Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 14:00-15:00 JST

The concept of transition, derived from the Latin transire, meaning “to change state,” has been employed across a wide range of fields since the nineteenth century. In contemporary discourse, it is most often associated with climate change and the notion of an “energy transition.” This lecture introduces the concept of power transition – understood as energy flow over time – to account for the rapid acceleration of eco-social change since the mid-twentieth century. It examines the unprecedented challenge of voluntarily moving away from highly powerful fossil fuels. Moving beyond purely techno-solutionist approaches, the seminar emphasizes the central role of social and human innovation. Adapting to renewable and fluctuating energy sources will require a profound rethinking of lifestyles, drawing inspiration from the long-term resilience of living organisms.

Thursday, April 2, 2026, 14:00-15:00 JST

What do self-driving cars, power grids, and homeostasis in biology have in common? Seemingly not much. If one looks “under the hood”, however, one discovers that they all rely on a common principle that renders their operation robust and reliable – feedback. The principle of feedback is intuitive: see where you are, compare this to where you want to be, and move in the direction that reduces the difference between the two. Though the principle itself is simple to explain, understanding its implications, uses and limitations is anything but and forms part of a branch of engineering known as automatic control. The talk will outline the main ideas of feedback, automation and control driven by examples of their use in biology, energy systems and beyond.

Wednesday, April 8, 2026, 14:00-15:15 JST

For over five decades, reconnaissance groups around the world have visited earthquake-affected areas. The premise is to learn key lessons to help communities worldwide understand their earthquake risk and take actions to improve their resilience.
In this talk, Professor Emily SO will describe the importance of evidence-based research and set out the key challenges of surveying post-disaster. She will provide a critique on what academic value data from the field brings to reducing the consequences of earthquakes and other natural perils.

Thursday, April 16, 2026, 14:00-15:00 JST

The Earth is special to us: it’s our home. But is it really special as a planet? Every star we can see in the night sky is likely to be orbited by planets. More than 6000 (exo)planets have been discovered in the past thirty years.
Finding out why are these new worlds as they are and what is the Earth’s place in our galaxy and –ultimately– in the universe, is one of the key challenges of modern astrophysics.

Monday, March 11th, 2024 15:30-17:00 JST

Education is a necessary partner in addressing global sustainability challenges. Wild Pedagogies aim to re-examine human relationships with places, landscapes, nature, non-human beings, and planetary boundaries. They foreground nature as a teacher and challenge globalizing trends towards increased control over pedagogy. Wild Pedagogies are offered to all—parents, students, community educators, teachers, academics, business leaders, policymakers, wilderness guides, and more—who wish to expand their horizons and are curious about the potential of wilder practices.

Wednesday, 6 March, 2024, 10:00-12:00

At this event, following the survey report last year, we will introduce an overview of the survey conducted this year. Inviting students and faculty members who joined in this year’s project to share their observations on the “future of work” through the survey, we also discuss the possibilities and challenges of its methodological aspects. We would like to discuss future developments of the survey with companies, organizations, and students who are interested in this work.

Monday, 4 March 2024, 15:00-16:30 JST

Robotics is gaining increasing importance across a wide range of applications, including industrial production, agriculture, assistance to individuals and households, and medicine. However, its progress is still constrained by the mechanical basis of construction and operation. The disadvantages of the constraints can be radically reduced by the advent of “soft robotics”. In this lecture, Prof. Viovy presents and illustrates the potentialities of this emerging field with a few examples, and discusses its future and potential limitations.

Wednesday, 28 February 2024, 15:00-16:30 JST

Macroeconomics has been a contested field since it was invented in 1936. It is dominated by sophisticated models that assume that people behave rationally. But slowly, the recognition that people do not behave like “homo economicus” is changing things. Hours of work, use of leisure time, patterns of spending, are affected by social norms and conventions; and these things affect how the economy responds to disruptions like wars and pandemics.

Wednesday, 24 January 2024 15:30-17:00 JST

As centralized technologies wield increasing influence over our society, the significance of Web3.0—decentralized, fair, and open web technologies—has never been more critical. Join us in envisioning a secure, transparent, and inclusive digital landscape, uncovering the transformative potential of the decentralized web in this forward-looking exploration.

Every Friday from December 1, 2023 (Available from 17:00 JST)

“The Salon” is a new dialogue series featuring distinguished scholars in the humanities at the University of Tokyo that aims to transcend disciplinary boundaries. It is hosted by Professor Naoko Shimazu of Tokyo College and Professor John Lie of UC Berkeley, who is currently staying at Tokyo College.

Wednesday, 17 January 2024, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Doors Open: 2:30 pm)

In 2018, the public toilet renovation project, “THE TOKYO TOILET (TTT)” commenced in Shibuya, Tokyo. Representing Japan and featuring 16 internationally renowned creators, including architects at the forefront, this project brought creativity and design to the often-overlooked realm of urban architecture – the public toilet. It successfully introduced new value to this object. In 2021, Mr. Yanai also initiated a new art film project to address the challenges of TTT and his debut production, “PERFECT DAYS”, earned the Best Actor award at the 2023 Cannes International Film Festival. Now the movie is currently being actively promoted for the Academy Awards. In this talk, Koji will explain why he embarked on the toilet project, what insights he gained, and why he produced a film at the end of those insights.

Wednesday, 10 January 2024 14:00-15:30 JST

In May 2023, the Prime Ministers of Japan and the UK sealed "an enhanced UK - Japan global strategic partnership," pledging to strengthen "the free and open international order based on the rule of law." Is this a realistic objective for two distant, mid-sized, island nations in an increasingly contested, volatile world? How much can their partnership really contribute to international rulemaking or tackling global issues? Can it indeed safeguard either party’s national security or prosperity? How should we measure the results?

Every Wednesday from November 1, 2023 (Available from 17:00 JST)

What constitutes groundbreaking research in a university setting? Tokyo College postdoctoral fellows will be conducting interviews with UTokyo professors in the UT7 research group to find out how they are engaging in new forms of research driven by curiosity and ultimately contributing to the evolution of our understanding of life.

Tuesday, 5 December 2023, 15:30-17:00 JST

In 2015, British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke of a ‘Golden Era’ in UK-China relations. In 2022, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak officially declared this over and his government has portrayed China as posing an epoch-defining challenge to the international order. How have British views towards China – both inside and outside government and in the press – evolved and diverged during this turbulent period? How best should Britain engage with, or disengage from, China to sustain British interests and values?

Tuesday, 5 December, 13:00-14:30 JST

Japanese companies are both criticised and praised for holding large cash balances. Globally companies have increased cash hoarding, but Japan remains an outlier. This lecture looks at Japanese companies’ saving and its economic effects, including on labour’s share of national income.

Monday, 27 November 2023, 15:00-16:30

CCTV cameras are installed almost everywhere in Tokyo and other Japanese cities, and private security systems, introduced in the 1980s, are now standard in most homes. Surveillance is also embedded in everyday life, work, and play and has become “a way of seeing” and influences “ways of being seen.” In this presentation Prof. Robertson explores how and why AI-enabled entertainment and surveillance technologies have become fused, and speculates on the consequences of their triangulation.