Team Members

Takahiro Sato is Associate Professor at Hirosaki University. Previously, he was visiting Associate Professor at the Center for South Asian Studies, Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS), Kyoto University. His research background is in agriculture and rural development. He worked as an assistant professor on the Global COE Program “In Search of Sustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa,” (2006–2011) and is leader of the research group that developed the Humanosphere Potentiality Index (HPI).

Mario Lopez is Associate Professor at the Centre for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS),Kyoto University. His research background is ageing populations, demographic change and the provisioning of healthcare personnel from Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific. He was a member of the Large-Scale Research Program “In Search of a Sustainable Humanosphere in Southeast Asia” (2011–2016).

Taizo Wada conducts research on geriatrics and population health as a visiting associate professor of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University, Japan. Hepreviously worked as a research fellow for the Global COE program “In Search ofSustainable Humanosphere in Asia and Africa” (2011–2016) at CSEAS and coordinated the Humanosphere Potentiality Index (HPI) project with Takahiro Sato.

Shiro Sato is Associate Professor at the faculty of International Liberal Arts, Osaka International University. His research background is in the epistemology and ontology of International Relations theory from the viewpoint of Area Studies. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Afrasian Centre for Peace and Development Studies at Ryukoku Univeristy (2007–2010), and visiting research fellow of Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) at Leiden University (2011).

Makoto Nishi is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Asian and African Area Studies (ASAFAS), Kyoto University. His areas of research are cultural and medical anthropology and developmentstudies. He is currently engaged in research on individuals with multiple healthburdens in Ethiopia as well as the intersection of tuberculosis and social isolation among ex-day laborers in Japan.

Kazuo Watanabe is Associate Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University with a PhD in Agriculture (Gifu University). He was a Senior Project Researcher at the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN) (2013–2017). His research background is in agronomy and geo-informatics, and his main research field is the agricultural and coastal area in Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, especially focusing on the dynamics of land use, natural resource use, rice balance, and agricultural technology as well as rural society.