December 15, 2007

Japan-China-Korea Trilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Workshop (Fiber Engineering)

On December 15, JSPS held the Japan-China-Korea Trilateral Science and Technology Cooperation Workshop, co-hosted by the Faculty of Textile Science and Technology of Shinshu University and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. This workshop was held in response to a joint statement issued at "The First Korea-Japan-China Trilateral Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology Cooperation" held in Korea on January 12, 2007.

Fiber culture was transmitted to Japan from China through Korea. It has been developed and improved as "fiber" and "paper" in accordance with the lifestyle of each country in the East Asian culture region centered around Japan, China and Korea. As a matter of fact, these three nations possess the world's most advanced technology in the fiber field, while continuing to maintain a high level of technological development. Unfortunately, many traditional techniques of the past have been lost due to the introduction of technologies for mass-production and mass-consumption. Particularly in Japan, the fiber industry has become stagnant. As a consequence, a new demand has emerged for compound textiles and other fiber materials for industrial use. At the same time, Japanese fiber engineering is expected to contribute to solving energy and environmental problems related to manufacturing in China and Korea.

Given these circumstances, leading researchers in the fiber science field were invited to this workshop from the three nations in order to deepen their understanding of the present situations and the relative strengths of each country, and to discuss the direction of future technical innovation and the possibility of collaborative research projects. They agreed to initiate a joint research project to advance fiber engineering using biomass resources, utilizing bio- and nano-technology methodologies. With this initiative, they agreed to cooperate in working toward achieving a sustainable society of East Asia.