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At the beginning of 19th century Ino Tadataka surveyed almost whole coast lines of Japanese Islands and main roads, and made 214 sheet maps of 1:36000 and 8 sheet maps of 1:216000 in scale. This paper deals with his map compilation and scale-down. method. Almost every night, if possible. Ino measured elevation angles of 20 to 30 stars crossing meridian to determine latitude. The Y coordinates of the observation points were calculated from the latitudes using the ratio that one degree difference in latitude was 28.2 ri (or 101.52×36000 sun). Here ri and sun are Japanese old measures. Ino could not measure longitude astronomically because he had not chronometer. He corrected coordinates (x,y) obtained in surface survey "Dosen-Ho", a kind of open traverse method. The X coordinates of the observation points were estimated as x Y/y. In this way, he obtained coordinates (X,Y) on scale of 1:36000 concerning approximately 1220 astronomical observation points in whole Japanese Islands. For the first step, he prepared local maps of 1:36000 from local surface survey, then corrected them by using the coordinates of astronomical observation points. For second step. he compiled the wide area maps of 1:36000 from local maps to control reference to the coordinates of observation points. The maps of 1: 216000 were compiled from the maps of 1:36000 by using the reduced coordinate values of one six. In this process, the coordinates of the observation points were referred to keep precision of the maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to discuss the implementation and importance about the multinomial logit model of Bayesian Age-Period-Cohort analysis. Since the design matrix of three factors does not become full rank due to the identification problem derived from linear dependency between age, period and cohort, few studies have used a complex model. In contrast, this paper presents the practical multinomial logit model with efficient sampling by reparameterization about the constraints of assuming a random walk for each effect. Furthermore, we compared the estimates of the logit model and the multidimensional model about political issues that should be considered from multiple perspectives. Using repeated cross-sectional survey in Japan from 1973 to 2013, the multinomial logit model was shown to be effective because it was able to obtain a trend that were not captured in the logit model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, the increasing trend of delayed marriage and inclusion of infertility treatments into insurance coverage have led to a significant need to develop comprehensive treatment plans which incorporate dental interventions commencing prior to the initiation of infertility treatments. This study is aimed to highlight a holistic approach taking into account the various stages of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, and the evolving health status of patients while planning infertility treatment procedures, by establishing an effective interdisciplinary collaboration between medical and dental practitioners. We believe that our study makes a significant contribution to the literature because in the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals undergoing fertility treatments, pregnant and lactating women exhibit a notable propensity for heightened anxieties, including substantial concerns regarding oral health-related problems and dental procedures, which need to be addressed thoroughly. Further, we believe that this paper will be of interest to the readership of your journal because our study findings will benefit the patients and doctors alike in devising effective treatment protocols for successful outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cinusa nippon Nagasawa (Isopoda: Cymothoidae), a marine parasite infesting the buccal cavities of coastal puffers, is newly recorded from the Pacific coasts of central Japan. A pair consisting of a mature female and mature male, and six mancae and a juvenile, were collected from reared vermiculated puffer, Takifugu snyderi (Abe) (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae), in an aquarium and a museum, respectively. The present paper provides a description of the morphological characters of these cymothoids, including their immature stages, and molecular analysis using 16S rRNA for C. nippon and related species. In the maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree, C. nippon was included in the clade of Ceratothoa Dana and corresponds to Ceratothoa sp. 2 reported in another study. These suggest that the relationship between Cinusa Schioedte and Meinert and Ceratothoa needs to be re-examined. Furthermore, the morphological study showed that these cymothoid mancae are similar to Manca type 2 known from zoo-plankton, provided in one of our previous reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The status of 37 species of breeding seabirds in Japan has been reported by Hasegawa(1984). However, since then, no report has been made. The author was involved in the launch of seabird monitoring for the Monitoring site 1000 project by the Ministry of the Environment in 2004. In the over 15 years since then, population and habitat have been surveyed in 30 major breeding areas, including 80 islands and islets in Japan. In this paper, the previous studies including reports based on this project and the seabird colony database were reviewed. The populations of many species at various islands declined, possibly because of introduced predators and human disturbance. The nesting habitats of most of the seabird breeding areas had deteriorated. Therefore, the continuous monitoring of the change of the population and nesting habitat and quick operation of appropriate conservation measures, eradication of introduced predators and redacation of human disturbance)are required. In this paper, 1)distribution of seabirds, 2)monitoring seabird survey, 3)current status, 4)introduced predators, and 5)conservation activities are summarized. Further 1)necessity of long-term monitoring of seabirds, 2)extermination of introduced predators, 3)reduction of anthropogenic disturbances, and 4)issues of conservation measures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport processes in coastal oceans are important for understanding mass transport between land and ocean. Investigations of mixing processes are essential to reveal the transport processes. This paper presents mixing processes due to internal tides and the associated mass transport, on the basis of field observations and numerical simulations conducted by the author who is a recipient of Okada Prize from the Oceanographic Society of Japan, 2022. The Yoing Ocean Data Acquisition (YODA) Profiler, has been developed to observe small scale dynamics and mixing processes in coastal oceans. Results from the profiler revealed mixing in river plumes and breaking of nonlinear internal tides on a shallow slope. Breaking of internal tides results in strong turbulent mixing, sediment resuspension and generation of intermediate nepheloid layers in Otsuchi Bay, Japan. It was found that vertical mixing was enhanced by a collision of a receding internal tide and a subsequent run-up nonlinear internal bore on a gentle slope. In addition, numerical models were developed to investigate internal tides breaking. Large scale oceanic numerical models showed enhanced diurnal internal tides caused by a resonance of Kelvin waves around islands over the Izu-Ogasawara Ridge and strongly enhanced the internal tide energy flux toward the upstream of the Kuroshio owing to an interaction of the Kuroshio and tides. This study also applies methods established in oceanic studies to analysis of mixing processes in a lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ocean significantly influences the Earthʼs climate by exchanging heat, gas, and particles with the atmosphere. The radiation budget of the Earthʼs atmosphere is affected by physical, chemical, and biological processes in the atmospheric boundary layer over the ocean via cloud formation and CO2 absorption at the sea surface. This in turn influences the ocean through changes in temperature, precipitation, and solar radiation. The air‒sea boundary has a direct interaction with human life through the observation and prediction of extreme occurrences, such as typhoons and rogue surface waves, in addition to climate issues. Herein, this paper focuses on “the air‒sea boundary,” not limiting as “the air‒sea interface.” The air‒sea boundary encompasses a large vertical region, extending from the euphotic layer, where primary production occurs, to the troposphere. This paper also focuses on satellite observations relating to air‒sea boundary phenomena. Does the deposition of aerosols containing nitrogen, phosphorus, and iron contribute to primary production in terms of nutrient deposition from the atmosphere? What role does the sea surface microlayer play as an air‒sea interface, and what factors influence its physical properties? What information is required to calculate the amount of greenhouse gas and marine biogenic gas exchange? What types of marine aerosols influence cloud formation and the radiation budget? What approaches are required to comprehend the spatiotemporal distributions that affect the amount of matter and energy exchanged during wave processes? To answer these questions and help humans live in harmony with the natural environment, this paper presents a 10-year vision for necessary research and collaboration between the Oceanographic Society of Japan and neighboring societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the relationship between education and society from the perspective of sociology and critically reviews how African education studies in Japan have been conducted to date. In this paper the term ‘schooled knowledge’ is expediently used in order to refer to knowledge that is constructed in school. First, the paper explains global trends in aid in the education sector since the 1960s with the influential theories behind them. The paper then describes how the trend has influenced Japanese aid and further education studies in Africa. Next, the paper discusses theories that critically examine modern education systems and structures in relation to society at large. The paper then explains contemporary dual viewpoints of the schooled society and schooling in society. Finally, the paper critically reviews how African education studies in Japan have been conducted with little critical reflection of modern education systems in African contexts and suggests the necessity of examining them from the critical and wider viewpoints of how learning is taking place both within and outside school contexts in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the current trends in African linguistics in Japan. Based on the traditional focus on empirical description of individual languages, African linguistic studies in Japan are now developing into a new phase aiming to expand our knowledge on linguistic diversity and universals through crosslinguistic generalizations. This paper thus provides an overview of the three research fields representing the state-of-the-art in African linguistics in Japan, namely, 1) methodological innovation in African linguistics, 2) current development of intra-genetic typology of the Bantu languages, and 3) cutting-edge trends in the study of sign languages in Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this paper, a review of all of the literature both from Japan and other countries that had been published as of March 2018 on Snoezelen lessons for children with severe multiple disabilities at schools was performed to clarify future research subjects. Using five databases to search the literature produced approximately 900 hits, including a combination of both papers from Japan and other countries. However, based on a careful examination of their contents this was narrowed down to a total of 44 works, which were then analyzed. From the results, six points were raised as main research subjects for the future, including: Systematically arranging and indicating the significance of Snoezelen education as well as its purposes and method, verifying the need for Snoezelen education, research on how to use of the rooms and lesson methods, presenting evidence of the effects of lessons that include mini-Snoezelen (including the effects of skill acquisition), holding nationwide training seminars for teachers, and developing equipment and teaching materials in partnership with companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan’s super-aged society, many dental patients have underlying systemic diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, and endocrine systems. Acute exacerbations of these underlying diseases are often observed before, during, or after dental treatment. Even young people with no systemic diseases may develop vasovagal reflex and hyperventilation syndrome as a result of the stress, anxiety, and pain associated with dental treatment. Dentists are required to appropriately treat these medical emergencies. Although in some instances the problem may be relieved by changing the patient’s position or monitoring vital signs, some cases require treatment with emergency drugs. However, there are no standard guidelines in Japan regarding medical emergencies in dentistry and emergency drugs. In contrast, the British Dental Association has created a poster that summarizes the symptoms of medical emergencies, initial treatments, and emergency drugs. The American Dental Association also publishes a response guide to medical emergencies in the dental office. In this paper, referring to these two sources, the authors have reconsidered which emergency drugs are needed for dental clinics in Japan. Daily training in the correct use of drugs in cases of emergency is essential. The authors manage a study group called “AneStem” to respond to sudden changes in the condition of patients at the dental clinic, and we also run educational activities including simulation training for medical emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay sheds light on Soviet and Russian Foreign Policy through use of the “critical geopolitical” concept of the “geo-code.” A state’s “geo-code” refers to the construction of narratives regarding its own space and history over time. Borrowing from Klaus Dodd’s ideal-type categories, which he uses to explain geo-coded narratives of British policy (“little England,” “cosmopolitan,” “European” and “American”), this paper proposes to utilize combinations of four ideal-type categories, “Atlantic/European,” “ethnic Russian,” “Eurasian” and “super power,” in order to analyze and explain Soviet and Russian foreign policy. The first section applies the metaphor of a photograph to the memoirs of several foreign policy leaders: Andrei Gromyko and Eduard Shevardnadze in the Soviet-era; and Andrei Kozyrev, Evgenii Primakov and Serghei Ivanov in contemporary Russia. The paper shows how the composite image of Russia held by these individuals shaped the state’s foreign policy. It also stresses that different concepts of sovereignty have been sustained or reconstructed within Soviet/Russian international law theories in dialogue with changes in images held by the foreign policy leader. The latter half of the paper further develops this theory in order to apply it to Putin’s current Russian foreign policy perception of Northeast Asia, and particularly of China and Japan. From the late Soviet period under Gorbachev to the early Russian period of Yeltsin, Japan was considered as one of the “rising” powers able to aid Russia’s political and economic transition, and it was widely recognized that the relationship would be facilitated by a peace treaty resolving the territorial issue between the two countries. However, following reconciliation between Russia and China, China became the more important partner for Russia, not only in Northeast Asia but also throughout Eurasia. Following its disengagement with the West after the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russia’s image of itself as close to “Europe” slipped, while that of the state as “ethnic Russian” and “Eurasian” that must become a “great power” to oppose the US was emphasized. This has meant that Japan is no longer an essential partner from the viewpoint of Russia’s dominant foreign policy images. In turn, the significance of China has increased and developed for Russia beyond the two countries historical “love-hate” relationship. Not only policy makers but also ordinary people look to China as Russia’s “No.1” partner, while the United States is its indefatigable “enemy.” There is no room for Japan in this picture while Japan remains so dependent on the US for security matters. In the conclusion, the paper debunks the myths associated with “classical geopolitics,” which associate foreign policy solely with perceptions of state power and geography. It shows that a “geo-politics” which links the positivist and constructive approaches, and which seeks to account for various analytical scales—from micro to macro, below/beyond the state—can analyze foreign policy change more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Czech literature was first recognized in Japan in the 1920s and early 1930s. Among literary works published during this period, which were few in number and mostly second-hand translations from English or German, three books - one play and two novels - require special attention. Karel Čapek’s dystopian play R.U.R., originally written in 1920 and first staged in 1921, was translated into Japanese in 1923 and became the first major work of Czech literature ever introduced in Japan. Just like in other parts of the world, the play attracted attention of both critics and readers. Several other translations were published soon after and the play was also successfully staged in Tsukiji Shōgekijō Theatre in 1925. A few years later, in 1930, Japanese translations of two other essential works of the inter-war period Czech literature were published – Jaroslav Hašek’s acclaimed antimilitarist novel The Good Soldier Švejk and Ivan Olbracht’s socialist novel Anna The Proletarian, a book which is now almost completely forgotten. The main objective of this paper is to explore the relation between the literary concepts adopted and constantly argued by the critics and writers of the Proletarian Literature, predominant literary movement at that time, and the reception/interpretation of foreign literary works, in this case works of Czech literature. Based on the analysis of the newspaper advertisements, book reviews and other related texts this paper shows that the reception was determined by the concepts and notions the Proletarian critics valued and that the leftist literary critics tended to emphasize those elements of these literary works they considered to be conveying the Proletarian ideals. On the other hand, Olbracht’s Anna The Proletarian, a novel praised by its translator Ichiko Kamichika as a must-read for every proletarian woman, was targeted by Japanese censorship for its radical political thoughts and was eventually published with large parts of the text censored. Consequently, this paper concludes that Czech literature introduced and translated in the inter-war period was interpreted in different ways and valued for different reasons than it was originally in Czechoslovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the 1918–1921 Japanese military mission to Central Asia, stationed in Urumchi, Ili (Gulja), Tarbagatay and Kashgar. Japanese General Staffs dispatched several officers to Xinjiang to support the Siberia Intervention. This paper reviews the mission’s activities and concerns on intelligence, economic interests and propaganda, especially those of the so-called ‘Japanese consul in Gulja’, Captain Nagamine. The Japanese mission had a keen interest in the developments of the Russian Civil War in the Semirech’e and Semipalatinsk Oblasts. In Ili, Nagamine built relationships with the White Russian consul, leaders of nomads and others. Japanese officers reported activities of White Russian Cossacks in detail. Meanwhile, the Governor Yang Zengxin, was suspicious about possible conspiracies among members of the Japanese mission, Russian consuls and the Cossacks. Yang reported to Beijing that Japanese officers had attempted to bring the Japanese army to Xinjiang on the pretext of a joint defence and to interfere in Ili by letting the Cossacks advance into Bolshevik’s Vernyi, which would pass through Xinjiang’s territory. In addition, a report from Kashgar hinted that the Japanese army supported the anti-Soviet guerrilla Basmachis in the Fergana Valley. In early 1920, the Cossacks were defeated by the Red Army and fled to Xinjiang. Nagamine witnessed the disarmament of Commander Annenkov, with whom the Japanese in Urumchi seemed to have maintained a relationship even after Nagamine’s departure from Ili. The Japanese mission also attempted to promote economic interests in Xinjiang. According to Etherton, the British consul-general in Kashgar, Japanese products flowed into Xinjiang in 1919, and Japan was considered a possible rival of Britain over the Xinjiang market. The Japanese mission tried to open a consulate in Xinjiang. In Urumchi, the Japanese entered into talks with ‘Russian’ merchants—who were in fact Muslim Turks—where they discussed Japanese naturalisation and Japanese protection. However, the talks failed. Despite his suspicion, Yang also relied on the Japanese for economic development. He consulted Major Narita in Urumchi about a large loan to construct a light railway and drill for oil. However, this offer was cancelled by order of Beijing. The Japanese General Staffs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs coldly refused Narita’s proposal. Moreover, the Japanese mission engaged in propaganda towards Muslim Turks for some obscure agenda related to Pan-Asianism, Pan-Islamism and Pan-Turkism. According to Etherton, the Japanese avoided any direct support or propaganda towards the Turks. Later, Nagamine stirred up accusations that Britain would occupy southern Xinjiang. He also had a relationship with Tatar Pan-Turkist, an ex-officer of the military organisation ‘Harbi Shura’. Kaneko and Otaki, stationed in Urumchi, frequently visited Ottoman activist Ahmet Kemal İlkul in jail, who had been sent to Xinjiang from Constantinople in 1914 and engaged in educational and Pan-Turkic activities. Thus, it was rather natural for the Japanese to pay attention to İlkul. Although not successful or long-lasting, the activities of the Japanese military mission to Xinjiang illustrate Japan’s interests in post-1917 Central Asia. Military intelligence about the Cossacks was their main object, but at the same time, they developed economic and propaganda interests that targeted Central Asian Turks, including Tatars. Certainly, such activities raised concerns with Yang and Etherton. In short, the Japanese mission to Xinjiang was one of the examples in which Japan tried to carve out a role in the Great Game of the early 20th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human agriculture is a universal subject of study across all disciplines of the natural, humanities and social sciences. Since the Renaissance, however, “agricultural science” has mainly focused on European agriculture, and it is only relatively recently that indigenous African agriculture has been fairly treated as an object of modern science. In this paper, the brief history of studies on African agriculture in Europe and Japan and outline the main issues and trends in the field in recent years. Since the 2000s, studies on African agriculture in Japan has been vigorously pursued with a generally impartial and objective attitude in the fields of agricultural origins and history, anthropology of farming and pastoralism, crop science and breeding, soil and environment, crop protection, animal husbandry and veterinary science, agricultural economics and rural sociology. Modern agriculture faces fundamental problems how it produces more food and how it produces food sustainably while conserving biodiversity. Overcoming these conflicting problems is the ultimate challenge in African agricultural studies, and further development of research by various methods in various fields is expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, manufacturers are required to dispose of their electronic products properly after use, which means in accordance with the Home Appliance Recycling Law. As a case study, a mathematical model for optimizing the operation plan of a factory that recycles used home appliances is constructed. The company makes a profit by selling the resources that are produced after dismantling the home appliances. However, the processing capacity is insufficient to dispose of the total amount of collected products, so the company has been outsourcing the storage of the excess beyond its warehouse capacity. As a method for improving this situation, this paper proposes an integer programming model that outputs an operation plan considering the entire disassembly process of the factory, and then shows the effectiveness of the model through numerical experiments and sensitivity analysis. The experimental results show that the proposed model can reduce the total cost, especially the contributions of transportation and inventory, without making major changes. The sensitivity analysis shows that, not only an appropriate increase in the number of employees, but also flexible personnel allocation leads to a decrease in the total cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Production line design is one of the important research topics for constructing smart factories. Many research papers have been published concerning smart factories; however, most of them are focus on subjects such as automation, IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence) and other new technologies that are introduced to increase the efficiency of existing manufacturing lines based on the so-called philosophy of“status-quo improvement”. In this research, we consider a design problem for a new production line taking into consideration investment cost, operation cost, synchronization penalty and flexibility penalty. We emphasize synchronization and flexibility as new key performance indices to evaluate the level of intelligenced to the smart factory, in which a multiple number of equipment in two production processes can provide the proper number of combinations to satisfy the external demand remove. Based on a real case involving a major player in the dairy product processing industry in Japan, we focus on two core production processes in a processed cheese manufacturing line; melting process and filling process. We design the process to include investing in a multiple number of machines with different capacities, while minimizing the total cost giving consideration to investment, operations, synchronization and flexibility. Two types of decision variables are introduced representing investment and operation. Through numerical experiments and the case study, we show that the proper number of equipment and capacity can be obtained applying the proposed model. The proposed model can also be applied to those companies considering further investment in factory or production line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hometown tax allows taxpayers to donate to any municipality of their choices. In return, the taxpayer receives local gifts from the municipality to which the donation was made (i.e., except for the municipality where the taxpayer resides) and tax breaks. In recent years, the competition among local governments to attract donations has become increasingly fierce. In this paper, the efficiencies of all effective municipalities in Japan, local collaborative manufacturers and local gifts in K City are analyzed by data envelopment analysis (DEA). Based on the efficiencies and improvement values, we will answer two questions that concern K City: (1) What is the strength of K City to attract the payment of hometown tax? (2) How can the lineup of gifts be modified to enhance the city's competitiveness? We first compare the efficiencies, input, and output values of other municipalities with K City to find its strength, weakness, and reference set. Then modification proposals regarding the gift lineup are made by cross analysis on the efficiencies of local collaborative manufacturers and local gifts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“The Colloquium on Oceanography” was initiated by a chief scientist, Michitaka Uda, of the Imperial Fisheries Institute, in April, 1932, to introduce papers, present oneʼs study results, and promote information exchange between members. Bi-monthly meetings, which were held on Thursdays at the Imperial Fisheries Institute, eventually led to 172 meetings and 506 lectures by 80 members until February, 1942. The cooperation between members and fervor for oceanography resulted in the proposal to create “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” in 1936. However, the proposal of “Kaiyo-Gakkai,” which had been previously presented at the Imperial Marine Observatory in Kobe, failed in the first half of 1937. The mutual consultation between “Kaiyo-Gakkai” and “the Colloquium on Oceanography” succeeded in building a committee on “Standard Sea Water” in December, 1939, and subsequently, “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” was established on January 28, 1941. In this study, the authors describe the examination of the proposal, contents, and details that led of the foundation of “the Oceanographic Society of Japan,” including participation by some scientists [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“The Colloquium on Oceanography” was initiated by a chief scientist, Michitaka Uda, of the Imperial Fisheries Institute, in April, 1932, to introduce papers, present one?s study results, and promote information exchange between members. Bi-monthly meetings, which were held on Thursdays at the Imperial Fisheries Institute, eventually led to 172 meetings and 506 lec¬tures by 80 members until February, 1942. The cooperation between members and fervor for oceanography resulted in the proposal to create “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” in 1936. However, the proposal of “Kaiyo-Gakkai,” which had been previously presented at the Imperi¬al Marine Observatory in Kobe, failed in the first half of 1937. The mutual consultation be¬tween “Kaiyo-Gakkai” and “the Colloquium on Oceanography” succeeded in building a com¬mittee on “Standard Sea Water” in December, 1939, and subsequently, “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” was established on January 28, 1941. In this study, the authors describe the examination of the proposal, contents, and details that led of the foundation of “the Oceano-graphic Society of Japan,” including participation by some scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“The Colloquium on Oceanography” was initiated by a chief scientist, Michitaka Uda, of the Imperial Fisheries Institute, in April, 1932, to introduce papers, present oneʼs study results, and promote information exchange between members. Bi-monthly meetings, which were held on Thursdays at the Imperial Fisheries Institute, eventually led to 172 meetings and 506 lectures by 80 members until February, 1942. The cooperation between members and fervor for oceanography resulted in the proposal to create “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” in 1936. However, the proposal of “Kaiyo-Gakkai,” which had been previously presented at the Imperial Marine Observatory in Kobe, failed in the first half of 1937. The mutual consultation between “Kaiyo-Gakkai” and “the Colloquium on Oceanography” succeeded in building a committee on “Standard Sea Water” in December, 1939, and subsequently, “the Oceanographic Society of Japan” was established on January 28, 1941. In this study, the authors describe the examination of the proposal, contents, and details that led of the foundation of “the Oceanographic Society of Japan,” including participation by some scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, from the perspective of economic exchange between Japan and Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan), the current situation and challenge, as well as future prospects, will be described through the work of promoting trade and investment. One of the characteristics of economic exchange between Japan and Central Asia is that the forms and fields of business developed by the target countries differ significantly, and one is that the public and private sectors are working together unexpectedly. One can point out that neither Japan nor the target countries can be decisively important economic partners, and as a result, exchanges remain at a low level. The lack of information is at the top of the challenge in developing economic exchanges between Japan and Central Asia. Also the difficulty of logistics, the vulnerable foreign exchange circumstances and the compliance problem are major bottleneck for commercial activities for Japanese companies. Although rosy expectations for future economic exchanges are forbidden, there are several directions for efforts that can contribute to building win-win relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both general and academic attention toward animal welfare has been increasing and the importance of scientific investigation into welfare states of captive animals is being recognized. One of the big questions in scientific studies of animal welfare is how we can assess animal welfare in an objective manner, and this is an intensively debated topic. In this paper, I reviewed the studies on captive chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in order to discuss the methodologies used to assess welfare states and introduce studies that have investigated how social environments affect chimpanzee welfare by combining behavioral and hair cortisol (HC) measurements. Recently, cortisol accumulated in the hair of animals has been considered as an indicator of the long-term hypothalamus-pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis. From a welfare perspective, long-term stress is more problematic than acute stress as it is challenging for animals to experience distress over a long period and long-term activation of the HPA axis can result in overall health deterioration. A series of studies on captive chimpanzees show that HC is useful for monitoring the long-term stress levels in captive chimpanzees. Furthermore, using the novel measure of long-term stress, I found that the stress level of male chimpanzees is affected by social variables and that male chimpanzees use social play as a means to reduce social tension. Although scientific investigation of animal welfare is still not a prevalent practice in Japan, it is a promising area of study both for improving animal welfare and deepening our understanding about animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A faunal survey on spionid polychaetes was carried out in Rishiri Island, Hokkaido, northern Japan during July 28 to August 2, 2017. Annelid worms of the family Spionidae were collected from intertidal and shallow subtidal (< 5 m in depth) zones in six sampling sites (Motodomari, Oshidomari, Shinminato, Oniwaki, Numaura, and Senhoshi). Totally, 11 spionid species belonging to eight genera were collected: Polydora onagawaensis, Boccardiella hamata, Boccardia proboscidea, Pseudopolydora paucibranchiata, Spio arndti, Sp. borealis, Sp. kurilensis, Sp. unidentata, Rhynchospio glutaea complex sp., Scolelepis kudenovi, and Aonides oxycephala. All 11 species were recorded for the first time from Rishiri Island. Spio arndti, Sp. kurilensis, and Sp. unidentata were newly recorded from Japan. New Japanese names for Sp. kurilensis and Sp. unidentata were proposed in the present paper. Voucher specimens were deposited in the Rishiri Town Museum (RTM), Rishiri Island, Hokkaido, Japan, under the museum registration numbers RTMANL002- RTMANL034. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a method to determine future facility locations in consideration of maintaining present accessibility and reducing reconstruction costs by extending the previous method. In the previous method, the effectiveness was confirmed by applying the method to a fire station in the city of Iwaki, Japan. In this paper, firstly, 1) we extend the scope of application and confirm the effectiveness by applying the method to a junior high school in the city of Takayama, Japan. The population distribution in Takayama is different from that in Iwaki, and the junior high school is a facility where there is demand from a specific population. In the previous method, it was possible to determine the facility location while maintaining present accessibility. However, the possibility that all facilities have to be reallocated and/or rebuilt is high. One is easily reminded that reallocation and rebuilding are costly. Therefore, 2) we propose a method of determining future facility location in consideration of maintaining present accessibility and reducing reconstruction costs by considering substitution in existing facilities. Our proposed method 2) is similarly applied to the junior high school in Takayama. We evaluate the total floor area for rebuilding and increase/decrease construction in case of 1) reallocation of all facilities and 2) considering substitution in existing facilities. Our proposed method 2) was also applied for the fire station in Iwaki. As a result, it was determined that the total floor space can be reduced while maintaining the present accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bibliobattle is a social book review game spreading in Japan recently. A presentation time limit for a Bibliobattle session is fixed at five minutes. This time limit was determined based on experiences of the founders who developed Bibliobattle. They said that the time limit is neither too short nor too long. However, the time limit has not been empirically investigated by comparing different time limits. In this paper, we investigate what kind of influence different time limits have on a presenter's speech in a Bibliobattle session. We conducted an experiment. For each experimental condition, we changed the time limit of the presenter's speech. We compared the book presenter's speech using a discourse analysis technique. It is proved that the ratio of utterance category is stable in different time limits. Additionally, we asked the presenters and audiences to answer several questionnaires to investigate the effects of different time limits. Most of all the questionnaries showed that the 3-, 5- and 7-minute time limits are not significantly different from each other. In contrast, there's a significant difference between 1 and 10 minutes. It was also revealed that a presenter and audiences have different feelings for the temporal differences in the presentation time limits of a Bibliobattle session. Audiences are more sensitive to the difference of time limit than presenters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]