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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Ryutaro Goto, Associate Professor, Saga University Graduate School of Science and Engineering

Research on methods for planning shared environments and cooperative spaces aimed at revitalizing communities in areas of the Tohoku coastline affected by the earthquake

Research grant

Project Description

Damage from the Great East Japan Earthquake spread across large areas of the Tohoku region. The recovery of small fishing and agricultural villages is just as important as larger towns in achiving the revitalization of the overall region. This research studies the status and overall conditions of spaces in these small communities, including their terrain, agricultural and fisheries facilities, housing, roading, sea walls, and tide-water control forests, and uses this data as a knowledge base to consider and propose methods for planning shared and cooperative spaces in coastal communities.

Fields
Marine resources/food
Grant year
FY2011 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years and 4 months
June 2011 - September 2014
Grant amount
7,124,000 yen
Activity region
Iwate Prefecture, Miyagi Prefecture, Aomori Prefecture, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
In addition to coastal fishing villages affected by the disaster, research is conducted on housing (see photo on right), paths that lead to shrines through areas of high elevation (see photo on left), with a view to revitalizing these communities.

Overview of the Organization

Associate Professor Ryutaro Goto
Representative
Associate Professor Ryutaro Goto
Profile
Specialist area
Association for Rural Planning / Living space planning
Associated organizations
Architectural Institute of Japan, The City Planning Institute of Japan
Background
In March 1996, graduated from Saga University Graduate School of Engineering and Design. In April 1996, became an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology at Saga University. From May 2000 until February 2001, was a researcher at the Graduate School of Human Environment Studies, Kyushu University Graduate School), in February 2007 became a Doctor, and in April became an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Saga University. In April 2010, became an Associate Professor at the Saga University Graduate School of Engineering
Research partners
·Research support members
Toshiei Tsukidate, Professor at Hachinohe Institute of Technology; Masahiro Onuma, Associate Professor at Tohoku Bunka Gakuen University; Natsuo Numano, Professor at Tohoku Institute of Technology; Yoshiro Kikuchi, Researcher at National Institute of Technology, Sendai College; Nobuo Mitsuhashi, Professor at Utsunomiya University; Eiji Sato, Assistant Professor at Utsunomiya University; Tsutomu Shigemura, Professor at Kanagawa University; Tomohiro Mikasa, Special Assistant Professor at Kanagawa University; Tomoko Okada, Professor at Nishinippon Institute of Technology
·Research support members
Takao Suzuki, Assistant Professor at Miyagi University; Masahiro Sawada, Associate Professor at Nagaoka Institute of Design; Hidetada Terasawa, Syotaku; Naoyuki Yamaguchi, TAS TEN Architects; Kiyoko Kanki, Professor at Kyoto University; Yoshihito Yamazaki, Lecturer at University of Hyogo; Juichi Yamazaki, Professor at Kobe University; Hideko Asai, Associate Professor at Tottori University; Michioki Ishimaru, Former Professor at Hiroshima International University; Takayuki Hirata, Assistant Professor at Wakayama University; Taiji Kawano, Professor at Kurume Institute of Technology; Hitomi Kato, Former Professor at Kyushu University
Research results
  • (1) Tsutomu Shigemura, Ryutaro Goto, Toshiei Tsukidate, Tomoko Okada, Tomohiro Mikasa, "Emergency Report on Research of Communities Affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami" Architectural Institute of Japan Rural Planning Committee, April 2011
  • (2) Ryutaro Goto, "Research on terrain and development of low-lying open areas in coastal Ariake" Kyushu University thesis, February 2007
  • (3) Ryutaro Goto, Yoshisuke Nakaoka, "Special characteristics of residential areas in low lying regions of Saga, as viewed from shrines" Architectural Institute of Japan Journal of Planning, Issue No. 551, pp.197-203, January 2002
  • (4) Ryutaro Goto, Yoshisuke Nakaoka "Regional development systems, focusing on advancement processes of regional maintenance involving key persons – with research examples from Yanagawa City", The City Planning Institute of Japan, pp.745-750, November 1998