The Japan Committee for IIASA, carries out the responsibilities of Japan’s membership in IIASA. The Japan Committee for IIASA is made up of a total of 9 committee members representing experts from academia, government and the private industrial sector.

The Japan Committee for IIASA is currently administered through the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES).

The Council Member for Japan is Dr. Kazu Takemoto, Senior Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of the Environment. Dr. Takemoto is also Vice Chair of the IIASA Council, Member of the Executive Committee and Member of the Finance Committee. The Chair of the Committee is Prof. Youichi Kaya, Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo.   

Takashi Otsuka, Deputy Director, Programme Management Office, serves as NMO Secretary.

Prof. Tetsuzo YASUNARI, Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center (HyARC), Nagoya University, is a Member of the IIASA Science Advisory Council.

Key Relationships and Collaborations

• Research Institute of Innovative Technology for the Earth(RITE)
• Institute for Global Environmental Strategies(IGES)
• The National Institute for Environmental Studies(NIES)
• Disaster Prevention Research Institute(DPRI)
• The Tokyo Electric Power Company(TEPCO)
• Toyota Central Research and Development Corporation(TCRDL)
• Toyota Motor Corporation
• Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd.
• Kyoto University
• Acid Deposition and Oxidant Research Center, Niigata
• Japan Environmental Sanitation Center, Asia Center for Air Pollution Research (ACAP)
• The University of Tokyo, Integrated Research System for sustainability Science (IR3S)
• Nagoya University

Select Research Highlights

Following is a selection of research highlights relating to the IIASA – Japan collaboration.

Energy and climate change research:

• Japan is a contributor to theGlobal Energy Assessment(GEA). The GEA is a major initiative seeking to redefine the global energy policy agenda. Japan holds ten Lead Authorship positions on GEA.
• IIASA, with NIES Japan and Stanford University, are part of the Executive Committee of theIntegrated Assessment Modeling Consortium, which is tasked with the development of the scenario modeling for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 4th and 5th Assessment reports.
• The IIASAGAINSmodel has been used in the development of the Toyota funded 'trophospheric ozone simulator' which was launched at a workshop in Beijing (2011). The simulator, which can predict ozone concentrations across South and East Asia, has been developed to inform effective energy policy development.
• Since 1998, IIASA with the Acid Deposition and Oxidant Research Center, Niigata, Japan, have been involved in EANET, The Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia. Associated withEANETis the Model Inter-comparison Studies (MICS-Asia II), which assessed the transport of air pollutants in Asia, IIASA GAINS model underpins much of the analysis undertaken in MICS.
• There are various research collaborations between IIASA and Japan aimed at improving energy efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions and improving air quality in Japan, these include:
  • a) Ongoing collaboration with TEPCO to investigate current and future markets for energy technologies, and to assess technology trade and transfer effects under GHG emission reduction and other energy policies.
  • b) Research commenced in 2010 on the energy security implications of climate mitigation, with support from RITE.
  • c) In collaboration with TEPCO IIASA undertook a study on the comparison of two future energy systems - Hydrogen systems and All Electric Systems.

Technology and innovation:

• IIASA completed an assessment of the role of innovation in manufacturing technology and how this relates to economic growth, with a comparison of Japan and the USA. The results were published in a book: Managing Innovation in Japan - The role institutions play in helping or hindering how companies develop technology. The study was funded by Japan's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Reducing the risk of disaster:

• In collaboration with Kyoto University's Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI) IIASA is applying its systems models to help Japan understand, and prepare for, natural disasters and to reduce vulnerability.

Forestry, land management, and fisheries:

• Information and data exchange via NIES is the primary collaboration between IIASA and Japan in the land and forestry domain. As part of extension of the Agro-ecological Zones Assessment IIASA collaborated with NIES on impacts of temperature extremes on crop production.
• IIASA with the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Qingdao, China, have established that fishing is not only affecting the numbers of fish in the Yellow Sea but that it is also causing undesirable genetic changes in fish stocks. Research is continuing on the evolutionary implications of fisheries exploitation in Yellow Sea fish stocks.

Co-Benefits approach:

To strengthen the integration of co-benefits into policy decisions, the need for greater collaboration was underlined during a seminar at the IIASA Headquarters in September 2011, held jointly by IIASA and the Japan Committee for IIASA. Building upon this seminar, the International Workshop on a Co-Benefits Approach: A Dialogue between Policy Makers and Researchers was held in Japan in February, 2012, inviting key speakers from IIASA. The workshop aimed to review the latest trends and discuss ways to further promote co-benefits policy and research. It was attended by over 45 policymakers, researchers and representatives of civil society organisations from Japan, China, India, Europe and the United States.

Capacity Building

IIASA's annual Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP), offers advanced level PhD candidates the opportunity to work with IIASA scientists over a 3-month period, with the explicit aim of refining or extending their research skills in the area of systems analysis.

Since the first Japanese participant in 1985, a total of 70 Japanese students have completed the YSSP.

IIASA, through its postdoctoral program has funded two Japanese postdoctoral fellowships since the program commenced in 2006.

In 2004 the YSSP Peccei Scholarship was awarded to Hiroshi Ito of Japan for her research on adaptive dynamics.

Last edited: 21 October 2012