English Overview

The Faculty of Regional Sciences was established in 2004 in order to foster the development of key individuals who can create prosperous futures for regions.“ Region” is a term that refers to an area where people live and in which they build social relations.
The world consists of overlapping regions that differ by sca le and characteristics. Many problems that people are trying to address today can be better understood by using regions as the basic units on which to center their studies. To that end, the field of regional sciences serves to re-conceptualize existing academic frameworks. Our mission is to develop key individuals with a passion for creativity who offer specialized knowledge and skills in the regional sciences.

Why Regional Sciences?

The study of regional sciences offers a variety of attractive aspects as part of its enriching fieldwork, such as meeting local residents, the fun of new experiences, and broadening one's views. Independent learning in local communities beyond the confines of a university gives students the opportunity to expand their potential. The "regions" that are the focus of regional sciences are not limited to specific places; rather, they also involve actively engaging with a variety of communities, including those overseas.
The research subjects for regional sciences vary widely. Our aim is to foster the development of key individuals in each region by enhancing their expertise while simultaneously dealing with public issues within the regions and broadening each student's interests.

Faculty of Regional Sciences Concept

1. Foster advanced critical thinking skills by acquiring a wide range of knowledge of the diverse elements that contribute to the creation of a region (society, culture, nature) and understanding how they are all related.
2. Cultivate the intellectual curiosity needed for exploring various public issues in each region.
3. Refine practical skills to solve regional issues through the use of critical judgment, creative expression, and communication skills.
4. Finally, aim to develop individuals with high ethical standards and a sense of responsibility who can contribute to regional revitalization and sustained development.

Organizational Overview

Studies of Regional Creation

Fosters the development of key individuals who actively engage in regional creation with local governments, community-based private companies, NPOs, various activity groups, and communities to tackle current and future challenges in each region.

Studies of Education and Human Resource Development

Cultivates individuals who will become key figures that support human development in each region while studying various theories about human development and helping rebuild relationships between the region and education, including education in schools, from the viewpoint of lifelong development. As part of this course, students will have the opportunity to obtain teaching licenses for elementary school, nursery school, and special support school, as well as childcare qualifications.

Studies of Global and Regional Cultures

Develops individuals with the knowledge, skills, language proficiency, and local and on-the-spot sensibilities necessary for creating connections and fulfilling each individual's life and livelihood. Students will also have an understanding of the various cultural relationships and mutually recognize the diversity in other regions in Japan and around the world.

Center for the Arts

The Faculty of Regional Sciences Center for the Arts is an organization that conducts research and activities to promote regional arts and culture, and helps create, develop, and pass them on to others. While focused mainly on the Tottori region, the Center collaborates with individuals, organizations, recipients, and supporters on activities related to arts and culture as part of an open regional study, conducting various regional contribution activities.

International Exchanges

Through an exchange agreement for research and education with universities in Asia, such as China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Vietnam, as well as the United States and Canada, the Faculty of Regional Sciences conducts various types of student exchanges, including short- and long-term study abroad programs. In addition, we also offer overseas dispatch programs, such as overseas field studies and projects in East Asia. By taking advantage of these opportunities, students will actively engage with students from other countries and broaden their horizons.

Academic Exchange Partner Schools

Research Overview

• Studies of Regional Creation, Professor Shusuke Murata

  Asian rice paddy cultivation (transplanting seedlings into paddy fields) increases yield per unit area by five to ten times compared to upland cultivation in slash-and-burn farming. The agricultural innovations that supported this "Green Revolution" are thought to contribute to restoring tropical forests and preventing global warming, and further contribute to solving food shortages and poverty in local regions.
  A project for transplanting Asian rice paddy cultivation into Africa, which is facing a number of challenges, has a history going back 50 years, and has mainly involved international institutions. Despite the significant amount of international aid money that has been invested, from infrastructure to human resources, Asian rice paddy cultivation has not taken root in Africa.
  However, since the 2010s, regardless of international aid, a phenomenon known as the "West African Rice Revolution" has been occurring, with the rapid expansion of rice paddy farming by the farmers themselves. But how and why have farmers been able to accomplish this on their own?
  My research mission is to answer that question using knowledge gained from sociology, anthropology, and folklore studies. Starting in April 2022, I launched a compost business with local farmers in rural Ghana, where rice paddies are spread out. By working together with them on this project on a daily basis (action research), I am attempting to reframe Asian rice paddy cultivation in a way that is closer to their perspective and in their context (localization), seeking to better understand their reasoning and wisdom.

  

• Studies of Regional Creation, Lecturer Natsuki Kawaguchi

  Against a backdrop of post-industrialization and the transition to a knowledge economy, the direction for the revitalization of declining and decaying regions has become one of the most contentious issues in urban social geography. Now, in the midst of a convergence toward entrepreneurialism among the urban policies of numerous global cities, this research is focused on the theme of how to create alternative urban spaces that have not converged in that direction.
  Using regions in decline in France and Japan as fields of research, this study looks at changes in urban spaces that occur during socio-economic restructuring, and focuses on re-evaluating the urban planning that goes on behind it. In addition, this study examines how this is implemented by architects and citizens, as well as the social tensions among stakeholders.
  In recent years especially, attempts have been made to revitalize regions through active promotion of a "social and solidarity economy" in order to democratize the economy through citizen participation. Using the Lille, a French region where such efforts are being made, as the primary field of study, this research looks at the practice of participatory urbanism by citizens, policymakers, and architects as they work together through horizontal relationships to renovate declining urban areas.

  

• Studies of Education and Human Resource Development, Associate Professor Taito Nakao

  When you paint a picture, you use paint. And yet, even when something seems obvious, there are still many aspects that are not properly understood. One such question is what is the formative function of paint? When we try to answer this question from the perspective of hue, topics such as color theory can be applied. However, when we also look from the perspective of paint as a material, it starts to become much more complex. It is with that in mind that I am conducting research and studies on this topic, with a particular focus on Japanese painters, while continuing to pursue my own work as an artist.
  I am also involved with art education. As an instructor, I have to consider what teaching methods are necessary for beginners to effectively utilize the formative fundamentals mentioned earlier. As a result, I try to foster an attitude that does not simply look at what the painting is of, as is often the case with early childhood educators, but also how it was painted, as well as how it is perceived, and ways it can be evaluated. Furthermore, while in early childhood education a lot of value is placed on how "fun" a subject is, I also believe that it is important to provide experiences that allow students to understand what is intrinsically fun about bringing that creative ingenuity to life.

  

• Studies of Education and Human Resource Development, Associate Professor Yuki Ishiyama

  My research field is in environmental education and adult and community education, focusing on non-formal education and informal learning related to reconstruction from disasters and environmental conservation. To date, I have visited Kesennuma City and Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture and Toyooka City in Hyogo Prefecture to conduct my research, where I have interviewed local residents about various topics related to my research.
  Currently, regional communities are dealing with a variety of issues that interfere with their sustainability, such as climate change and poverty. We therefore need to consider what efforts are needed to solve these issues, how to ensure that such activities are carried out in these regions, and what people will learn and how they will change as a result of participating in these activities. It is also necessary to consider what we will need to change in order to solve these issues. Finding answers to these questions is my research mission. In recent years, I have also conducted research on the passing down of the experience of the Fukushima nuclear accident, on social education finance, and on cooperation between high schools and their local communities.

  

• Studies of Global and Regional Cultures, Professor Jeungah Yu

  My primary field of expertise is on the Qing dynasty's policies toward Tibet in the early 18th century. I explore the political style of the Qing dynasty in its role as protector of Tibetan Buddhism in response to conflicts arising in that world, while also analyzing the dynasty's political process, with a focus on how they reorganized Tibetan Buddhism. In the Studies of Global and Regional Cultures, I am in charge of a seminar on East Asia and am involved with a project on East Asia (overseas survey of South Korea, China, and Taiwan), which serves as a place for students to learn about various East Asian cultures, histories, and languages in each region.

  

• Studies of Global and Regional Cultures, Associate Professor Tomomi Naka

  My primary focus is on the United States, where I look at how donations, career choices, and consumption activities are related to people's beliefs and cultural backgrounds. In particular, I focus on people belonging to Anabaptist groups, such as the Mennonites and Amish, within Christianity. For example, through observations and invterviews, I research how religious backgrounds and networks are related when making decisions about jobs or donations. While the occupations and lifestyles of Amish and Mennonite people are diverse, at first glance, their beliefs and religious backgrounds appear to be mostly unrelated. However, when we look more closely, we find that aspects such as their religious views and community networks are involved in a multitude of ways. There are many people around the world who participate in educational support, disaster relief, and other outreach activities, so in the past, I also examined the involvement of Mennonite people in fairtrade handcraft organizations in Bangladesh.