Interviews

• Fuki Shimogishi (M1)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  I'm interested in urban or city planning.

  —What is your research topic?

  Using Transport and Land-use Model, runs in Fortran, for simulation, I estimate population distribution and traffic status iin the future. I also analyze difference in the case of introduction of measures to residence attraction based on the concept of compact city.

  —How do you conduct research?

  We students need to make our own research topic, so I read some previous studies and master's theses to get a whole picture of my research plan. Then I decide my research theme getting feedback from professors and upperclass students. For my graduation thesis, I learned simulation program coding to make my own one. One or two months before the submission of my thesis, I revised the program and analyzed the simulation results.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  It was challenging to think initiatively about my research plan, simulation framework, interpritation of the results. On the other hand, It is enjoyable to complete my resaerch from the beginning to the end, which is unique to our lab.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I didn't have a part-time job, so I went to club activities. There are not many time constraints, so I think I can spend my time rather freely.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  Please come to our lab if you are interested in urban planning!!



• Masatomo Fujiwara (M1)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  I'm interested in urban planning and public transportation.

  —What is your research topic?

  I analyze the impact of abortion of local railways and shift to bus on population and share of public transport.

  —How do you conduct research?

  I made my research theme after reading previous studies conducted at this lab or related to my interest. After having decided the theme, I collected the data I had tu use and analyzed in Excel or GIS.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  It is challenging to decide the research theme by myself and data collection. On the other hand, It is interesting to interprit the result of analysis.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I have a part-time job five hours per day and twice a week.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  Please come if you are interested in city planning or public transport!



• Ren Fujimori (M2)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  I was interested in urban planning for some time and the research field of this lab attracted me.

  —What is your research topic?

  In my master's thesis, I research about 'Compact Plus Network' that will lead to regional revitalization. In concrete, I estimate the decrement of road maintenance cost as a result of gathering polulation and facilities.

  —How do you conduct research?

  We have to decide our own research theme and frameworks by ourselves. Although research themes vary from student to student, I often ask upperclass students for advice.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  The most challenging moment is to decide my research theme. I also had a hard time writing my graduation thesis because I had to conduct research that was meaningful to society by checking existing research to determine what problems currently exist in Japan and what aspects have not yet been clarified.
  On the other hand, I enjoy being able to do research in areas that interest me because I can come up with my own research themes and structure from scratch. I also enjoy talking with people in the lab in my spare time.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I occasionally show up at clubs while doing job-hunting and part-time jobs. Since I am not bound to the laboratory for much time, I feel that the environment allows me to focus on other activities as long as I can manage myself.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  Since you will be involved in the selection of a laboratory for three years (or one year) of your life, I think it is important to choose not only the research content but also whether the people in the lab are a good fit. That being said, since the process starts once you are assigned to a laboratory, it would be good to go to a place where you genuinely feel "this laboratory is good"...



• Yu Matsuo (M2)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  I was interested in transportation planning, especially road traffic (traffic behavior, traffic congestion reduction, etc.).

  —What is your research topic?

  A Study on Behavior Change Using Gamification to Alleviate Traffic Congestion on Highways

  —How do you conduct research?

  I am a member of a joint research project with another university, so basically I will be working on my research as a research project, and in parallel I will also be working on my own master's thesis. (This is a rare type of work in this lab.)

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  I will explain the unique challenges and joys of a research project.

  
  

  Difficulties

  • Apart from research for the master's thesis, I have to make some progress according to the schedule of the research project.
  • Many opportunities to present progress, not only in the lab's general and individual seminars, but also in progress meetings for the entire project and individual meetings with the project's professors (a good thing in the sense that I can get feedback from them that frequently)
  • There is work to be done as a research project

  
  

  Fun points

  • Research can be done on a large scale (and the deliverables as a project are large and rewarding)
  • You can conduct research while receiving opinions and interacting with students and professors from other universities.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I am a member of a tennis club and when I have some spare time for research, I go to circle practice and play tennis. I only have a part-time job occasionally.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  In this lab, there are many people doing research on public transportation and urban planning, and not many people doing research on road transportation. So, we are waiting for people who are interested in road transportation!



• Yuma Kawamura (M2)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  I was interested in urban and regional planning, even within the planning field.

  —What is your research topic?

  The relationship between the public transportation fare discount system and the outing behavior of the elderly

  —How do you conduct research?

  Through reading previous research, students will find areas of research interest to them and determine their research topics. The research data was then constructed using GIS and Excel, and analyzed using Excel statistics.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  The hard part was organizing the data and finalizing the theme; the fun part was being able to work in silence.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I spend 90% of my free time playing video games, and the rest working as a part-time job.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  Let's work together.



• Jiayi Wang (M2)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  Because I had an interesting urban and regional planning class in my third year.

  —What is your research topic?

  The relationship between the location of large retail stores and the distribution of the urban population in local cities will be analyzed at two time points.

  —How do you conduct research?

  After the theme is determined, a hypothesis is formulated, and in order to verify this hypothesis, an analysis method is determined, the results are analyzed to the extent that one is able, and the next analysis is determined in consultation with the professor and senior students.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  Difficulties: Determination of theme and consideration
  Enjoyment: the sense of accomplishment when results are achieved

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I used the time for hobbies.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  All teachers and seniors are friendly, so don't worry!



• Hideaki Konishi (M2)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  From the time I entered the Department of Geoengineering, I had somehow decided to go into the planning field. I chose this lab because it deals with topics related to urban and public transportation, which is my interest, even within the planning field.

  —What is your research topic?

  The relationship between the public transportation fare discount system and the outing behavior of the elderly

  —How do you conduct research?

  In my thesis, I used a simulation model to analyze the changes in population distribution and social benefits of a shared, fully automated vehicle (SAV) that can transfer to and from public transportation in a local city, SAVs are like cabs today, Residents call the SAV to get to their destinations. In the study of our graduating seniors, the SAVs were supposed to transport residents directly to their destinations, We analyzed how adding the condition of transferring with public transportation would make any difference from the senior's study.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  In terms of my thesis, I first checked out related research on my research theme to understand how much was known about my research theme and whether it covered what I was trying to do. Next, I constructed a simulation model to follow my research theme. This may seem difficult, but there is no need to worry, as we will proceed by referring to past research and receiving advice from our professors and seniors in the lab. We will then run the simulation model we have built under different conditions and analyze it. Sometimes the results may not be what you expected, but if it is your thesis, you can write that as one of the results.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  Outside of research, I use my time for my hobbies and part-time jobs. I think I can use my time freely to some extent if it is not the time when I am in the midst of writing my thesis.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  We welcome anyone interested in urban planning and public transportation.



• Alvin Noviansyah (D1)

  —Why did you choose to study in this lab?

  The research topic interest shown on the website is interesting and compelling to my area of expertise and interest.

  —What is your research topic?

  My research is titled: "Exploring the use of cellular presence data for Understanding dynamic changes in urban trip patterns". To simplify, I extract and estimate trip patterns in the form of urban dominant flows, mobility flow, and origin-destination trip patterns from the Mobile Spatial Statistics, and then attempt to analyze the changes of the trips estimated between each hour, part of day, or daily pattern. In the last part of my research, I manage to be able to emphasize how the Kyoto city trip pattern changes when influenced by COVID-19 situation and during Tourist season situation.

  —How do you conduct research?

  I will use my result as a base for my future research in understanding the anomaly of pattern on the Mobile Spatial Statistics using Tensor Decomposition. Hopefully I can publish my research in an international journal.

  —What are the challenging and enjoyable aspects of research?

  The difficult part is to find and apply methods and chose which method to apply as there will be unsuitable and failed results. So it is more trial-and-error type of research. I also use wasserstein distance method, which is unorthodox, therefore there are very few reference that I can use, so when I am stuck, it is hard to discuss with other people as the method itself were not common.
  The fun part is when we get satisfactory result that is accepting our hypotheses. For example, we assume that in Kyoto city, the moving activity directed towards the center of the city especially in Kyoto station and Business district of Shijo-Karasuma area. Being able to estimate the trip pattern that visualize those pattern is very satisfying in my opinion. Basically, after trial-and-error, finding and being able to generate proper result is always fun.

  —How do you spend your free time?

  I participate in part-time job to be a some kind of tour-guide for Japanese Middle/High school student's study trip to Kyoto. I usually use those moment to explore Kyoto city tourist areas with them (which I tend to not go if it were not because of a job), and to explore more about tradition and culture in other part of Japan. It is good for practicing Japanese also.
  Other time, I use my free time to refresh my perspective (especially when I am stuck at the research) by playing some console game, cycling through the river to Arashiyama, or just strolling around Kyoto, taking pictures of daily city/rural perspective of the city.

  —Can you share your comment on the student who are interested in this lab?

  It might be intimidating at first, but all of the student and staffs are friendly and supportive. Please come~