Smart-Eco Island Tanegashima: Platinum Society Created by the Nexus of Local Industries, Science and Technologies, and Education

On island areas, various social issues have often come to the fore ahead of other areas in problem-plagued developed countries, including Japan. Hence, a platform has been built with local industries to develop state-of-the-art science and technologies, mechanisms, and ways of thinking from outside islands and to conduct experiments in their region. In the Presidential Endowed Chair for “Platinum Society,” the logical structure concerning social issues was constructed rationally by organizing science, technology, and the functions of players necessary for problem-solving and improving the situation. Such research activities allow for effective interface between outside experts and actual players on the islands.

Through this platform, various universities and companies have launched projects in Tanegashima, southern Japan: sugarcane cultivation, local brand establishment, island micro-grid system, forest resources enrichment, local medical and health care, education, tourism, among other things. The following research projects are some examples of ongoing projects in Tanegashima, which are carried out in collaboration with local industries and organizations by taking into account environmental performance, socioeconomic effects for regional sustainability and stable employment.

Bolster the sugarcane industry system based on agriculture and engineering perspectives; increase food production and biomass raw materials, and energy at the same time by introducing new cultivars and technologies.

Create local energy system design for forest reformation; accelerate forestry cycle and low-carbon systems by distributing combined heating and power generation.

- Tohoku University, Kyoto University
- Nara Institute of Science and Technology
- Kobe University
- Kumaoto University
- Waseda University
- The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
- Tanegashima High School
- Nishinoomote City
- Nakatane Town
- Minamitane Town
- Japan Agricultural Taneyaku, Kagoshima Forest Association
- NPO Cosmo
- Social welfare corporation Yurisa, Shinko Sugar mill, Co. Ltd.
- Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd.
- Sustainergy Company
- Tanegashia Medical Center
- Matsusaki Iin (Matsusaki Clinic)
- Yrisa Shinryo Jo (social welfare corporation)
- Nakame Iin (Nakame Clinic)

- Yuichiro Kanematsu, Tatsuya Okubo, Yasunori Kikuchi, Activity and data modeling of planning processes for industrial symbiosis in rural area, KagakuKougakuRonbunshu, 43(5) (2017) 347-357
- Yuichiro Kanematsu, Kazutake Oosawa, Tatsuya Okubo, Yasunori Kikuchi, Designing the scale of a woody biomass CHP considering local forestry reformation: a case study of Tanegashima, Japan, Applied Energy, 198, (2017), 160-172
- Shoma Fujii, Yuichiro Kanematsu, Yasunori Kikuchi, Takao Nakagaki, Material and heat flow analysis in thermal energy storage and transport system utilizing unused heat from bagasse boiler, Mechanical Engineering Journal, 3(5), 16-00334, (2016)
- Kotaro Ouchida, Yasuhiro Fukushima, Satoshi Ohara, Akira Sugimoto, Masahiko Hirao, Yasunori Kikuchi, Integrated Design of Agricultural and Industrial Processes: A Case Study of Combined Sugar and Ethanol Production, AIChE Journal, 63(2), 560-581 (2017)
- Yasunori Kikuchi, Yuichiro Kanematsu, Masamichi Ugo, Yosuke Hamada, Tatsuya Okubo, Industrial Symbiosis Centered on a Regional Cogeneration Power Plant Utilizing Available Local Resources: A Case Study of Tanegashima, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 20(2) 276-288 (2016)