The general meeting of the Sustai-N-able project was held on November 10, 2023, at Tohoku University. The project holds two general meetings every year, one in the spring and the other in the Autumn, with the participation of as many members as possible. At the meetings, each group presents its research progress and future plans, and there is also free and active discussion among the group members. Through the meeting, the current status and future direction of the project will be shared among the members.

At the meeting, the Natural Cycling Unit, the Human Society Unit, the Economic Evaluation Unit, and the Future Planning Group made presentations. During the presentations, the progress of each group's research was shared, and the floor was filled with many questions, opinions, suggestions, and interactive comments, making for a lively discussion.

We also spent a lot of time discussing collaboration and joint research between groups. For example, using the Natural Cycling Unit's findings in the Economic Evaluation Unit's research. Of course, since the members of each group have different areas of expertise, sometimes the discussions do not fit together, and sometimes the discussion goes beyond the scope of the project. However, I believe that taking the time to deepen the discussion towards the project's goal of "achieving sustainable nitrogen use" is one of the wonderful aspects of this project. This is one of the reasons why all the groups came together in one place.

Shinsuke Kyoi (RIHN)

Nice to meet you. I am MoonJu, a first-year master's student at Kyoto University, and I have been doing an Internship with the Sustai-N-able project for three months.
On October 28, 2023, we held an Eco Cooking Workshop at "Kyoto Satoyama SDGs Lab Kotosu" in Kyoto North City, Kyoto Prefecture.
The Eco Cooking Workshop featured me and Watanuki-san, who spent a year and six months as a chef in Antarctica, inviting participants to an environmentally friendly, enjoyable, and delicious cooking class, driven by the concept of reducing waste. The menu for the Eco Cooking Workshop included Yuba Ankake Donburi, Okara Salad, and Noppei Soup – Kyoto cuisine made with delicious legume ingredients and vegetables. Both I, who facilitated the workshop, and the participants were excited about the cooking process.

The event started with a lecture on the connection between food and environmental issues by the Moon-Junco pair (MoonJu + Watanuki-san). Watanuki-san shared her experience as a chef in Antarctica, where she applied the spirit of avoiding waste by innovating recipes to use ingredients brought from Japan without surplus. For exanple, she fried paprika seeds in oil to make a sprinkle, allowing for the consumption of parts that are not typically eaten. I talked about the global issue of food loss, where one-third of the world's food is wasted, and the environmental impact of nitrogen in fertilizers.
After the lecture, we moved to the kitchen room and, under Watanuki-san's guidance, started the cooking session. For this event, Zojirushi provided grills and rice cookers, and Mizkan supported us with seasonings such as easy vinegar and mirin.

It was heartwarming to see children and adults working together, using their strength to cut vegetables for the Noppei Soup and mixing ingredients for the Okara Salad. Some children held a knife for the first time, and it was a great opportunity for parent-child communication while preparing the dishes.

All the dishes are prepared in one hour.

Explaining a bit about the Eco Points of Eco Cooking...To reduce food waste, we included root vegetables with their skins in the Noppei Soup. The Okara Salad featured legume ingredients rich in plant-based proteins, and the Yuba Ankake Donburi utilized locally produced Kyoto North rice and Kyoto-made Yuba, emphasizing the eco-friendliness of local production and consumption. Despite the unusual ingredients, all the dishes were completely consumed, and the participants even helped wash and clean up the cookware.

Finally, before putting kitchen waste into the compost at SDGs Lab Kotosu, we measured how much kitchen waste was generated during the preparation of 30 meals. Surprisingly, there was approximately 300g of kitchen waste, mainly from the skins of the taro used in the Noppei Soup. With the help of children, we placed all the kitchen waste into the compost and, using their strength, turned the large compost bin to facilitate fermentation, concluding the workshop.
We hope that both children and adults who participated will become more aware of the environmental impact of food from production to consumption!

Lee MoonJu（Kyoto Univ.）

In 3rd Nov. 2023, the Super Sustai-N-able Market opened at RIHN Open House! We would like to thank a total of 86 customers for coming to the market!

The Open House is an event where each research project at RIHN conducts workshops, exhibits and lectures to introduce the research and the targeted environmental issue. SusN held a workshop “What kind of curry is yours? ~Let’s calculate the Nitrogen Footprint of your curry~”. The Nitrogen Footprint is an environmental indicator that shows the loss of reactive nitrogen environment during lifecycle (i.e., producing, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal) of a product or service (e.g., food items). The small Nitrogen Footprint shows the low nitrogen load by human activities due to the small reactive nitrogen loss from the lifecycle of products/services.
In this workshop, participants bought the curry ingredients per one pot, and the receipt including the Nitrogen Footprint was provided to visualized nitrogen load.

Firstly, your budget was determined by this Gara-pon Lottery.

After that, enter to the market with your money and shopping bag! You could choose your favorite curry ingredients in any quantity. But don’t go over your budget!

Then you went to the cash register and chose your favorite staple food. The receipt regarding to the final budget and Nitrogen Footprint was provided.

The relationship between food and nitrogen was introduced by Prof. Hayashi.

Finally, the characteristics, budget, and Nitrogen Footprint of your curry were written on the paper, and posted on the Curry Board. We found a variety of curries with the the same ingredients as usual and different ingredients with a full budget. How many Nitrogen Footprint did your curry have?

Makoto Saiki (RIHN)

I had many talk events in October 2023.
I joined the 2023 Symposium of the Association of Japanese Agricultural Scientific Societies on 7 October as a presenter. This hybrid symposium counted 66 in-person and 239 online participants.I talked about the nitrogen issue with perspectives on achieving both sustainable environment and food security.That was a good opportunity to engage presenting researchers and in-person participants working on food production.

The venue was Yayoi Auditorium of the University of Tokyo. It is a secret that I once mistakenly thought the venue was Yasuda Auditorium, most famous auditorium in the university, and sought how to reach there from Kyoto. The photo shows the Noseimon (main gate of the Faculty of Agriculture) under fine and clear sky.

A symposium signboard on the northeast corner of Yayoi Auditorium.Ichijo Hall in the auditorium was built by Ichijo Construction Co., Ltd as donations to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty of Agriculture.
I made a talk at an online seminar organized by the New Industry Research Organization (NIRO) on 17 October. NIRO is a foundation established to support small and medium-sized enterprises recovering from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. A bit difficult task was given that my talk included some insights connecting business opportunities with actions to address the nitrogen issue. I have gotten used to talking online, but I was happy if I could see faces and reactions of the participants directly.
I participated the 2023 Symposium of the Inter-University Research Institute Corporation on 22 October as a presenter and a panellist. The hybrid symposium using the Niconico live broadcast counted 68 in-person and 31,512 in total(!) online participants.I talked about the outline of the nitrogen issue at the afternoon part of symposium that had a keyword “resources.” Nitrogen has a specific characteristic as a resource that it is everywhere as dinitrogen accounting for 80% of the atmosphere but it requires energy and other resources to covert dinitrogen into reactive nitrogen for our use. The five topics in the afternoon session were nitrogen, genetic resources of rice, hydrogen, accelerator, and rocket field. Although it seems no connections among them, but we found unexpected connections, and I myself enjoyed this time much.

The venue was the Miraikan Hall in the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation (Miraikan). Ten minutes before the starting of the afternoon part of symposium.

Miraikan is located at Odaiba, Tokyo, a seaside reclaimed land. There is also the Museum of Maritime Science in Odaiba where a retired ice vessel “Soya” moored. Soya was born as a merchant ship, survived the Second World War as a transport ship, and then became the first Antarctic research ship of Japan in 1950s because she was known as a lucky ship. As a member of the summer party of the 58th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, I really wanted to meet Soya. Since late evening after the symposium, I could not stay long but I felt deeply moved in front of Soya. She is not a large ship, less than one-fourth displacement compared to that of the current ice vessel Shirase. Moreover, she was not designed as an ice vessel originally. Even so, she completed many voyages to Antarctica.
I went to Keihoku, northwest from the central Kyoto on 28 October to join a monthly event at the Kyoto Satoyama SDGs lab (Kotos). Within many programs, we SusN project committed to “Mottainai Cooking Class” and “39th SDGs Dialogue.” Mottainai means here, do not waste edible food items. The instructor, Ms. Junko Watanuki once fulfilled the role of a chef in the winter party of the 57th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition. She is my friend met at the 58th Expedition and a member of SusN project. The title of 39th SDGs Dialogue was “Keihoku Mottainai Dining.” It was a fun talk with host Asari-san, Watanuki-san, seismic engineer Takahashi-san, Mizkan’s Tsukuda-san, and Zojirushi’s Iwamoto-san. I emphasized that it is a waste when people who are doing interesting things cannot be engaged together.

“Mottainai Cooking Class” started with a talk of the instructor and her assistant. Then, all the participants moved to the kitchen lab and cooked and ate three meals together. I acted as a troubleshooter and an observer. I am glad it ended safety and happily with good taste of meals.
Three meals made in the kitchen lab. We tried to minimize cooking waste, e.g., using vegetables with their skins on, and food loss.

Studio in Kotos, renovated from the former facility of an elementary school. The SDGs Dialogue was distributed online from here. It is a nice facility, want it for RIHN, too. We had a trouble that the PC for YouTube distribution went down suddenly just after starting. The person in charge said that was the first time. There may have been a mischievous dwarf.

31st October is Halloween. That is right but I participated in the first Colalboration Seminar of Water and Atmospheric Environment on the day. It was a wonderful joint seminar organized by the Japan Society on Water Environment and the Japan Society for Atmospheric Environment. Water and the atmosphere are of course connected. The co-hosting prefectural environmental research institutes conduct monitoring and research on both water and air. I talked about that nitrogen moves through all the environmental media and that international nitrogen management has been starting, expecting future collaborations of the two research fields in Japan.

The venue was the Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute for Environmental Protection. I visited there occasionally in 1990s. It has not changed. I was happy to meet people long time no see and active young researchers.

Kentaro Hayashi (RIHN)

The Tsukuba Conference 2023 was held from 26th to 28th September, 2023. The venue was Tsukuba International Congress Center. There was also option to join online. Along with ‘Sustai-N-able’ project members, I joined the special session entitled ‘Nexus of Food, Agriculture, and Environment: Sustainable Food System for Future Generations’ onsite that took place on 28th September, 2023. The number of in-person participants was around 40 and that of online was approximately 20.
This was my first visit to Tsukuba Science City, built as a project to reduce congestion in Tokyo by systematically relocating national research institutes while ensuring high-level research and education. There are several route options to reach Tsukuba. I followed the most efficient route, suggested by Prof. Kentaro Hayashi (Kyoto station ➝ Tokyo station ➝ Akibahara station ➝ Tsukuba station), thanks to Prof. Hayashi. It took less than 4 hours from Kyoto station to Tsukuba station.

The special session I joined was organized by Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) and National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO). The goal of this session was to acquire insights into appropriate cropping practices, eco-friendly agriculture, and the intricate relationship between soil and the environment. The speaker of this session discussed on the importance of understanding the connection among food, agriculture, and the environment for promoting active human participation and fostering the creation of transdisciplinary knowledge.
The session was started with a short talk about nitrogen by Prof. Kentaro Hayashi, RIHN. Prof. Hayashi briefly discussed the importance of nitrogen for living organisms, benefits of nitrogen use accompanied with threats of nitrogen pollution, problems in too much (nitrogen pollution) and too little (nitrogen deficit) regions, and the goal of ‘Sustai-N-able’ project at RIHN. Later, Prof. Nobusuke Iwasaki, NARO talked over ‘right crop for right land’, focusing on local food production for local consumption, viticulture as ‘Smart Fudo Industry’, and vineyard suitability assessment system.

The next speaker was Prof. Maki Asano, University of Tsukuba. Prof. Asano explained the definition of soil, its characteristics as dynamic natural body, and uniqueness to location. She also clarified the soil functions (complex structure of soil aggregates, soil aggregate hierarchy and organic matter, and microbes and soil aggregates), carbon cycling, and desirable soil management from the viewpoints of carbon sequestration and microplastic contamination in the soil.

The 4th speaker, Prof. Miyuki Katori, Shinsyu University, demonstrated the history of Japan Vineyard Association’s establishment, the introduction of ‘Japan Wine’, production quantities of main regions in Japan, and things to consider for local production and consumption.

Next, Mrs. Eri Otsu introduced ‘O2Farm’, an environment-friendly farm (mainly rice and cattle) owned by Otsu family in Minamiaso, Kumamoto. Mrs. Otsu talked addressed the advocation of ‘Landscape Farming’, the aim of O2Farm, to enrich biodiversity, environment, and relationship through farming. I was impressed to know that O2Farm took a number of steps to reduce global warming, e.g., installed photovoltaic system, switched to biodiesel fuel, installed EV that charge mainly with solar energy, and reduced the use of kerosene. O2Farm also encourages young generation to engage with farming believing that farmers are the pillar of the society.

The final speakers, Mrs. Hiromi Fujiki and Mr. Jun Fujiki explained the importance of supporting small farmers, and introduced the pros and cons of ‘natural farming’ (i.e., no pesticide, no chemical fertilizers, and no animal compost).

I enjoyed participating at this special session with Prof. Hayashi, Kyoi-san, Saiki-san, MoonJu-san, and Ayako-san. I believe the interaction with the participants will help to make research collaborations in future.

Aurup Ratan Dhar (RIHN)

The 3rd Water Environment for Young researchers' Network (WEYN) was held on 8-9 September at Asahi Kogen Genki Mura in Toyota City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. WEYN is a research group for students and young researchers conducting research primarily on the water environment. A meeting is held once a year, by the University of Yamanashi, Nagaoka University of Technology Graduate School, and Toyota National College of Technology. The Sustai-N-able project also participated in WEYN this time.
WEYN started with a presentation of the Nitrogen Footprint by Dr. Aurup (Sustai-N-able project). The concept of the Nitrogen Footprint is still not well known, even among students and researchers working on the water environment. But he gave a clear presentation in an understandable manner. I would like to learn his technique from him.

Researchers came to WEYN from a wide variety of research fields, ranging from engineering to social sciences. It is very exciting to listen to presentations of research that differs from my field (environmental economics). Of course, it is quite difficult to understand different fields’ study. Sometimes I have no idea of even one word in the study. Still, after discussions of our research, we realized that all the research is necessary for the future improvement of the water environment.

A barbecue reception was held at the end of the day. While enjoying the food, a member of the Sustai-N-able project conducted a small survey asking participants to calculate the nitrogen and other footprints of their own meals as part of the research for this project. To be honest, it was very difficult to control people enjoying the party. However, we are sure that we gave them the opportunity to consider their own dietary habits. Participants realized that their own footprint was unexpectedly high.

Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Saiki (Researcher, Sustai-N-able project) for their various efforts in organizing this WEYN.

Shinsuke Kyoi (RIHN)

I walked around the northern foot of Mt. Asama on 22 August 2023. I am deeply interested in unknowns of natural ecosystems such as how vegetation regenerates after being forcibly reset by repeated lava flows and pyroclastic flows, and how the nitrogen cycle is established there. I got this opportunity from Prof. Hirota, Terrestrial Ecology Laboratory, University of Tsukuba. Many thanks!
Mt. Asama is an active volcano with the second level of the eruption alert level, “restrictions around the crater.” People are advised to be on guard for volcanic blocks and pyroclastic flows within a radius of approximately 2 km from the crater. To enter the mountain, you must be accompanied by a geopark guide or ranger. A helmet is also a must item. This time, a total of four guides and rangers participated. It was very meaningful to hear various stories and exchange opinions.

The climb began at the Volcano Museum. If you go up a little bit, there is a spot with a nice view called “Asamaen.” At this time, we could see the top of Mt. Asama. What is in the middle of the mountain top is not a cloud but a plume. A large rock to the right from the summit is called “Senton Rock.” Senton means 1000 metric tons. It is estimated that this rock has the weight of approximately 4000 tons!

The Volcano Museum is located at an altitude of just under 1400 m. After just a short climb, the vegetation changes to subalpine. It is very low altitude for its climate. There are probably many reasons for this, but one of them is the cold air flowing through the valley. The traces of lava flows are rich in air spaces and there are many wind holes. In the summer, cold air comes out from there. At an altitude of about 1450 m, a rhododendron species, Rhododendron brachycarpum, appears shown in the image. Its beautiful white flowers bloom in the early summer.

The image is of a young tree of Alnus firma, a member of the alder family. The alder family coexists with mycorrhizal fungi and with actinomycetes called Frankia having the ability of biological nitrogen fixation. In other words, they collect nutrients with the help of fungi and bacteria. It probably plays an important role in the early stage of soil genesis in mountain ecosystems.

The image is of Gaultheria miqueliana, a member of the erica family. These Ericaceae shrubs form colonies on plateaus formed by lava and pyroclastic flows, where other plants cannot grow easily. Even though it is called a shrub, perhaps it looks like grass to people who does not know it. I guess that these Ericaceae plants also have a good relationship, i.e., symbiosis with fungi and/or bacteria. Many things to investigate.

This is Vaccinium uliginosum var. japonicum, similarly a member of the erica family. A species close to blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum).

This is Vaccinium vitis-idaea, also a member of the erica family. A species close to cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos).

This is Empetrum nigrum var. japonicum, also a member of the erica family. They formed pure colonies in areas with the most severe soil and moisture conditions to survive. I wonder how they live there.

A little bit above a great lava flow called “Onioshidashi”, meaning that a giant ogre (Oni) did this work. The highest point this climb was about 1685 m above sea level. It was basically cloudy, and the summit was often hidden by clouds, but there were no clouds below and the view was fantastic.

If you go east from the highest point this time, you will find a plateau-like terrain, named “Uenobutai”, meaning an upper stage. The altitude range of this terrain is about 1500–1700 m. This terrain was formed by the Azuma pyroclastic flow in 1783. The peak of Mt. Asama can be seen in the image. The cliff in the foreground is the end of “Onioshidashi” lava. Its mainstream at west descended furthermore to the mountain foot. This is a dynamic volcanic landscape, scary but beautiful. 240 years after the disaster, vegetation is returning to its original state.

Kentaro Hayashi (RIHN)

The research related to “Analysis of the effect of regional food variation on nitrogen load” is being conducted in Sustai-N-able project. As part of the field survey in this research, we visited Miyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture which is the southern islands in Japan on June 22-28, 2023. The past/current diet of local people and domestic immigrants and the temporal change of cultivated crops were observed in this field survey.

We were able to see the sunrise from Ogami Island, which is a spiritual island, on a beach and participated in a beach cleaning in between the surveys. In Miyakojima City, tourists are more than ten times the population (about 55,000 people) every year, and domestic immigrants from other prefectures are increasing.
The large shopping malls have been built, and Miyakojima has become more convenient. The domestic immigrants observed in this survey value the slow lifestyle on the island and their own/ family time.
There are traditional gardens that called “Kafutsu” not only the commercial agricultural fields such as sugar cane fields and greenhouses introduced in the previous column “Field Survey in Miyakojima Island vol. 1”. Local people in agricultural areas consume vegetables, fruits, spices and wild plants from their Kafutsu.

The pictures show aloe for eating and shimayama-hihatsu (the scientific name: Antidesma pentandrum) called “wild grape” by the local people, which is one of the cultivated crops in Kafutsu. The wine made from shimayama-hihatsu was really delicious!
The local people said that the key to a healthy life and longevity is in Kafutsu, and we can safely eat food from our land. The sugar cane fields and Kafutsu support the household budget and the household food in Miyakojima, respectively. I think both crop fields are important to the local people and we could get a glimpse of the history and culture of these islands.

Makoto Saiki (RHIN)

The field survey in Miyakojima City, Okinawa Prefecture, which is the southern islands of Japan was conducted from April 19 to 21 in 2023.
In this survey, we had meetings with citizen groups on environmental conservation to establish a new research target area in Sustai-N-able project. In addition, the site visit with LINKAGE project in RHIN was also conducted to understand the environmental statement in Miyakojima City.

Here is Sawada Beach, which was selected as one of the 100 most beautiful beaches in Japan. Unfortunately, the weather was not good at that time... The view would be beautiful on a sunny day. We could see great egrets on the beach.

Primary industries such as agriculture and fishing have flourished in Miyakojima City, and agricultural production is the highest in Okinawa Prefecture. There are large sugar cane fields outside of the urban area. The view of the fields straightened by the land improvement project was amazing.
Since there are no rivers on the islands, the only source of irrigation water was rainfall. However, since the construction of two subsurface dams in 2001, a steady supply of irrigation water has been provided.

Recently, due to the steady supply of irrigation water, greenhouse farming has increased with the increase in the variety of crops grown. The organic farmers who we visited cultivated asparagus, cucumbers, figs, and so on in their greenhouses. They are now trying to grow cacao.
But there are still agricultural problems such as the destruction of greenhouses by typhoons and lightning, and the increase in fertilizer prices and export costs.

Makoto Saiki (RHIN)

I had visited Seoul, Korea from 26 to 29 June 2023.
The purpose of my visit was to attend the 4th Global Soil Security Conference (GSS2023). That was the 6th time to visit Korea and 4 years has passed since my last visit. However, this was the first time to visit Seoul, perhaps a rare case.
It was less than 2-hour flight from Kansai Airport to Gimpo Airport, thanks. Subway line 9 took me from Gimpo Airport to the venue, was grateful for this convenience.

The venue hotel is located near Seokchon Lake, 32 stories high, a pretty great place. This area was used for the Seoul Olympics in 1988, nostalgic.

An extremely tall building immediately to the west. Even the venue hotel looks small. This building, Lotte World Tower, is 555 m tall, tallest building in Korea.

The atmosphere of the venue is like this. Surprisingly, there were no parallel sessions, and the oral session took only one this big room. I heard from a Korean colleague, “We did it so everyone do not miss any presentations, but it can be said that no place to escape.”
Poster presentations with a core time of discussion were rotated every day during the three days of the event. The participants were mostly Korean researchers and students, with a mix of invitees from other countries. I was also invited by one of the conveners. I made an oral presentation on overview of the nitrogen issue and introduction of our Sustai-N-able Project. I was happy to be able to hand out the project leaflets in English. I could meet a Chinese colleague for the first time since the COVID-19, with great happiness.

The venue was a fancy Western-style, there was no so-called Korean meals served. What’s more, the air conditioning in the venue was so intense that even I was shivering. Let us stop thinking that cooling things much down is a sort of hospitality.
I really missed to eat something typical Koran meals, and my body was could, so I escaped from the venue and ate seolleongtang. This is a soup made by boiling beef bones. It was not salty at all and contained some meat and somen noodles. Adding chopped green onions, salt, pepper, and seasoning made of krill as you favourite to taste and eat. Take as much kimuchi and kakuteki as you like from the jars and chop them with scissors. It also comes with rice.
By the finishing eating, I was sweating a little, and just remembered that it was humid and hot rainy season outside.

Kentaro Hayashi (RIHN)