Call for Abstracts】8/8 Super Heterodox Society of Japan Masuda Forum 2018 Inaugural Meeting! Medical-Food-Agricultural Cooperation and Compact City Model brought about by Technological Innovation

　On Wednesday, August 8, the regional conference of the Association of Hyperdisciplinary Research in Japan, "Masuda Forum," will be held for the first time in Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture. The theme of the conference is "Medical, Food, and Agricultural Cooperation through Technological Innovation and Compact City Model.

　Masuda City in Shimane Prefecture is located about 10 minutes by car from Hagi and Iwami Airport,The population is declining and aging rapidly, and issues such as a lack of agricultural bearers and an increase in uncultivated land, which are characteristics of Masuda City, are becoming more apparent. In order to solve these issues that symbolize the future of Japan, the Masuda Forum aims to create research projects that can only be done in the region by bringing in an influx of knowledge from researchers that will serve as a foundation for the creation of new industries and cross-fertilizing it with local resources.

　Taking the opportunity of the forum, we will launch the "Attractive City Development Concept through the Linkage of Medicine, Food, and Agriculture," in which research and development will be conducted in Masuda City as a whole as a demonstration field, focusing on food and health-related research, and will promote four specific projects.　

　We are seeking abstract registrations from researchers and venture capitalists who are interested in this initiative. Please come to the site and join us for a heated discussion!

Click here to apply (application deadline 7/23):https://hic.lne.st/conference/masuda2018/

[Project to be promoted].

(1) Visualize health with the Health Tech Mall as a base.
Based in a shopping mall where local residents, including the elderly, gather, the project will build a model for an aging society by designing spaces and providing food to maintain and improve health, and by introducing health tech in collaboration with a venture company.

(2) Realization of grass-based livestock farming using abandoned forests
Aiming for a new beef cattle management using grazing as a way to utilize abandoned forest land. Using metabolic imprinting technology and ICT by Professor Takafumi Goto, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Fisheries and Veterinary Medicine, Kagoshima University, the project will realize inexpensive, high-quality beef production and conservation of mountain forests.

(iii) Local Agritech 2030
Smart agriculture with farmland monitoring systems and robotics will be used from soil improvement to production.

4) Preservation and distribution technology to enable global expansion
Aiming to expand Masuda City's agricultural products overseas through collaboration with I-Eat Corporation, which develops non-contact maintenance packaging technology for edible parts that can be preserved for long periods of time, and others.

Outline of Masuda Forum
Date and time:
　Tuesday, August 7, 2018, 18:00-20:00, eve of the event (reception)
　Wednesday, August 8, 2018, 10:00-15:30, Masuda Forum
Location:
Shimane Arts Center, Grantois
(5-15 Ariake-cho, Masuda City, Shimane Prefecture, 698-0022, Japan)
Nearest airport:
　10 minutes drive from Hagi/Ishimi Airport
Theme:
Medical-food-farm collaboration and compact city model brought about by technological innovation
Participants:
Researchers in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, bio-healthcare, robot technology, and logistics related fields,Ventures, companies in and out of the prefecture, local producers, junior high and high school students, etc.