FY 2022
Symposium on Data-Driven Future 2022
| Date | December 20, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | Society 5.0, which Japan is aiming for, is an inclusive society where everyone can enjoy the benefits of data utilization without anxiety. In order to realize this Society 5.0, it is important to work together with the public and private sectors to develop information infrastructures that can be used for a wide range of purposes and to create a human network that links people who want to analyze data with analysis technologies and public data, with universities and research institutions that play a central role in knowledge aggregation as hubs. A secure and high-speed computing platform "mdx: a platform for the data-driven future" was established at the Kashiwa II campus of the University of Tokyo at the end of FY2020. mdx is jointly operated by 9 universities and 2 research institutes and has been used for various research projects since its trial operation started in September 2021. In this symposium, experts from a wide range of fields will give lectures on advanced initiatives to promote data utilization, and use cases in various regions and fields, as well as tutorials on the use of mdx. Related link (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Registration starting from noon November 1) |
| Contact | Data Platform Initiative, Future Society Initiative dp.jimu[at]itc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
GX's current location at UTokyo
| Date | October 11, 2022 (EDT) October 12, 2022 (JST) |
| Venue | UTokyo NY / Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | The "UTokyo Compass“, which lays out the basic policy surrounding the philosophy and direction that the University of Tokyo should pursue under President Teruo Fujii, positions Green Transformation (GX) as one of the pillars of its action plan. The University of Tokyo, as a business entity, will formulate a roadmap to achieve virtually zero GHG emissions and work in partnership with the campus and the local communities, as well as accelerating the concrete efforts to achieve this goal. UTokyo will present and discuss the university’s current initiatives and concrete action plans to achieve this goal. Symposium Poster |
| Registration | Registration Form (Zoom Webinar Participation) Registration Form (On-site Participation) |
| Contact | The University of Tokyo New York Office nyo.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
International Symposium "Towards sustainable and inclusive society: Visualizing the diverse values of Nature"
| Date | October 11, 2022 |
| Venue | Media hall, Kashiwa Campus and Online |
| Overview | Our society is heavily dependent on various contributions from nature (such as food, timber, etc.) which are traded in markets. However, the value of nature is not limited to these monetary values. There are multiple and complex values to nature. For example, water purification provided by wetlands is not something that is traded on the market. But our society reaps the benefit, i.e. the good quality water. Furthermore, we cannot put dollar signs to all the values provided by nature. People, at times, refuse to put a monetary value on the forests that are deemed to be sacred. They consider it is not 'right' to trade something sacred on the market. In order to emphasize these diverse and complex values of nature, IPBES, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, has produced the Values Assessment Report in 2022. At the same time, in Japan, there are communities where local stakeholders use these diverse and complex values of nature to attract stakeholders and achieve local sustainability. These measures are especially important as many rural communities are ageing, and their populations are decreasing. In this symposium, researchers involved in the preparation of the IPBES value assessment report and the Japanese stakeholders who are involved in the regional revitalization are invited. It will discuss how we can build a sustainable and inclusive society by finding the junction between the scientific evaluation of diverse and complex values in the international arena and the practice of regional revitalization in Japanese regions. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Strategic Planning Office, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo spo[at]edu.k.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: The Ritual Environment
| Date | October 6, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | This study examines sacred rituals as models for largescale environmental dilemmas, bridging ancient and modern worlds. Sacrificial rituals create waste, as sanctuaries become filled with residues and byproducts of unused animal and vegetable materia sacra. Three distinct attitudes towards such leftovers are indicative of three distinct ritual-environmental conceptions. On the one hand, such materials can be viewed as invested with sacrality that must be exhausted, as every particle of holiness must be recycled within the ritual arena, allowing no material to go to waste. On the other hand, sacred leftovers can be viewed as dangerous, powerful waste that must be excluded from the sacred domain, shipped off and stowed away at a great distance from human habitation. A third possibility is to reconceptualize such materials as neutralized, non-sacred and nondangerous, whereby they can become freely available for public use. The example of the treatment of ritual byproducts and residues demonstrates the potential of an exploration of the intellectual space between two ancient “sciences of ritual”: early Jewish discourse on sacrificial texts in rabbinic literature, and the South Asian Mīmāṃsā tradition dedicated to the hermeneutics of Vedic sacrificial texts. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
UTokyo Symposium on Regional Collaboration - UTokyo's Aim for Regional Collaboration
| Date | October 3, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | The University of Tokyo has been conducting a number of community relations projects as social contribution activities by the university as a whole, as well by its various departments. The UTokyo Compass, which outlines the University of Tokyo's basic policy regarding the principles and direction that the University should pursue under President Teruo Fujii, includes a specific action plan for co-creation with society and aims to create new value in collaboration with local communities with consideration for global environment and inclusiveness. To achieve this goal, the Regional Collaboration Task Force was established under the Social Collaboration Subcommittee of the Future Society Initiative (FSI). This symposium is intended to provide a forum for information sharing among projects currently being developed by the university and its departments, and to promote collaboration among projects being conducted in regions with similar challenges. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Japanese language only) |
| Contact | External Relations Promotion Group, The University of Tokyo shakairenkeika.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
“Tell Me the Truth About Technology” - Our Relationship with Technology, Technology and Society
| Date | September 30, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | The talk will look at key themes to understand our daily relationship with technology and more broadlythe role of technology in society, emphasizing both changes and historical continuity. The following topics will be addressed, challenging widespread stereotypes in contemporary public discourse about technology: ・How technology changes us ・Why technology is not neutral ・The reason not only digital technology matters ・Why society and politics are often displaced by technology Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
“What Does It Mean by Designing Sustainable Society?”
| Date | September 14, 2022 |
| Venue | Online |
| Overview | The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Frontier Sciences established the "Sustainable Society Design Center" attached to the Graduate School in April 2022. The center provides a full range of sustainability education for post-graduate students and working adults with the aim of contributing to research and human resource development related to the design of a sustainable society, which is an urgent issue facing the international community. Meanwhile, various efforts are already being made inside and outside the university regarding net-zero and sustainability, thus cooperation with these existing efforts is indispensable. At this symposium, we will introduce aim of the center and future activity plans, and invite key persons in charge of related activities inside and outside the university to discuss possible cooperation. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) Related link (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Japanese language only) |
| Contact | Symposium Secretariat sympo[at]k.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: Family and Inequality: “Diverging Destinies” in Japan?
| Date | September 13, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | “Diverging destinies” is a term used by family demographers and sociologists to describe growing socioeconomic differentials in family behavior. Drawing primarily on evidence from the U.S., research on diverging destinies has demonstrated that those at the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum are increasingly engaging in family behaviors that are associated with reduction in the resources available to their children (e.g., nonmarital childbearing) while those at the upper end of the spectrum are engaging in family behaviors associated with increased resources (e.g., stable marriage). This pattern of family bifurcation has potentially important implications for inequality in opportunities for success across generations. Despite tremendous interest in both family change and growing socioeconomic inequality in Japan, efforts to link these trends are limited. In this talk, I summarize the results of several recent papers (both published and in progress) on socioeconomic differences in family demographic behavior and children’s well-being in Japan. In general, the findings of these studies show patterns of family bifurcation consistent with predictions of the diverging destinies framework, but of a magnitude that is less pronounced than observed in the U.S. Among the most pronounced differences in Japan are a strong negative educational gradient in divorce and substantial differences in the well-being of children in single-mother and two-parent families. In thinking about the relevance of diverging destinies in Japan, I stress the theoretical and empirical value of considering intergenerational family relationships, gender inequality, and the changing economic environment. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
How will information science change virus research? ～Virus & Information Science "Wakate" Researchers Networking～
| Date | August 30-31, 2022 |
| Venue | SHIBUYA QWS CROSS PARK |
| Overview | Life sciences have long since entered the era of big data, and virology is no exception. Especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, data in virology has been growing in scale and complexity, and there is an urgent need to integrate the fields of virology and information science, and to foster young researchers with expertise in both. In this event, young researchers involved in virology and information science will gather to exchange latest findings and deepen the possibilities for collaboration. The event will also discuss the changes that information science can bring to virus research. Related link (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Japanese language only) |
| Contact | External Relations Promotion Group, The University of Tokyo shakairenkeika.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
A New Era in early childhood education and care: Sending from Shibuya
| Date | August 28, 2022 |
| Venue | SHIBUYA QWS SCRAMBLE HALL / Online |
| Overview | The Graduate School of Education of the University of Tokyo and Shibuya City signed an agreement in May 2018 and have since been mutually collaborating and cooperating for the development of childcare and education as well as for the enhancement of their research. This event has been set up to provide you information about their efforts. In Part I “Starting from the Atelier: Childcare to Explore with Children”, a report on efforts of Reggio Inspire’s Approach to Exploration Activities in Shibuya Nursery School will be provided. In Part II “A New Era in Childcare: Shibuya City and Children”, a cross talk will be held on the relationship between the communities and municipalities and the children and childcare. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) Related link (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Japanese language only) |
| Contact | External Relations Promotion Group, The University of Tokyo shakairenkeika.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture “Intangibles, Inequality, and Prolonged Stagnation”
| Date | August 24, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | In this webinar, Prof. Kiyotaki discusses how production and income distribution interact with accumulation of intangible capital over time and across individuals. He constructs an economic model in which the younger generation acquires and accumulates intangible capital through the on-the-job training. He shows that, although the development of mid-career labor markets improves the match between firms and workers, such development may increase inequality and lead to long-term stagnation. In response, he will examine the effects of policies that promote basic education and the acquisition of skills outside of firms. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Can medical care make people happy?
| Date | August 18, 2022 |
| Venue | SHIBUYA QWS SCRAMBLE HALL / Online |
| Overview | A lecture will be held to commemorate the opening of the educational program for working adults "The Greater University of Tokyo: Health and Medical Care - Toward a Self-Protective Healthy Society" in September. Professor Ungil Chung will first talk about status and future possibilities of innovative medicine under the title "Frontiers of Innovative Medicine". Professor Emeritus Yoro Takeshi will then give a talk on the topic “What is Happiness?”. The talks will be followed by a discussion between the speakers on the question of "Can medical care make people happy?" based on the relationship between the social value provided by medical care and the sense of happiness felt by people, as well as answering questions from the participants. We hope that through this event, we will be able to draw the interest of people from various fields regarding the nature of medical care and the way of thinking to live better lives. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) Related link (Japanese language only) |
| Registration | Registration Form (Japanese language only) |
| Contact | External Relations Promotion Group, The University of Tokyo shakairenkeika.adm[at]gs.mail.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
2022 TSMC-UTokyo Semiconductor Technology Research Symposia
| Date | August 9-10, 2022 |
| Venue | Online |
| Overview | TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) and UTokyo (University of Tokyo) have entered an alliance to pursue organization-wide collaboration in advanced semiconductor technology research, including design, devices, processes, and materials. Under this alliance, several Joint Development Projects (JDPs) have been initiated since 2021. The two-day symposia will introduce published research outcomes and potential areas for future collaborations. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Please register from the related link above *Eligible applicants: TSMC employees, UTokyo faculty/staff/students |
| Contact | Secretariat of TSMC-UTokyo Symposium 2022 tsmc-ut-2022-group[at]g.ecc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture “How the Russo-Ukrainian War is Changing European International Order: The Perspective from Japan”
| Date | July 29, 2022 |
| Venue | Koshiba Hall (University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus) |
| Overview | The Russo-Ukrainian War is changing the structure of international order and security in Western Europe. How did major Western European powers and NATO members like France and Germany react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Did it mend the EU’s diplomatic and security divisions in Western Europe, or did it instead reaffirm them? For Japan, which in recent years has been deepening security cooperation with NATO, the conflict in Ukraine could have a major impact on its relationship with the organization. How is Japan’s response to the war in Russia and Ukraine perceived in the West, and how will it affect Japan’s future relations with Western nations? These questions will be addressed by Dr. Guibourg DELAMOTTE, a Tokyo College Professor for the year 2021-2022 and Senior Lecturer of Japanese Studies Department of the French Institute of Oriental Studies (Inalco), and Dr. IWAMA Yoko, Professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS). Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
In Conversation with the Author of Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner
| Date | July 19, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | We invite you to discuss an international bestseller "Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner?" with its author Katrine Marçal and a group of Tokyo College researchers. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: “The Future of Europe and the EU-Japan Partnership: The War in Ukraine and its Impact on Europe and Beyond”
| Date | July 12, 2022 |
| Venue | Yasuda Auditorium (University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus) |
| Overview | The war in Ukraine has shaken our confidence in peace and prosperity within Europe and beyond. What is needed to overcome such a crisis in international relations? H.E. Herman Van Rompuy, President Emeritus of the European Council, leads the discussion by sharing his insights on the future of Europe and Japan which will be followed by Q&A sessions with students and others. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
On “Being Heumann”: A Dialogue About Disability Activism with Judy Heumann
| Date | June 24 - July 22, 2022 |
| Venue | Tokyo College YouTube Channel |
| Overview | In this event, disability advocates Judy Heumann and Mark Bookman discuss the past, present, and future of accessibility and inclusion in the United States and Japan. Touching on barriers in built environments, education, employment, and entertainment systems, as well as activist movements and anti-discrimination policies, the two help to highlight a path towards creating a more diverse society in which nobody is excluded. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: Rethinking Methodology in Global Diplomacy
| Date | June 7, 2022 |
| Venue | Koshiba Hall (University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus) |
| Overview | Why do we need to rethink about the way we study and make sense of global diplomacy? In this lecture, we will explore how cultural approaches can illuminate important aspects of diplomacy which have not been adequately considered in much of the existing scholarly literature. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Beyond Women’s Day: Strengthening Communities of Female Talent in Japan
| Date | May 20, 2022 |
| Venue | Zoom Webinar |
| Overview | Japan faces a shortage in female talent in the paid workforce, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Join us as we invite Ksenia Zolotareva, a Women@JP Career Pillar Lead and Senior Business Consultant at Google Japan, to speak about her experiences and strategies for strengthening communities of female talent in Japan. Women@JP is Google’s Employee Resource Groups (ERG). Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: Globalisation, Empires, and the Making of the Modern World”
| Date | May 13, 2022 |
| Venue | Tetsumon Memorial Hall, Faculty of Medicine Experimental Research Bldg. (University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus) |
| Overview | This talk describes three phases of globalisation that have occupied the last five centuries and their role in making the world we know today. The first two phases were associated with the rise of Western empires, which integrated large parts of the world through a process of compulsory globalisation. The third phase, which began after 1945, brought empires to an end and produced the current world order and disorder. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: “Trade war, global pandemic, Ukraine: What we know, and don’t know, about the new political and economic order”
| Date | May 10, 2022 |
| Venue | Tetsumon Memorial Hall, Faculty of Medicine Experimental Research Bldg. (University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus) |
| Overview | Recent years have featured the US-China trade war, the coronavirus pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, each of which we can consider “radically uncertain” events that were not in any real sense predictable. This lecture seeks to identify how these events fit into conventional frameworks for explaining the world, how these events might have changed that framework, what elements of the framework remain unknown, and how we should respond to this age of uncertainty. Symposium Poster Related link |
| Registration | Registration Form |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Interview Series “The Ukraine Crisis: Perspectives From Around the World”
| Date | To be released sequentially throughout April |
| Venue | Tokyo College YouTube Channel |
| Overview | In this series, we ask researchers interested in the politics, economics, cultures, and societies of regions around the world to talk about how the current crisis is being perceived or understood in their area of study. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) Related link |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
Tokyo College Lecture: “Self-organization for Materials Synthesis”
| Date | April 5, 2022 |
| Venue | Tokyo College YouTube Channel |
| Overview | A wide variety of new structures are created using the phenomenon of “self-assembly,” in which molecules spontaneously assemble and order themselves. This presentation introduces the tiny world of manufacturing, where new structures are magically created simply by mixing metal ions and organic molecules. Symposium Poster (Japanese language only) Related link |
| Contact | Tokyo College, The University of Tokyo tokyo.college.event[at]tc.u-tokyo.ac.jp |
