

Urine &
CompostProduct

Product

Compensation

Compensation

Compensation28
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/sanitation_value_chain/

Compensation

Compensation

Compensation

Fertilizer

Fertilizer

Collector
Figure 1 The Sanitation Value Chain acts within and between other importantsocial values. Example for people in rural area of Burkina Faso (Figure
by KATAOKA Yoshimi)

Farmers

MarketFertilizer

Transport

MiddlestationFigure 2 The Sanitation Value Chain acts within and between other importantsocial values. Example in urban area of Indonesia (Figure by USHIJIMA
Ken)

FS①

PR

FR①

FR②
2018

FR③

FR④

FR⑤

15.8%
Drinking water

27.7%

Surface of cup

72.3%

84.2%

Hand before wash and eating
Outdoor soil

Others,4.4%

Outdoorplay, 5.4%

Drinking,
15.4%

Bathing in
pond, 74.8%

Photo 1 Meeting with people in Bandung City, Indonesia (Photo by IKEMI Mayu)

Coverage of total daily exposure amount by
each pathway, %Figure 3 E
 . coli exposure pathways. Example of measurement in Bangladesh,
From: Harada et al. (2017) Fecal exposure analysis and E. colipathotyping: a case study of a Bangladeshi slum, International
Symposium on Green Technology for Value Chains 23-24 October,
2017, Balai Kartini, Jakarta.

Topic–2 Technology: We identify prerequisites ofsanitation technologies and reevaluate the valuethat sanitation will give us. In addition, we develop
new sanitization technology to make use of thevalue chain by understanding the values of people
and local conditions.
Topic–3 Co-creation of sanitation value chain: We identify
stakeholders and describe the value structuresof people and communities, and analyze thehierarchy and structure of stakeholders’ value
chain and evaluate their aﬃnities. We demonstrateco-creation process of the sanitation value chain.
Topic-4 Visualization: In order to co-create the value chain,
it is necessary to make efforts to communicate
research results to actors and stakeholders.
Utilizing resources and institutional collaborationof RIHN, we will develop a method to express andtransmit outcomes using various media.

Research sites
The project is performing field studies at four sites: 1) the
rural area in Ishikari River Basin, Hokkaido; 2) the ruralarea of Burkina Faso; 3) the urban area in Indonesia; and 4)
the peri-urban area in Zambia.

Achievements in FR studies(1) Toilet for recycling resources. We have developed
functioning toilet technologies necessary for thesanitation value chain (Figure 2) by making urine in
the urban area valuable as fertilizer, the “Toilet thatcan concentrate urine” and “Toilet that can makephosphorus fertilizer”.
(2) Tracking propagation of pathogens. Pathogenic
bacteria propagate through various routes. We have
Sub Leader
FUNAMIZU Naoyuki

Muroran Institute of Technology

Researchers at RIHN
HAYASHI Koji
NAKAO Seiji

Researcher

Main Members
ITO Ryusei
USHIJIMA Ken
IKEMI Mayu
KATAOKA Yoshimi
SANO Daisuke
NAKATANI Tomoaki
NABESHIMA Takako

Researcher

Hokkaido University
Hokkaido Research Organization
Sapporo International University
Hokkaido University
Tohoku University
Yokohama City University
Hokkaido University

Photo 2 Activities of a children’s club formed in Lusaka City, Zambia (Photo by
Sikopo P. NYAMBE)

developed a molecular biological method of tracking
this propagation. In Bangladesh we found that: 1)
the most important route of pollution is bathing.
The contribution the of water and food route is 16%(Figure 3); 2) the contamination of drinking cups ismore important (72%) than of the water itself (28%);3) the types of E. coli contained in human excreta anddrinking water are different.
(3) Building relationship with people. We have createdrelationships with locals toward co-creation ofsanitation value chains in the fields (Burkina Faso,
Indonesia, Ishikari [Japan] and Zambia) (Photo 1 andPhoto 2).
(4) A new international
academic journal on
sanitation. Our project
members have begun
to edit the international
academic journal
Sanitation Value Chain(ISSN: 2432-5066) inwhich papers from all over
the world are published(Figure 4) Journal website:
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/
sanitation_value_chain/
Figure 4 International academic
journal.html.
Journal “Sanitation Value
Chain”KIMURA Ayako
HONMA Saki
FUJIWARA Taku
HARADA Hidenori
INOUE Takashi
SINTAWADANI, Neni
NYAMBE, Imasiku Anayaw
LOPEZ ZAVALA, Miguel Ange

Research Associate
Research Associate

Kochi University
Kyoto University
Hokkaido University
Indonesian Institute of Science (LIPI), Indonesia
University of Zambia, Zambia
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Mexico

29

Core Program

The Core Program develops concepts and methodologies for transdisciplinary research to solve
global environmental problems in collaboration with society. Core projects develop comprehensive
and systematic concepts and methodologies for transdisciplinary research, which are widely
applicable to global environmental issues, and accessible to related stakeholders.
Core projects produce conceptual and methodological frameworks together with RIHN Research
Projects, based on individual methods, techniques, and tools from the divisions in the RIHN Center.
Core projects collaborate with Research Projects, building on the case studies developed by theseprojects, and develop comprehensive and systematic methodologies beyond an individual Research
Program or Project. Core projects also deliver completed concepts and methodology to Research
Programs and Projects, the RIHN Center, and related stakeholders.
(See additional Core Program description on page 8.)

Core FS

Co-Design and Stakeholder Engagement
According to Geographical Scales
ONISHI Yuko RIHN

Program Director

TANIGUCHI Makoto RIHN

Prof. Dr. Makoto Taniguchi is a hydrologist and a deputy Director-General at RIHN. He received a Ph.D. fromThe Tsukuba University, Japan in 1987. He is currently the vice president of the International Association of
Hydrogeologists and the president of the Japanese Association of Groundwater Hydrology. He has been working
on water-related projects around the world, in particular Asia, authoring or co-authoring over 170 peer reviewed
articles and 8 books including “Groundwater and Subsurface Environment”, “The Dilemma of Boundaries” and“Groundwater as a Key for Adaptation to the Changing Climate and Society”.

Researcher
LEE, Sanghyun

30

Researcher

Core Progra m

Environmental Traceability Project

Proposal and Verification of the Validity of
Isotope Environmental Traceability Methodology
in Environmental Studies
Project Leader

TAYASU Ichiro RIHN

Dr. TAYASU was Assistant Professor at RIHN (2002), Associate Professor at Kyoto University (2003), and is currently a Professor at RIHN
(2014). His research focuses on isotope ecology and isotope environmental science.

In this project, we investigate environmental traceability
as a key concept needed to solve environmental issues forvarious stakeholders. Stable isotope ratios of elements,
together with concentrations of elements, can trace theflow of matter and chemicals through the environment,
better describe ecosystem structure and conditions, andappraise the chemical profiles of food products. Spatiotemporal variation of multiple isotope ratios can be used to
study Earth systems operating at local to global scales. This
information can serve an important decision-making tool
for local people considering water, food and environmental
security, all of which are fundamental for the sustainabilityof human society.
This study seeks to establish methodologies for the use ofenvironmental traceability in environmental studies. A
combination of quantitative and qualitative tools, including“Multi-Isoscapes”, (the use of multiple elements and isotope
ratios together with GIS-based mapping techniques), social
surveys, and workshops are deployed to investigate the roleof environmental traceability in addressing environmental
issues. We hypothesize that the role and perception of

traceability methods in transdisciplinary processes will
differ among stakeholders and that the co-productionof “Multi-Isoscapes” can act as an effective bridging
tool for understanding and explaining variation in local
environments. The ultimate objective of this research is todemonstrate the effectiveness of multi-isotopic information
in solving global environmental issues.
Project research tests (I) the effectiveness of theenvironmental traceability concept in environmental
studies by comparing case studies in which isotopic
methods were initiated by local government, citizen
groups, and researchers; (II) the extent to which thesedifferent stakeholders hold different views of the conceptsof food traceability and environmental traceability andthe effectivity of these concepts in communicating links
between food production and consumption. Field researchis taking place in Japan at sites in Ono City, Fukui; Otsuchi
Town, Iwate; Saijo City, Ehime; Oshino Village, Yamanashi;
the Chikusa river watershed, Hyogo; Lake Biwa andsurrounding watershed in Shiga; as well as in the Lagunade Bay and surrounding watershed in the Philippines.

Photo 1 Hongan-Shozu pond in Ono City, Fukui, recharged by ground water

Photo 2 A symposium held in Oshino Village, where we used a questionnaire
for studying the effect of environmental traceability methodology

Researcher at RIHN
FUJIYOSHI Lei
Main Members
NAKANO Takanori
SHIN Ki-Cheol
YABUSAKI Shiho
KONDO Yasuhisa
OKUDA Noboru
MCGREEVY, Steven R.
MORI Seiichi
YOKOO Yoriko

Researcher

RIHN / Waseda University
RIHN
RIHN
RIHN
RIHN
RIHN
Gifu Keizai University

YAMADA Yoshihiro
KAERIYAMA Toshiaki
TOKUMASU Minoru
OOMORI Noboru
OHKUSHI Ken’ichi
MITSUHASHI Hiromune
YOKOYAMA Tadashi

Kagawa University
Gratitude to the Water Foundation
Saijo City Oﬃce
Oshino Village Office
Kobe University
University of Hyogo / Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo
Hyogo prefectural Ako School for Students with Special Needs

Doshisha University

http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/2017-03.html

FS

FR①

FR②
2018

FR③

31

Open Team Science Project

Information Asymmetry Reduction in OpenTeam Science for Socio-environmental Cases
Project Leader

KONDO Yasuhisa RIHN

Core Progra m

Yasuhisa Kondo has worked for four years as an associate professor at the Information Resources Division of the RIHN Center. Originally,
he studied archaeology and geographical information sciences (The University of Tokyo PhD 2010). He is currently interested inopen science, participatory action research, and transdisciplinary research promotion for environmental archaeology and socioenvironmental cases. He is also coordinating an archaeological mission to Oman.

This Core Project develops a theory and methodology to
reduce information asymmetry between actors in teambased science for socio-environmental cases.
Social issues caused by environment deterioration
are often so complex that solution-oriented research isteam-based and involves research experts from different
domains in interdisciplinary (ID) projects as well aspractitioners such as governments, funders, industries,
non-profit organizations, and members of civil society intransdisciplinary (TD) projects. Such team-based science isoften disrupted by information asymmetry—a condition inwhich one party has relevant information while the others
do not—between participants, as they are actors withdifferent values, knowledge, and socioeconomic status.
This asymmetry leads to different understandings of focal
issues and other actors.
In our working hypothesis, information asymmetry canbe reduced through a combination of: (1) diversion, or an
approach to divert a wicked problem between stakeholders
to a sharable object or goal for which all actors, including
the unengaged public, can work together; (2) participationand empowerment of marginalized (or ‘small voice’)actors; (3) fair data visualization; and (4) dialogue. These
approaches work to re-calibrate the influence of dominant
actors such as principal investigator (PI) in ID projects
and research experts, funders, and policy makers in TD
projects.

As an example of the holistic approach to diversion, ID
projects may employ a “switched explanation” in which
particular research results are explained by counterpart
experts. Civic tech, or participatory co-production ofsolutions for local issues by self-motivated civic engineers
using information and communication technologies andopen data, is applied where appropriate in the TD cases.
The FAIR data principle (that data is Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, and Reusable) is introduced to encourage
researchers to provide their data to the public (the FAIR
principle is useful when researchers are reluctant to follow
the open data license, in which ‘anyone can freely access,use, modify, and share data for any purpose’ in sensu
stricto).
This working hypothesis is tested in ID, TD, and ID-TD
transitional case studies, including community-based
waterweed recycling in the Lake Biwa catchment, Japan.
The effects of problem diversion on project progress andparticipants’ perceptual transformation are measured
through participatory observation, semi-structured
interviews, and periodical questionnaire surveys. Basedon these assessments, the hypothesis is improved andtested again. This Hypothesis-Practice-Assessment Cycle
is repeated flexibly to improve the methodology, whichco-evolves and integrates the open science and TD theories
as a new paradigm for environmental studies.

Transdisciplinary (TD) Team
Science

Open Science

Methodology for
Information Asymmetry Reduction‐ Diversion‐ Empowerment‐ Visualization‐ Dialogue

Open Team Science

Figure 1 This Core Project integrates open science and transdisciplinary teamscience theories to create an open team science methodology.

Main Members
KANO Kei
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
NAKASHIMA Ken’ichiro
ONISHI Hideyuki
OSAWA Takeshi

Photo1 Graphic recording works as a method for fair data visualization anddialogue in civic tech workshops.

Hiroshima University

NAKATSUKA Takeshi
OKUDA Noboru
YAMAUCHI Taro

Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts

A project researcher to be appointed

Shiga University
RIHN

RIHN
RIHN
RIHN/Hokkaido University

Tokyo Metropolitan University32
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/opents/

Core FS Core FR① Core FR② Core FR③
2018

Above: ABE Ken-ichi, Tanokamimodoshi, Satsumasendai, Kagoshima, Japan
Bottom: OSHIUMI Keiichi, A train running through Maeklong Market, Thailand

33

Completed
Research

When a project moves to Completed Research (CR) status,
the contract with RIHN is concluded. Research teams
disperse to university research, teaching, and other duties.
Project publications and other communications andcontributions may follow for several years. At RIHN, eachproject forms part of the institute's heritage; project results
and data are entered into the RIHN archives upon which
future RIHN projects may be formulated.

34

Fiscal Year
Completed

LeaderResearch Project

HAYASAKA Tadahiro

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases and Aerosols, and Human Activities in East Asia

KANAE Shinjiro

Global Water Cycle Variation and the Current World Water Resources Issues and Their Perspectives

WATANABE Tsugihiro

Impact of Climate Changes on Agricultural Production System in the Arid Areas

NAKAWO Masayoshi

Historical Evolution of the Adaptability in an Oasis Region to Water Resource Changes

YACHI Shigeo

Multi-Disciplinary Research for Understanding Interactions between Humans and Naturein the Lake Biwa-Yodo River Watershed

FUKUSHIMA Yoshihiro

Recent Rapid Change of Water Circulation in the Yellow River and Its Effects on Environment

ICHIKAWA Masahiro

Sustainability and Biodiversity Assessment on Forest Utilization Options

AKIMICHI Tomoya

A Trans-Disciplinary Study on Regional Eco-History in Tropical Monsoon Asia: 1945-2005

SEKINO Tatsuki

Interaction between Environmental Quality of the Watershed and Environmental Consciousness

TAKASO Tokushiro

Interactions between Natural Environment and Human Social Systems in Subtropical Islands

2009

SHIRAIWA Takayuki

Human Activities in Northeastern Asia and their Impact on Biological Productivity in the North Pacific Ocean

2010

TANIGUCHI Makoto

Human Impacts on Urban Subsurface Environments

YUMOTO Takakazu

A New Cultural and Historical Exploration into Human-Nature Relationships in the Japanese Archipelago

SATO Yo-Ichiro

Agriculture and Environment Interactions in Eurasia: Past, Present and Future

KAWABATA Zen'ichiro

Effects of Environmental Change on the Interactions between Pathogens and Humans

KUBOTA Jumpei

Historical Interactions between Multi-Cultural Societies and the Natural Environment
in a Semi-Arid Region in Central Eurasia

OSADA Toshiki

Environmental Change and the Indus Civilization

UCHIYAMA Junzo

Neolithisation and Modernisation: Landscape History on East Asian Inland Seas

UMETSU Chieko

Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Ecological Systems

OKUMIYA Kiyohito

Human Life, Aging and Disease in High-Altitude Environments: Physio-Medical,
Ecological and Cultural Adaptation in “Highland Civilizations”

SAKAI Shoko

Collapse and Restoration of Ecosystem Networks with Human Activity

MOJI Kazuhiko

Environmental Change and Infectious Disease in Tropical Asia

HIYAMA Tetsuya

Global Warming and the Human-Nature Dimension in Siberia: Social Adaptation to
the Changes of the Terrestrial Ecosystem, with an Emphasis on Water Environments

NAWATA Hiroshi

A Study of Human Subsistence Ecosystems in Arab Societies: To Combat Livelihood
Degradation for the Post-oil Era

KADA Ryohei

Managing Environmental Risks to Food and Health Security in Asian Watersheds

2014

MURAMATSU Shin

Megacities and the Global Environment

2015

KUBOTA Jumpei

Designing Local Frameworks for Integrated Water Resources Management

2016

HABU Junko

Long-term Sustainability through Place-Based, Small-Scale Economies: Approaches from Historical Ecology

SATO Tetsu
KIKUCHI Naoki

Creation and Sustainable Governance of New Commons through Formation of Integrated
Local Environmental Knowledge

ISHIKAWA Satoshi

Coastal Area-capability Enhancement in Southeast Asia

TANAKA Ueru

Desertification and Livelihood in Semi-Arid Afro-Eurasia

ENDO Aiko

Human-Environmental Security in Asia-Pacific Ring of Fire: Water-Energy-Food Nexus

2006

2007

2008

2011

2012

2013

2017

35

Nexus Project

Human-Environmental Security in Asia-Pacific Ring of Fire:
Water-Energy-Food Nexus
Project Leader

ENDO Aiko RIHN

Climate change and social change, including accelerating
development, urbanization, and globalization are
increasing pressure on water, energy and food resources,
increasing the number of tradeoffs and potential
conflicts among these resources that have their complex
interactions. In order to address these issues, the objectivesof the project were to understand the complexity of thewater-energy-food (WEF) nexus system and to create
policy options to reduce trade-offs among resources and to
alleviate conflicts of resource users using scientific evidence
and under assumptions of uncertainty to maximize
human-environmental security. The project also proposedsolutions to local and global environmental problems
by contributing to global research networks associatedwith the Future Earth platform and the U.N. Sustainable
Development Goals.
The project involved 60 researchers from different
disciplines and five countries, including Indonesia, thePhilippines, Canada, Japan and the USA. Five researchgroups carried out the following tasks: 1) the Water-Energy
Nexus Group conducted biophysical measurement
and analysis using space satellites, geothermic, andhydrogeological techniques; 2) the Water-Food Nexus
Group carried out biophysical measurements and analyses
using geochemical, coastal oceanographic, geophysical,hydrologic, and ecological methods, including isotopic
tracers; 3) the Stakeholder Analysis Group conductedstakeholder and social network analyses, community
surveys, and scenario planning based on social andbehavioral science approaches; 4) the Socio-culture of
Resource Usage Group developed the science-policy
interface based on its examination of the socio-cultural
history of groundwater use; and 5) the InterdisciplinaryGroup completed the research with a mission to: i) identify
research problems; and ii) determine the methods and/or

Figure 1 Target research sites

36
http://www.chikyu.ac.jp/rihn_e/project/R-08.html

create new discipline-free methods based on synthesizing
and harmonizing team-based production, collected fromindividual scientists in different disciplines from eachteam in order to assess human environmental security. In
addition, the team further developed these approaches toincorporate non-scientific/non-disciplinary views on theanalyses; and iii) design a nexus system.

Results
For the water-energy nexus component, we calculated
the potential of using groundwater as a source of thermalenergy in Obama. In Beppu, the subsurface environment,
including flow of groundwater and hot springs, have beenclarified by gravity measurement.
The Water-Food Nexus Group identified the location ofsubmarine groundwater discharge at Obama and Beppu
bays, and estimated the supply of nutrients conveyed fromland to ocean by groundwater. Stakeholder analysis of hot
spring resources also clarified key issues related to futurescenarios and social change.
The Interdisciplinary Group developed several
integrated methods, including models of Beppu andOtsuchi, Japan, Pajaro Valley, California, and British
Columbia, Canada. This group also designed a nexus
system at the local scale to understand the complexity of
the nexus system and establish a clear definition of thenexus concept.
For collaborative scientific activities with society, we
designed lectures open to local citizens and conducted aparticipatory survey on hot springs with local residences
and stakeholders in Beppu. We developed a web page,the “Spring Map”, in order to share the results of ourgroundwater survey. Such activities with local governments
and private sector raised awareness of nexus issues.

Figure 2 What is the Water, Energy and Food nexus?

Above: JIANG Hongwei, Departing for a field survey early in the morning, Savannakhet, Laos
Bottom: NAKAO Seiji, A blacksmith is making a toy bird, Burkina Faso

37

Current
Feasibility
Studies

Feasibility Studies are based on proposals solicited annually by RIHN from theresearch community at-large. If approved by the Project Review Task Committee,
lead researchers are granted seed funding in order to develop their proposal for
Full Research. FS status can be maintained for no longer than two years.

Above: UEHARA Yoshitoshi, Promising young researchers, Silang, Phillippines
Bottom: OKUDA Noboru, Conducting a biological survey in paddy fields with the local residents, Koga, Shiga, Japan

FS/PR

Mapping the Environmental Impact Footprint of Cities, Companies, and Household
KANEMOTO Keiichiro, Shinshu University
Area : World

Economic growth in China and otherdeveloping countries is associated withsevere global environmental problems, suchas climate change and loss of biodiversity.
Studies have shown that consumption indeveloped countries drives environmental
emissions in developing countries. For
example, we found that international trade
is responsible for one third of the threats
to biodiversity, mainly in developing
countries. Furthermore, we demonstrated
a link between geographical environmental
emissions information and global supply
chains. Unlike most studies, which focus on environmental emissions and international trade, this is the first study
clarify the effect of global supply chains on environmental impacts. Further, in addition to countries and regions, wewill estimate the environmental footprint of cities, companies and households.

FS/PR

Co-Creation of Sustainable Regional Innovation for Reducing Risk of High-impact
Environmental Pollution
SAKAKIBARA Masayuki, Ehime University
Area : Sulawesi Island in Indonesia, ASEAN countries

The Minamata Convention on Mercury (Hg) is a global
treaty established to protect human health and theenvironment from the adverse effects of Hg. Recent
investigations by the United Nation Environment
Programme (UNEP) have highlighted the continuing
significance of Hg pollution in developing countries and its
harmful effects on human health and ecosystems. One of
the main causes of Hg pollution is artisanal and small-scale
gold mining (ASGM), in which Hg is used in the traditional
method of amalgamation to extract gold from the orerock. Recent investigations by UNEP have highlighted
the enormity of Hg pollution in developing countries andits harmful effects on human health and ecosystems. The
Whole structure of FS project
purpose of our FR is to understand the link between poverty
reduction and environmental management, and to establish develop a process for constructing sustainable societies
through regional innovations in ASGM areas and to strengthen related environmental governance in developing
countries. In our FS, we will conduct, within the scope of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries:a) case studies of reductions in Hg pollution using a future scenario of ASGM; b) a study of regional networks that
aim to generate Hg-free societies communities in Indonesia; c) a study of improvements in environmental governancein ASEAN countries; and d) a study of the design, practical use, and evaluation of transformative boundary objects(TBOs), based on a transdisciplinary approach.

39

Current Feasibility Studies

FS

Fair and Equitable Benefit Sharing of Biological and Genetic Resources in the Era ofDigital Information: Improving Livelihoods and Agrobiodiversity Conservation byIntellectual Property and Storylines
KOHSAKA Ryo, Tohoku University
Area : Thailand, Japan, Philippines, Myanmar, South Korea, China, Indonesia
This project addresses fundamental national and local
issues of the Access to Genetic Resources and the
Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising fromtheir Utilization (ABS) including (1) the high resource
transaction costs caused by lack of relevant information,and (2) lack of incentives for local people. To address
the first issue we introduce clearing-house systems
to efficiently share relevant scientific and cultural
information with stakeholders. To tackle the second
issue we develop branding and benefit-sharing schemes
using clearing-house systems and scientific methods
to evaluate genetic and functional characteristics ofthe resources. Finally, the appropriate meso-scale level
schemes are developed in order to link international,
national, and local ABS activities and institutions in theera of digital information.

FS

Proposed meso-scale scheme based on co-design and co-production

Transformation and Reconstruction of Agri-Cultural Diversity in Southeast Asia
MATSUDA Hirotaka, Tokyo University of Agriculture
Area : South East Asia

Environmental degradation associated withmodern societies has been based on culture andinstitutions that reflect the incentives of thesesocieties. Naturally, culture and institutions havebeen dynamically transformed. The purposeof this research is to examine the East Asian
historical experience of poverty, disparity of health,and utilization of natural resources, including
agriculture, in order to reveal the significance ofchange in Asian institutions and cultural diversity
and contribute to the construction of sustainable
East Asian societies.

Research framework of the research

40

FS

Developing Interactive Rural-Urban Systems to Improve Human Well-being:
Migration for Humanity and Nature
MORI Koichiro, Shiga University
Area : Jakarta and Medan in Indonesia, Sabae, Umajimura, Kurihara, Noto and Toyooka in Japan

The purpose of this research is todevelop interactive urban-rural
systems that can address global
environmental problems and enhance
human well-being within global
environmental limits. The project
investigates our hypotheses that theincomplete geographical divisionof labour between urban and rural
areas and flexible and adaptable(yurui) migrations between urban
and rural areas can provide strategies
to abate problems related to urban
overcrowding. The project will conductsocial practical experiments.

FS

Two key concepts, incomplete geographical division of labour and yurui migrations, can address environmental,
economic and social problems through interactions of people between urban and rural areas.

Future Image of Living Sphere by Restructuring Sustainable Relation between
Humans and Land
OKABE Akiko, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, the University of Tokyo
Area : Informal settlements in Latin American countries
Slums have emerged as a consequence of socioeconomic globalization and are frequently associated with land informality.
By requestioning the land property as individual‘right’, this project attempts to propose how toincrease tenure security at neighborhood level
through introducing the land possession as collective ‘responsibility’ to maintain properly the
distributed land plots to individuals. The target
project research areas are informal settlements in
Latin American countries. We strategically introduce community engagement projects to explore
the possibility of the scattered living sphere atneighborhood level and through generations.
Such idea is inspired by the informal community
logic that might have also links to the Andean
pre-modern knowledge.

Workshop with local people sharing knowledge about the neighborhood, Barrio Cantera, an informal
settlement with land slide risk in San Martín de los Andes, Argentina, October 2017.

41

Coordination

The RIHN Center provides the foundations and platforms
for RIHN’s research activities and supportes engagement
in interactive collaborations with academic and societal
stakeholders. The Center also undertakes capacity building
activities related to global environmental studies.
The RIHN Center consists of four divisions. The Laboratory
and Analysis Division develops and maintains the laboratory
facilities necessary for research and fieldwork. The
Information Resources Division maintains the RIHN researchdatabases and archive. The Communication Divisiondevelops a variety of communication strategies linking RIHN
research to academic, public and user-specific communities.
The Collaboration Division facilitates internal and external
research networking as well as RIHN engagement with theinternational Future Earth initiative and hosts the Regional
Center for Future Earth in Asia.

43

Science Communication
As a national research institute, RIHN is expected to conduct exemplary science. It also must communicate its research
agenda and results to the public and contribute to public awareness and discussion of contemporary environmentalism.
A number of public symposia, seminar series, and publications are designed to reach specialist and general audiences.
Recent activities and publications include:

The Earth Forum Kyoto and the Earth Hall of Fame
Kyoto Award
The Earth Forum Kyoto invites world-renowned experts andactivists to discuss the environmental and cultural bases ofmore responsible human societies. The Earth Hall of Fame
Kyoto Award is given to those who have made exemplarycontributions to the protection of the global environment.
Organizers of the event are the International Institute forAdvanced Studies, the Kyoto International Conference Center,and RIHN.

RIHN International Symposium
An annual symposium at RIHN exploring the key concepts of
RIHN Research Programs.

Professor Peter H. Verburg, of Vrije Universiteit
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, giving the 2017
keynote address.

Trans-scale Solutions for Sustainability
20-21 December 2017
Keynote Address
Pathways to Global Sustainability: Multi-scale Tradeoffs
Peter H. VERBURG (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

The 2017 recipients of the Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto Award
were Prof. Miguel A. Altieri, professor emeritus of Agroecology
at the University of California, Berkely, Prof. Margaret Anne
McKean, political economist and professor emeritus at theDuke University, and Prof. Dennis L. Meadows, scientist andprofessor emeritus of the University of New Hampshire.

RIHN Regional Community Seminars
RIHN Regional Community Seminars take place in, andaddress specific environmental issues pertaining to, a particularpart of Japan.

Public seminars are held throughout the year at RIHN or in thecity center.
Environmental regeneration starting from the 'Can't help
caring' sentiment
16 June 2017
Future Design
4 July 2017

Rediscovering agriculture: Learning from the fields
4 August 2017, Graduate School of Global Food Resources,
Hokkaido University

Our environment between present and future : A discussion
with high school students
1 February 2018

Linking connectedness to the future: Change and continuity
in globally important agricultural heritage systems
12 October 2017, Shiiba Village Development Center,
Higashiusuki, Miyazaki

Moving from management to care: The area capability
approach to local resources
15 February 2018

Community empowerment: How social capital helps
enhance biodiversity
24 February 2018, Kafuka Shogai Gakushukan, Koka, Shiga

44

RIHN Public Seminars

China’s environmental problems and prospects for Japanesecooperation
23 March 2018

RIHN Seminars

Other Symposia

This seminar series is oriented towards researchers at RIHN,
inviting a wide range of visiting scholars to present their mostcurrent research. Seminars in 2017 included:Riverine and wetland environments: From niche construction
to nutritional archaeology
Antony BROWN, professor, University of Southampton/RIHN
Invited Scholar
28 April 2017
Digital revolution and planetary boundaries
Stephane GRUMBACH, Senior Scientist at INRIA, Director of IXXI,
Rhône-Alpes Complex Systems Institute18 July 2017
An introduction to applied systems science
Pavel KABAT, Director, IIASA
26 July 2017
The future of cities in a fossil-carbon constrained world
Stephanie PINCETL, Director, California Center for Sustainable
Communities, RIHN Invited Scholar
12 December 2017
Sustainability challenges and opportunities in West Asia
Mohammed Aly Raouf, Research Fellow, Gulf Research Center
17 January 2018
A nexus approach to “water, food and energy for climate smart
agriculture
Parviz KOOHAFKAN, President, World Agricultural Heritage
Foundation, RIHN Invited Scholar
5 March 2018

RIHN Book Series: Global Environmental Studies
RIHN has partnered with Springer Publishers to establish the
Global Environmental Studies book series. Titles in the seriesreflect the full breadth of RIHN scholarship.

45

Facilities

Research rooms on the RIHN campus are designed to provide a senseof openness. The design concept is to allow implemented projects to beloosely interconnected as they occur in one large curved space 150 metersin length. The facilities help external researchers as well as RIHN researchstaff to meet one another, since they are designed with the maximizationof shared use in mind. At the center of the main building, a library andcomputer room are located for the convenience of many users, and threecommon rooms are provided for casual discussions. On the basement
floor, a cluster of fully functional laboratories has been designed withemphasis on convenience for shared use, as with the research rooms.
The separate RIHN House is a guesthouse. The assembly hall and adining lounge located to the left of the house entrance serve as meeting
spaces for the RIHN staff as well as for guests.
Appropriately for an institution researching the global environment,
RIHN is housed in a tile-roofed building suited to the Kyoto landscape,where as many as possible of the trees already on the site have beenretained. Lighting and air-conditioning also employ the latest designs tominimize the building's impact on the environment. The design has won
acclaim, receiving awards from the Illumination Engineering Institute ofJapan, the Japan Institute of Architects, the Green Building Award fromMIPIM Asia, and the Architectural Institute of Japan.

Management
RIHN researchers work across thebreadth of global environmental
studies. If the diverse knowledge
they produce is the warp, thenthe unifying weft is provided byfield measurement, laboratory
analysis, data and information
management, and academic andsocial communication of research
progress and results. In maintaining
and supporting RIHN research
capacity to collect and analyze data
and to communicate research innumerous professional and publicfora, the RIHN Center enhances ourcollaborative research around theworld and contributes the kind of
integrated knowledge that can solve
global environmental problems.

46

Laboratories
RIHN research projects are multidisciplinary and multimethod; incommon they share the need forhigh quality physical observationand chemical and biological analysisof the surface environments of theearth. As a national institute, RIHN
houses eighteen basement laboratories
designed to address this need. There
are state-of-the-art laboratories
dedicated to microscopic, DNA andstable isotope analysis. Additional
facilities include two fieldwork
preparation rooms for storage andmaintenance of observational andsampling equipment, three lowtemperature rooms for organism andice core storage, three incubatorrooms for storage of organisms
requiring specific temperatures, anda clean room in which samples canbe processed in a contamination-freeenvironment.

Instruments
RIHN research projects conduct avariety of studies around the world
and collect a diverse range of samples
that contain valuable information thatwill help illuminate human-natureinteractions. Stable isotope andDNA data in particular can give very
precise descriptions of how materials
and species interact, change, andmove through time and space. In
addition to maintaining state-ofthe-art laboratories, the Laboratory
and Analysis Division of the RIHN
Center continues to develop new
methods of data analysis andapplication. In conducting thisresearch in collaboration with RIHN
projects, universities and affiliatedinstitutions throughout Japan, thedivision enhances the sophisticationof experimental techniques andexchange of research information,and promotes the shared use of
facilities.

Exhibition Hall
Entrance Hall

Dining Hall

Lecture Hall

Seminar Rooms

Main building
Administrative Office

RIHN Center

Library
Research Rooms

Water Garden
Wooden Deckand Garden

Main entrance hall

Garden Covered with
Fallen Leaves

Detached “floating”
room

Low Temperature
Sample Storage

Project Rooms

Library(Two-Tier)

Biological
Laboratory
Isotope Analysis
Laboratory

Basement laboratories

Clean RoomExperimental Laboratories

The RIHN House with one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments
for guest researchers and their families.

2F
Main Entrance Hall
Administration
Lecture Hall
Seminar Rooms
Dining Hall

2F

1F
Employee Entrance
Research Project Rooms
RIHN Center
LibraryMedia Center

1F
B1F
Basement
Laboratories
Book Repository
Field Research Equipment and Facilities
Cold Storage47

Ecohealth
New Development of Ecohealth Research in Asia
This project is a collaboration with the National Museum of
Ethnology and the National Institute of Japanese Literature,
supported by the National Institutes for the Humanities. It
adopts an Ecohealth approach that places human health ina wider ecosystem context and explores the linkages among
livelihoods, food and subsistence, ecological environmentand demographic and social change in Asia. Throughhistorical examination of concepts of health in East Asia andcontemporary fieldwork in communities in Laos, China andJapan experiencing rapid demographic change, the project

Project meeting for research exchange (Sep, 2017)

aims to move beyond disease-oriented understandings to aholistic and positive appreciation of health in specific contexts
and places.

Future Earth
Future Earth is a major international research platform
providing knowledge and support to accelerate transformations
to a sustainable world (see www.futureearth.org). It aims
to generate solutions-oriented research and innovation toaddress complex global problems, by linking the expertiseof researchers across disciplines with policy-makers,
business leaders, practitioners and other societal partners.
The Collaboration Division in the RIHN Center is actively
engaged in the co-design of research development, and hosts
the Regional Centre for Future Earth in Asia (www.futureearth.
org/asiacentre/). The Centre supports the development of

Future Earth session at the 17th Conference of Science Council of Asia
At the session the Future Earth community in Asia discussed "Air Pollution and Human
Health in Asia" as a priority issue for the region.

Future Earth in the region, helps connect researchers andother stakeholders, and facilitates the formation of regionally
relevant and credible governance structures for the initiative.
The Centre has convened a Regional Advisory Committee
to accelerate the regional development of Future Earth andsupported the launch of two Future Earth programs focused in
Asia: Sustainability Initiative in the Marginal Seas of South andEast Asia (SIMSEA) and Monsoon Asia Integrated Research for
Sustainability – Future Earth (MAIRS-FE). The Centre also leads
the development of a Knowledge-Action Network on the focal
topic of “Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production”(http://www.futureearth.org/future-earth-sscp).
48

The 6th International Workshop on
Future Earth in Asia: Sustainable
Consumption in Asia

Regional Centre for Future Earth in Asia
WebsiteA map of the Future Earth Community in
Asia has been developed on the website.
This map shows people and institutionsin the region that are actively engaged in
Future Earth activities. (www.futureearth.
org/asiacentre/)Collaboration
Research Areas

OthersAffiliate Organizations* Not incl. RIHN

13 1.9%* Not incl. RIHN

PrivateInstitutes

Humanities

92

13%

Total

Social Sciences

203

687

peopleForeign
Institutes

41 6.0%

126

18.3%

NaturalSciences

Total

National
Universities

people

293

687

392
57%

30%

42.6%

PrivateUniversities

Inter-University
Research Institutes

92

Public Institutes

9 1.3%

13.4%

Public Universities

79 11.5%

34 4.9%*As of March 31st, 2018

Collaboration in Japan
Research Institutions

Municipal Governments and Other Agencies

1. Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University

1. Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture

2. Doshisha University

2. Kyoto Municipal Science Center for Youth

3. Nagasaki University

3. Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center (FAMIC)

4. Kyoto Sangyo University

4. Ono City, Fukui Prefecture

5. Tottori University of Environmental Studies

5. Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture

6. Kyoto University

6. Inabe City, Mie Prefecture

7. Center for Environmental Remote Sensing, Chiba University

7. Kyoto Prefectural Hokuryo Senior High School

8. Institute of Decision Science for a Sustainable Society, Kyushu University

8. Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku High School

9. Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University

9. Miyazaki Prefecture

10. Faculty of Engineering, GI-CoRE, Faculty of Health Sciences,

10. NHK Educational Corporation

Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University

11. Noshiro City, Akita Prefecture

11. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo
12. Kyushu University
13. Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University

International Collaboration
Memoranda of Understanding and Research Cooperation Agreements (As of March 31st, 2018)
AUSTRIAInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis
BANGLADESH
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research
BHUTAN
College of Natural Resources, Royal University of Bhutan
CHINA
East China Normal University
Hainan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Peking University
People's Government of Changzhou City
Yunnan Health and Development Research Association
FRANCE
La Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme

INDONESIAThe Agency of Peatland Restoration (Badan Restorasi Gambut)
The Center for International Forestry ResearchIndonesian Institute of Sciences
LAOS
Lao Tropical and Public Health Institute, Ministry of Health
PHILIPPINES
Laguna Lake Development Authority
University of the Philippines Diliman
University of Santo Tomas
RUSSIAFar Eastern Federal University

TAIWAN
Research Center for Environmental Changes, Academia Sinica
THAILAND
Rice Department, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
UNITED KINGDOM
Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
University of California, Berkeley
ZAMBIA
University of Zambia

SWEDENThe Sven Hedin Foundation

49

Administrative Structure
Board of Advisors
Deputy Director-General, Planning and Coordination
Institutional Research Unit
Public Relations Unit
International Publications Unit
Director-General

Research Department
RIHN Center

Planning and Collaboration Section

Administrative Office

Accounting Section

Deputy Director-General, ResearchCouncil for Research Strategy
External Research-Evaluation Committee

Financial Information
BudjetIncome(Fiscal Year 2018)

Category

Amount (Yen in thousands)

Subsidy for Operation
Self Revenue

1,430,680
18,645

Total Earnings

1,449,325

External Sources of Funding(Fiscal Year 2016)
Category

Amount (Yen in thousands)

Fund for Promotion of Academic
and Industrial Collaboration
Grants-in-Aids
for Scientific ResearchDonations for Research

83,796
99,570
3,862(Fiscal Year 2017)

Category

Amount (Yen in thousands)

Fund for Promotion of Academic
and Industrial Collaboration
Grants-in-Aids
for Scientific ResearchDonations for Research

123,661
178,949
9,350* Fund for Promotion of Academic and Industrial
Collaboration is the sum of contract researchexpenses.

50

Operation and Auditing Division

Boards and Committees*As of May, 2018

Board of Advisors
Oversees personnel, planning, administration and operation of the institute
ASAOKA Mie
President, Kiko Network
IKEYA Kazunobu
Professor, National Museum of Ethnology
KADA Yukiko
Former Governer of Shiga Prefecture /Former President, Biwako Seikei Sport College
KANZAWA Hiroshi
Professor Emeritus, Nagoya University
KOIKE Toshio
Director, Global Centre of Excellence for Water
Hazard and Risk Management

KONO Yasuyuki
Professor, Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
Kyoto University
NIIKAWA Tatsuro
Professor, Graduate School, Doshisha
Univesity
NOE Keiichi
Professor Emeritus & President-appointed
Extraordinary Professor, Tohoku University
OTSUKI Kyoichi
Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Kyushu
University

MALLEE, Hein
Deputy Director-General, RIHN
TANIGUCHI Makoto
Deputy Director-General, RIHN
NAKASHIZUKA Tohru
Program Director, RIHNSAIJO Tatsuyoshi
Program Director, RIHNSUGIHARA Kaoru
Program Director, RIHNTAYASU Ichiro
Professor, RIHNISHII Reiichiro
Associate Professor, RIHNMCGREEVY, Steven R.
Associate Professor, RIHN

External Research-Evaluation Committee
External review of research project proposals
Domestic
KAWABATA Zen'ichiro
Professor Emeritus, RIHN
KONDO Akihiko
Professor, Center for Environmental Remote Sensing / Department of Environmental Remote Sensing,
Division of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Chiba
University
SUMI Akimasa
Project Professor, Integrated Research System for Sustainability Science (IR3S) / Professor Emeritus,
the University of Tokyo / Former President, National Institute for Environmental Studies
TANAKA Masaru
Director, Moune Institute for Forest-Sato-Sea Studies / Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University
TODA Takao
Vice President for Human Security and Global Health, Japan International Cooperation Agency
UCHIBORI Motomitsu
Professor, The Open University of Japan
WADA Eitaro
Member of the Japan Academy / Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University

Overseas
BAI, Xuemei
Professor, Urban Environment and Human Ecology, Fenner School of Environment and Society,
Australian National University, Australia
BINDER, Claudia
Professor, Laboratory for Human-Environmental Relations in Urban Systems (HERUS), IIE - ENAC EPFL, Switzerland
LU, Yonglong
Professor, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
ROMERO LANKAO, Paty
Senior Scientist, Research Applications Laboratory, Climate Science and Applications Program,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, U.S.A.
SHRIVASTAVA, Paul
Chief Sustainability Officer / Director, Sustainability Institute / Professor, Management andOrganization, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University, U.S.A.
VAN DER LEEUW, Sander
Professor, School of Human Evolution and Social Change / School of Sustainability, Arizona State
University, U.S.A.
WONG, R. Bin
Distinguished Professor of History, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
ZHANG, Shiqiu
Professor, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, China

Council for Research Strategy
Oversees research strategy, personnel, project, and evaluation system
YASUNARI Tetsuzo
MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto
NAKASHIZUKA Tohru

Director-General
Deputy Director-General
Deputy Director-GeneralSpecially Appointed Professor

SAIJO Tatsuyoshi
SUGIHARA Kaoru
TAYASU Ichiro
ISHII Reiichiro

Specially Appointed Professor
Specially Appointed Professor
Professor
Associate Professor

Senior Advisor

Emeritus Professors

TACHIMOTO Narifumi

NAKANISHI Masami
WADA Eitaro
HIDAKA Toshitaka
NAKAWO Masayoshi

FUKUSHIMA Yoshihiro
AKIMICHI Tomoya
KAWABATA Zen’ichiro
OSADA Toshiaki

MCGREEVY, Steven R.
KATSUHIRA Hiroshi

TACHIMOTO Narifumi
SATO Yo-Ichiro
MOJI Kazuhiko
KADA Ryohei

Associate Professor
Director, Administrative Office

NAKANO Takanori
SATO Tetsu
KUBOTA Jumpei

RIHN STAFF
DIRECTOR-GENERAL		DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL (Planning and Coordination)
DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL (Research)

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICEYASUNARI Tetsuzo
MALLEE, HeinTANIGUCHI Makoto

ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR

PLANNING AND COLLABORATION SECTIONHeadHIGASHI Hideaki
Deputy Head KITA Yoshifumi
General Affairs and Planning
Subsection
Head
BIVONE Junko
Clerk
KARIYA Midori
Clerk
KOGISO Ayana
Clerk
MASUDA Maho
Personnel Subsection
Head
NAGATA Yukihiro
Clerk
MATSUKI Takeyuki
Clerk
NAGATA Satoko
International Affairs Subsection
Head
ZENIZUKA Rie

Collaboration Unit
Head
UEDA Yasutoshi
Research Planning Subunit
Head
YUKI Toshitake
Cooperative Research Support Subunit
Head
UEDA Yasutoshi
Clerk
SAWAMURA Takahiro
Information and Library Subunit
Chief
YAMASHITA Takayoshi

KATSUHIRA Hiroshi

ACCOUNTING SECTION

OPERATION AND AUDITING DIVISIONHeadKIMURA Makoto
Deputy Head KITAURA Toshiaki
Financial Planning Subsection
Head
TOJIMA Mitsuo
Chief
HONDA Takayuki
Clerk
KOHO Sayaka
Facility Management Subsection
Head
NAKAJIMA Kohei
S.A.Specialist ZUI Zoujin
Accounting Subsection
Head
SIHBUYA Hiroyuki
Procurement Subsection
Head
NONAMI Masatoshi
Clerk
NAKANISHI Keita

Head
KIMURA Makoto
Auditing Subunit
Head
TOJIMA Mitsuo
Chief
HONDA Takayuki

51

RESEARCH DEPARTMENT
Program Directors
NAKASHIZUKA Tohru Forest Ecology, Biodiversity
SAIJO Tatuyoshi
Future Design
SUGIHARA Kaoru
Economic History,
Environmental History

Professors
MIZUNO Kosuke
NAKATSUKA Takeshi
TAYASU Ichiro		
YAMAUCHI Taro

Indonesian Area Research
Biogeochemistry, Paleoclimatology
Isotope Ecology, Isotope
Environmental Science
Human Ecology

Associate Professors
KONDO Yasuhisa
MCGREEVY, Steven R.
OKUDA Noboru
YOSHIDA Takehito

Archaeology, GIS, Open Science
Environmental Sociology
Ecological Science
Ecology

NAKASHIZUKA Tohru Forest Ecology, Biodiversity
SAIJO Tatuyoshi
Future Design
SUGIHARA Kaoru
Economic History,
Environmental History

Visiting Professors

HABU Junko
HAYASHI Hiroaki
ISHIKAWA Satoshi

Earth System GovernanceFood Safety Planning
Atmospheric Chemistry
Natural Resource Management andGlobal Environmental Policy
KUSAGOU Takayoshi Action-based Development Studies
MORI Koichiro
Ecological Economics
NAKAGAMI Ken'ichi
Environmental Economics and Policy
OKABE Akiko
Architecture, Socio-cultural
Environmental studies
OMORI Yasuhiro
Visual Anthropology
RAMPISELA, Dorotea Agnes Soil and Water Management
SAKAKIBARA Masayuki Earth and Environmental Sciences
SHIBATA Akira
Rural Development,
Biomass Carbonization
SUZUKI Takami
Visual Anthropology
TANAKA Ueru
Agro-ecosystems Studies
YONEMOTO Shohei
History and Philosophy of Science

Visiting Associate Professors
ENDO Aiko

Specially Appointed Professors

FUJII Shigeo

KANIE Norichika
KASUGA Fumiko
KAWASAKI Masahiro
KOHSAKA Ryo

Water Environment and Sanitation,
Micropollutants Contamination
Environmental Anthropology,
East Asian Archaeology
Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer,
Sustainable Development Studies
Conservation Ecology,
Global Fisheries Science

KAMATANI Kaoru
KANEMOTO Keiichiro
KIKUCHI Naoki
KOZAN Osamu
MATSUDA Hirotaka
SHIRAIWA Takayuki
TAKEUCHI Kiyoshi
TERADA Masahiro
WATANABE Kazuo

Marine and Coastal Policy,
Fishery Economics
History
Industrial Ecology,
Environmental Economics
Environmental Sociology
Hydrology
Agricultural Economics,
Development Economics
Glaciology, Physical Geography
Anthropology, African Area Studies
History, Metahistory
Area Studies

Senior Researchers
MASUHARA Naoki		
TAMURA Norie

Public Administration Studies
and Energy Policy
Natural Resource Management

Researchers
FUJIYOSHI Lei
Isotope Environmental Science
HAYASHI Koji
Ecological Anthropology
HUANG, Wanhui
Regional Environmental Studies, GIS
IKEYA Tohru
Aquatic Ecology,		Environmental Science
IMAIZUMI Aki
Agricultural Economics ,		Seed Supply System Analysis
ISHIBASHI Hiroyuki
Area Studies, Environmental Local		
History
ISHIDA Takuya
Forest Environmental Science
ITO Keisuke
Japanese History
KAJITA Ryosuke
Area Studies
KOBAYASHI Kunihiko International Environmental Law
KOBAYASHI Mai
Environmental Sociology
LAMBINO Ria
Adoracion Apostol Environmental		Governance
LEE, Sanghyun
Agricultural Water Management
LI ZhenEarth and Environmental Sciences
NAKAO Seiji
Historical Anthropology
OSAWA Takamasa
Social Anthropology
OTA Kazuhiko
Japanese Environmental Ethics
RUPPRECHT, Christoph D. D. Geography
SHIBATA Rei
Forest Ecology
SHIODERA Satomi
Forest Ecology
SPIEGELBERG, Maximilian Environmental ManagementSUZUKI Haruka
Area Studies
TSUSHIMA Akane
Peleoclimatology
UEHARA Yoshitoshi
Ecology
YAMANAKA Manabu Atmosphere-Hydrosphere Sciences

Research Associates
HONMA Saki
KARATSU Fukiko
KATSURA Tomomi
KIMURA Ayako
KOBAYASHI Yuko

KURIU Harumi
MATSUOKA Yuko
MIZUMA Sakiko
NAKAI Minami
SENDA Masako

SHIMAUCHI Risa
TESHIMA Mika
WATANABE Kirie
YAMAMOTO Aya

RIHN Center
DIRECTOR
Deputy Director		

MALLEE, HeinTAYASU Ichiro

Core Program Director TANIGUCHI Makoto

JIANG Hongwei

Heads of Divisions

Research Fellow, NIHU Center for Information and Public Relations/ . . . .
. Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

Laboratory and Analysis Division
Information Resources Division		
Collaboration Division		
Communication and Production Division

TAYASU Ichiro
SEKINO Tatsuki
ISHII Reiichiro
ABE Ken-ichi

Professors
ABE Ken-ichi
MALLEE, Hein
SEKINO Tatsuki
TANIGUCHI Makoto
TAYASU Ichiro

Ecological Anthropology
Social Science
Information Science
Hydrology
Isotope Ecology, Isotope Environmental Science

Associate Professors
ISHII Reiichiro
KONDO Yasuhisa
KUMAZAWA Terukazu
NILES, Daniel
SHIN Kicheol

ONISHI Yuko

Theoretical Ecology
Archaeology, GIS, Open Science
Environmental Planning, Regional Informatics
Geography
Petrology, Geochemistry, Isotope Geology

TANIGUCHI Makoto

TAYASU Ichiro YAMAUCHI Taro KONDO Yasuhisa KUMAZAWA Terukazu

Specially Appointed Specialist

Researchers
KAMAUCHI Hiromitsu
KATO Yoshikazu
MIMURA Yutaka
SAITO Yu
SHIMADA Nahoko
YABUSAKI Shiho
YOSHIMIZU Chikage

Ecocystem Ecology, Aquatic-terrestrial Interactions
Aquatic Ecology
Architectural History, Urban History, Historical GIS
Sedimentology
Study of Ecological Thought
Isotope Hydrology
Biogeochemistry

IWAMOTO Yoko
KISHIMOTO Sayaka
KURATA Junko
OKA Masami
UEDA Sachiko
YASUDA Akiko
YUZEN Natsuko

Urban History
International Collaboration Studies

Public Relations Unit
HEAD
Members of Unit

MALLEE, Hein

ABE Ken-ichi SEKINO Tatsuki YOSHIDA Takehito KUMAZAWA Terukazu
MCGREEVY, Steven R. NILES, Daniel KIM, Satbyul

Specially Appointed Associate Professor

OSHIUMI Keiichi

International Publications Unit
HEAD
Members of Unit

Cultual Anthropology

Biogeography, Macroecology

Institutional Research Unit
HEAD
Members of Unit

KIM, Satbyul

Human Ecology

Research Associates

Assistant Professor

52

Research Fellow, NIHU Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (Ecohealth)/. Specially Appointed Assistant Professor

SUGIHARA Kaoru

YASUNARI Tetsuzo ABE Ken-ichi MALLEE,Hein NILES, Daniel

TOYAMA Mari

Science Communication

Specially Appointed Specialist
WADE Shin-ichi

Research Associate
KIMURA Aoi

A Brief History of RIHN
1993 - Prime minister’s advisory panel on the Global Environment in 21st Century launched1995 - “On the Promotion of Global Environmental Studies” published by The Science Council of Japan
1997 - Report “On the core research institute for Global Environmental Studies”

published by MEXT (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology)

2001 - RIHN Established on the Kyoto University campus- HIDAKA Toshitaka, Director-General
2002 - RIHN relocated to the former Kasuga Primary School- The 1st RIHN Forum2004 - RIHN becomes a member of the National Institutes for the Humanities- The 1st RIHN Public Seminar2005 - The 1st RIHN Area Seminar
2006 - RIHN relocates to current facilities in northern Kyoto- The 1st RIHN International Symposium2007 - TACHIMOTO Narifumi appointed as the second Director-General- The Center for Coordination, Promotion and Communication established- RIHN-China established- First research projects concluded
2008 - The 1st Collaborative Symposium with the International Research Center for Japanese Studies
2009 - The Earth Forum Kyoto and Earth Hall of Fame Kyoto Award established2010 - Core Research Hub established- The RIHN Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Studies published2011 - RIHN 10 year anniversary and publication- GEC-Japan network established2013 - YASUNARI Tetsuzo appointed as the third Director-General- The Center for Coordination, Promotion and Communication reorganized into the Center for
Research Development and the Center for Research Promotion

2014 - Selected as Regional Center for Future Earth in Asia
2016 - 3 Research Programs and Core Program established and RIHN Center reorganized53

Inter-University Research Institute Corporations
National Institutes for the Humanities (NIHU)

http://www.nihu.jp/

NIHU carries out research on the human sciences and aims to create new value systems that will genuinely enrich our lives.
NIHU is one of the four inter-university research institute corporations in Japan. It consists of six inter-university research
institutes that specialize in humanities research. Each of the institutes is deeply involved in foundational research in their field asboth domestic and international research centers. The six institutes interact in a complementary fashion and carry out researchthat transcends the frameworks of traditional disciplines. They also cooperate with other research organizations domesticallyand internationally in their attempt to identify and solve modern day issues.

Research and Communications
In 2016, two new centers, the Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (CTI) and the Center for Information and Public
Relations (CIP) were established to improve governance at NIHU.
The two Centers promote international collaborative research by building a research network around the six institutes. At thesame time, the Centers communicate their research globally and are committed to developing next generation scholars.

Center for Transdisciplinary Innovation (CTI)
CTI strengthens mutual cooperation between the six institutes and leads NIHU’s Transdisciplinary Projects that collaborate with
universities and research institutions in Japan and overseas.

NIHU Transdisciplinary Projects
Institute-based Projects
REKIHAKU: Constructing Integrated Studies of Cultural and Research Resources, and Renovating Sharing Infrastructures of		 Research Resources in Japanese History and Culture
NIJL: Project to Build an International Collaborative Research Network for Pre-modern Japanese Texts
NINJAL: A New Integration of Japanese Language Studies based on Diverse Language Resources
NICHIBUNKEN: Historical and International Research into Popular Culture to Pursue New Images of Japan
RIHN: Transformation towards Sustainable Futures in Complex Human-Nature Systems in Asia
MINPAKU: Info-Forum Museum for Cultural Resources of the World
Multidisciplinary Collaborative Projects
Change of Local Communities and Reconstruction of Community Cultures after Disasters in Japanese Archipelago
Rethinking Eco-health in Asia
Development of a Field of Comprehensive Bibliographical Studies from an Interdisciplinary Perspective
Network-based Projects
NIHU Area Studies
		 Northeast Asia Modern Middle East South Asia
Japan-related Documents and Artifacts Held Overseas: NIHU International Collaborative Research and Utilization
		 The Archives of the Dutch Factory in Hirado
		 Insights into Japan-related Overseas Artifacts and Documents of the 19th Century in Europe through Research and Use		 Research, Conservation and Utilization of the Marega Collection Preserved in the Vatican Library		 Survey, Study and Use of the Japan-related Documents and Artifacts in North America
		 Coordination between Projects to Make Effective Use of Research Results

54

The NIHU Headquarters and six Inter-University Research Institutes

The four Inter-University Research Institute Corporations

Center for Information and Public Relations (CIP)
CIP consolidates data related to human cultures by gathering information and research results from researchers affiliated with
NIHU, and important documents and materials from the archives of the six institutes. The materials are made available to the
public.
Advanced Collaboration Systems
nihuINT https://int.nihu.jp/?lang=en&
Comprehensive search engine for databases operated by the six NIHU institutes as well as other organizations.
Research Resource Databases and Publications
NIHU Repository
		 Cloud-based NIHU repository giving users comprehensive access to research papers from the six NIHU institutes.
Researcher's Profile

http://nrd.nihu.jp/search?m=home&l=en

		 Comprehensive database containing information on researchers throughout NIHU.
Portal site for Japanese Studies

https://guides.nihu.jp/japan_links

		 English Resource Guide for Japanese Studies and Humanities in Japan.
NIHU Magazine

https://www.nihu.jp/ja/publication/nihu_magazine

		 A bilingual (Japanese and English-language) publication that covers topics such as the latest research trends, results and activities at NIHU.
NIHU Symposiums
NIHU organizes symposiums for the general public in order to share the comprehensive human culture related research resources and results it has
accumulated.
30th: “Rediscovering the Use and Value of Japan-Related Resources Recovered in the West”, Jun 2017
31st: “Ecohealth: Healthy Living and the Environment,” Feb 2018
32nd: “How Transdisciplinary Research Facilitates Informatics and Humanities Research”, Feb 2018
Industry-Academia Collaborations
NIHU collaborates with industry and other partners to give back its fruits of research to society.
		 Joint symposium with Ajinomoto Foundation for Dietary Culture, Jan 2018
		 Joint lecture with Otemachi Academia, Mar 201855

Access
By City Subway
From Kyoto Station, take the Karasuma Line to
Kokusaikaikan Station (the last station), andtransfer to Kyoto Bus.

RIHN

By Kyoto Bus
From Kokusaikaikan Station, take bus No. 40, 50 or 52
to Chikyuken-mae.
RIHN is at the base of the hill on your left.

By Eizan Railway
From Demachiyanagi Station in Kyoto City,
take the Kurama Line.
Get off at Kyoto-Seikadai-mae Station.
RIHN is a 10-minute walk from the station.

RIHN

RIHN Prospectus 2018-2019
Managing Editor: MALLEE, Hein
Designed by OKAZAWA Rina

Front Cover photo:

Back Cover photo:

Women carrying leaves for compost, Bhutan

Fish Pen, Laguna de Bay, Philippines

Photo by Sonam Phuntsho, Jigme Dorji National Park

Photo By TERAMOTO Shun
Flying over RIHN in the autumn sky
Photo by WATANABE Kazuo

56

June 2018