The Faculty of Sustainability Studies conducts the "Let's Think Anyway" project as a joint project between faculty and students. The event is an opportunity to discuss energy issues, the state of local communities, and the possibility of a sustainable society by watching a documentary film together.
Report on the 22nd "Special Seminar on Human Environment Studies: Let's Think Anyway (Tonikan)
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, the Faculty of Sustainability Studies Hosei University has been holding Hosei University Special Seminar for Human Environment Studies: Watching Documentary Films and Thinking about Post-Disaster Japanese Society (also known as " Tonikan"), a joint project by faculty members and students, in which documentary films are viewed and discussed together. The 22nd event was held on the same day.
For the 22nd seminar, instead of a film, we invited an outside lecturer to give a lecture and talk show in a face-to-face format ( for students and faculty only; online participation for outside participants) . The invited lecturer was Mr. Akira Sugaya (currently President of Matsumoto University), who was involved in medical support activities in Belarus after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident . Mr. Sugaya's activities have been introduced in the documentary program "Project X Challengers: Chernobyl Wounds, Miracle Scalpel" and other programs.
On that day (July 2), Mr. Sugaya first gave a lecture titled "Involvement with the Slavic People: Medical Support Activities in Belarus, and Russia's Military Invasion of Ukraine" , followed by a talk show with faculty members Hidekazu Kanemitsu and Akihiro Yoshinaga . In the lecture, the background of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine was explained, and continued with an account of Belarus five years after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident (1991) and 30 years later (2016), and the challenges Japan faces after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident were presented.
In the talk show, Mr. Sugaya discussed various topics such as: how he started his medical support activities in Belarus, how information about the nuclear accident should be disclosed, the current state of the natural environment in Chernobyl, the necessity of recreation for children exposed to radiation, the future of nuclear power generation, and so on. The discussion covered a wide range of topics.
About 40 people participated at the venue and about 35 people participated online. After the session, some participants said that two hours were not enough time to finish the discussion and that they would have liked to hear more .
