Academic background

I graduated from Zhejiang University (Department of Thermal Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering) (Bachelor of Engineering) in 1982, completed the master’s course in the Graduate School of Power Engineering, Dalian University of Technology in 1986 (Master of Engineering), and completed the doctoral course in High-temperature Physics Engineering, Department of Engineering Science, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University in 1995 (Doctor of Engineering).

Career

I worked for the Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth (RITE) (researcher) as an industrial technology researcher of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in 1995. I became a chief researcher of RITE in 1998, an associate professor of the College of Law, Ritsumeikan University in 1999, and an associate professor of the College of Policy Science, Ritsumeikan University in 2000. I have been in my current position since 2002. I concurrently served as a research advisor of RITE, the first president of the Confucius Institute at Ritsumeikan, the first director of the Ritsumeikan Research Center for Sustainability Science (RCS), a specially-appointed professor of Osaka University Research Institute for Sustainability Science, a visiting researcher of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Management, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, and a visiting professor of multiple universities, including Zhejiang University, Dalian University of Technology, and Peking University. I am a visiting member of the Engineering Academy of Japan.

Research

The East Asian region, including Japan and China, concurrently faces issues related to resources, energy, and climate change. The region shares common risks and benefits in those general and typical interdisciplinary issues. Our laboratory analyzes and evaluates economic, social, and technical measures that contribute to sustainable development while ensuring overall harmony with the economy, energy, and the environment, and conducts research that leads to international policy recommendations.
Main books (co-authored): Scenario to Save the Earth ― CO₂ Reduction Strategy (The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd., August 2000), Collaboration between Urban and Rural Areas and Ecological Design of a Low-carbon Society (Gihodo Shuppan Co., Ltd., March 2011), East Asian Low-Carbon Community (Springer, 2021), Sustainability Science in the Era of SDGs (Horitsu Bunka Sha, 2022), etc.

Education

College: in charge of “Introduction to Sustainability Science,” “International Environmental Policy,” “Special Lecture on Policies,” “Introduction to Policy Engineering,” “Systems Science,” etc.
Graduate school: in charge of “Introduction to Sustainable Development,” “Resource Circulation and Sustainable Environmental Strategy,” research projects (supervision for master’s and doctoral theses), etc.

Global environmental issues, including global warming, require comprehensive and interdisciplinary study. They cover many fields of social science, such as natural science, politics, economy, and law. In the 21st century, human resources who can cope with various issues across different fields are required. Policy science is a design science based on cognition science. It requires an understanding and utilization of extensive knowledge in addition to sociology, such as engineering viewpoints and techniques. At our laboratory, students are urged to think freely and critically, actively hold discussions (arguments), and develop an interest in other research fields through three learning processes (identification of policy issues, acquisition of policy planning techniques, and policy analysis and recommendations).

FROM ZERO-SUM GAME TO WIN-WIN GAME

Energy/environment policy theory, policy engineering, energy systems science, international relations theory, sustainability science, climate change, circular low-carbon society, developing countries, China, East Asia, nuclear safety, global recycling system, distributed power sources, environmental assessment