LETTERI NST I T U TE FOR A DVA NCED R ESE A RCHMarch 2022 Vol. 20

SpecialpInterview”The personal is political”– Focusing on society from the perspective of political sociology –Hiroko TAKEDA―――

Research Highlights

Aerosol Formation Processes Missing in the Atmosphere / Shinnosuke ISHIZUKA
Exploring the Connections between Hearing, the Circadian C lock,and Mating in Mosquitoes / Matthew Paul SU
Asymptotic Symmetry in Flat Space and Holography / Sotaro SUGISHITA
Stochastic Approach to Cosmic Inf lation / Yuichiro TADA
Architecture as Historical Evidence: What Byzantine Architecture Tells. / Ryo HIGUCHIHow do Flowering Plants Orchestrate the Growth of theWhole Body for Reproductive Success? / Asuka HIGO
Multiple Zeta Values / Minoru HIROSE
Toward New Theory of Folk Beliefs in Southeast Asia:
How Are Indigenous Beliefs Syncretic with Foreign Religions? / Jie HUANG

20March 2022

WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR
May it be better in all ways than 2021! This must have been the most popular message of greetings worldwide at the
beginning of 2022. The threat of COVID-19 pandemic has not yet passed, and we cannot tell its end amid the recurrent surgeof its new variants globally. But here in Nagoya, we have also a bright prospect; 2022 is the opening year of the new Period for
the Medium-term Objectives for the national universities in Japan. It is our great pleasure that we are going to embark on thisnew era with Dr. Sei-ichi Matsuo, former President of Nagoya University, as the re-elected head of Tokai National Higher
Education and Research System and Dr. Naoshi Sugiyama, who had long been Deputy Director of IAR, as the new President of
Nagoya University (see the previous issue of our Letter for the interview with Dr. Sugiyama). I firmly believe that we canovercome these unprecedented difficulties and to further strengthen the research and educational activities of our university
with their outstanding leadership and intelligent management. I am very excited to know what wonderful things will happen
under this new regime in the near future.
Needless to say, the current pandemic drastically changed our academic life. As we all know, one of the most prominentchanges is the almost total transformation of in-person conferences and meetings into virtual ones. But what exactly is theintrinsic impact of this change for us and how should we evaluate its consequences?
Recently I had an opportunity to read a highly stimulating article, which systematically analyzed the demographics
of participants in the international academic conferences from the viewpoint of social sustainability (Skiles, M., Yang,
E., Reshef, O. et al. Conference demographics and footprint changed by virtual platforms. Nat Sustain (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00823-2). The result may not come to us as a surprise, but the pros and cons of online
events are worth considering. The analysis revealed that the elimination of the travel and cost burdens with the virtual format
resulted in a large increase in attendance in academic events. The participants are more geographically diverse for the same
reason. It also indicates that more and more students and female researchers, particularly, participate in virtual conferences, who
are frequently faced with the decision of choosing between work and family. The virtual conference format is now well received
and helped to shift negative perceptions to more positive views toward this format. Generally, the virtual format can provide an
excellent venue to offer DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Of course, the article does not overlook the limitation of virtual
conferences. Many people feel that networking with breakout rooms is inauthentic and contrived. Although virtual networking
technology has improved considerably, there is a substantial need for further development. Another limitation, that is, timedifference, is also an obvious obstacle for us in Japan to join a meeting held in the late afternoon in Europe.
However, I believe that the most serious problem of virtual conferences is, to put it somewhat ironically, that it is virtualand it is quite foreign to real physical experience. Participating in in-person conferences in remote places has been a real
sensation and adventure in our academic life. It may cost us much in terms of time and money, but it often refreshes our mind
totally and makes it possible to see things in a different light. Furthermore, you encounter several interesting people withdifferent ideas at lunchtime, during coffee breaks, or at midnight after a banquet, whom you may even fall in love with at once. I
am rather skeptical that virtual conferences assume a role that is the same as that of in-person conferences in these aspects.
Anyway, the pandemic certainly gave us a good chance to challenge the conventional idea of conferences and meetings andto make them more diverse in style with the help of ICT. I am most grateful if this new development makes it much easier for us
to join the events of IAR from various remote places all over the world.

Yoshiyuki SUTO
Director, Institute for Advanced Research

LETTERI N S T I T U T E F O R A DVA N C E D R E S E A RC H

CON TEN TS

03

Special interview”The personal is political”– Focusing on society from the perspective of political sociology –Hiroko TAKEDA

09

Research Highlights
Aerosol Formation Processes Missing in the Atmosphere
Shinnosuke ISHIZUKA
Exploring the Connections between Hearing, the Circadian C lock,and Mating in Mosquitoes
Matthew Paul SU
Asymptotic Symmetry in Flat Space and Holography
Sotaro SUGISHITA
Stochastic Approach to Cosmic Inflation
Yuichiro TADA
Architecture as Historical Evidence: What Byzantine Architecture Tells.
Ryo HIGUCHIHow do Flowering Plants Orchestrate the Growth of the Whole Body
for Reproductive Success?
Asuka HIGO
Multiple Zeta Values
Minoru HIROSE
Toward New Theory of Folk Beliefs in Southeast Asia:
How Are Indigenous Beliefs Syncretic with Foreign Religions?
Jie HUANG25

IAR People

33

IAR Information

Director

SUTO, Yoshiyuki

Cover Picture :Interior 3-D model of Hagios Iōannēs (St. John) Chrysostomos in Geraki, Greece,
recorded by photogrammetry. The rights to the depicted monument belong to the
Ministry of Culture and Sports. The Church of Hagios Iōannēs Chrysostomos in Geraki
is within the domain of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia. Hellenic Ministry of
Culture and Sports / Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development.
( Photograph by Ryo Higuchi, YLC assistant professor. See page 17. )20

March 2022

WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR
May it be better in all ways than 2021! This must have been the most popular message of greetings worldwide at the
beginning of 2022. The threat of COVID-19 pandemic has not yet passed, and we cannot tell its end amid the recurrent surgeof its new variants globally. But here in Nagoya, we have also a bright prospect; 2022 is the opening year of the new Period for
the Medium-term Objectives for the national universities in Japan. It is our great pleasure that we are going to embark on thisnew era with Dr. Sei-ichi Matsuo, former President of Nagoya University, as the re-elected head of Tokai National Higher
Education and Research System and Dr. Naoshi Sugiyama, who had long been Deputy Director of IAR, as the new President of
Nagoya University (see the previous issue of our Letter for the interview with Dr. Sugiyama). I firmly believe that we canovercome these unprecedented difficulties and to further strengthen the research and educational activities of our university
with their outstanding leadership and intelligent management. I am very excited to know what wonderful things will happen
under this new regime in the near future.
Needless to say, the current pandemic drastically changed our academic life. As we all know, one of the most prominentchanges is the almost total transformation of in-person conferences and meetings into virtual ones. But what exactly is theintrinsic impact of this change for us and how should we evaluate its consequences?
Recently I had an opportunity to read a highly stimulating article, which systematically analyzed the demographics
of participants in the international academic conferences from the viewpoint of social sustainability (Skiles, M., Yang,
E., Reshef, O. et al. Conference demographics and footprint changed by virtual platforms. Nat Sustain (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00823-2). The result may not come to us as a surprise, but the pros and cons of online
events are worth considering. The analysis revealed that the elimination of the travel and cost burdens with the virtual format
resulted in a large increase in attendance in academic events. The participants are more geographically diverse for the same
reason. It also indicates that more and more students and female researchers, particularly, participate in virtual conferences, who
are frequently faced with the decision of choosing between work and family. The virtual conference format is now well received
and helped to shift negative perceptions to more positive views toward this format. Generally, the virtual format can provide an
excellent venue to offer DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Of course, the article does not overlook the limitation of virtual
conferences. Many people feel that networking with breakout rooms is inauthentic and contrived. Although virtual networking
technology has improved considerably, there is a substantial need for further development. Another limitation, that is, timedifference, is also an obvious obstacle for us in Japan to join a meeting held in the late afternoon in Europe.
However, I believe that the most serious problem of virtual conferences is, to put it somewhat ironically, that it is virtualand it is quite foreign to real physical experience. Participating in in-person conferences in remote places has been a real
sensation and adventure in our academic life. It may cost us much in terms of time and money, but it often refreshes our mind
totally and makes it possible to see things in a different light. Furthermore, you encounter several interesting people withdifferent ideas at lunchtime, during coffee breaks, or at midnight after a banquet, whom you may even fall in love with at once. I
am rather skeptical that virtual conferences assume a role that is the same as that of in-person conferences in these aspects.
Anyway, the pandemic certainly gave us a good chance to challenge the conventional idea of conferences and meetings andto make them more diverse in style with the help of ICT. I am most grateful if this new development makes it much easier for us
to join the events of IAR from various remote places all over the world.

Yoshiyuki SUTO
Director, Institute for Advanced Research

LETTERI N S T I T U T E F O R A DVA N C E D R E S E A RC H

CON TEN TS

03

Special interview”The personal is political”– Focusing on society from the perspective of political sociology –Hiroko TAKEDA

09

Research Highlights
Aerosol Formation Processes Missing in the Atmosphere
Shinnosuke ISHIZUKA
Exploring the Connections between Hearing, the Circadian C lock,and Mating in Mosquitoes
Matthew Paul SU
Asymptotic Symmetry in Flat Space and Holography
Sotaro SUGISHITA
Stochastic Approach to Cosmic Inflation
Yuichiro TADA
Architecture as Historical Evidence: What Byzantine Architecture Tells.
Ryo HIGUCHIHow do Flowering Plants Orchestrate the Growth of the Whole Body
for Reproductive Success?
Asuka HIGO
Multiple Zeta Values
Minoru HIROSE
Toward New Theory of Folk Beliefs in Southeast Asia:
How Are Indigenous Beliefs Syncretic with Foreign Religions?
Jie HUANG25

IAR People

33

IAR Information

Director

SUTO, Yoshiyuki
Cover Picture :Interior 3-D model of Hagios Iōannēs (St. John) Chrysostomos in Geraki, Greece, recorded by photogrammetry.
The rights to the depicted monument belong to the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The Church of Hagios Iōannēs Chrysostomos in Geraki is within the domain of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia.
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports / Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development.
( Photograph by Ryo Higuchi, YLC assistant professor. See page 17. )Special
Interview

HirokoTakedaDr. Takeda is a professor at the Graduate School of Law Department of the Combined Graduate Programin Law and Political Science Core Law and Political Science. She also has been deputy director of Institutefor Advanced Research since January 2019. She is one of the leading researchers in the field of politicalsociology, focusing on gender and family issues. In recent years, she has been actively engaged in researchon political analysis focusing on the discourse and language. Her activities do not stop at the university,and she is also active as a member of the Gender Equality Council of Nagoya City, while contributing amonthly column to the Chunichi Shinbun (Newspaper). She received her doctorate (Social science) from
University of Sheffield in 2002. She designated a Lecturer at Cardiff Japanese Studies Centre, Cardiff
University in 2001, Lecturer at School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield in 2004, Research
Cluster Director ‘Social Changes and Transition in East Asia’, National Institute of Japanese Studies at
White Rose East Asia Centre in 2006, a Project Associate Professor at Komaba Organization for
Educational Excellence, Tokyo University in 2011, and a Project Associate Professor at Graduate Schoolof Arts and Sciences in 2013, before taking on her current positions in 2016.

”The personal is political”‒ Focusing on society from the perspectiveof political sociolog y ‒̶̶ Prof. Takeda , for many years you
h av e b e en r e s e a r c h i ng g en d er i ss u e s ,which are drawing increasing attention insociet y today. Could you tell us about
your research?

Sociolog y for a long time now. In this researcharea, we examine what has not traditionally been
considered as the political by expanding its sphereof implications. Politics conventionally tends to be
associated with elections, legislative procedures,and the like, but I tr y to identif y the political in

TA K E D A : W i th i n th e d i s c i p l i n e o f Po l i ti c a l
S c i e n c e , I h a v e b e e n s p e c i a l i z i n g i n Po litical03 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

various phenomena taking place in society.
In particular, I have been focusing on genderand family issues. I have had doubts about the view

some kind of care er down the line. Since I wasof mainstream political scientists that dismisses

interested in histor y and literature and enjoyedcertain themes as not being relevant to the studies

reading and writing , I thought I could perhaps tryof politics. When I was an underg rad in theto be a journalist later.

Facult y of Law and Political Science of Rikkyo

During my first year at Rikkyo, I happened to

Un iversit y and b e came intere ste d in Po l i ti ca ltake a course in Political S cience. It was about

Science, having and raising children and nurturing

what politics was, what power was, and how theyand educating future generations were consideredworked. In the course, I was taught that power can

to b e outside the p o l itica l rea lm, thoug h the ybe viewed as essentially a physical force that makes

actually do have important political and economic

you do what you don’t want to do. However, in thedimensions, as the term “reproductive politics”

Politica l S ociolog y seminar that I took later, I

suggests. I have felt ever since that my mission is tolearned a different understanding of power thatcounter that view.

human beings shape and modulate their actions as

In th e 1 9 6 0 s , th e s e c o n d-wave f em in i smt h e y c o n s i d e r o t h e r s’ p o s i t i o n s , r e s t r a i n i n gmaintained that “the personal is political.” Moreth ems e l ve s , a n d su b m i tting th ems e l ve s t o th er e c e n t l y, w e h a v e b e e n s e e i n g p o l i t i c s b e i n g

influence of various interactions in society. I found

implicated more and more in people’s decisions

it extremely interesting to study different ways inaround having and raising children. Government

which power manifests in terms of how pe ople

policies implicitly carry specific ideas and images

choose certain actions amid various interrelations.

of what “the family” and “women” should be like.

I read many books, including Escape from

Some women do want to perform such images. So

Freedom by the German social psychologist Ericin re a l i t y, h ow p e o p l e l i ve th e ir l i ve s i s q u i t e

Fromm and The Histor y of Sexuality by Frenchstrongly influenced by politics.

Philosopher Michel Foucault, and discovered aworld I had never known before, and felt deeply

̶̶ Yo u f ir s t enter e d th e Fa c u lt y o f
L a w. Ho w d i d y o u t u r n t o Po l i t i c a lScience?

moved. I went on to read more books, and before I
knew it I realized I was already in my fourth year. I
said to myself, “OK , why not g o on to grad
school?” So I decided to continue on to graduate

TAKEDA: To tell the truth, I initially wanted toschool.

do something completely different. During my lastyear of high school, I began to feel, rather

̶̶ What was your childhood like?

suddenly, that I wanted to go into medical school.
When I told my parents about my wish to change
my course of study, they told me frankly, “You’re agirl. We won’t let you spend an extra year trying to
get into college. If you fail the entrance exam atyour first attempt, you should go to a vocational
training school instead.” Since I wanted to be acollege student, I felt that I had no other choice
but to g o to Rikkyo Un iversit y onr e c o mm en d a ti o n . I c h o s e th e Fa c u l t y o f L aw
be cause I thoug ht that would allow me to g ain

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 04

TAK EDA : My father worked for a T V station,with my British partner, and we decided to moveand his job required us to move often. I had

to the UK tog ether. In the UK , pe ople tend todifficulty forming new relationships in new places

think it is not right for people who are capable ofand felt it much easier to read books alone. So, I

working to stay at home and not work, irrespective

read a lot. I particularly liked children’s histor yo f g e n d e r. I w o n d e r e d w h a t I c o u l d d o a s aen c y c l o p e d i a s b e c aus e I wa s int ere ste d in th e

non-native Eng lish speaker in British societ y. I

different histories of different places and societies.

fig ured that I could do something in the field of

I a l s o enj oy e d wri ting . S o b a s i c a l l y, I a m n ow

Jap a n e s e Stu d i e s , s in c e my streng ths were mydoing what I enjoyed as a child. I also like cooking ,Japanese lang ua g e and my research in Japaneseand I think this is largely because I had to handle

politics.

t h e h o u s e w o r k , i n c l u d i n g c o o k i n g , w h e n my

Quite smoothly, in 1999, I was able to enter

mother was hospitalized for a month when I was ina doctoral course at the University of Sheffield,a n u p p e r e l e m e n t a r y g r a d e . R i g h t n o w, I a mw h i c h h a s Ja p a n e s e S t u d i e s c o u r s e s , w i t h alearning to cook Ita lian dishes from an Ita lianteaching assistant’s post and an exemption fromfriend. I really enjoy learning how people live intuition fees. I taught Japanese to master’s studentscountries I am not ver y familiar with . When I

w h i l e c a r r y i n g o u t my r e s e a r c h . L a t e r, I a l s otravel, I enjoy g oing to local supermarkets andworke d a s an instr uctor at Cardiff Universit y,looking at local foodstuffs.

teaching courses in Japanese society and politics inEnglish. I obtained my doctorate in 2002.

̶̶ You are interested in places that are
ne w to you and how people live there.
And you yourself went to the UK to study
and lived there for 13 years.

̶̶ Being a non-native English speaker,
as you said, didn’t you have any trouble
teaching at a university? Had you thoughtof studying abroad before?

TA K E D A : I o n l y m a d e a f o r m a l d e c i s i o n t o
become a researcher after I had gone to the UK. In

TAK EDA : In Japan, I had been unable to speak

Japan, there is a hierarchy of law faculties. As a

Eng lish at all, but I had always read books anddoctoral student at a private universit y, I knew

a r t i c l e s i n E n g l i s h . In t h e U K , I m a n a g e d t othat my prospects for getting an academic post in

improve my English through my work and otherJapan were limited. Around that time, I had a child

activities, although at first, I sometimes made themistake of using ver y intellectual words that are
not usually use d in daily conversation. As a
graduate student in Japan, I had been seriouslyinterested in British Critical Theory, whereby you
examine the effects of power by analyzing
discourse. I had been thinking about going abroadb e c aus e I wa s n o t s ati s f i e d w i th just stu d y ing
literature in Japanese, but I had ne ver had theopportunity.
I was able to enrich my research by going to
the UK. The French philosopher Michel Foucault
d e v e l o p e d th e c o n c e p t o f “g o v e rnm e nt a l ity,”

05 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Special Interview | Hiroko TA K EDA

a r g u i n g t h a t t h e c o n d u c t o f g o v e r nm e n t h a sexerted an increasing ly strong er impact tod i s c i p l i n e p e o p l e ’s b e h a v i o r s a n d c a r e a b o u tpeople’s health and welfare as we have approachedmodern times. Foucault’s disciples have further
developed this concept and produced a series ofp u b l i c a t i o n s i n E n g l i s h . In Ja p a n , t h e r e w a s
resistance to using the concept of governmentality
in political analysis, but British academia was more
open to the idea of merging different disciplines.
This tolerant environment was beneficial to myresearch.

̶̶ Your research was progressing , andyou had a f ull-time post in the UK . So
why did you return to Japan?
TAKEDA : In the UK, I was teaching within theframework of a Japanese Studies program, whereasof Japanese universities), and the Universit y of

my area of specialization was Political Sociolog y.

Tokyo’s English-medium course in the College ofDiscussing politics and how power works with

Arts and Sciences (PEAK) made an open call forstudents who were there basically because the yl im ite d-term instr uctors in S o cia l S ciences of

loved Japan or were interested in things JapaneseJa p a n . I a p p l i e d a n d g o t a p o s t a s a p r o j e c t

d i d n o t g o d own ver y we l l , in th e en d . It wa sa sso ciate professor for a p erio d of thre e years

difficult to strike a balance between what I wanted

starting from 2011. Initia lly I was planning toto do and what the students were seeking . I felt

return to the U K af ter my app ointment, but Ithat I needed to solidly develop my research in mymissed my timing because it had become harder toown domain.

find an academic post in the UK due to the

In addition, young students who had nevercountry’s austerity policy. Then, I received an offerb e en to Japan of ten lo oke d to me a s a kind off r o m Na g o y a Un i v e r s i t y a n d w a s a p p o i n t e dspokesperson for Japan, but as I was away from

Professor at the Graduate School of Law in 2016.

Japan from the late 1990s throug h the 2000s, I
wasn’t able to explain what had happened in Japan
during that period, such as the random killing s,
nor did I understand the backg rounds to those
events very well, when my students asked me about̶̶ H o w d o y o u f i n d N a g o y a
Un i v e r s i t y ? D o y o u f i n d t h a t y o u r
research and educational activities areaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

them. I became less and less confident and felt that
I had to gain a deeper understanding of Japanese

TAK EDA : Nagoya University is a little like thesociety myself.

Un i v e r s i t y o f S h e f f i e l d , i n tha t b o th a r e f u l l

At that time, the Min istr y of Education,

universities with strong science departments. Both

Culture, Sports, Science and Technolog y launchedhave Nobel laureates in science, so the Humanities

the Global 30 Project (aimed at the internationalizationand S o cia l S cience f acu lties and students fe elMarch 2022 | IAR LETTER | 06

somewhat small at both universities. At Nagoya,such students ? For academ ic research at a

many students come from the three prefectures ofuniversit y, it is better to have a wider rang e of

the Tokai region, and the distinction between thep o ssibil ities . Internationa l students andformer Owari and Mikawa provinces within Aichi

researchers with diverse backgrounds canPrefecture seems like a big deal to them, which

definitely be the university’s assets.

those of us coming from outside the region havesome difficulty grasping. But talking with students
is quite interesting since there is so much we canteach and offer one another, filling in the gaps in
our knowledge.

̶̶ A t N a g o y a U n i v e r s i t y , t h eappointment of female researchers is inprogress. What do you think are theremaining challenges to be tackled?

S i n c e I r e t u r n e d t o Ja p a n , I h a v e b e e n
d e ve l o p ing my re s e a rc h in a n e w d ire c ti o n by

TA K EDA : Not only at universities but a lso ina na l y z i n g Br i ti s h p o l i ti c s u s i n g th e Po l i ti c a lgovernmental organizations and other places, there

Science and Political Sociolog y theories. So I am

is a tendency for fully qualified women to not grab

rather fr ustrate d by the fact that I can’t ea sily

opportunities for promotion or to hesitate to do

travel to the UK now. I did return to obser ve thes o . Wo m e n t e n d t o s e t t h e b a r v e r y h i g h f o r

G en er a l El e c ti o n in 2 0 1 9 , w h i c h g ave m e th ethemselves. Many such women are hig hly

impression that the political situation has been

competent and conscientious about their work. So

deteriorating fast. Moreover, because of the time

much so that they pass up promotion because moredifference, I have not been able to fully participate

responsibilities at work would keep them fromin academic conferences, especially sessions heldf u l f i l l ing th e ir f am i l y d uti e s in a s ati s f a c t o r yduring night hours Japanese time. The breadth ofmanner. Such diligence is admirable, but I think

discussions I can have has considerably narrowed.

they should also learn to be a little bolder. In thisSo I find my research activities seriously affected.

re g ard , I tr y t o ta l k t o my stu d ents a b o ut th e

My e d u c a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s a r e e q u a l l ygender gap they are likely to encounter especiallyseriously affected. At Nagoya, the English-medium

up o n f in i s h ing c o l l e g e , a n d h ow to o verc o m ecourse of the School of Law usually has 6-9

g ender-related obstacles. Personally, I am moreinternational students each year. This year, two

inclined to stay at home and read books, but I try

students have left the program. Newly enrolled

not to turn down requests and invitations to speak

stu d ents have n o t b e en a b l e t o c o m e t o Jap a non these subjects, such as one for an IAR Letter

because the g overnment does not issue visas tointer view, because the training and promotion ofself-financed foreign students. It is difficult for

female researchers is an important challenge facing

students to remain motivated when they only have

Nagoya University as well.

online classes. I really wish that the government

I actively tr y to talk about gender issues onwould issue visas to students who are forma lly

all sorts of occasions. Ruth Davidson, who was thea c c e p t e d b y a u n i v e r s i t y. O u r i n t e r n a t i o n a l

Leader of the Scottish Conser vative Party until

students have chosen Na g oya from among the2019, wrote in her autobiography that when John

many universities available. They feel attached to

Major was appointed Prime Minister following

Na g oy a a n d wa nt t o st u d y Jap a n e s e , Jap a n e s eMarg aret Thatcher ’s resignation, Davidson had

politics and other subjects. In the future, they area ske d if a man cou ld a lso b e Prime Min ister. I

likely to become allies and supporters of Japan.

think this is a symbolic story. Usually, you would

What kind of policy is it to deliberately frustrate

think the other way around.

07 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Special Interview | Hiroko TA K EDA

Na g oya Un i ver s i t y s e ems d e term in e d toincrease the number of female researchers, andParty strategically uses deception to win the 2019
General Election.

there are many other things that should be done.
For example, we must reexamine the way we work.
How should we view researchers who are dedicated̶̶ W h a t i s y o ur m e s s a g e t o y o un g
researchers?

to their research and who return to work to resume
their research before the end of their childcare

TAKEDA: One thing I can say is that even if you

leave, entrusting their children to day care ? We

run up against a wall here and there, you often end

must find a solution that enables researchers to

up learning to perform better research after

perform both their parenting and research duties

repeated trial and error. It is better to persevere

to the full. If a female researcher must work like abecause failures are natural. If you remain flexible

man to make significant research achievements,and look at things from a different angle, failuresthat would drive her into a corner. Therefore, in

can turn out to be something more positive. There

addition to simply increasing the number of female

are many opportunities and places where you canresearchers, it is also necessary to make substantial

turn your uniqueness to your advantage. I am herechanges in the ways researchers work.

today because the work I have done elsewhere has
been recognized. I encourage young researchers to̶̶ What would you like to do in yourfuture research?

put themselves in a new environment if they everg e t th e o p p o r t un i t y, m o v i n g o ut s i d e o f th e i rfamiliar settings and acquiring multiple

TAKEDA: There is so much I want to do. There isperspectives.

sti l l a p er s i st ent g en d er d i sp a ri t y d e sp i t e th epolitics of g ender equalit y and institutional
reforms since the 1990s. Our society, founded on
the principle of gender-equal opportunities, has so
far treated childbirth and parenting as things thatare outside the capitalist system. But I think theymust b e vie we d a s b eing f u l ly integ rate d . The
problem of the declining birthrate also lies there.
The pressure placed on women to work isincreasingly growing , but childcare responsibilities
are also still dumped on women in many cases. It is
becoming unrealistic to expect society to continue
like this. I would like to identify the real problems
and demonstrate what kind of politics and policies
should be practiced in the future to realize a living
environment in which both women and men aree c o n o m i c a l l y s e c ure a n d enj oy th e ir e ver y d ay
f a m i l y l i ve s . In a d d i ti o n , I wo u l d a l s o l i ke toconduct political analysis with a focus on discourse
and words, in response to the current politicaldevelopment in which the British Conser vative

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 08

Shinnosuke ISHIZUKA

Research Highlights _ 01

Aerosol Formation Processes Missingin the Atmospheredegradation of atmospheric aerosols, the molecular-level mechanism is not
fully elucidated. I investigated the reactive uptake of various organic gases toacidic (pH < 4) water microjets by direct detection of ionic intermediates
using spray ionization mass spectrometry (Fig. 2).

molecules. How are the inhomogeneous structures generated? How do thephase states affect chemical reactions at the air–solution interface? I tackle
these questions by using the optical trapping technique.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3: A schematic illustrating optical trapping of single aerosol byfocusing laser light. (a) Optical forces dragging the particle to the focus
center arises from (b) refractions at interfaces.

Figure 2: A scheme illustrating online detection of reaction intermediates
forming at the air-water interface of microjets. The microjets are exposed toreactant gases, and the ionic products re-emitted into the gas phase aredetected by quadrupole mass spectrometry (Q-MS).

Figure 1: Optical system for single submicrometer aerosol trapping at Signorell Lab at ETH Zurich, Switzerland.

Shinnosuke ISHIZUKADesignated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: ishizuka.shinnosuke@i.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jpa

ano to submicrometer-sized aerosols ubiquitous in Earth’ s atmosphere impact the climate system by light absorption and scattering and promote cloud

N formation. Recent experiments showed anomalous chemical reactivity of microdroplets associated with reactions at the air–solution interface in contrast tothat of the bulk. The specific chemistry of microdroplets that would be critical to size, number density, chemical composition, phase, and shape remains elusive. I
study tiny characters of atmospheric aerosols leading to different material properties from the bulk and chemical reactions at the interfaces by using and by
developing novel experiments.

BACKGROUND
Nano to submicrometer liquid / solid phase aerosols in the atmosphereplay central roles in the climate system. A large fraction of global
submicrometer aerosol is organic aerosol formed from biogenic andanthropogenic organic gases. They are the key elements acting as seeds forcloud droplet formation. However, the global budget of organic aerosols isunderpredicted in atmospheric models, implying missing processes that
promote the formation of organic aerosols. Multiphase reactions, including

09 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

reactive uptake of organic molecules onto surfaces, subsequent reactions at
the air-solution interface, and inhomogeneous bulk medium, are thecandidates.
Specific Oligomerization of Biogenic Gases at the Air-Water Interface
Chemical species at the boundary between the gas and liquid phases react
differently from bulk. Various reactions are accelerated, involving reactions
that are not available in the bulk phase. Although the air-water interface
would act as a unique reaction medium for nucleation, growth, andA gaseous unsaturated hydrocarbon impinging to mildly acidic water
surfaces is easily protonated by less hydrated hydronium ions H3O+(H2O)n≤4,
which can initiate cationic chain reactions.
R (g) + H3O+ (int) → RH+ (int) + H2O (int) (R1)
The cationic interme diates then react with neutra l unsaturate d
hy d r o c a r b o n s r e p e a t e d l y t o f o rm o l i g o m e r s v i a th e f o l l o w i n gchain-propagation reaction.
RnH+ (int) + R (g) → Rn+1H+ (int)(R2)
Surprisingly, the microjet experiments revealed that isoprene (C5H8) and
β-pinene (C10H16), major atmospheric gases emitted from plants, are very
efficient monomers for oligomerization at the air-water interface.1–4 This is
in contrast with well-known polymerization chemistry in bulk organic
solutions. The product MS signals suggested that partial water coordination
facilitates the chain-propagation reactions (R2) of the atmospheric gases at
the air-water interface.4 The partial hydration with water molecules at the
air-water interface may let the reactions proceed differently from the aqueous
and the gas phases. The resulting high molecular weight species have lower
vapor pressures; they partition into particle liquid/solid phases, contributing
to the formation and growth of organic aerosol. We propose the mechanism
as unrecognized pathways for organic aerosol formation.
Size-Dependent Structures of Atmospheric Aerosols The spray ionization
experiments revealed that the hydration state at the air–solution interface
is the key, indicating that chemical reactions of aerosols are sensitive totheir phases. Atmospheric aerosols are usually composed of mixtures ofvarious org an ics and inorg an ic sa lts . R e c ent advanc es g iven byc r y o - e l e c tr o n m i c r o s c o p y s h o w e d t ha t s u c h m i x t ur e s i n c l u d e
in homo g ene ous str uctures dep end ing on size.5 Howe ver, in anexperimental system where a large number of particles are dispersed, theheterogeneity of each particle and size-dependent phenomena are obscured
because of the inevitable averaging effect.
Optical trapping is one of the most rigorous techniques for single particle
manipulation. It offers investigations of levitated submicron to a
micrometer-sized single particle that is relevant to the atmosphere (Fig. 3). A
levitated particle is dragged to the focus center by optical pressures leading tostable trapping of a single aerosol. The optical trapping experiment
combined with a microscopic system enables us to follow size changes, phasetransition, and chemical reactions of a submicrometer particle in response to
the changes in temperature, humidity, and interactions with gaseous

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Prof. Michihiro Mochida (Nagoya Univ.), Dr. Shinichi Enami (National
Institute for Environmental Sciences), and Prof. Ruth Signorell (ETH Zurich) for
supporting the research.

References[1] Ishizuka, S.; Matsugi, A.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Chain-Propagation, Chain-Transfer,and Hydride-Abstraction by Cyclic Carbocations on Water Surfaces. Phys. Chem. Chem.
Phys. 2018, 20 (39), 25256–25267. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP04993A.
[2] Ishizuka, S.; Fujii, T.; Matsugi, A.; Sakamoto, Y.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Controlling
Factors of Oligomerization at the Water Surface: Why Is Isoprene Such a Unique VOC?
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2018, 20 (22), 15400–15410. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp01551a.
[3] Ishizuka, S.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Acid-Catalyzed Oligomerization at the Air-Water
Interface Modified by Competitive Adsorption of Surfactants. J. Phys. Chem. C 2019,
123 (35), 21662–21669. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b07380.
[4] Ishizuka, S.; Matsugi, A.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Interfacial Water Mediates
Oligomerization Pathways of Monoterpene Carbocations. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03110.
[5] Kucinski, T. M.; Dawson, J. N.; Freedman, M. A. Size-Dependent Liquid-Liquid
Phase Separation in Atmospherically Relevant Complex Systems. J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
2019, 10 (21), 6915–6920. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02532.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 10

Shinnosuke ISHIZUKA
degradation of atmospheric aerosols, the molecular-level mechanism is not
fully elucidated. I investigated the reactive uptake of various organic gases toacidic (pH < 4) water microjets by direct detection of ionic intermediates
using spray ionization mass spectrometry (Fig. 2).

molecules. How are the inhomogeneous structures generated? How do thephase states affect chemical reactions at the air–solution interface? I tackle
these questions by using the optical trapping technique.

(a)

(b)

Figure 3: A schematic illustrating optical trapping of single aerosol byfocusing laser light. (a) Optical forces dragging the particle to the focus
center arises from (b) refractions at interfaces.

Figure 2: A scheme illustrating online detection of reaction intermediates
forming at the air-water interface of microjets. The microjets are exposed toreactant gases, and the ionic products re-emitted into the gas phase aredetected by quadrupole mass spectrometry (Q-MS).

A gaseous unsaturated hydrocarbon impinging to mildly acidic water
surfaces is easily protonated by less hydrated hydronium ions H3O+(H2O)n≤4,
which can initiate cationic chain reactions.
R (g) + H3O+ (int) → RH+ (int) + H2O (int) (R1)
The cationic interme diates then react with neutra l unsaturate d
hy d r o c a r b o n s r e p e a t e d l y t o f o rm o l i g o m e r s v i a th e f o l l o w i n gchain-propagation reaction.
RnH+ (int) + R (g) → Rn+1H+ (int)(R2)
Surprisingly, the microjet experiments revealed that isoprene (C5H8) and
β-pinene (C10H16), major atmospheric gases emitted from plants, are very
efficient monomers for oligomerization at the air-water interface.1–4 This is
in contrast with well-known polymerization chemistry in bulk organic
solutions. The product MS signals suggested that partial water coordination
facilitates the chain-propagation reactions (R2) of the atmospheric gases at
the air-water interface.4 The partial hydration with water molecules at the
air-water interface may let the reactions proceed differently from the aqueous
and the gas phases. The resulting high molecular weight species have lower
vapor pressures; they partition into particle liquid/solid phases, contributing
to the formation and growth of organic aerosol. We propose the mechanism
as unrecognized pathways for organic aerosol formation.
Size-Dependent Structures of Atmospheric Aerosols The spray ionization
experiments revealed that the hydration state at the air–solution interface
is the key, indicating that chemical reactions of aerosols are sensitive totheir phases. Atmospheric aerosols are usually composed of mixtures ofvarious org an ics and inorg an ic sa lts . R e cent advances g iven byc r y o - e l e c tr o n m i c r o s c o p y s h o w e d t ha t s u c h m i x t ur e s i n c l u d e
in homo g ene ous str uctures dep end ing on size.5 Howe ver, in anexperimental system where a large number of particles are dispersed, theheterogeneity of each particle and size-dependent phenomena are obscured
because of the inevitable averaging effect.
Optical trapping is one of the most rigorous techniques for single particle
manipulation. It offers investigations of levitated submicron to a
micrometer-sized single particle that is relevant to the atmosphere (Fig. 3). A
levitated particle is dragged to the focus center by optical pressures leading tostable trapping of a single aerosol. The optical trapping experiment
combined with a microscopic system enables us to follow size changes, phasetransition, and chemical reactions of a submicrometer particle in response to
the changes in temperature, humidity, and interactions with gaseous

Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Prof. Michihiro Mochida (Nagoya Univ.), Dr. Shinichi Enami (National
Institute for Environmental Sciences), and Prof. Ruth Signorell (ETH Zurich) for
supporting the research.

References[1] Ishizuka, S.; Matsugi, A.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Chain-Propagation, Chain-Transfer,and Hydride-Abstraction by Cyclic Carbocations on Water Surfaces. Phys. Chem. Chem.
Phys. 2018, 20 (39), 25256–25267. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CP04993A.
[2] Ishizuka, S.; Fujii, T.; Matsugi, A.; Sakamoto, Y.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Controlling
Factors of Oligomerization at the Water Surface: Why Is Isoprene Such a Unique VOC?
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2018, 20 (22), 15400–15410. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8cp01551a.
[3] Ishizuka, S.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Acid-Catalyzed Oligomerization at the Air-Water
Interface Modified by Competitive Adsorption of Surfactants. J. Phys. Chem. C 2019,
123 (35), 21662–21669. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b07380.
[4] Ishizuka, S.; Matsugi, A.; Hama, T.; Enami, S. Interfacial Water Mediates
Oligomerization Pathways of Monoterpene Carbocations. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b03110.
[5] Kucinski, T. M.; Dawson, J. N.; Freedman, M. A. Size-Dependent Liquid-Liquid
Phase Separation in Atmospherically Relevant Complex Systems. J. Phys. Chem. Lett.
2019, 10 (21), 6915–6920. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02532.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 10

Research Highlights _ 02

Exploring the Connections between Hearing,
the Circadian Clock, and Mating in Mosquitoes

Figure 1: Mosquito mating occurs within large groups known as swarms which form only at certain locations and times of day (particularly sunset); the left image shows an idealswarming location. Male mosquitoes in a swarm can be attracted to speakers playing the sounds of flying females (known as sound lures), rather than to actual females, as in theright image. This attraction can be exploited for mosquito control.

Matthew Paul SU
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Science / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: su.matthew.paul@h.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

ecent years have seen a rapid increase in viral infections transmitted by the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti, with around 50% of the world’ s population
now at risk from diseases spread by this mosquito species. Previous methods of vector control have proven inadequate, making new methods with novel
targets desperately needed. Aedes aegypti mating represents one such target as it is a highly conserved behavior involving both sexes. However, there remain large
gaps in our understanding of mating which must be addressed before effective interventions can be tested. This is especially true with regards to hearing, whichmale mosquitoes rely on to locate conspecific females. My research therefore focuses on elucidating the molecular and neuronal bases of mosquito hearing
behaviors. I am especially interested in the influence of the circadian clock on mosquito hearing, and thus mating.

R

INTRODUCTION
When female mosquitoes bite humans to obtain a blood meal, they cantransmit deadly pathogens such as the dengue and Zika viruses. Over half of
the world’s population is now at risk of infection by these viruses, making
them a significant public health concern1. The enormous increase in theat-risk population in the past few decades has been driven by the global spreadof the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti (A. aegypti) which acts as the
major disease vector.
One novel method of controlling A. aegypti mosquitoes is by exploiting
the male attraction to the sound of a flying female2 . This attraction is so
powerful that male mosquitoes are drawn to speakers playing female flighttones, where they can be trapped and removed from the mating population(Figure 1 right). However, preliminary field tests of sound-based traps havelargely failed to trap large numbers of mosquitoes2. In order to enhance the

11 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

effectiveness of these traps, our knowledge of the fundamental bases ofmosquito hearing systems and behaviors needs to be drastically improved. In
particular, males show attraction to sound only within small time periods eachday at dawn and dusk (Figure 1 left), suggesting a circadian influence onmosquito hearing, and thus mating3.

MOSQUITOES HAVE POWERFUL, SENSITIVE EARSMosquito ears have two components; a flagellum, which protrudes fromthe head, and a Johnston’s organ ( JO), which is attached to the base of theflagellum. The mosquito flagellum is covered in fine hairs which increase its
surface area, and thus sensitivity to mechanical stimuli such as sound.
Movement of the flagellum leads to the opening of ion channels within theJO, which is the site of auditory mechanotransduction, making the JO
therefore similar to the human cochlear.

Matthew Paul SU
The mosquito ear is one of the most complex auditory systems in theinsect kingdom2. Not only does the JO contain many thousands of neurons(over 20 times more than the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster), the mosquito
ear also boasts a system of auditory efferents which connects the brain to theear directly3. Mosquitoes are the only insect species known so far to have sucha system, which allows for modulation of hearing function via release of
neuromodulators such as octopamine or GABA.
Although both males and females share this basic ear structure, there arestill significant differences between the sexes in terms of both morphology(Figure 2) and function. For example, the male flagellum has many more hairs
than the female equivalent and vibrates at a distinct frequency. Furthermore,
the male JO contains around 15000 neurons as compared to the 7000
neurons housed in the female JO; these neurons also respond to different
frequencies of sound. Significant differences in anatomy have also been
identified between distinct mosquito species3.

Despite the central importance of the circadian clock, Ae. aegypti based
research has been largely limited to dsRNAi knockdown of clock genes due toa lack of genetic tools. These restrictions are gradually being lifted however as
mosquito mutant generation becomes increasingly easier. This has enabled
not only research into the effect of individual clock components on mosquito
behavior, but also identification of key differences between the mosquito
clock and that of other insects. These differences, alongside significant
differences in behavior, mean that mosquito circadian research can only
reliably been conducted using mosquitoes rather than other model organisms(such as Drosophila melanogaster).

Figure 3: Potential connections between mosquito ears, circadian clocks andmating. Interfering with any one component could have significant
influences on the other components.
Figure 2: Male and female mosquito ears show clear evidence of sexual
dimorphisms in both components: the male flagellum is covered with morehairs, and the male Johnston’ s organ (JO) contains almost twice the numberof neurons as the female JO.

Beyond sexual dimorphisms in ear anatomy, mosquitoes also
demonstrate dimorphisms in hearing behaviors. Whilst female Ae. aegypti
appear to show no clear hearing behaviors, as mentioned above malemosquitoes are strongly attracted to the sound of flying females 2 . This
phonotactic attraction to sound is a key element of mosquito mating. In thewild however mosquitoes do not mate in lone pairs but instead in large
groups, adding layers of complexity to this phenomenon.

MOSQUITO MATING OCCURS WITHIN
MALE-DOMINATED GROUPS KNOWN AS SWARMS
Mosquito mating occurs mainly within male-dominated groups known
as swarms. Males then locate females which approach the edge of theseswarms using hearing. This is possible because male and female flight tones
are distinct, with the male flight tone frequency at least 200Hz higher than
the females. Thus, although the vast majority of swarming mosquitoes are
male, individual males are able to easily distinguish between the sexes.
Mosquito swarms form only at highly specific times of day (dawn anddusk). This swarming behavior is therefore highly circadian in nature. Given
that male phonotaxis occurs within these swarms, male hearing may also havea circadian basis. Recent research has also suggested a direct circadian clock
influence on hearing function in other animals4 . It is currently unknown
however which components of the molecular circadian clock could influenceswarm formation or hearing in Ae. aeg ypti. Without understanding themolecular basis of the mosquito circadian clock, it will not be possible toeffectively disrupt clock function to interfere with mating behaviors.

THE MOSQUITO CIRCADIAN CLOCK HAS A
MOLECULAR BASIS SIMILAR TO, BUT DISTINCT FROM,OTHER INSECTS
The core mosquito molecular clock consists of two heterodimers;
Clock-Cycle (CLK-CYC) and Period-Timeless (PER-TIM). This system issimilar to other insect clocks, with these dimers forming a negative feedback
loop. The rhythmic cycling of core clock components regulates the expression
patterns of many other genes which influence the majority of essential
mosquito behaviors.

SUMMARY AND FUTURE WORK
Mosquito ears and circadian clocks are highly promising targets fornovel vector control tools. Only by exploring the underlying connections
between the clock, hearing and mating however will targeted disruptions bepossible (Figure 3). We are currently working to investigate these connections
using a combination of molecular and behavioral analyses. Using
CRISPR/cas9, we are generating novel Ae. aeg ypti gene KO mutants tofacilitate explorations into the molecular and genetic bases of core mosquito
hearing and clock-related behaviors. At the same time, we currently testing theeffect of clock-targeting compounds on circadian behaviors, and comparing
the results of pharmacological and genetic interventions. We intend to trial
promising inter ventions in semi-field conditions with international
collaborators in the future to test the feasibility of application outside of a lab
environment.

Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Prof Azusa Kamikouchi for her constant support, as well as mycollaborators Prof Joerg Albert and Dr Chun-Hong Chen, and my fellow lab members
Lee Tai-Ting, Loh YuMin and Xu YiFeng.

References[1] Messina J.P., Brady O.J., Golding N. et al. The current and future global distribution
and population at risk of dengue. Nature Microbiology 4, 1508–1515 (2019).
[2] Andres M., Su M.P., Albert J.T. and Cator L.J. Buzzkill: targeting the mosquito
auditory system. Current Opinion in Insect Science 40, 11-17 (2019)[3] Su M.P., Andres M., Boyd-Gibbons N. et al. Sex and species specific hearing
mechanisms in mosquito flagellar ears. Nature Communications 9, 3911 (2018).
[4] Basinou V., Park J.S., Cederroth C.R. and Canlon B. Circadian regulation ofauditory function. Hearing Research 347, 47-55 (2017).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 12

Research Highlights _ 03

Asymptotic Symmetry in Flat Spaceand Holography

Figure 1: Picture of a blackboard after a discussion on quantum gravity. Discussions using mathematical expressions are a fundamental method for developing research intheoretical physics.

Sotaro SUGISHITA
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Science / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: sugishita.sotaro.r6@f.mail.nagoya-u.ac.jp

gravitational theory provides a theoretical explanation for the mystery of how our universe begins. The theory describing our universe is still underQ uantumconstruction. Holography is the hypothesis that a quantum spacetime emerges like a hologram from a low-dimensional spacetime. I am working on theholography from various points of view to construct the theory of quantum gravity. In particular, I would like to understand the holography of flat spacetime withthe help of asymptotic symmetry.

QUANTUM GRAVITY
One of the long-standing issues in theoretical physics is constructing atheory of quantum gravity describing our universe. Physical phenomena
occurring on a microscopic scale can be well described in the framework ofquantum theory. On the other hand, macroscopic gravitational phenomena
can be explained by Einstein’s general theory of relativity. In general relativity,
the dynamics of spacetime itself are the object of the theory, and gravity isrealized as spacetime changes. Hence quantum gravity should be a quantum
theory of spacetime. Studies suggest the universe in the far past was so smallthat the quantum effects of spacetime could not be ignored. We need a theoryof quantum gravity to explain the physical phenomena in such a microscopic

13 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

universe. The theory of quantum gravity could provide a theoreticalexplanation for the mystery of how our universe begins. Quantum gravity isalso necessary to describe the physics of black holes in a consistent manner.

HOLOGRAPHY
Holography is an amazing idea of quantum spacetime. It is a hypothesisthat a fluctuating spacetime emerges like a hologram from a low-dimensional
spacetime where gravity does not exist. Since there is no spacetime fluctuationin this low-dimensional spacetime, the framework of ordinary quantum
theory can be used. Therefore, this hypothesis gives us a way to formulate
theories of quantum gravity. The mechanism of this hypothesis and the extent

Sotaro SUGISHITA
to which we can apply it are not well understood. I am investigating thisholographic hypothesis from various points of view, aiming to constructquantum gravity theory.

AdS/CFTThe anti-de Sitter (AdS)/conformal field theory (CFT) correspondence
is an example of the holographic conjecture. It conjectures that a quantum
theory of gravity on a spacetime with negative dark energy called the AdS
spacetime corresponds to a quantum field theory called CFT. Since
observations suggest that the dark energy in our universe is not negative, the
AdS spacetime would be a theoretical virtual spacetime. Although it is a toy
model of quantum gravity, the AdS/CFT correspondence is studied widely togain insight into quantum gravity. I also wrote some papers related to
AdS/CFT [1, 2, 3].

ASYMPTOTICALLY FLAT SPACETIME
Whether holography is valid in spacetimes other than the AdS
spacetime is unclear. Recently, progress has been made on holography inasymptotically flat spacetime. According to Einstein’s equation, the presenceof matter such as stars and black holes causes the deformation of spacetimearound them. However, if you get far enough away from the star, thespacetime is almost flat. An asymptotically flat spacetime represents such asituation. There is a huge symmetry hidden in gravitational theory on
spacetime. Symmetry has an interesting physical interpretation and might bea key to the holographic description of gravity on asymptotically flat space(see Figure 2).

SYMMETRY
In modern physics, elementary particles and gravity are well described in
the framework of field theories. Symmetry is an important guiding principle
in the construction of models in terms of field theories. If a theory is invariant
under a transformation of the dynamical variables, we say that the theory has
the symmetry of the transformation. There is a conservation law associatedwith symmetry (Noether’s theorem). A conservation law means that there is aconserved quantity that always takes the same value under the time evolutionof the universe. An example of a conserved quantity is the total electric chargeof the universe. In this world, there are electrically charged objects such as
electrons and protons (electrons have a negative charge, protons have apositive one). The sum of these charges in the universe is thought to remain
the same at all times. General relativity is a field theory of spacetime
dynamics. Its guiding principle is symmetry under general coordinatetransformations, which states that physics is invariant under transformationsof the coordinates used to describe spacetime. In addition, the standard
model, which is a field theory describing elementary particles, has a symmetry
under transformations called gauge transformations (general coordinatetransformations are also a kind of gauge transformations). Although gauge
symmetries are important to construct theories, most are not true symmetries
because they are simply redundancies in the theoretical descriptions. We
cannot observe the conserved charge associated with gauge symmetry. A truesymmetry in physics is one in which the associated conserved quantities areobservable. CFT have a special symmetry called conformal symmetry, which
is a true symmetry. This symmetry makes the analysis of the CFT relatively
easy compared to other field theories. The gravitational theory on the AdS
spacetime has a true symmetry, called the asymptotic symmetry. Moreover,this symmetry has the same algebraic structure as the conformal symmetry
exactly. This miraculous coincidence of the symmetry is one of the evidenceof the AdS/CFT correspondence.

ASYMPTOTIC SYMMETRY ON FLAT SPACETIME
ILet us return to asymptotically flat spacetime. The gravitational theory
on asymptotically flat spacetime also has a true asymptotic symmetry. If a
low-dimensional theory has this symmetry, it is a candidate for a holographic
description of the gravitational theory. Thus, it is natural to investigate thisFigure 2: Penrose diagram of asymptotically flat spacetime. Penrose
diagrams, named after Roger Penrose, are useful to illustrate the causal
structure of four-dimensional spacetime by a two-dimensional figure. The
black diamond represents the asymptotic boundary of spacetime. The
gravitational theory might be described only by degrees of freedom on the
diamond.

symmetry. As mentioned above, if there is symmetry, there is a conservation
law associated with it. We have shown that the conservation law associatedwith the asymptotic symmetry in the electromagnetism on flat spacetimes
corresponds to the memory effect [4]. The electromagnetic memory effectrelates the electromagnetic wave associated with a scattering of charged
particles to the configuration of the charged particles before and after the
scattering. Although this effect has not yet been observed, it can be easilyd er i v e d f r o m Ma x w e l l’s th e o r y, th e f un d a m enta l e q ua ti o n s o felectromagnetism. If we observe the memory effect in the future, we can saythat asymptotic symmetry is an experimentally established concept. The
asymptotic symmetry also imposes restrictions on the phenomenon ofparticle scattering [5, 6]. The scattering of elementary particles is formulatedusing the S-matrix. At first sight, the S-matrix appears to be not well-defined
because of the problem of the infinite volume of flat spacetime. However, thisis fake. If we correctly take the effect of the asymptotic symmetry into
account, the problem of the infinite volume is resolved. Thus, asymptotic
symmetry is an important concept in holography and in various aspects ofquantum field theories. We hope that further investigation of the asymptotic
symmetry will lead to insights into holography on flat spacetime.

Acknowledgements
The author thanks all his collaborators. He also thanks Dr. Yuki Sato for the discussion
shown in Figure 1.

References[1] S. Sugishita, “Entanglement entropy for free scalar fields in AdS,” JHEP 1609, 128(2016) [arXiv:1608.00305 [hep-th]].
[2] K. Hashimoto, N. Iizuka and S. Sugishita, “Time evolution of complexity in Abeliangauge theories,” Phys. Rev. D 96, no. 12, 126001 (2017) [arXiv:1707.03840 [hep-th]].
[3] D. Carmi, S. Chapman, H. Marrochio, R. C. Myers and S. Sugishita, “On the timedependence of holographic complexity,” JHEP 1711, 188 (2017) [arXiv:1709.10184[hep-th]].
[4] H. Hirai and S. Sugishita, “Conservation laws from asymptotic symmetry andsubleading charges in QED,” JHEP 1807, 122 (2018) [arXiv:1805.05651 [hep-th]].
[5] H. Hirai and S. Sugishita, “Dressed states from gauge invariance,” JHEP 1906, 023(2019) [arXiv:1901.09935 [hep-th]].
[6] H. Hirai and S. Sugishita, “IR finite S-matrix by gauge invariant dressed states,”
JHEP 02 (2021) 025 [arXiv: 2009.11716 [hep-th]].

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 14

Research Highlights _ 04

Stochastic Approach to Cosmic Inflation

Figure 1: The dynamics of the cosmic inflation can be understood as correlated stochastic processes and analyzed using stochastic calculus techniques.

Yuichiro TADA
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Physics / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: tada.yuichiro@e.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

e are working on the so-called stochastic approach to cosmic inflation. Inflation is the accelerated expansion of the early universe, and it produces the initial

W density fluctuations causing the current cosmological structures such as stars, galaxies, etc. In the stochastic approach, we treat inflation as a random process
to investigate these initial density fluctuations. We formulate the algorithm for the initial density fluctuations as differences in the duration of inflation in thestochastic formalism. We also reformulate the stochastic approach itself so the equation of motion can be written in a covariant way.

INTRODUCTION

STOCHASTIC INFLATIONIn the standard cosmological scenario, our universe is thought toundergo an accelerated expansion phase called inflation at the beginning of its
history. One of the most important roles of inflation is to generate initial
density fluctuations in the universe. Once the initial density fluctuations are
realized, dense regions can attract surrounding matters by gravitation andcause stars and galaxies, or otherwise our universe would have an empty
structure today. Inversely speaking, precise measurements of the current
cosmic structure enable us to trace back to the detailed inflation mechanism.
Also, we must precisely compute the produced initial density fluctuations ineach possible inflation theory on the theoretical side.

Why can inflation generate the initial density fluctuations? It is
understood as follows. Not only during inflation, quantum mechanics
suggests the existence of tiny fluctuations on very micro scales, called
quantum zero-point fluctuations. They are the superposition of creation andannihilation and do not affect macro physics basically. However, in the
inflationary universe, such fluctuations are stretched to macro sizes and even15 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

affect the expansion rate of the universe! At that time, the universe “observes”
fluctuations in a sense and they become “real” fluctuations just like
Schrodinger’s cat. These fluctuations finally cause the initial density
fluctuations at the end of inflation.

Yuichiro TADA
The fluctuations during inflation are often computed as tiny quantum
fluctuations on the spatially homogeneous background universe. However,there is no guarantee that the universe is almost homogeneous because, infact, the universe fluctuates! Then we sometimes directly treat the fluctuatedquantum system could be connected to the random processes, and finallyreformulated the stochastic approach in a fully covariant way whose equations
are exhibited in Fig. 1 [2]. Now the stochastic formalism can be applied to a
general inflation theory.

universe as random processes, which is called the stochastic approach toinflation. In this approach, the assumption that the fluctuations are very small
is not needed any longer, and thus, a more precise prediction of the initial
density fluctuations is possible. The precise calculations of fluctuations in thestochastic approach are my main research topic.

STOCHASTIC-δN FORMALISM
One question remains: inflation anyway ends at some time, so are thefluctuations during inflation inherited by the later universe? The answer isyes: the fluctuations during inflation cause the perturbed gravitational
potential, and whatever happens inside the gravitational potential isconserved. Therefore, we merely have to calculate the gravitational potential
generated by quantum fluctuations. However, this picture causes anotherproblem. Previously, even if we can treat large fluctuations in the stochastic
approach, the conversion from quantum fluctuations to the gravitational
potential has required the fluctuations to be small enough. Then we focusedon the so-called δN approach, which claims that the final gravitational
potential is nothing but the difference in the duration of inflation. In thestandard quantum approach, such a time difference is calculated as it is causedby small quantum fluctuations on the homogeneous background. On theother stochastic side, the duration of inflation automatically fluctuates
because the universe behaves as a random process! In other words, for the
initial density fluctuations, we just have to calculate the time fluctuations
from some initial condition to the end of inflation along several random
processes (which is called first passage time in the context of stochastic
calculus, see Fig. 2). This approach no longer needs the assumption that the
perturbations are small, and in fact, we have shown that the power spectrumof the initial density fluctuations can be computed in this way [1].

Figure 2: The initial density fluctuations can be calculated as fluctuations on
the first passage time for correlated stochastic processes.

ONGOING WORK
We are now working on the analysis of several complicated inflation
theory with use of the above stochastic approach. In addition to the power
spectrum, we are also formulating how to calculate the probability density
function of the initial density fluctuations, which is another kind of statisticsof random variables. We hope that the stochastic approach opens a novel
physics in the near future.

COVARIANT STOCHASTIC FORMALISM
Now, we have formulated how to calculate the initial density
fluctuations in the stochastic formalism. However, we found that there wassome uncertainty in the stochastic formalism itself. To describe this problem,
let me introduce the particle called inflaton. The inflaton is the driving
particle of inflation. Its potential energy plays the role of “dark energy” andacceleratedly expands the universe. The inflaton may be single, or somemultiple inflatons may contribute to inflation simultaneously. The inflatons’
status is often expressed by the inflatons field values. Practically, we solve theequation (stochastic equation in the stochastic approach) for the inflaton
fields. Here it should be noted that the inflatons field values themselves are
NOT physical (in contrast to energy density, etc.) and we can arbitrarily
redefine the inflaton fields. The equation for the inflaton fields can also be
written such that the form of the equation is unchanged even if the inflaton
fields are redefined. Such a form of equation is called covariant under the field
redefinition. While the standard quantum approach can be formulated in a
covariant way, the (old) stochastic formalism was non-covariant due to theindifferentiability of random process (random process is infinitely “jagged”).
It was formulated in a “natural” way in a single-inflaton case, but of course, the“naturalness” is not a rigorous definition. Furthermore, there is no longer“natural” definition of the inflaton fields in a complicated mixed
multi-inflaton case. Therefore, the correct stochastic approach to inflation
had not been defined in such a case. After we found this problem, a Frenchgroup and I revisited the stochastic formalism from scratch, saw when the

Acknowledgements
This work is in collaboration with Tomohiro Fujita, Masahiro Kawasaki, Lucas Pinol,
Sébastien Renaux-Petel, Tomohiro Takesako (alphabetical).

References[1] T. Fujita, M. Kawasaki, Y. Tada and T. Takesako, JCAP 12, 036 (2013).
[2] L. Pinol, S. Renaux-Petel and Y. Tada, JCAP 04, 048 (2021).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 16

Ryo HIGUCHI

Research Highlights _ 05

Architecture as Historical Evidence:
What Byzantine Architecture Tells.

types after the standardization of Orthodox doctrine and the arrangement ofwall paintings.

of design, architectural planning , construction eng ineering , andenvironmental engineering.

ARCHITECTURE AS HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

WHAT ARCHITECTURE REVEALSEven though many such buildings have already disappeared, remaining
churches have been documented but not systematically analyzed. These sites
often reveal traces of people like patrons, master builders, painters, bishops,
and other local people. Therefore, ecclesial architecture offers information
about these anonymous people that historical documents often leave out. In
other words, the architecture can fill the lacunae left by historical documents.
However, previous studies have overlooked this potential of architecture,and the nature of Byzantine architecture does not lend itself to complex
analysis. For example, the complexity of interior space, one of the mostimportant characteristics of Byzantine architecture (Ousterhout 1996), hasbeen underestimated in the predominant two-dimensional analysis. Previous
plan-based typologies have distinguished more and more types of church
structures but have not examined their relationships. My previous studies haveanalyzed the cross-in-square churches, one of the most popular architectural
types of middle Byzantine architecture, showing that two-dimensional
typologies cannot encompass the development of this architectural genre. Still,comprehensive architectural analysis based on design, architectural planning,and construction methods can illuminate its development (Higuchi 2019).

Although surviving churches contain various traces of the people who
connected with these sites, previous studies have not recorded such traces indetail. Accordingly, this study starts with an onsite survey, recording theseremains using 3-D modeling and photogrammetry (cover figure). The
inscription gives evidence about patrons. The wall discloses traces of builders
cutting activities, wall paintings tell the blushes of the painters, and thearrangement of rooms or artworks evoke the ways churches were used. In thisstudy, I analyze architecture in terms of three phases: architecture :pre-construction, construction, and post-construction. Pre-construction
analysis describes the site characteristics, while design and environmental
engineering would interpret decisions made by patrons or bishops.
Construction analysis gives an account of construction methods, while designand construction engineering help interpret the work of master builders andpainters. Post-construction analysis helps tell the story of how churches wereused, and architectural planning, design and environmental design as well as
the arrangement of wall paintings provides information about users and theiractivity. Such analyses may clarify the variety of middle Byzantine churcharchitecture, and social and cultural roles of the churches in the middle
Byzantine period.

Interior 3-D model of Hagios Iōannēs (St. John) Chrysostomos in Geraki, Greece, recorded by photogrammetry.
The rights to the depicted monument belong to the Ministry of Culture and Sports.
The Church of Hagios Iōannēs Chrysostomos in Geraki is within the domain of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lakonia.
Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports / Hellenic Organization of Cultural Resources Development.

Figure 1: The largest extent of the middle Byzantine empire, 11th century(author, redrawn after J. Haldon, The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History,
London: Palgrave, 2005 ).

Ryo HIGUCHI
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Humanities / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: higuchi.r.7496@nagoya-u.jp

hile Orthodox Christianity and wall painting framework were standardized during the middle Byzantine period (9th–12th centuries), architectural forms

W followed various types, while the churches had different roles. This study aims to investigate why middle Byzantine architecture took various architecturalforms and to understand the role of the churches in Byzantine society through a detailed and comprehensive analysis of surviving architecture as historical evidence.
This study acquires the data of the churches using onsite surveys. It creates 3-D models using photogrammetry, then historical analysis concerning architecturaldesign, planning, construction engineering, and environmental engineering.

INTRODUCTION

DIVERSIFICATION OF BYZANTINE ARCHITECTURE

The culture of the Byzantine Empire (Figure 1) governed the eastern
Mediterranean world from the 4th century to the 15th century, affecting bothmodern Orthodox countries and their contemporaries in the western
European and Islamic worlds. Roman influences evident in early Byzantine
society (until the 7th century) gradually disappeared through the battle
against the Islamic Empire and the Iconoclasm conflict. The middle
Byzantine era (9th–12th century) acquired its distinctive characteristics. For
example, doctrines specific to Orthodoxy formed after the Iconoclasm andwall paintings inside the churches were also standardized.

Byzantine church architecture (Figure 2) strongly affected such socialchanges and, as Mango (1976) reported, middle Byzantine architecture“acquired a distinctive physiognomy.” For instance, ecclesial architecture, themost important element of Byzantine architecture, shifted from large earlier
churches f ull of lig ht to later ones that were smaller and darker.
Kalopissi-Verti and Panayotidi-Kesisog lou (2010) pointed out 34
architectural types in the middle Byzantine period, as opposed to fewer
types in the early Byzantine era. Thus, the famous modernistic aphorism“Form follows function” cannot encompass the proliferation of architectural

17 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Figure 2: Exterior of the monastery of Osios Loukas, a typical example ofmiddle Byzantine architecture in Greece (10th to 11th century).

References

RESEARCH FOCUS
This study investigates why middle Byzantine architecture took various
forms and to understand the role of churches in middle Byzantine society: inother words, to learn about the people involved in the church through its
architecture. As no architectural theory book has survived the Byzantine
realm similar to De architectura by Vitruvius in Rome, this must be
determined based on the remaining buildings. Accordingly, this study
analyses more aspects of these churches than previous studies: that is, in terms[1] Kalopissi-Verti, S., & Panayotidi-Kesisoglou, M., eds. Multilingual Illustrated
Dictionary of Byzantine Architecture and Sculpture Terminolog y, Herakleion:
Crete University Press, 2010.
[2] Mango C., Byzantine Architecture, Milan: Electa Editrice, 1978.
[3] Ousterhout, R . “An Apologia for Byzantine Architecture.” Gesta 35 /1,
21–33 (1996).
[4] Higuchi, R., & Nasu, S., “The Derivation of the Cross-in-Square Churches interms of their interior Tectonic Configuration,” in Japan Architectural Review,
2/4, 530–44 (2019).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 18

Ryo HIGUCHI
types after the standardization of Orthodox doctrine and the arrangement ofwall paintings.

of design, architectural planning , construction eng ineering , andenvironmental engineering.

ARCHITECTURE AS HISTORICAL EVIDENCE

WHAT ARCHITECTURE REVEALSEven though many such buildings have already disappeared, remaining
churches have been documented but not systematically analyzed. These sites
often reveal traces of people like patrons, master builders, painters, bishops,
and other local people. Therefore, ecclesial architecture offers information
about these anonymous people that historical documents often leave out. In
other words, the architecture can fill the lacunae left by historical documents.
However, previous studies have overlooked this potential of architecture,and the nature of Byzantine architecture does not lend itself to complex
analysis. For example, the complexity of interior space, one of the mostimportant characteristics of Byzantine architecture (Ousterhout 1996), hasbeen underestimated in the predominant two-dimensional analysis. Previous
plan-based typologies have distinguished more and more types of church
structures but have not examined their relationships. My previous studies haveanalyzed the cross-in-square churches, one of the most popular architectural
types of middle Byzantine architecture, showing that two-dimensional
typologies cannot encompass the development of this architectural genre. Still,comprehensive architectural analysis based on design, architectural planning,and construction methods can illuminate its development (Higuchi 2019).

Although surviving churches contain various traces of the people who
connected with these sites, previous studies have not recorded such traces indetail. Accordingly, this study starts with an onsite survey, recording theseremains using 3-D modeling and photogrammetry (cover figure). The
inscription gives evidence about patrons. The wall discloses traces of builders
cutting activities, wall paintings tell the blushes of the painters, and thearrangement of rooms or artworks evoke the ways churches were used. In thisstudy, I analyze architecture in terms of three phases: architecture :pre-construction, construction, and post-construction. Pre-construction
analysis describes the site characteristics, while design and environmental
engineering would interpret decisions made by patrons or bishops.
Construction analysis gives an account of construction methods, while designand construction engineering help interpret the work of master builders andpainters. Post-construction analysis helps tell the story of how churches wereused, and architectural planning, design and environmental design as well as
the arrangement of wall paintings provides information about users and theiractivity. Such analyses may clarify the variety of middle Byzantine churcharchitecture, and social and cultural roles of the churches in the middle
Byzantine period.

Figure 1: The largest extent of the middle Byzantine empire, 11th century(author, redrawn after J. Haldon, The Palgrave Atlas of Byzantine History,
London: Palgrave, 2005 ).

Figure 2: Exterior of the monastery of Osios Loukas, a typical example ofmiddle Byzantine architecture in Greece (10th to 11th century).

References

RESEARCH FOCUS
This study investigates why middle Byzantine architecture took various
forms and to understand the role of churches in middle Byzantine society: inother words, to learn about the people involved in the church through its
architecture. As no architectural theory book has survived the Byzantine
realm similar to De architectura by Vitruvius in Rome, this must be
determined based on the remaining buildings. Accordingly, this study
analyses more aspects of these churches than previous studies: that is, in terms[1] Kalopissi-Verti, S., & Panayotidi-Kesisoglou, M., eds. Multilingual Illustrated
Dictionary of Byzantine Architecture and Sculpture Terminolog y, Herakleion:
Crete University Press, 2010.
[2] Mango C., Byzantine Architecture, Milan: Electa Editrice, 1978.
[3] Ousterhout, R . “An Apologia for Byzantine Architecture.” Gesta 35 /1,
21–33 (1996).
[4] Higuchi, R., & Nasu, S., “The Derivation of the Cross-in-Square Churches interms of their interior Tectonic Configuration,” in Japan Architectural Review,
2/4, 530–44 (2019).

0DUFK2022 | IAR LETTER | 18

Research Highlights _ 06

How do Flowering Plants Orchestrate the Growthof the Whole Body for Reproductive Success?

A vertical section of the stem tip of the model flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana shows floral organs develop from the shoot apical meristem. The cell walls are stained in red.

Asuka HIGODesignated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Center for Gene Research / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: higo.asuka@gene.nagoya-u.ac.jp

nlike animals, land plants, which live their whole life at the germination site, need to sense their surrounding environmental changes and develop

U reproductive organs at the appropriate time for reproductive success. Land plants have thrived by evolving various methods of reproduction and life cycles
as a survival strategy. The above-ground organs of flowering plants, including germ cells, are formed from shoot apical meristem, a tissue located at the tip of thestem that contains a pluripotent stem cell population. In this article, I briefly introduce my recent research results on the evolution of male germ cells in land plants
and the changes in stem cell characteristics that differentiate germ cells and future research vision.

INTRODUCTION
As land plants are sessile organisms, they need to sense and respond to
the surrounding environmental dynamics to form reproductive organs
appropriately for reproductive success. The aerial part of plants, such as leaves
and flowers, are generated from the dome-shaped shoot apical meristem(SAM) located at the tip of the stem and contains stem cells. In order to form
floral organs at the appropriate time, it is necessary to change the identity of
the SAM from a leaf-producing vegetative SAM to a flower-producing
reproductive SAM in response to environmental changes. The angiosperms
that we often see in our daily lives generate pollen as the male parents. In

19 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

contrast, early-diverging land plants such as bryophytes and ferns use motile
sperm as male parents. This evolutional change in sexual reproduction is atrait for reproductive success in arid environments for plants that evolved
from water to land. Among land plants, annual plants reproduce only once intheir whole life, i.e., reproduction and individual death occur simultaneously,
and there are also perennial plants that reproduce multiple times. Immobile
plants have evolved a variety of sexual reproductive modes that have allowed
them to thrive on land. It is of great interest to understand the mechanismsthat plants have acquired for successful reproduction.

Asuka HIGOIDENTIFICATION OF TR ANSCRIPTION FACTOR SRELATED TO THE EVOLUTION AND ORIGIN OF SPERMCELLS IN LAND PLANTS
Plants that have advanced from water to land have greatly altered themorpholog y of their male germ cells to reproduce in arid environments
successfully. However, understanding the evolution of reproduction in land
plants had not progressed because there had been no research at the genetic
level on spermatogenesis in evolutionary basal plants. Therefore, we used aliverwort Marchantia polymorpha, which generates motile sperm for sexual
reproduction (Figure 1). We found some transcription factors are conserved
among Marchantia and Arabidopsis, which generates immotile sperm cells
delivered to egg cells by pollen tube [1]. Based on the results from Marchantia
studies, we further developed our research on the origin and evolution oftranscription factors regulating sperm-cell differentiation. Then we finallyfound that one of the transcription factors, DUO1, which is the central
regulator of Arabidopsis sperm cell differentiation, is conserved among sperm
cell developing plants. The neo-functionalization of DUO1 is associated withthe evolution of sperm morpholog y in land plant lineage [2]. Using the
Marchantia as a model for motile sperm differentiation of plants located at
the base of land plants, we clarified the evolution of transcription factors
involved in the evolving reproduction in land plants.

environmental changes. However, based on the insights of my previous
studies, I have come up with the idea that the SAM is not merely a passive
tissue but is also a tissue that actively transmits signals to existing organs andintegrally controls the growth of the entire plant body. After flowering,systemic growth changes occur, such as accelerated secondary hypertrophy ofthe vascular xylem, metabolic changes, and initiation of senescence. Still, themechanism by which factors cooperatively regulate these growth changes
throughout the whole body is unknown. I want to find regulators thatorchestrate the growth of the plant body for reproductive success.

Figure 1: Male sexual branches (arrowheads) are generated at the tip ofthalli (A). Motile sperm of Marchantia with long nuclei (arrow) and two
flagella (arrowheads) (B).

ELUCIDATION OF EPIGENETIC DYNAMICS AND ITSREGULATORY MECHANISM IN RICE STEM CELL TISSUES
The above-ground tissue of flowering plants, including germ cells, isdeveloped from SAM, stem cell tissue located at the tip of the stem. After
germination, SAM is in the vegetative stage and generates leaves. Underappropriate conditions, SAM undergoes a phase transition to thereproductive phase (called flowering ) and starts to differentiate flowers,
including germ cells. During germ cell differentiation, in addition to distinct
gene expression changes, the genome is protected by genomic imprinting andepigenetic modifications such as transposon repression and chromatincondensation to ensure safe transmission of the genome to the next
generation. We established a unique method to isolate small, leaf-surroundedrice SAM in a short time and with high purity and have conducted various
omics analyses. By integrating these results, we have been studying the
dynamics of DNA methylation, which is one of the epigenetic modificationsa n d i t s r e g u l a t i o n d u r i n g f l o w e r i n g . We f o u n d t h a t D N A
hypomethylation-induced transposon repression in germ cells begins during
flowering and that this DNA hypomethylation is regulated by a small
RNA-mediated pathway [3]. Previous studies on establishing the distinct
epigenetic state of germ cells have focused only on the process of germ cell
formation. They have failed to provide a whole picture of DNA methylation
dynamics. Our study has shown that epigenetic change for germ celldifferentiation begins in the SAM at the beginning of sexual reproduction.

FUTURE RESEARCH VISIONIn multicellular organisms, the growth of the entire body needs to becoordinately controlled by signals among different organs. The SAM is
considered the receptor of signals from leaves and roots to respond to

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Prof. Takashi Araki, Dr. Frederic
Berger, Prof. Tomokazu Kawashima, Prof. Hiroyuki Tsuji and all the collaborators.

References[1] Higo A., Niwa M., Yamato K.T. et al., Transcriptional framework of malegametogenesis in the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha L. Plant and Cell Physiology, 57,
325-338 (2016).
[2] Higo A.*, Kawashima T.*, Borg M. et al., Transcription factor DUO1 generated by
neofunctionalization is associated with evolution of sperm differentiation in plants.
Nature Communications, 11;9:5283 (2018). *Equal contribution.
[3] Higo A., Saihara N., Miura F. et al., DNA methylation is reconfigured at the onset ofthe reproductive phase in rice shoot apical meristem. Nature Communications,
14;11:4079 (2020).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 20

Research Highlights _ 07

Multiple Zeta Values

Figure 1: A part of M 0,5 (ǅ). Very roughly speaking, M 0,5 (ǅ) is a set of configurations of five points (red, blue, yellow, pink, and black bullets in the figure) on a circle. The whole
M 0,5 (ǅ) is divided into 12 pentagons. Circling any one of them results in many algebraic relations among multiple zeta values.

Minoru HIROSE
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Mathematics / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: minoru.hirose@math.nagoya-u.ac.jp

Ihave been working on multiple zeta values and their surroundings. Multiple zeta values are real numbers defined by simple infinite series. They have richand deep algebraic structures with connections to various other areas. In this article, I briefly review multiple zeta values and introduce part of my research.

INTRODUCTION
The value of an infinite series has been one of the major research
topics in mathematics since ancient times. For example, Mādhava, anIndian mathematician and astronomer from 14th to 15th centur y,obtained the following formula:
1−

π
1
1
1
1
+
−
+
−…=
.
3
5
7
9
4

21 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

This formula can be shown by using the Maclaurin expansion of thearctangent function. The more non-trivial example is the following
formula proved by Euler:
∞
n =1

π2
1
.
=
n2
6

Using the Riemann zeta function ζ ( s ) =∞sn =11/n , Euler’s formula can beMinoru HIROSE
expressed as ζ(2) = π 2 /6. Furthermore, Euler also showed that for any
natural number k, the valɃȋ2k) can be expressed as the rational
multiple of π 2 k . On the other hand, it is strongly believed that the
Riemann zeta values at positive odd integers, i.e., ζ (3), ζ (5), ζ (7), ... don o t hav e s u c h e x p r e s s i o n s . Mu l ti p l e z e t a va l u e s ζ (s 1 , … , s d ) a r e
generalizations of the Riemann zeta values, defined by the following
series:1
0<n 1< … <n dn1S1 … ndS d.

gives the following linear relation:
28 ζ (3, 9) + 150 ζ (5, 7) + 168 ζ (7, 5) =5197
ζ (12).
691

Here SL2 (ǌ) means the symmetry that Δ (z) has. So, it is natural to ask how
about the modular forms with other symmetries. I found an analog y ofGangl-Kaneko-Zagier’s theorem for modular forms with other symmetries[6]. Puta

Here s1,…,sd are positive integers and sd is assumed to be unequal to one
for convergence. Like Euler’s theorem, some multiple zeta values arerational multiples of powers of π, but the most multiple zeta values do
not have such explicit expression. Instead, the researchers are interested
in linear relations among multiple zeta values such like ζ (1,2) = ζ (3).

l + a – b –1
ζ (k + b, l + a – b).
l –1

b=0

（

Then the theorem I found says that cusp forms for Γ A engender linear
relations among Riemann zeta values and ζ k (l +1,1)’s where k and l are
positive odd integers. For example, the most basic cusp form for ΓA is thesquare root of Δ (z)∞DIMENSION OF MULTIPLE ZETA VALUESOne of the fundamental questions is ‘How many linear relations are
there among multiple zeta values ?’. Regarding this question, Zagierconjectured that the dimension of the ǂ -linear vector space spanned bymultiple zeta values ζ (s1, … , sd) with s1 + … + sd = k is equal to dk where dk is
defined by d 0 = 1, d 1 = 0, d 2 = 1, and d k = d k−2 + d k−3 . Zagier’s conjecture
implies that there are so many linear relations among multiple zeta values. For
example, there are 262144 multiple zeta values such that s1 + … + sd = 20, butthere are many relations. At most, there are only 114 linearly independent
multiple zeta values. The other 262030 multiple zeta values can be expressed
as linear sums of these 114 multiple zeta values. Later Deligne-Goncharov [1]and Terasoma [2] independently proved that the dimension is not greaterthan dk. Their result is almost the best possible answer to Zagier’s conjecture.
The remainder of Zagier’s conjecture concerns the linear independence ofmultiple zeta values, and seems to be out of reach of present-day mathematics.

k + b –1

（ k –1 （ζ a (k, l ) = (–1) aΔ

1/2(z) = q1/2

(1−q n)12 ,n =1

and this modular form engenders a linear relation
6 ζ1 (4,1) ‒ 6 ζ3 (2,1) =11 ζ (6).
It seems that this is the first non-trivial example of the analog y ofGangl-Kaneko-Zagier’s theorem for modular forms other than SL2 (ǌ). There
are many kinds of generalizations of modular forms for SL2 (ǌ) or ΓA, butwhether there are analogies of Gangl-Kaneko-Zagier’s theorem for them is
unknown.

CONFLUENCE RELATIONS AND PENTAGON RELATIONSFamilies of linear relations among multiple zeta values are one of themain topics in studying multiple zeta values. Here, I would like tointroduce the confluence relation that I discovered with my collaborator
Nobuo Sato [3]. Multiple zeta values can be written as special values ofhyperlogarithmsk

I ( a1 , … , ak ) : =0<t 1< … <t k<1

j =1

dt j
tj ‒ aj

whose parameters a1,…,ak are 0 or 1. The idea of the confluence relation is
to consider hyperlogarithms with parameters 0, 1, or indeterminate z. Anysuch hyperlogarithms can be expanded to a ǂ-linear sum of multiples ofmultiple zeta values and hyperlogarithms whose parameters are 0 or z.
Then by specializing these expansions, we obtain the linear relations among
multiple zeta values, which are confluence relations. The idea of confluence
relations is simple, but they are powerful enough to (conjecturally) produce
all linear relations among multiple zeta values. Later, Furusho [4] showedthat the confluence is essentially equivalent to the pentagon relations ofassociators. The pentagon relations are relations of multiple zeta values
coming from the iterated integrals on M0,5 (Figure 1).

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers JP18K13392.

References

MODULAR FORMS
One example of surprising connections of multiple zeta values to otherfields is modular forms. Modular forms are functions having rich symmetries.
There are several types of connections between multiple zeta values andmodular forms, and one of them is Gangl-Kaneko-Zagier’s theorem [5]. This
theorem says that cusp forms for SL2 (ǌ) engender linear relations among
Riemann zeta values and ζ (k,l)’s where k and l are odd integers greater thanone. Here a cusp form for SL2 (ǌ) is a kind of modular form. For example, thefamous cusp form∞

Δ(z) = q(1− q n)24

[1] Deligne P. & Goncharov A., Groupes fondamentaux motiviques de Tate mixte. Ann.
Sci. Ecole Norm. Sup. (4) 38, 1-56 (2005).
[2] Terasoma T., Mixed Tate motives and multiple zeta values. Invent. Math. 149,
339-369 (2002).
[3] Hirose M. & Sato N., Iterated integrals on ǁ1- {0,1,∞,z} and a class of relations
among multiple zeta values. Adv. in Math. 342, 163-182 (2019).
[4] Furusho H., The pentagon equation and the confluence relations. preprint,
arXiv:1809.00789 [math.QA].
[5] Gangl H., Kaneko M. & Zagier D., Double zeta values and modular forms, inAutomorphic Forms and Zeta Functions World Scientific, Singapore, 71-106, (2006).
[6] Hirose M., Modular phenomena for regularized double zeta values. preprint,
arXiv:2003.05236 [math.NT].

n =1

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 22

Research Highlights _ 08

Toward New Theory of Folk Beliefs inSoutheast Asia: How Are Indigenous Beliefs
Syncretic with Foreign Religions?

Figure 1: A Thai woman tying 3-color fabric around one of the Pillar Imitations in Bangkok City Pillar Shrine.

Jie HUANG
Designated Assistant Professor of Young Leaders Cultivation Program
Graduate School of Humanities / Institute for Advanced Research, Nagoya University
E-mail: huang.jie@f.mbox.nagoya-u.ac.jp

y research investigates and explains the dynamics or contemporary development of folk beliefs in Southeast Asia through case studies of the syncretism of

M indigenous beliefs and foreign religions in Thailand. It is a common phenomenon of a substratum of Mainland Southeast Asian societies since the 20th
century. Through observing such phenomena that do not fit into prevailing religious frameworks and conducting a comparative study of field investigations acrossmainland Southeast Asian countries, my research tries extending new theories of folk beliefs in Southeast Asian studies.

INTRODUCTION
From the beginning of the 20th century to the present, immigration has
progressed, and various foreign cultures have fused with local culture in theurban area of Thailand. In the aspect of religion, the folk beliefs that the
Indian immigrants or Chinese immigrants brought are syncretic with theindigenous beliefs of Thai people, which shows a unique dynamic of Thai
religion. My research target, the synergism of the city pillar shrine (called "lakmuang" in the Thai Language), which is a worship of the god of the land, isone such phenomenon. Thai people recognize the city pillar shrine as an

23 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

indigenous belief and sacrifice it with a special ceremony as indicated in
Figure 1. However, according to my direct experience in Thailand, theworship of lak muang is syncretic with various foreign religions around it,such as Theravada Buddhism, folk beliefs originated from Han-Chinese
culture and Hinduism, etc. For instance, there is a syncretism between the lak
muang shrine and the worship of the city god brought in by Chinese
immigrants in Bangkok. This is also consistent with the fusion of belief of
Han nationality and ethnic belief among Dong people (an ethnic groupbelongs to the Tai-Kadai language family) that I have investigated so far inJie HUANG
South China and the syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism (Shinbutsu-shugo)that I have seen in various parts of Japan.
Previous research on Thai religion has analyzed folk beliefs andBuddhism, based on a static schema of functional divisions that situated
Buddhism on a higher level [1]. In recent years, some scholars have tried totranscend this static research pattern and began to pay attention to more
dynamic non-Buddhist factors [2, 3], such as the worship of the gods of theland, spirit worship, or worship of and sacrifice to the spirit medium in
Buddhist societies. Moreover, most studies divided folk beliefs into
indigenous beliefs and foreign religions and grasped them separately.
However, this research regarded spirit worship like the city pillar shrine as apure indigenous belief, without paying enough attention to the situation of its
syncretism with foreign religions, so that the inner reality of folk beliefs
themselves has not been explored thoroughly.
Therefore, to clarif y the actual situation of the contemporar ydevelopment of Thai folk beliefs, I conducted a field investigation in urban
Thailand, where indigenous beliefs are usually syncretic with immigrantreligions because of the large influx of immigrants. The research also tries
expending new theory and field of studies of folk beliefs in Thailand byreferring to the theory and approach of the syncretism theory in Japan (theShinbutsu-shugo ideology). Previous studies have grasped the related researchwithin a unified nation or a single ethnic group and have not paid enoughattention to cross-cultural research. Thus, my research makes efforts on
reexamining the perspective with the comparative study between Southern
China and Southeast Asia. Through these, I aim to build a theoretical modelof the folk religion in Asia, a world of multi-cultural coexistence, andcontribute to Southeast Asian studies and South China studies. The
following are some results.

business today. The interesting point of this temple is that it is consideredidentical to the Bangkok city pillar shrine by Thai people.

CASE IN CHIANGMAI
Compared with central Thailand, many ethnic groups in the northernpart immigrated from neighboring countries. Because of the weak influenceof national power, their folk beliefs retain more characteristics of their
original residence. Here is an example. A village in the Pasang District ofLamphun Province named Ban Vieng Vong is where the first Yong (anethnic group of Burma) settled in northern Thailand. Although the Yongimmigrants reinforced their ritual power and social stratification after
arriving there, their oldest monastery shelters the four guardian spirits of
their former Muang Yong in Burma, which they took with them when they
resettled. As shown in Figure 3, these four sacred idols named suranna,pittiya, lakkhana and thewada, have been symbolized as white stoneelephants. The Yong people worship and appease these spirit beings and see
their identity and history as a people intricately bound up with the safe
transport of these idols from their original homeland. Even when Thai spirit
worship develops in this Yong habitation this day, these guardian spirits
keep functioning as the lak muang thrine, and their worship and sacrificeremain active.

CASE IN BANGKOKTo achieve the research purpose mentioned above, I mainly focused on
the City God Temple of Chinese immigrants enshrined in Bangkok andTeochew (a city in Guangdong Province, China). I carried out a field
investigation and comparative study on the worship of the God of the Land ofthese immigrants with that of their hometown. According to the previous
investigation, the guardian spirit (called "Lau Ya" in Teochew) found in every
local village in Teochew had been brought into Bangkok by the Chinese
immigrants since they reside in the city. Moreover, they worshiped this temple
as equivalent to the city pillar shrine.

Figure 3: The guardian spirit of the Shan who moved from Burma is brought
in and enshrined in the temple of Lamphun Province, Thailand.

As what we can see in the synergistic phenomenon of the city guardian
spirit in Bangkok and Chiangmai, when moved and inhabited into urban
areas in Thailand, foreign immigrants also brought the beliefs of their
homeland with them to the local community. These beliefs have either been
integrated with the existing local beliefs that performing a similar function, or
expressed in new forms under the influence of Thai culture. Therefore, I
think it is necessary to inquire into the similar reality between the indigenous
beliefs and foreign religions in the future.

Figure 2: A Teochew Temple worships Sia Ueng Kong (Chinese city god) locatedin Bangkok Chinatown is called Chao Pho Lak Mueang Shrine by Thai people.

The City God Temple in Bangkok Chinatown (see Figure 2) is the godof the land brought by Chinese immigrants from their birthplace Teochew.
This temple was built and enshrined near the sea, protected the peace of theirearly migration, and played important roles as the local temple in Teochew.
Especially when people were dead, they had to report it to the city god andsent the remains back to their hometown by ship. Some Chinese immigrants
who live in Chinatown or surrounding areas still worship in the prayers of

Acknowledgements
The research is supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number 20K13279 and theInternational Program of Collaborative Research, CSEAS, Kyoto University.

References[1] S. J. Tambiah. Buddhism and the Spirit Cults in North-east Thailand, Cambridge UP(1970).
[2] J. T. McDaniel. The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magical Monk, Columbia UP (2011).
[3] Pattana Kitiarsa. Beyond Syncretism: Hybridization of Popular Religion inContemporary Thailand, Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 36(3), 461-487 (2005).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 24

IAR Core FacultyCommittee

The IAR Core Faculty Committee is composed of the Institute Director, Deputy
Directors, Full-Time Faculty Members, and member of the clerical staff, who promote
the Institute’s activities, and make proposals to the IAR Committee.

Affiliation : Director of Nagoya IAR / Professor of the Graduate School of Humanities
Research Field : Ancient Greek History

Yoshiyuki
SUTO
Director

Research Interests
My research interests include Aegean Archaeology, Ancient Greek History, and especially the study of contact
and interaction between Greek and Eg yptian culture in the Hellenistic period. As a member of Akoris
Archaeological Project I have been working in Middle Egypt for the purpose of elucidating the history of local
society under the Ptolemaic rule.

Affiliation : Deputy Director of Nagoya IAR / Professor of the Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
Research Field : Molecular Plant Physiology, Phytohormone

Hitoshi
SAKAKIBARA
Deputy Director

Research Interests
My research interest is to understand how plants manage their growth and development under abiotic stressconditions, uch as nitrogen limitation. Plant orchestrates a number of cues including phytohormone actions
and metabolic responses to coordinate its development and metabolism at a whole-body level. I am studying
molecular basis of this topic with focusing on nitrogen-dependent regulation of phytohormone biosynthesis
and signaling.

IAR PEOPLE | IAR Core Faculty Committee 2021

Affiliation : Deputy Director of Nagoya IAR / Professor of the Graduate School of Science
Research Field : condensed matter physics (experiment)

IchiroTERASAKI
Deputy Director

Research Interests
Ichiro Terasaki synthesizes new materials, investigates their transport and magnetic properties, and develops
functions hidden there. His major research activity has been devoted to the thermoelectric properties oftransition-metal oxides including the layered cobalt oxides, and recently extended to giant nonlinear
conduction in strongly correlated systems such as conducting organic salts and layered ruthenates. His recent
interest extends to exotic magnetic materials such as room-temperature ferromagnetic semiconductors andspin-liquid candidates.

Affiliation : Deputy Director of Nagoya IAR / Professor of the Centre for Asian Legal Exchange
Research Field : Political Sociology, Politics
Research Interests

HirokoTAKEDA
Deputy Director

My research can be mapped out in an intersection of the following three major elements; political sociology,
gender and Japan / UK. Political Sociology is my disciplinary background. In particular, I developed a keeninterest in the studies on governmentality. As for gender, I have long been interested in gender issues and thecore of academic questions that I have continuously explored in my extant work--the ways in which the world of
the everyday life is linked with the state system --was formulated as an outcome of my effort to examine genderissues with reference to governmentality. Finally, Japan has been my primary source of case studies and recently,
I also started to explore the British cases.

Affiliation : Associate Professor at Nagoya IAR
Research Field : Egyptian Archaeology, Pyramid, 3D Survey
Research Interests

Yukinori
KAWAE
Full-Time Faculty

My research interests lie in the field of Egyptian archaeology, particularly in 3D surveys of ancient megalithic
structures and excavations of ancient settlements. My academic career started the excavation of the Lost City of
the Pyramids at Giza. Soon after the introduction of 3D technolog y in Eg yptian archaeolog y, I began
conducting an interdisciplinary research project to complete 3D surveys of pyramids. Recently, I expanded thecollaborative research to include a television production company as Open Innovation Project. My use of 3D
data challenges the unprecedented empirical analysis approach to understanding the mystery of the pyramids’
construction.

Affiliation : Associate Professor at Nagoya IAR
Research Field : Plant Physiology, Plant nutrients

SatomiKANNO
Full-Time Faculty

25 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Research Interests
My research interest is understanding plant growth adaptation mechanisms according to environmental
nutrients conditions. Plant senses internal and external ion level and controls the ion transport system tooptimize their growth. I am working on these mechanisms focusing on phosphate, one of the macronutrientsfor plant growth, by using molecular biology technics and imaging technologies to trace ions in the living
plants.

Affiliation : Designated Lecturer at Nagoya IAR
Research Field : Observational Cosmology, Astronomy

Atsushi
J. NISHIZAWA
Full-Time Faculty

IAR
Steering Committee

Research Interests
My research interest ranges from theoretical aspects of cosmological model that explains accelerating expansionof the Universe, to the theory of galaxy formation. To reveal such problems in the Universe, large astronomical
data obtained by telescope is used. Recently I am working on the photometric redshift that determines the
distance to galaxies. The redshift of galaxies are of particular importance for doing both cosmology andastronomy. I am also interested in the methods of data analysis including machine learning.

The I A R Steering Committee plan, discuss, and decide on the Institute’s
academic activities.

Affiliation : Vise President of Nagoya University / Director of NAIAS / Professor of the Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Cosmology, Astrophysics, Structure Formation in the Universe
Research Interests

NaoshiSUGIYAMA

Affiliation : Professor of the Graduate School of Mathematics
Research Field : Partial differential equations

Mitsuru
SUGIMOTO
Steering Committee

Research Interests
Various phenomena of nature can be treated mathematically by describing them in the language of partial
differential equations (PDE). Through the analysis, I aim to extract new principles which comprehend concrete
phenomena. As a methodology of PDE, many properties of the solutions to PDE can be deduced from theircharacteristics, and I employ this idea to investigate quantitative properties of solutions like size, regularity, and soon. Simultaneously I proceed with the study of Fourier analysis as an important tool for such analysis.

Affiliation : Professor of the Graduate School of Medicine
Research Field : Biochemistry, Glycobiology

Tetsuya
OKAJIMA
Steering Committee

Research Interests
My research has focused on biochemical and biological analyses of O-glycan modification on glycoproteins.
Previous studies revealed that unique glycans such as O-fucose and O-GlcNAc regulate Notch signaling andNotch-dependent biological processes. Currently, I am investigating how O-glycan modification is coordinated tofine-tune Notch signal strength essential for developmental control and homeostasis. Given that Notch signaling
pathway is associated with many human diseases, elucidation of molecular mechanisms how O-glycans control
Notch activity will be of great pharmaceutical interest.

Affiliation : Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering / Director of Center for the Studies of Higher Education
Research Field : Photoresponsive polymer thin films

Takahiro
SEKI
Steering Committee

Research Interests
Photoresponsive organic and polymeric materials are attracting much attention due to great potential in
next-generation photonics technologies. My major research interest is to study photoresponsive (mostly
photochromic) thin films of polymeric liquid crystals. The alignment control of liquid crystal that is essential inliquid crystal photonics can be achieved by irradiation with linearly polarized light to the surface photoresponisve
layer on a substrate or a free surface. Based on this phenomenon, we are extending the possibilities ofphotoalignment process for orientation control of various functional materials.

Affiliation : Professor of the Graduate School of Engineering / Director of Institute of Nano-Life-Systems
Research Field : nanobioscience, biomedical engineering

Yoshinobu
BABA
Steering Committee

Research Interests
The research efforts in my laboratory have been focused on the development of nanobiodevices for biomedical
applications and healthcare, including single cancer cell diagnosis for cancer metastasis, circulating tumor cell (CTC)
detection by microfluidic devices, nanopillar devices for ultrafast analysis of genomic DNA and microRNA,
nanopore devices for single DNA and microRNA sequencing , nanowire devices for exosome analysis,
single-molecular epigenetic analysis, AI-powered nano-IoT sensors, quantum switching intra vital imaging of iPS cells
and stem cells, and quantum technology-based cancer theranostics.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 26

IAR PEOPLE | IAR Core Faculty Committee / IAR Steering Committee 2021

Steering Committee

I am working in the field of cosmology to understand dark components in the Universe. The Universe is
known to consist of various components including atoms, photons, dark matter and dark energy. The ultimate
goal of modern cosmology is to understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Since dark matter plays
an essential role for the formation of structure through gravity, and dark energy controls expansion of the
Universe itself, both have significant impact on structure formation in the Universe. Utilizing the observation
data of structure of the Universe, including galaxies, clusters of galaxies, large-scale structure of the Universe,
and temperature fluctuations of cosmic microwave background radiation, which is a fossil of big bang in thevery early Universe, I try to reveal the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Affiliation : Professor of the Graduate School of Economics
Research Field : History of Science and Technology

SayakaOKI
Steering Committee

Research Interests
History of Science in the 17-18th century of France, especially on the relationship between the government andacademic institutions of science; Concept of "Economy" and its relationship with natural sciences in the latter
half of the 18th century

IAR
Visiting Professor & Designated Professor

TakahoANDO

IAR PEOPLE | IAR Steering Committee / IAR Visiting Professor / YLC Program Faculty 2021

Visiting Professor

Affiliation : Visiting Professor at Nagoya IAR / Professor at Chubu University
Research Field : History of Social Thoughts

Research Interests
Research on History of Social Thoughts, especially on French Enlightenment and Liberalism.

Affiliation : Visiting Professor at Nagoya IAR
Research Field : Medieval Japanese Culture and Texts

YasuroABE
Visiting Professor

Research Interests
My research focuses on the religious texts of medieval Japan, emphasizing their context as objects of religious
cultural heritage. I have strived to demonstrate how religious texts, images, and other objects have been used,transmitted, and understood from the Middle Ages through the present day. Through the analysis of concrete
examples—such as the cult of Prince Shōtoku, and various conceptions of the "sacred" in medieval Japan—I
have demonstrated that these texts mutually interact not only with each other, but also with external works ofliterature, performative arts, and iconography.

Affiliation : Visiting Professor at Nagoya IAR / Professor at Nanzan University
Research Field : International Economics

DapengCAI
Visiting Professor

YLC
Program Faculty

Kazuhide
SATO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Research Interests
An increasing number of challenges facing humanity today, such as the reduction of the emission of thegreenhouse gases, or the protection of global commons, all require intensive cooperation by many countries. My
research aims at analyzing the international negotiation processes that are underlying the formation of theneeded international cooperation. Besides the issue of emission reductions, I also examine other issues that
require international negotiations-in particular, those between the North and the South-such as the protectionof intellectual property rights, as well as the setting of investment rules or production standards.

YLC Faculty members are promising young researchers recruited under the
Nagoya University Young Leaders Cultivation Program (YLC Program).

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Medicine
Research Field : Respiratory Medicine, Oncology
Research Interests
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths, and the cure rate of lung cancer is still under
20%, therefore, there is urgent need for new treatments. I aim to develop new innovative cancer therapy with aconcept "less toxic, more anti-tumor effect". Along with different approaches from conventional cancer
therapies, I have been studying about photo-activated cancer therapy in order to destroy only cancer cells
inside body. I would like to develop new technologies that could cause effects only on the cancers with amultidisciplined approach.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Particle Physics, Astrophysics

Tsutomu
FUKUDA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

27 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Research Interests
A fundamental particle "neutrino" is a key for revealing the origin of the matter dominated universe. I havecarried out accelerator based neutrino experiments with nuclear emulsion detector. So far we provided the final
evidence of nu_mu -> nu_tau neutrino oscillation with tau neutrino appearance in a muon neutrino beam from
CERN in the OPERA experiment. Then I have established and am promoting a new experimental project(NINJA Experiment) to measure neutrino interactions precisely at J-PARC as the PI. Precise measurement of
neutrino-nucleus interactions is essential for observing the neutrino-CP violation which is an important hint
for matter-antimatter asymmetry in our universe.

Hidenori
TAKEUCHI
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Institute ofTransformative Bio-Molecules (ITbM)
Research Field : Molecular biology in plant reproduction
Research Interests
Fertilization between male and female gametes of the same species is fundamental for seed production andspecies maintenance in higher plants. My research interests are in species-specific male-female recognition
mechanisms, including prezygotic pollen tube guidance and postzygotic chromosome maintenance. I will
especially try to identify key factors involved in these processes. I finally aim to understand the species-specificmechanisms in plant reproduction, which could lead to technologies for generating useful hybrid plants.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute (KMI)
Research Field : Particle Physics, Astroparticle Physics

ShingoKAZAMA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty
(YLC)

Yuki
SATO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Natsuki
TAKADATANAKA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Hiroki
FUJINO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Kobayashi-Maskawa Institute (KMI)
Research Field : High energy physics, Flavor physics
Research Interests
I am interested in searching for physics beyond the standard model through precision measurements of theproperties of standard model particles, and especially my main focus is on flavor physics. I am going to improve
the standard model predictions of B-meson decays and also investigate CP violation in rare kaon decays. I am
broadly interested in testable physics of various experiments, and I hope to stimulate interactions between
theory and experiment.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Quantum gravity
Research Interests
Modern physics incorporates Einstein's general relativity and quantum mechanics. The former associates gravity
with the bending of spacetime, and the latter explains characteristic properties of matters at short distances.
According to general relativity, the spacetime curves due to the existence of matters, and matters indicate
quantum characteristics at short distances. Therefore, gravity is supposed to show quantum mechanical effects,
and those effects would become important around the Planck scale. The theory that describes quantum effects ofgravity, quantum gravity, is my field of research. I mainly study discrete approaches to quantum gravity.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
Research Field : Plant Molecular Physiology, Biochemistry
Research Interests
Plants live in a frequently changing environment from which they cannot escape and have signaling mechanisms
to adapt to new conditions. Calcium, lipid and protein are involved in the signaling pathways. However,limited information on signal transduction between different signaling systems is available. I focus on a new
type signal transducer PCaP1 which can convert Ca2+ signal to phospholipid signal on plasma membrane.
Thus I investigate PCaP1-related physiological processes, such as stomata closure and root hydrotropism, toreveal a novel mechanism to adapt a new environmental conditions.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant Professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Mathematics
Research Field : complex analysis, function theory
Research Interests
My research topic is on the global properties of the infinite dimensional Teichmuller spaces. In particular, I am
mainly interested in degeneration phenomena of Riemann surfaces on the boundaries of the Teichmuller spaces.
The Teichmuller space is a space which parametrizes all quasiconformal deformations of a given surface. If thegiven surface is of finite type, the degenerations to nodal surfaces appear as a dense subset of the boundary.
However, in the case of infinite type surfaces, various degeneration phenomena are obtained besides thedegenerations to nodal surfaces.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 28

IAR PEOPLE | YLC Program Faculty 2021

TeppeiKITAHARA

Research Interests
Despite the overwhelming evidence for dark matter from astronomical and cosmological indications at various
scales, a clear evidence of a particle which explains these observations remains absent. I'm involved in the
XENON project to search for the low-energy interactions of galactic dark matter with nuclei. The XENON
collaboration has built the XENON1T detector, the most sensitive detector ever built, but no clear evidencesof dark matter have been found. We are currently upgrading the XENON1T detector by enlarging the target
xenon mass from 2 to 6 tonnes. The new experiment will start its operation in 2019, and this will allows us to
explore promising parameter spaces towards a first discovery.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Environmental Studies
Research Field : Human Geography, Areal Studies

Ai
SUGIE
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty
(YLC)

Yumi
BAMBA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

IAR PEOPLE | YLC Program Faculty 2021

KazuyaFUJIMOTO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Yoko
MIZUTA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty
(YLC)

Aaron
CHAN
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)AngelaMENESESGUTIERREZ
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

29 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Research Interests
Research 1: Bangladeshi Migrants in Saudi Arabia and transnational networks of Islamic Revival. This study
explores the socio-spatial structure and socio-economic backgrounds of Bangladeshi migrants in Makkha andexamines their social-cultural impacts on Islamic revival movements in the city and their hometowns in
Bangladesh. Research 2: Pluralistic economy and alternative development. This study discusses the possibility ofan alternative development based on a pluralistic economic system that reciprocity among people and between
human and nature are prioritised over market economy success. Research 3: Water resources problems in
Rohingya refugee camp areas in Bangladesh.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Division for Integrated Studies,
Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research
Research Field : Solar Physics, Space Weather
Research Interests
Solar eruptions, such as "solar flares" and ''coronal mass ejections (CMEs)" are sometimes impact to spaceenvironment around the Earth. However, onset mechanisms and propagation processes of those phenomena are
not yet revealed. Therefore, our ability of "space weather forecast", which predict disturbances of spaceenvironment near the Earth, does not satisfy requirements from modern society, which rapidly promote spacedevelopment. I aim to understand the onset and propagation processes of solar eruptions by comparison ofvarious observational data and numerical modelings.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Department of Applied Physics,
Graduate School of Engineering
Research Field : Condensed matter physics (theory)
Research Interests
Non-equilibrium phenomena emerge in various length-scales ranging from small atomic and molecular clusters
to fluid dynamics in our daily life. I have been interested in universal aspects of non-equilibrium phenomena,and have recently studied relaxation dynamics, wave and vortex turbulence, and chaos in ultracold quantum
gases. The system is a vapor of several atomic species at very low temperature, and is recognized as one of thepromising playgrounds for studying such non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum many-body systems.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Institute of Transformative
Bio-Molecules (ITbM), Nagoya University
Research Field : Molecular biology, Plant reproduction
Research Interests
In the flowering plants, sexual reproduction occurs in a flower. In the flower, pollen lands on the female tissue,
and pollen germinates pollen tube and deliver the sperm to the egg cell. After that, fertilization occurs. During
this process, it is necessary to fertilize without waste both males (pollen tubes) and females (ovules) to produce
more seeds in nature, but the whole picture of such precise plant fertilization mechanism is unclear. To
understand this mechanism, two-photon imaging, expression and phylogenic analyses will be performed. I
developed deep-and live-imaging technics using two-photon microscopy. The pollen tube mediated genemodification technology is also developed.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Mathematics
Research Field : Representation theory, category theory
Research Interests
I research in the representation theory of algebras and related structures, which originates from theapproximating (i.e. `representing') abstract mathematical objects using linear algebra. I am particularlyinterested in tilting theory. This studies different methods in modifying a category of representations in a waythat preserves homological properties. I am also involved in a similar theory-cluster-tilting theory-which is atheory in the algebraic analogue of resolution of singularities.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Disaster Mitigation Research Center
Research Field : Crustal deformation
Research Interests
I study crustal deformation through geodetic observations (Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS),
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), etc.), focusing on the analysis of earthquake-related
processes. I am interested in distinguishing strain accumulation due to elastic processes in the Earth, released in
the form of large earthquakes, from inelastic processes which are irreversible and cause strain to accumulate overgeological time.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Astrophysics

DaichiKASHINO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Shunsuke
KOSAKA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Humanities
Research Field : History, Ancient Roman, Late Antiquity
Research Interests
I am studying the history of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity (c. 3rd to 8th centuries CE). My researchsubject is the historiographical work written by Ammianus Marcellinus (late 4th century) and the city of Rome,
where the author lived and composed his writings. I am trying to clarify the social and political background of
the text as well as the author’s view against them.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
Research Field : Animal physiology, Molecular biology
Research Interests
In temperate zones of the earth, dynamic environmental fluctuations occur at the annual seasonal cycle. To copewith these seasonal changes, many animals adapt their physiology and behavior. Although some of theseseasonal activities, such as reproduction, growth and hibernation are known to be controlled by endogenous
annual rhythmicity, which is called circannual rhythm, in some animals, the molecular mechanism is still
unknown. We use medaka fish as a model to understand this mechanism.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences
Research Field : Fish Neuroscience

HanakoHAGIOYoung Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Research Interests
Two ascending visual pathways to the telencephalon are present in mammals. However, some species of fish
possess two visual pathways, while others one pathway. Our studies in several fish species suggest that thecommon ancestor of actinopterygians possessed two pathways, and later one pathway was lost in the common
ancestor of acanthopterygians, which include many fishes for fisheries. We try to elucidate functions of visual
pathways using genome editing and microscopic live imaging analyses on visually-evoked neural activities. We
would like to find visual stimuli attractive for fishes and utilize its characteristics in fishing gear to contribute to
the academic field and fisheries industry.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research
Research Field : Space Weather, History, Solar Activity

Hisashi
HAYAKAWA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

ManabuBESSHOUEHARA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Research Interests
Hisashi Hayakawa is working on historical space weather events and long-term solar activity based on thecontemporary analog records. He consults analog records for sunspots, solar flares, geomagnetic measurements,
and auroral sightings to reconstruct chronology and intensity of the space weather events, namely sequence of
solar flares, interplanetary coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic storms, and auroral displays. He also analyses
historical sunspot records to quantitatively reconstruct and improve long-term solar variability. Thus hechronologically extends the time series of the existing scientific databases for centuries and quantitatively
contextualises the modern data into longer time series.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Biology, Evolution, Bioluminescence
Research Interests
Bioluminescence, light production by living organisms, is one of the most common traits of the animals on the
Earth (75-90% of macroscopic individuals in the ocean can emit light). Bioluminescence evolved among diverse
taxa independently, which is the best model to study evolution. The molecular mechanisms involved in thelight emission are poorly understood except for a few well-studied animals. In addition, I recently discovered
kleptoprotein, stealing protein from the prey, for bioluminescence. I study the molecular mechanisms involvedin the luminescent reaction, luciferin and luciferase, to understand extreme convergent evolution of
bioluminescence.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 30

IAR PEOPLE | YLC Program Faculty 2021

TomoyaNAKAYAMA

Research Interests
The present-day Universe contains a variety of elements and is a rich world in which stars, galaxies, and life
exist. I aim to understand the material evolution in the Universe. We are especially paying attention to aphenomenon called cosmic reionization that completed until about 1 billion years after the Big Bang. Cosmic
reionization is a phenomenon in which the Universe, which was initially filled with electrically neutralhydrogen gas, was ionized by the ultraviolet rays emitted by stars and galaxies born in the early Universe, and is
the first step in material evolution. We are carrying out various observations using large telescopes tounderstand the physical process of reionization.

Toshiki
MATSUSAKA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Mathematics
Research Field : Number theory
Research Interests
Modular forms are vital objects in classical and modern mathematics. This theory plays a crucial role as a bridge
between number theory, topology, harmonic analysis, arithmetic geometry, combinatorics, representation
theory, mathematical physics, etc. My research interest is investigating the roles of its generalization called“non-holomorphic modular forms” in this wide range of fields. In particular, I have been working on it from theviewpoints of number theory and knot theory.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Particle physics and astrophysics

QidongZHOU
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

IAR PEOPLE | YLC Program Faculty 2021

Shinnosuke
ISHIZUKA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Matthew
Paul SU
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

SotaroSUGISHITA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Yuichiro
TADA
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

31 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

Research Interests
Dark matter, matter dominance universe, there are phenomena still could not be explained by the current
framework of theory in particle physics, the standard model (SM). To explore the new physics beyond standard
model, it is a useful approach to precisely measure the decay reactions under the environment just like thebeginning of our universe which is created by colliding-beam accelerator. Belle II is an experiment dedicated to
explore new physics beyond SM based on this approach. It has already started collecting data since April 2018. I
am preforming the detector upgrade and data analysis in parallel. In coming years, these data will help us tounderstand the origins of matter and the universe.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research
Research Field : Laboratory Atmospheric and Astrochemistry
Research Interests
Nano to sub micrometer sized particles is ubiquitous in the nature and play central roles in chemical evolution.
Cosmic dust diffused into interstellar space act as catalyst providing complexed molecules and are building
blocks of the solar system. Aerosols in Earth’s atmosphere impact the climate system by light absorption andscattering and by promoting cloud formation. However, little attention has been paid for specific-chemistry of
the fine particles. We experimentally reveal how the tiny characters affect their lives.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Mosquito neuroscience and behavior
Research Interests
Male mosquitoes rely on hearing to locate females for mating. Novel control tools which interfere withmosquito hearing are thus highly promising, as they could prevent copulation from occurring. However, ourunderstanding of the underlying bases of mosquito audition remains poor. My research focuses on theelucidating the molecular and neuronal bases of mosquito hearing behaviors in order to improve thisunderstanding. In particular, I am interested in the connections between mosquito mating, hearing and theircircadian clocks, as these clocks influence the time at which mating can occur.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Quantum Gravity, Quantum Field Theory
Research Interests
My research field is theoretical physics, with a particular interest in quantum gravity, a quantum theory of
spacetime. Quantum gravity provides a theoretical explanation for the mystery of how our universe begins. The
theory describing our universe is still under construction. Holography is the hypothesis that a quantum
spacetime emerges like a hologram from a low-dimensional spacetime. We have not understood well themechanism of this hypothesis and to what extent we can use it. I am working on the holography from various
points of view to construct the theory of quantum gravity.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Science
Research Field : Early Universe
Research Interests
My main interest is physics of the early stage of our universe. In particular, I have so far focused on inflation, theaccelerated expansion preceding the hot Big-Bang universe. I have proposed a novel analysis approach toinflation with use of mathematics of random noise called stochastic calculus. Primordial black hole is also myresearch topic as a direct consequence of particular dynamics of the early universe. I'm also working on several
production mechanism of gravitational waves

Ryo
HIGUCHI
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty
(YLC)

Asuka
HIGO
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty
(YLC)

Jie
HUANG
Young Leaders
Cultivation Program
Faculty(YLC)

Research Interests
While the framework of Orthodox Christianity and wall painting was standardised during the middle
Byzantine period (9th–12th centuries), the forms of the architecture followed various types while the churches
themselves had different roles. The purpose of my study is to investigate why middle Byzantine architecture
took various architectural forms and to understand the role of the churches in Byzantine society, through adetailed and comprehensive analysis of surviving architecture.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Center for Gene Research
Research Field : Plant development, Sexual reproduction
Research Interests
Annual plants need to orchestrate the growth and death cycle of whole body to end the sexual reproduction
before dying. The signals and receptors for this important regulation is totally unknown. I want to identify the
integrator secreted from the stem cell tissue and its receptor and also understand the evolution of plant life cycle
variation : annual vs perennial plants.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Mathematics
Research Field : Number Theory
Research Interests
I am working on multiple zeta values and its surroundings. Multiple zeta values are concrete numbers defined bysimple infinite series, but their algebraic structure is deep and interesting. Also, multiple zeta values are related
to various areas such as mixed motif theory, Lie algebras, absolute Galois groups, knot theory, fundamentalgroups of moduli spaces, modular forms, calculations of amplitudes in string theory, and so on.

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Humanities
Research Field : Cultural anthropology
Research Interests
My research interest lies primarily in the cultural anthropology studies on the dynamics or contemporary
development of folk beliefs in Southeast Asia countries. My research mostly focusing on the syncretism ofindigenous beliefs, with foreign religions in the substratum of Mainland Southeast Asian societies from the20th century to the present. Through case studies of the syncretism of the city pillar shrine and other folk
beliefs in urban Thailand, my research tries extending new theories of folk beliefs in Southeast Asian studies.

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 32

IAR PEOPLE | YLC Program Faculty 2021

MinoruHIROSE

Affiliation : Designated Assistant professor at Nagoya IAR and Graduate School of Humanities
Research Field : History of Architecture

I
INFORMATION

Activities & News

Because of concerns due to the coronavirus disease 2019
pandemic, some annual plans have been canceled or
postponed. Nonetheless, Nagoya University’s Institute forAdvanced Research (IAR) accelerates to organize several
online events in 2021.

gave a talk. The second webinar was held on December 13,
2021, titled “Dialogue between physicality and Advanced
Technology.” Two professors from both institutes gave talks.
For both symposiums, we had a fruitful panel discussion topromote the interaction not only between the two institutes
but also among the audiences from Nagoya University.

IAR Symposiums

UBIAS ICA 1 Online Course Published

IAR symposiums are aimed at communicating theestablished, novel, and cutting-edge research of Nagoya
University to all of its members. Usually, we focus on two
different fields: first, literature and social science and, second,
natural science and engineering. The first symposium of thisseries has been held on January 22, 2021. The title of this
symposium was “Worth and Contribution of Academic
Discipline—Impacts of the
Research and Dialogs.” We had
a guest speaker Dr. Susumu
ANNAKA from the Waseda
Institute for Advanced Study(WIAS). Three researchers
from Nagoya University gave
talks. The second symposium
has been held on June 23,
2021, focusing on biology andmedicine. The title was “A new
perspective to ‘observing lifes’—
advanced technology andphilosophy.” Four speakers from
Nagoya University gave talks.

The online class material “Off the Clock: The Many Faces ofTime” has been published in Coursera. This is the significant
outcome from the first UBIAS Intercontinental academia
workshop, which is jointly organized by Nagoya IAR and the
University of Sao-Paulo in 2015 and 2016. As of the end of 2021,
more than 700 people around the world has learned the course.

UBIAS ICA 4

Nagoya University Initiative Webinar

UBIAS Directors’ Conference 2021

Since 2020, IAR and the Institute of Innovation for Future
Society have jointly hosted a special online webinar to havebetter communications between fundamental and appliedsciences. This year, we had two webinars. The first webinar
wa s h e l d o n J u l y 2 9 , 2 0 2 1 , t i t l e d “ L i fe a n d A r t i f i c i a lIntelligence.” Two Young Leaders Cultivation (YLC) faculties
from IAR and two professors from Institute for Innovation

The 4th University-Based Institutes for Advanced Study(UBIAS) Intercontinental Academia has been held with thetitle of “Intelligence and Artificial Intelligence.” Professor
Toshio Fukuda (Meijo University/IEEE president), a former IAR
faculty, gave a public seminar as a mentor, and Professor
Yasutomo Kawanishi (RIKEN), a former faculty at Nagoya
University, was awarded as the participant of the workshop.
The introductory workshop was held online in June 2021, andthe main workshops were held in Paris from October 18 to 27,
2021. The workshop in Belo Horizonte will be held from
November 7 to 16, 2022, both in-person and online.

On April 12–14, 2021, UBIAS’s online conference
participated by directors worldwide was held. The Institute forAdvanced Study at Aix–Marseille University (IMéRA) virtually
hosted the 6th Directors’ Conference. Nagoya IAR has longplayed a central role as a steering committee of UBIAS. Dr.
Suto, director of Nagoya IAR, has been elected as co-chair of
the steering committee, so-called “Triumvirate” (coordinationteam), together with the directors in Marseille and Ghana.

2021 Young Leaders Cultivation Program
The YLC program is a strategic program of Nagoya IAR on
the basis of the premise that it is crucial to secure an
appropriate quantity and quality of young researchers tosustain the development of outstanding education andresearch in the future. Nagoya IAR recruits and trains young
faculty members regularly and systematically. In the academic
year 2021, Dr. Jie Huang (Graduate School of Humanities), Dr.
Ryo Higuchi (Graduate School of Humanities), Dr. Sotaro
Sugishita (Graduate School of Science), Dr. Yuichiro Tada
(Graduate School of Science), Dr. Minoru Hirose (Graduate
School of Mathematics), Dr. Shinnosuke Ishizuka (Institute forSpace-Earth Environmental Research), Dr. Asuka Higo (The33 | IAR LETTER | March 2022

I.A.R. INFORMATION

Center for Gene Research), and Dr. Su Matthew Paul
(Graduate School of Science) were newly employed as
designated assistant professors of the YLC program.

YLC Seminar
The YLC seminar is aimed at providing members with
opportunities to understand each other’s research interests toassist interdisciplinary collaboration research. The 24th YLC
seminar was virtually held on March 23, 2021. Dr. Manabu
Bessho-Uehara (Graduate School of Science) talked about “
How a fish steals a light from its prey ” and Dr. Hisashi
Hayakawa (Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research)talked about “Tentative reconstructions of extreme space
weather events using historical archival records.” The 25th YLC
seminar was also virtually organized on June 22, 2021. Dr. Yuki
S ato ( G ra d u ate S c h o o l o f S c i e n c e ) ta l ke d a b o u t “ D owormholes matter for your universe?” and Dr. Aaron Chan
(Graduate School of Mathematics) talked about “Surface
triangulation and its categorification.” The 26th YLC seminar
was organized both in-person and online on December 14,
2021. Dr. Daichi Kashino (Graduate School of Science) talked
about “Evolution of galaxies and intergalactic gas,” and Dr.
Tomoya Nakayama (Graduate School of Bioagricultural
Sciences) talked about “Towards understanding the seasonal
adaptation mechanisms in vertebrates.”

IAR Freshmen Lecture Series
Targeting first-year students of the Nagoya University,
this lecture series includes lectures delivered by members of
the IAR Academy, IAR Faculty members, IAR Fellows, andNagoya University researchers. The series was aimed atcommunicating the fun of academic research. In the academic
year 2021, the following 14 lectures took place online:
1. “Science Started from Observation,”by Professor Sumio Iijima（Guest Professor of Nagoya University and Professor of Meijo University）

2. “The Research History of Particle Physics,”
by Professor Makoto Kobayashi（Director of the Kobayashi Maskawa Institute and 2008 Nobel Laureate in Physics）

3. “The Dark Matter of the Universe,”

by Professor Naoshi Sugiyama（Graduate School of Science, Director of NAIAS and Vise-President of Nagoya university）

4.“Material Science—Fun and Useful,”
by Professor Ichiro Terasaki（Graduate School of Science and Deputy Director of Nagoya IAR）

5. “The Present in Historical Studies: Excavate the Hellenism Civilization,”by Professor Yoshiyuki Suto（Graduate School of Humanities, Director of Nagoya IAR）

6. “How to Use Contemporary Economics,”
by Professor Jiro Nemoto（Graduate School of Economics）
7. “Visualize—Science About the Blessing of Nature,”by Professor Ryo Kohsaka（Graduate School of Environmental Studies）

8. “Analyze Democracy,”by Professor Hiroko Takeda（Graduate School of Law and Deputy Director of Nagoya IAR）

9. “Fascination with an Introduction to the History of Thought,”
by Professor Takaho Ando（Chuo University/Sixth Director of Nagoya IAR）
10.“Next-Generation Bio-imaging,”by Professor Shigehiro Yamaguchi（Graduate School of Science and Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules）

11. “Genome Breeding to Solve the Food Crisis,”by Professor Makoto Matsuoka（Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences）
´$UH&KHPLFDOO\5HDFWLQJ0ROHFXOHV¶9LVLEOH·"µby Professor Akiyoshi Hishikawa（Research Center for Material Scienc）
13.“Chemistry of Anthocyanin—Make It Bloom the Blue Roses,”by Professor Kumi Yoshida（Graduate School of Informatics）
´+RZ,VWKH%UDLQ)RUPHG"5HVHDUFKRQ&HOO'HYHORSPHQWµby Professor Takaki Miyata（Graduate School of Medicine）

YLC Collaborative Research Grant
The YLC collaborative research grant was launched in2018 to support interdisciplinary collaboration between YLC
faculty. YLC faculty voluntarily organized the grant contents,
schedule, and selection process. In this year, YLC selected two
research groups; one was led by Dr. Hisashi Hayakawa(Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research) with thetitle “Feasibility researches on the quantitative environmental
history: a case study for the crisis of the 17th-century and its
comparison with other historical crises.” The other group wasrepresented by Dr. Ai Sugie (Graduate School of Environmental
Studies) with the title “Analysis of structural problems
concerning harassment during fieldwork and establishment of
security measures.”AwardsDr. Takahiro Seki (Professor of Graduate School of Engineering)received The Japanese Photochemistry Association Special LectureshipAward (September 2021).

Dr. Atsushi J. Nishizawa (IAR faculty) received the Publication of
Astronomical Society of Japan Excellent Paper Award (March 2021).
Dr. Ryo Higuchi (YLC/Graduate School of Humanities) received theArchitec tural Institute of Japan, Young Researcher Award 2021.
(September 2021)
Dr. Kazuhide Sato (YLC/Graduate School of Medicine) received The

Young Investigator Award of the Japanese Association for Molecular
Target Therapy of Cancer (May 2021), Encouraging Prize of Japan
Bioindustry Association (July 2021), Masao Horiba Awards (July 2021), andKondou Kinen Academic Encouragement Award 2021 (December 2021).

March 2022 | IAR LETTER | 34

INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED RESEARCH, NAGOYA UNIVERSITY
Telephone. +81-52-788-6051 Facsimile. +81-52-788-6151

E-mail. nu-iar@adm.nagoya-u.ac.jp

http://www.iar.nagoya-u.ac.jp/