Tokyo Institute of Technology is a national top-tier research university located in Greater Tokyo Area, Japan. Tokyo Tech is the largest institution for higher education in Japan dedicated to science and technology.
This course introduces fundamental topics related to Monozukuri covering engineering topics such as thermodynamics, fluid dynamics, design, and dynamics of machinery. This is a new type of course in which learners not only view video lectures and answer quizzes but also learn while actually engaging in their own hands-on learn-by-doing project.You will learn about propulsion mechanism related to a small pop-pop (heat powered) steamboat. By introducing monozukuri (the art of manufacturing or preparing tangible objects) which is a philosophy of how to make things with precision that work extremely well. The principle standing behind Japanese high quality manufactured goods will be revealed. Interviews with craftsmen and student organizations that design and make things including the all Japan university competition on human-powered aircraft will be given as an example. This course is recommended course for learners who want to learn engineering principles and about making things in Japan. This course is a revision of the previous course on the same topic and was revised taking into account learner feedback. It also contains materials on experiental learning, which is the learning process by which one learns via their experiences. Furthermore, building a milk-carton boat out of an aluminum can was added in case wood and copper tubing are not available.
This course introduces fundamental topics in electrical and electronic engineering including a broad range of examples. Topics covered are solar cells (batteries) and portable cell phones, applications from Japanese companies, including the high-speed railway, plus advanced research being performed at high-tech laboratories in Japan. The topics covered range from introductory materials to fundamental research and their practical applications. There are two lecture videos on each topic. The lecture at the top of the page is in English (dubbed using Google text to speech API), contains slides in English and closed captions in English. The lecture below is given in Japanese with English transcripts. All materials (slides, quizzes and final report) are provided in both Japanese and English. 本コースでは，電気・電子工学の基礎的な内容を、幅広い事例を交えて紹介します。太陽電池や携帯電話、高速鉄道などの日本企業での応用事例や、日本の先端研究所で行われている先進的な研究を取り上げます。このコースを受講することで，本大学の教員や日本の産業界で活躍する技術者から電気電子工学全般についての知識を得ることができます。扱うトピックは、入門的な教材から、基礎的な研究、そしてその実践的な応用という流れに沿ったものとなっています。各トピックには2つの講義動画があります。ページの一番上の映像の講義は英語（Google text to speech APIを使用した吹き替え）で、英語のスライドと英語のクローズドキャプションが付いています。その下の講義は日本語で行われ、英語のトランスクリプトが含まれています。すべての資料（スライド、クイズ、最終レポート）は日本語と英語の両方で提供されています。
In this revised course, in depth video lectures cover various concepts related to architecture and structural design are presented and are accompanied by detailed articles for further study. Modern approaches to seismic design and retrofit will be covered through case studies of some unique campus buildings in Tokyo. The course starts by introducing the progression of structural design from traditional timber buildings to the first steel high rise structures, metabolism movement and the evolution of modern spatial structures in Japan. Concepts like ‘Integrated Facade Engineering’ and ‘Grid-skin structures’ are discussed and illustrated through case studies of Tokyo-Tech campus buildings wherein seismic performance was enhanced sustainably while considering the environmental performance and aesthetics. In addition, a number of 360-degree videos of Tokyo Tech buildings provide learners with an immersive experience. The application of the grid-skin concept to RC buildings is discussed using shear walls and a two-layer framing system. Modern response control strategies to achieve immediate occupancy post-earthquake like rocking frame systems and seismic isolation in steel buildings are covered and practical considerations while adopting these systems are explained through the design of campus buildings. Grid shell systems and their unique seismic response characteristics are explained. The design of the metro station near campus was used to explain the practical and technical difficulties of designing lightweight roofs. Finally, the importance of collaboration between structural engineers and architects is discussed in a number of interviews between ETH Zurich’s Prof. L. Stalder, Tokyo Tech’s Prof. T. Takeuchi and Prof. Y. Tsukamoto.
First, we'll begin from the year 1868 with Japan's emergence as a new nation. Its new and increasingly Western-style capital city of Tokyo grew upon the foundations of a far smaller seventeenth-century town called Edo surrounding a feudal castle. Before long, changing building methods and materials foretold a different age. By the turn of the twentieth century, a strong contrast between the old-style, low, wooden, Japanese structures and up-to-date modern buildings, first distinguished by red brick and later by industrially produced materials, was clearly visible to any and all.We'll discuss the intensive process of Westernization set in motion by Japan's imitation of European and American lifestyles. From that angle, we'll see how architects began to seek out their own version of early twentieth-century Modernism. As a starting point, Japanese practice followed the novel rational and "functionalist" innovations of the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier and the stripped-down and up-to-date approach of Walter Gropius, director of the famous German art school known as the Bauhaus. Meanwhile, Japan had embarked upon educating its own architects, who were no longer the older skilled master carpenters trained on site. A distinct, if frequently eclectic, style evolved with a few younger Japanese seeking experience abroad. Our course seeks to discuss and illustrate the roots of Modernist building in Japan over approximately three quarters of a century in Part 1.
Have you ever imagined what is deep under the ground? What is happening deep inside the earth? How has the earth evolved into its present state? This course is an introduction to earth science, focusing on the deep earth. We will learn how temperature and chemical compositions inside the Earth are inferred from limited observations combined with laboratory experiments. We will also explore the fate of water on the early Earth related to advanced research questions. Upon finishing this course, you will learn how scientists interpret the unknown and use the scientific method to address immeasurable research challenges.No specific knowledge is needed. Join this course and let’s imagine the inside of the Earth together.
This course teaches Japanese law. It covers the legal system and basic concepts. The course starts with the study of concepts that are common to many countries, such as sovereignty, constitution, separation of three rights, basic human rights and personal security. Furthermore, it covers current issues in Japan, for example, those faced in daily life from a legal perspective based upon laws and related practices. By studying Japanese law, you learn about the relationship between law and contemporary Japanese culture and society, and then can compare it to the law of other countries.Topics covered are sovereignty, separation of powers, basic principles of the constitution, principles of freedom of contract (the socioeconomic activity of the law in promoting functionality), the meaning of property rights (relativization of absolute principles of ownership by an aging society and commons), tort and contract comparison, accident and tort law, the characteristics of Japanese family law (including international marriage, divorce and child protection), learning of labor-related law and reform of Japanese-style employment and way of working, the court as a dispute resolution system, and the Japanese court system.The course covers major law amendments up to March 2021.AcknowledgementSpecial thanks to Stephen Mason, barrister and Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, UK for reviewing parts of this revised course.
In this short course, you’ll learn about autophagy, the fascinating degradation process that occurs within cells. The exciting story of 2016 Nobel Prize winner Yoshinori Ohsumi’s research career, during which he discovered autophagy and uncovered its mechanism in yeast, will also be described. The course is aimed at a non-specialist audience and is divided into three sections (weeks). During the first week, we’ll cover basic cell biology and discuss the fundamentals of autophagy and its role in the cell. In the second week, Professor Ohsumi’s four-decade research career, during which he discovered autophagy in yeast and uncovered its molecular mechanism, will be discussed in detail. The third week’s lecture discusses the role of autophagy in yeast, humans and other organisms, as well as links between autophagy and diseases in humans and the future of autophagy research. These lectures together provide an insight into an exciting and continually evolving field at the cutting-edge of fundamental biology research. The course also provides an example of a world-leading scientist’s unconventional and diligent approach to research, offering inspiration to young and aspiring researchers and laypeople alike.
Examine how architecture reflects Japan’s history, starting with its emergence as a new nation in the 19th century and the building of the Western-style capital city of Tokyo on the foundations of Edo. New building materials and construction methods reflected changing times, and the radical contrast between tradition and modernism in the nation was clearly visible in Japan’s architecture and politics.While experiencing intense Westernization pressures, Japan developed rapidly to rival the world’s great powers, we will look at how Japanese architects developed their own version of Modernism. Initially, Japanese wanted to pursue the discoveries of the Franco-Swiss Le Corbusier and of Walter Gropius at the German Bauhaus. But soon, Japan also began to produce its own 20th-century architects and develop its own style. Following World War II, Kenzo Tange became the first Japanese architect in history to achieve international fame.In the last section of the course, we will present an interview-based case study titled “Exploring Tokyo Tech’s Twenty-First Century O-okayama Campus.” Tokyo Institute of Technology (aka Tokyo Tech) possesses its own unique and unbroken succession of practicing architects/professors, who design campus buildings. We will learn about Professor Kazuo Shinohara, one of the most prominent Japanese designers of the second half of the 20th century, and several of his renowned disciples from Tokyo Tech.This course aims to illustrate the present state of Japanese Modernist and postmodern building, as well as the distance covered over the past 150 years, including the 130-year history of Tokyo Tech itself. Join us on this journey through time as we examine and admire Japan’s architecture to better understand Japanese history and politics.
無人のトラクターが広大な畑を耕し、自動運転のバスやトラックが人や物を運び、アバターロボットが介護をする、そんな未来の社会、「超スマート社会」†がすぐそこまで来ています。「超スマート社会」は、サイバー空間（仮想空間）とフィジカル空間（現実空間）とを高度に融合させたシステムによって経済発展と社会的課題の解決が両立された（Society 5.0）、誰もが快適で活力に満ちた質の高い生活を送ることができる人間中心の社会です。本コースでは、「超スマート社会」の実現に向けて行なわれている最先端の研究を、東京工業大学の研究者が自ら紹介し、解説します。「超スマート社会」をエンジニアリングの観点から創造しようとしている研究の最前線に立ち、研究者たちがどのように社会課題に取り組み、どのような科学技術イノベーションによってそれら課題に対する解決策を提示しようとしているかを学びます。本コースは東京工業大学超スマート社会卓越教育院が制作し、提供しています。†超スマート社会：「必要なもの・サービスを、必要な人に、必要な時に、必要なだけ提供し、社会のさまざまなニーズにきめ細かに対応でき、あらゆる人が質の高いサービスを受けられ、年齢、性別、地域、言語といったさまざまな違いを乗り越え、活き活きと快適に暮らすことのできる社会」（内閣府, 2016）----------The "Super Smart Society"†, a future society in which unmanned tractors plow vast fields, automated buses and trucks transport people and goods, and avatar robots provide nursing care, is just around the corner. The Super Smart Society is a human-centered society in which economic development and the resolution of social issues are compatible (Society 5.0) through a system that highly integrates cyber space (virtual space) and physical space (real space), enabling everyone to lead a comfortable, vibrant, and high-quality life.In this course, Tokyo Tech researchers introduce and explain the cutting-edge research being conducted to realize the Super Smart Society. By standing at the forefront of research that seeks to create the "Super Smart Society" from an engineering perspective, you will learn how researchers are tackling social issues and what kind of scientific and technological innovations they are using to provide solutions to these issues.This course is produced and offered by Tokyo Tech Academy for Super Smart Society (WISE-SSS).†Super Smart Society: a society where the various needs of society are finely differentiated and met by providing the necessary products and services in the required amounts to the people who need them when they need them, and in which all the people can receive high-quality services and live a comfortable, vigorous life that makes allowances for their various differences such as age, sex, region, or language. (Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, 2016)