• Hiroshi TAWADA (Osaka City University) Islam in Malysia
• Kazufumi NAGATSU (Kyoto University) Islam in Malysia
• Yasuko KOBAYASHI (Nanzan University) Islam in Indonesia

• Shinichi NODA (Kagoshima University) "Health Care in Japanese Coastal Area"
• Satoshi ABE (Kagoshima University) "Coastal Atmosphere and Medical Care"

• Research Seminar No.44, 27 October
  James P. Terry（RCPI Kagoshima University）
  「Climatic hazards in the Fiji Islands」
  16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201
  

  [要旨]　This presentation describes how small island nations in the South Pacific Ocean are vulnerable to the effects of two types of extreme climatic events - tropical cyclones and droughts. Such events are often associated with the ElNino Southern Oscillation phenomenon (ENSO), but operate on different time scales. Tropical cyclones form quickly and are short-lived and intense, whereas droughts develop slowly but may last many months.
  Within the island nation of Fiji, different types of islands -such as steep volcanic islands, raised limestone islands and low sandy coral reef islands- suffer a range of contrasting environmental impacts resulting from tropical cyclone and drought events. Recent droughts are linked to depletion of water resources, wildfires, outbreaks of pests and diseases, stress on natural ecosystems, and damage to agriculture. In comparison, tropical cyclones illustrate the problems of storm surges and coastal inundation, large waves and beach erosion, destruction of coral reefs, torrential rainfall, dangerous river floods, landslides and soil erosion. All of these impacts cause human hardship, especially for the poor, and place difficult economic burdens on small island states with limited resources.
  Climate scientists now predict that South Pacific regional climates will experience more frequent or sustained ElNino-like conditions in future, owing to global atmospheric and ocean warming. The implications include the potential for increased tropical cyclone intensities, greater cyclone numbers, changes to spatial patterns of storm origins, and farther poleward travel after vortex formation. Similarly, more episodes of prolonged rainfall failure may be felt if strong ElNinos become more common. Scientific investigation of climatic extremes is therefore important for developing and implementing appropriate climate change adaptation techniques for South Pacific island nations like Fiji.

• Research Seminar No.43, 22 September
  AOYAMA Toru（RCPI Kagoshima University）
  「Java in 14th century」
  16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201
  

• FUMOTO Sairyou（Yoron Island Cultural assets Committee）"History and Culture in Yoron Island"
  
• KOKAWA Seiji（Medical Institution SEIYUKAI Director）"Medical Care in small Island"
  
• IKEDA Masaru（Fisheries Association in Yoron Director）"Fisheries in Yoron Island"
  15:00-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building, Lecture Room 201
  

"Pacific Islands and Kantian Philosophy "
HOSOYA Akio
16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

KAWAI Kei（Kagoshima University RCPI）"Sea in Yoron Island"
TOMINAGA Shigeto（Kagoshima University Faculty of Agriculture）"Agriculture in Yoron Island"
KUWAHARA Sueo（Kagoshima University Faculty of Law, Economics and Humanities）"Culture in Yoron Island"
15:00-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , 5th Hall

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] Over the past 21 years, many dangerous encounters between passenger aircraft and volcanic ash clouds have occurred. Volcanic ash can stop aircraft engines during flight, and causes extensive damage to windows, wings, and other surfaces of the aircraft.
During the 1990s, an international network was developed to warn for volcanic ash clouds. The network, the International Airways Volcano Watch, is based around the national meteorological and aviation agencies, with nine centres around the world serving as central locations for making forecasts of ash cloud movement. The western Pacific is covered by centres in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S.A. and Japan.
In the Pacific, most countries do not have enough resources for volcanic monitoring. Parts of the tropical Pacific are not only among the most volcanologically active in the world, but are also the most meteorologically active, with very high sea surface temperatures contributing to deep tropical moisture and daily thunderstorms. The available moisture in the tropics makes volcanic clouds higher and also more difficult to detect with remote sensing than in the mid-latitudes.
Kagoshima is an ideal place to practise volcanic cloud observation techniques, and to learn about volcanic cloud / atmosphere interactions. The lessons learned in Kagoshima can be applied for countries throughout the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans.

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] The genus Coix belongs to the tribe Maydeae of the family Gramineae and is mainly distributed in the area ranging from India to mainland Southeast Asia. The non-domesticated and domesticated species have been used as material, medicine and food for a long time. Recent studies suggested that there are two major regions of intensive uses of Coix species: they are mainland Southeast Asia and New Guinea.
In this ethnobotanical report, I focus on Coix species used by the people living in insular Southeast Asia, which located between the two major regions. Based on studies of herbarium specimens, field observations and interviews with farmers, I describe here the botanical characteristics, distribution and uses of Coix species. These results indicate that Coix species play an interesting role in the everyday domestic life.

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] The tropical marine algae Porphyra tanegashimensis Shinmura (Bangiales, Rhodophyta), that was originally described from Tanegashima Island (Shinmura 1972), is well-known as the only species of ﾔtropicalﾕ Porphyra in Japan. However, currently presence at the type locality, information about the morphological variation and seasonal changes of the population were still unsolved. Therefore, we reconfirmed the presence of this algae at the type locality in 2002, and carried out morphological and phenological studies of this algae. The population of P. tanegashimensis was confirmed throughout the year. Especially, during May to August, the population mainly consisted of vegetative plants that released monospores, and the new plant from the monospores also grew intermittently in the population. Whereas, during September to February, population mostly consisted of reproductive plants. In generally, other temperate Porphyra species in Japan only grow during the winter. The result of this study suggests that Porphyra tanegashimensis has a remarkable resistance characteristic against high water temperature and presence of the population in summer are due to the release of monospores in this season.

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] Squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue is the sixth most common solid tumour in the Western world. Overall survival rate of patients with this carcinoma has not improved significantly in the last decade, and the disease continues to be a serious health problem. Rat tongue carcinoma induced by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO) is an experimental model for human tongue cancer (TC). Inbred rats of the Dark-Agouti (DA) strain are highly susceptible to 4NQO-induced TCs, whereas Wistar/Furth (WF) rats are barely susceptible. Our previous study on crosses between the two strains postulated a semi-dominant susceptibility gene in DA and a semi-dominant resistance gene in WF rats. This hypothesis was confirmed by the genetic analysis of 130 reciprocal F2 progeney between DA and WF strains by means of the analysis of simple sequence repeat length polymorphism. As the result, five quantitative trait loci (QTLs) were identified as influencing susceptibility to 4NQO-induced TC. Tongue cancer susceptibility is a more complicated polygenic trait than we had first assumed. The gene products encoded by the QTLs, as well as the molecular mechanisms responsible for their allele-specific cancer-modifier activities, are unknown. The difference in the Tscc alleles may rest in genetic polymorphisms, either in the regulating or coding regions of the candidate genes.

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] The dwelling for the deity is called the Main Shrine. There exist various kinds of main shrines. In the Grand Shrine of Ise, one of the most famous shrines is there. Two pillars are placed directly in the ground to support the ridge beam and one room is formed for the deity in the main shrine. In the main sanctuary of Sumiyoshi Shrine, two rooms are formed by the front space and the rear space, while in that of Usa Shrine, three rooms are formed by continually connected Naiin and Gein. Famous for its large scale, Izumo Shrine has one center pillar in the main shrine and four rooms are formed around it.
Once the form of the main shrine was established, as the dwelling for the divine, the form was inherited and no changes were made to it thereafter. Among those shrines, Usa Hachiman Shrine has three rooms within the main shrine and the factors of its formation will be discussed here. The main shrine consist of three spaces. The space under the front roof is called Gein while the space under the rear roof is called Naiin. These two spaces are connected by the space of gutter (Toi no Ma). A pillow filled with straw matting is placed in Naiin to represent the body of deity and a chair is placed in Gein. It is possible for us to imagine that the deity comes out to the Gein during the day and goes into the Naiin to have a rest at night. Here, I would like to ask you to make a judgment on whether this imagination is right or wrong.

16:30-, The Interdivisional Education and Research Building , Lecture Room 201

[Abstract] Fiji has undergone significant political problems since 1987 and its economic performance over the last decade has been very poor. Fiji radically changed it economic policies after the military coups of 1987 and embraced market-led reforms. As part of these programs, it moved towards deregulation of the economy and adopted export-oriented growth policies. Since 1987, more emphasis has been placed on expanding the urban-based manufacturing sector. As part of this attempt, numerous incentives packages such as tax holidays have been provided to potential investors. For example, the garment industry grew significantly because of these tax concessions and forms a significant portion of the manufacturing sector. While the fundamentals were improving, the political problems because of the attempted coup in 2000 once again thwarted the growth potential of the economy. While Fiji has recovered from the political instability of 2000, significant structural problems remain in the economy. While the contribution of the agricultural sector to the GDP has declined significantly, that of the manufacturing sector has only increased slightly since 1990. The current growth in the economy is led by tourism, but other the significant sectors such, as the sugar industry and the manufacturing sector are not doing well. Furthermore, the level of investment is low, equivalent to about 10 percent of the GDP. Export growth has been poor, while other problems such as rising levels of government debt are a cause for concern. The poor economic performance has contributed to increasing levels of poverty and unemployment and urbanization in the last decade. The seminar provides an update on Fijiﾕs current economic problems and prospects and suggests some policy recommendation for the future. First, Fiji needs to attract more private sector investment and second, it has to address the fundamental problem of political instability and adopt more efficient institutions to support the economic growth potential of the economy.