Takuro Shibayama has worked several times as a guest artist at the ZKM He developed a participative and generative composition system based on findings and models from cognitive science he will provide insights into his artistic and scientific work.  During his time as a guest artist and researcher at the ZKM, Takuro Shibayama initiated and led a sound montage workshop with the lecturers Ludger Brümmer Hiromi Ishii and Benjamin Miller to create electroacoustic music This workshop marked the basis of his further activities in Karlsruhe The three instructors then remixed the participants' finished fixed media pieces and completed the collaborative work Both the workshop and the concert are part of the Denshi Onkyo People Project.  The Denshi Onkyo People Project is essentially a participatory project with a focus on electroacoustic music This genre is often seen by the general public as 'the Other' in music this genre is denied a large and broad audience In order to counteract this and to convey the special sound design possibilities of this genre as well as the general joy of musicking Takuro Shibayama runs workshops with interested people of all ages and different backgrounds for whom electroacoustic music is rather unknown and in whose lives it plays no role.  The aim of Takuro Shibayama's activities is to inspire more people with the creative processes and thought processes of sound creation and to turn them into active music makers Shibayama's teaching methods are based on methods from cognitive science and Gestalt psychology Part of the overall project is the development of a concept based on interdisciplinary perspectives of sociology and cultural anthropology to work out the social relevance of electroacoustic music Japanese musicologist Yuji Numano will introduce the special features of the project with reference to the history of contemporary music Takuro Shibayama will then give a lecture on the interdisciplinary perspectives of the workshop concept in project practice as these cannot be fully represented in the concert alone Shibayama will present a film screening of the collaborative works created in 2023 - 24 in collaboration with BankART1929 and the Goethe-Institut Tokyo.  a total of eight works created since 2023 in collaboration with BankART1929 in Japan and the Goethe-Institut Tokyo as well as a work created in collaboration with the Swedish Museum of Performing Arts will be performed as a video in the anteroom of the Kubus Collaborative Works 2023–2024 @Japan and Sweden 20231001«: Hiromu Takano with workshop participants @BankART Sta6on (Kiichi Osawa »What is music?«: Ai Watanabe with workshop participants @BankART Sta6on (Rintaro Ohmura 29 October 2023«: Mari Ohno with workshop participants @Goethe-Ins6tut Tokyo (Takuya Shinkado Raiden Gunnarson Nomura and Karin Gunnarson Nomura) 20231028«: Hiromu Takano with workshop participants @Goethe-Ins6tut Tokyo (Toki Chihara Henrik Frisk & Andre Holzapfel with workshop participants @Swedish Museum of Performing Arts (Erik Tivenius Yuji Numano»Touching Modern Art Directly: Electronic Music as a Tool for Musical Practice by Amateurs« Takuro Shibayama»The Denshi Onkyo People Project as a Participatory Art Project« Film Screening Collaborative Works 2023–2024 @Japan: »Layered Patchwork 2024«: Takuro Shibayama with participants @BankART Life 7 (Naofumi Matsuoka »Treasure Every Encounter« @Goethe-Institut BankART Station:Masatsune Yoshio with participants @BankART Sta6on (Yuji Oya Distant Echoes«:Soma Arai with participants @Goethe-Institut Tokyo (Asami Togawa »chimera bloom«:Tomoko Nakai with participants @BankART Station (Koichi Oda »Treasure Every Encounter« @Goethe-Institut Tokyo:Masatsune Yoshio with participants @Goethe-Ins6tut Tokyo (Lear Wei Collaborative Works 2024@ZKM by Benjamin Miller world premierewith ZKM workshop participants Katsu Tsuboi world premierewith ZKM workshop participants Honami Postert world premiereWith workshop participants Christian Uhlich Cube Organize / Institution: ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe Executive Committee of the Denshi Onkyo People Project 2023-2025 KTH Royal Institute of Technology and KMA Royal Academy of Music  JPSP Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research(C) ‘Collaborative Practice of Electroacoustic Music as Participatory Project Art (23K00243)’ Support: Japanese Society of Electronic Music (JSEM) +49 (0) 721 - 8100 - 1200info@zkm.de Scott Servais is aware of a perception about his managerial style he’s just a numbers guy; he always makes decisions by the numbers,’” he said In his ninth season as the Mariners manager he doesn’t make every in-game decision based strictly on statistical data as any respectable big-league manager should in 2024 He wants to understand the plethora of data available in baseball today wants to be armed with as much information as possible going into every game Servais has had to adapt in a sport that has changed dramatically over the past decade has pushed to be at the cutting edge of technology and analytical advancements “I give Scott a ton of credit for that,” Jerry Dipoto the team’s president of baseball operations When Skylar Shibayama graduated from Shoreline’s Shorecrest High School in 2012 the Mariners didn’t have a modern analytics department even a decade after “Moneyball” began to revolutionize the game Dipoto will tell you that the Mariners have beefed up their behind-the-scenes analytical team to the point that they belong in the upper tier of MLB ranks — alongside the likes of the Tampa Bay Rays the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees among others — when it comes to the investment and the application of technology and data on their major league operations Shibayama has been a central figure in that transformation is a longtime science teacher at Bothell’s Canyon Park Middle School; his dad is a special-education teacher at Seattle’s Ingraham High School He was also class president and a National Merit Scholar He went on to graduate from Yale with a degree in statistics He has studied game theory and signaling theory He counts artificial intelligence safety as a passionate hobby “Skylar’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever worked with,” Dipoto said “He’s brilliant at turning a thought or an idea into something real.” excel in — just about anything as a career Shibayama referenced a study he once read detailing the influence of sports fandom on children who were said to be most impressionable at the age of 7 The team that captures a child’s imagination at that age effectively locks in the kid’s loyalty for life and it just so happened that Shibayama turned 7 in the summer of 2001 He was in the crowd with his parents at then-Safeco Field when the Mariners won their record 116th game that season to join the Mariners as a 23-year-old part-time analytics intern Dipoto was publicly crediting Shibayama and David Hesslink a 23-year-old MIT graduate and first-year baseball ops assistant for generating a trade idea the Mariners front office was able to execute (acquiring Alex Colomé and Denard Span from the Rays) Shibayama was already transitioning into a full-time role in advance scouting he was writing code and helping create a new projection system that reshaped the advance scouting department’s reporting process affects the actual product on the field,” Shibayama said it’s really fun to have an intellectual challenge that’s involved with that — having to be able to think creatively and collaboratively about how to do strategic problem-solving and he now oversees the advance scouting department working closely with 27-year-old Sam Reinertsen (Hesslink has been promoted to senior director for baseball product development and the Mariners list more than two dozen employees in various data science and analyst roles.) the Mariners were still printing out sheets of stats before every game stacks an inch or two thick for the coaching staff to pore through Shibayama’s objective was to streamline all that data and make it digestible and usable on the field “We were trying to figure out: How can we modernize this How do we take a lot of information and then condense it into something that is actually actionable and interesting?” Shibayama said Shibayama traveled with the team full-time leading pregame scouting meetings with the coaching staff and getting to know Servais Shibayama is now one of Servais’ most trusted advisers “Skylar’s gotten to know me as good as anybody through the years,” Servais said Servais spent a decade as a big-league catcher and worked in MLB front offices before landing his first managerial job in Seattle in 2016 And just as his decision-making process has shifted over the past nine seasons “Skylar has an awesome idea of what I’m thinking,” Servais said “When he first started … trying to get him to look at the game through my lens has helped him make better decisions There’s things [a few years ago] he would have done differently based on numbers.” The objective is to make an evidence-based decision that gives Servais “You can have all these great ideas and all this information [but] if I can’t digest it and put it in action you can just throw it in the trash,” Servais said So understanding how I think and what I value and how I go through the decision-making process I have to open up and let those guys know if I really want to be able to make better decisions “If I just sit there and I put a wall up and say just give the numbers,’ they don’t know how I’m getting there.” distilled and printed onto three 8.5-by-11-inch placards that Servais keeps with him in the dugout He folds them and stores them in his back pocket Servais calls his first card his Game Card which has the lineups for both teams printed on either side “This is the one you see me with all the time he will update the Game Card with lineup changes The stats featured here on “the basics,” he said — right vs right splits; this season’s results; a combination of this season and last season’s results; strikeout rate; walk rate He’ll highlight in yellow preferred matchups and on the margins he’ll hand-write extra stats that stand out to him (how many double plays an opposing hitter has hit into The second card is the “Running Game” card that he uses when weighing when he might call for a stolen base the percentage of pitches an opposing pitcher will throw in certain counts and that pitcher’s time to the plate The third card Servais calls his “Magic Card,” and it uses a predictive formula to spit out a projected outcome for each hitter-vs.-pitcher matchup doesn’t want to reveal that predictive number.) “This plays into what their pitcher throws and what our hitter hits swing tendencies — it’s all baked into one number that I can use,” he said Red means the opposing hitter is aggressive And green — green is go — is projected to be a favorable matchup for the Mariners Servais doesn’t always play along with the numbers He’ll go on red and stop on green on occasion he opted not to use a left-handed pinch-hitting option for the right-handed Dylan Moore after the Guardians turned to a right-handed reliever Moore had hit a long home run earlier in the game Servais went against what the projection said the sort of managerial decision that is easy to second-guess when it doesn’t work — regardless of the process used to make the final decision Servais said the most difficult decision he has to make is when to pull his starting pitcher There are often many variables to consider — the score Servais goes over scenarios and seeks opinions from “the group,” as he called it of coaches and analysts that meet each afternoon before a typical night game “We’re just trying to systemically talk through potential scenarios,” Shibayama said “It’s not like the conclusions are all predetermined but we try to approach each conversation with a consistent process.” If there’s uncertainty or disagreement on a plan those are hashed out in the pregame meetings “It’s not just one or two people making a call,” Servais said who pitched at Davidson College in North Carolina watches hours upon hours of film on upcoming opponents to prepare detailed reports leading up to each series (The Mariners no longer send an advance scout to watch an upcoming opponent in-person; it’s all done through video and data analysis.) Reinertsen will email a report to the coaching staff the night before the start of a new series and he then leads an afternoon PowerPoint meeting with players and coaches a few hours before the start of each series Reinertsen regularly puts in 12- to 14-hour days Dipoto says he’s the best advance scouting coordinator the Mariners have had “is for the players to be able to play free and play natural A consistent theme you’ll hear from the Mariners is collaboration “It’s just an all-hands-on-deck-type thing,” Shibayama said You have to be really good at communicating that info And you have to have the systems [to put the information to use] “I think that’s a real strong point for us this antiquated ‘Moneyball’ nerds-versus-coaches thing Everybody is just trying to be as good as possible.” The opinions expressed in reader comments are those of the author only and do not reflect the opinions of The Seattle Times Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser Tomotaka Shibayama first started his career at Studio Ghibli as a cel painter for Spirited Away before transitioning to an animation artist. His talents and style led to numerous credits on notable anime feature films such as Penguin Highway and his 2020 directorial debut, A Whisker Away he is one of the key creators at Studio Colorido a high school student struggling to make friends his life takes a turn when he encounters an oni girl named Tsumugi who has come to the human world to search for her mother My Oni Girl is sure to be a heartwarming buddy film that carries a message that resonates with audiences of all ages I had the pleasure of sitting down with Shibayama to learn more about his new film how his past experiences shaped its creation and what audiences can expect from this heartwarming story We discussed the unique aspects of My Oni Girl that resonated with him during production and how he believes they will connect with the audience Shibayama expressed the lessons he hopes viewers will take away from his film How would you say My Oni Girl compares to your previous work Tomotaka Shibayama: My Oni Girl is my first feature animation film as a director I encountered many difficulties at the start Did anything you learned from your work on A Whisker Away influence the development of My Oni Girl Shibayama: So, as you may be aware, A Whisker Away was a co-production with Junichi Satō One thing Director Sato insisted on was that it was not about making the film It's not about making a wonderful artistic movie; it's more like a good movie that is supposed to have a tight connection between the audience and the film There should be sympathy and connection between the audience and the film itself and that is what I thought was critical to producing My Oni Girl Shibayama: One of the main themes in this film is that there is an oni So the original word “on” in traditional Japanese suggests something that is hidden or can not be seen has evolved into 'oni,' which means ogre So I went through that traditional Japanese word's meaning and tried to connect it to the many issues current teenagers carry with them today such as not being able to express their true feelings because they can not really express themselves and become very shy So the connection between the meaning of ‘oni’ and modern teen issues is unique highlighting how hidden feelings relate to the word's traditional meaning Were there any parts of the film that you resonated with personally Shibayama: Something that I personally resonated within the film is the main protagonist Hiiragi represents the modern teenager who struggles with expressing their true feelings The character reflects how I was in my teens as well I also could not express my true feelings and tended to say something else instead so it feels like a message to the teenage Shibayama that he could have done better to express himself So it turned out to be that kind of film in the end What themes can we expect to be explored through Hiiragi and Tsumugi's story in My Oni Girl represents current teens who can not express themselves the female protagonist; her personality is completely different from Hiiragi's Tsumugi tends to express her true feelings I want to explore and convey a message to teens that it is imperative to tell people what you are feeling rather than hiding yourself You mention Hiiragi and Tsumugi are complete opposites Did you enjoy utilizing this in their character dynamics and development throughout the film Shibayama: Hiiragi has an issue with his father while Tsumugi is also very angry with her mother because of a misunderstanding there is this father-to-son and mother-to-daughter drama While this is a very troublesome issue in the film Hiiragi and Tsumugi go on a road trip and have a buddy relationship is there going to be a love relationship between these two characters?” So audiences may get very excited about that at the same time So that is something being done between their relationships What were your intentions when you set out to direct this coming-of-age story I wanted to do something about teenagers—about the issues that teenagers want to overcome in the modern day You can Google it; then you can find anything Like “how to get a girlfriend,” you can look on Google for all that I feel that current teens are very strategic and know how to work everything out using technology there is a term that means “reading the air.” In English you have the phrase “reading the room.” These days many teenagers like that because they are scared of hurting others' feelings So I wanted to push and tell a story that rather than “reading the air,” it's more important to tell what you mean Say what you want to say and your hidden truth So I insisted that this film cheers on these kinds of teenagers What lessons or feelings do you hope audiences take away after viewing this film Shibayama: It's important to tell others what you truly feel with your own words That is the central theme that I want people to take away And the second thing is that even grownups tend to hide their feelings There are times when they are not sure of themselves it is essential to dig deep to understand each other and connect That is the message I want people to take away after seeing this film Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama visited the Subaru Telescope on May 4-5 He came to the base facility of the observatory in Hilo where he was briefed about the telescope's outstanding capability for wide-field and high-resolution observations; recent significant achievements of the telescope including the surveys of black holes; and the current status and future plan for the operation of the observatory by Dr Director General of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Director of the Subaru Telescope.Minister Shibayama also visited the summit facility of the Subaru Telescope atop Maunakea to see the telescope itself and to view the construction site of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) from a distance He actively discussed the importance of the Subaru Telescope in the era of TMT Minister Shibayama expressed his continued support for the Subaru Telescope and urged everyone "to tackle big problems in astronomy such as exoplanets and life on other worlds through collaborative research between the Subaru Telescope and TMT." Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama visiting the summit facility of the Subaru Telescope Science and Technology Masahiko Shibayama (right) visiting the base facility of the Subaru Telescope © 1999 National Astronomical Observatory of Japan This project is supported by "Project to Promote Large Scientific Frontiers" of MEXT Metrics details Myocarditis is an inflammatory heart disease that leads to loss of cardiomyocytes and frequently precipitates fibrotic remodeling of the myocardium the molecular mechanisms underlying immune cell control and maintenance of tissue integrity in the inflamed cardiac microenvironment remain elusive we found that bone morphogenic protein-4 (BMP4) gradients maintain cardiac tissue homeostasis by single-cell transcriptomics analyses of inflamed murine and human myocardial tissues Cardiac BMP pathway dysregulation was reflected by reduced BMP4 serum concentration in patients with myocarditis Restoration of BMP signaling by antibody-mediated neutralization of the BMP inhibitors gremlin-1 and gremlin-2 ameliorated T cell-induced myocardial inflammation in mice progression to inflammatory cardiomyopathy was blocked through the reduction of fibrotic remodeling and preservation of cardiomyocyte integrity These results unveil the BMP4–gremlin axis as a druggable pathway for the treatment of myocardial inflammation limiting the severe sequelae of cardiac fibrosis and heart failure the elucidation of effective therapeutic intervention remains incomplete because the overarching molecular mechanisms that govern the balance between myocardial homeostasis and inflammation are incompletely understood it is important to identify druggable molecular pathways that control the interplay between immune cells and cardiac fibroblasts surprisingly little is known about the role of this pathway in cardiac inflammation and fibrosis we used single-cell transcriptomics of inflamed human and murine heart tissue to assess whether and to what extent dysregulation of BMPs is associated with myocardial inflammation and cardiac tissue integrity We found that the BMP4–Gremlin-1/2 (GREM1/2) axis is a key pathway involved in the maintenance of homeostatic heart function Antibody-mediated neutralization of both GREM1 and GREM2 reinvigorated BMP signaling in the inflamed myocardium and reduced fibrotic remodeling and preserved cardiomyocyte integrity selective restoration of BMP signaling in the inflamed heart facilitates treatment of myocardial inflammation and efficiently diminishes cardiac fibrosis and prevents heart failure Enumeration of heart-infiltrating CD45+ cells (a) MYH6-specific (Vα2+ Vβ8+CD4+) T cells (b) and CD11b+ myeloid cells (c) from 4-week-old and 8-week-old TCRM or control (Ctrl) mice Histopathological disease severity in control and TCRM mice Representative confocal microscopy images showing CD4+ and CD11b+ cells and COL1 deposition in hearts from 8-week-old control and TCRM mice Boxed areas in left panels denote magnified area in right panels (n = 4) scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq analysis from total cardiac cells from age-matched and sex-matched control and TCRM mice UMAP representation showing 16 cell populations in the heart of control and TCRM mice Significantly enriched pathways according to GO enrichment analysis based on differentially expressed genes between total cardiac cells from control and TCRM mice Scatter plot indicating incoming and outgoing interaction strengths of individual cell subsets based on network centrality measures on the aggregated cell–cell communication network Top significantly enriched ligand–receptor pairs grouped according to functional similarity Numbers in brackets indicate the quantity of receptor pairs within a functional group UMAP projection showing the expression of the indicated genes Dot plot depicting the average expression of the indicated BMP pathway-related genes in cardiac cells Quantification of BMP4 protein in heart homogenates by ELISA scRNA-seq/snRNA-seq data represent a total of 28,913 cells per nuclei from control (n = 6) and TCRM (n = 6) mice Pooled data from 2–3 independent experiments with n = 7 8 and 9 mice per group (d) or n = 6 mice per group (l) Representative sections from one out of five control or TCRM mice (c) Dots represent values from individual mice; box and whiskers show minimum to maximum Source data together with the fibroblast-restricted regulation of Bmp4 during myocardial inflammation further suggest that BMP4 produced by fibroblasts serves as a key rheostat of cellular interactions in the cardiac microenvironment Diffusion map representation based on gene expression in cardiac fibroblasts colored according to heterogeneity (top) and origin (bottom) Projection of the indicated gene signatures onto diffusion maps Expression profile of Bmp4 in cardiac fibroblast subsets shown as violin plots Representative confocal microscopy analysis of hearts from control (m) and TCRM (n) mice using the indicated markers Single-cell transcriptomics data represent a total of 65,545 cardiac fibroblasts from control (n = 4) and TCRM (n = 5) mice Pooled data from 2–3 independent experiments with n = 6 mice per group (c) or n = 9 Representative sections from one out of five control or TCRM mice (m,n) Statistical analysis was performed using two-tailed Student’s t-test (c,d) or one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test (e–h) with *P < 0.05 Source data supporting the conclusion that accumulation of auto-aggressive immune cells in the myocardium and concomitant fibrotic remodeling processes lead to the local restriction of BMP4 availability and function in the myocardium Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-test (c–e) or one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison test (f,g) with *P < 0.05 Source data Representative sections from one out of five control or TCRM mice (c,n) Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-test with *P < 0.05 Source data scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq data represent a total of 27,160 cells per nuclei from control (n = 4) and TCRM (n = 4) mice (e,f) Statistical analysis was performed using Mann–Whitney U-test (d,h,i) with **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 Source data these data demonstrate that antibody-mediated GREM1/2 blockade efficiently ameliorates T cell-induced myocardial inflammation and loss of cardiomyocytes during the acute phase of myocarditis the treatment-induced restoration of BMP4 availability prevents progression to inflammatory cardiomyopathy through the reduction of fibrotic remodeling ELISA-based quantification of BMP4 concentration in serum from healthy donors or patients with biopsy-confirmed and/or cardiac MRI-confirmed acute myocarditis Dots indicate values of individual patients; data are mean ± s.e.m ROC curve of BMP4 serum concentrations of patients with acute myocarditis and healthy controls snRNA-seq data represent a total of 44,114 nuclei two biopsies per patient (n = 23 patients) Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s post test (c–e) Krieger and Yekutieli post test (i) or Mann–Whitney U-test (k) with **P < 0.01 and ***P < 0.001 Simple linear regression test was used in f Source data highlighting that reduced BMP4 production is a major trait of perturbed myocardial homeostasis and a potential biomarker for the diagnosis in human myocarditis we found that dysregulated BMP signaling in fibroblasts is a key factor for the maintenance of homeostatic circuits in the heart during T cell and macrophage-dominated myocardial inflammation It appears that fibroblasts in both human and murine hearts are the main source of BMP4 and that BMP4 production by fibroblasts is significantly reduced in the cardiac microenvironment by inflammatory mediators BMP4 downregulation and decreased signaling through the BMPR1A/BMPR2 complex are traits of the rapid phenotypical switch of cardiac fibroblasts from the homeostatic to the inflammatory state Restoration of BMP4 availability in the myocardium through the application of an antibody that neutralizes the BMP4 inhibitors GREM1 and GREM2 reduced the extent of immunopathological damage through attenuated fibroblast activation lowered myeloid and T cell recruitment and improved cardiomyocyte integrity These findings highlight the key function of the BMP4–GREM1/2 axis for the maintenance of cardiac homeostasis and the control of myocardial inflammation The multiple functions of BMP2 and BMP4 in cardiac development and integrity underscore the versatility and importance of this molecular circuit in cardiac homeostasis Our finding that GREM1 and GREM2 concentration in the cardiac microenvironment did not significantly change during inflammatory processes indicates that BMP4 production by cardiac fibroblasts is controlled mainly on the transcriptional level The use of the Ccl19-Cre mouse line in our study to elaborate BMP4-mediated functions supports the notion that specific subsets of cardiac fibroblasts acquire different functional states during inflammation Further studies using cardiac fibroblast-specific Cre-driver mice will be required to fully dissect the role of the GREM1/2–BMP4 axis in myocardial homeostasis and inflammation antibody-mediated GREM1/2 inhibition increases BMP4 availability in the inflamed cardiac microenvironment—despite transcriptional downregulation in fibroblasts—and Successful restoration of BMP4-mediated homeostatic functions of cardiac fibroblasts by treatment with anti-GREM1/2 antibody underscores the importance of the GREM1/2–BMP4 axis as a critical component within the regulatory networks that steer molecular and cellular processes in the heart the expression of the major BMP4 receptor by murine and human cardiomyocytes suggests that BMP signaling in adult cardiomyocytes controls processes other than proliferation It will be important to determine in future work to what extent BMP signaling in cardiomyocytes affects homeostatic function within the perturbed tissue context The results of the present study indicate that the functional redundancy of GREM1 and GREM2 should be taken into account for targeted manipulation of BMP signaling The restoration of BMP4 availability in the inflamed cardiac microenvironment through pan-GREM blockade offers an alternative approach not only to achieve reduction of innate and/or adaptive immune responses but also to sustain homeostatic circuits that are key for the functioning of the heart targeting of the BMP4–GREM1/2 axis in patients suffering from cardiac inflammation offers protection of cardiomyocyte integrity Our research complies with all relevant ethical regulations for murine and human studies. The corresponding permission numbers for animal studies and the study protocols for human samples are indicated in their corresponding Methods subsection To specifically ablate Bmp4 expression in cardiac fibroblast we crossed Ccl19-Cre R26R-EYFP mice with Bmp4fl/fl mice (B6;129S4-Bmp4tm1Jfm/J All mice were maintained in individually ventilated cages Experiments were performed in accordance with federal and cantonal guidelines (Tierschutzgesetz) under permission numbers SG02/19 Mice were treated intraperitonally twice per week with 200 µg of 14-D10-2 or 20-D1-5 or 3-A1-3 anti-GREM1/2 antibodies or IgG2b isotype control as indicated in the respective experiments Spleens were collected from TCRM mice and disrupted on a 70-μm cell strainer Red blood cells were lysed by osmotic shock and 106 splenocytes were injected intravenously in the lateral tail vein of Rag1−/− mice mice were bled to confirm CD4+ T cell expansion Disease activity scores and analysis of T cell activation in the heart were assessed at day 28 after adoptive transfer All study participants provided written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and the International Conference on Harmonization Guidelines for Good Clinical Practice All regulations were followed according to the Austrian or Swiss authorities and according to the clinical protocols Histopathological analysis was performed as previously described30 hearts were fixed in 4% formaldehyde (Formafix) for at least 12 h and embedded in paraffin Histopathological changes were evaluated after H&E staining Myocarditis severity was evaluated using a semiquantitative scoring system: 0 >10% of the heart section involved in inflammation; 4 >30% of the heart section involved in inflammation; and 5 >30% of the heart section involved in inflammation with extensive fibrosis and dilation of ventricle Images from heart sections were acquired using a Z1 Observer (Zeiss) and images were processed using ZEN 2.6 software (Zeiss) Microscopy was performed using a confocal microscope (LSM 980 and images were recorded and processed with ZEN version 14.0.18.2010 software (Zeiss) Imaris version 9.2.1 (Oxford Instruments) was used for image analysis Euthanized mice were perfused with 20 ml of PBS before hearts were harvested Hearts were minced into small pieces and placed into a six-well dish filled with RPMI 1640 medium containing 2% FCS 1 mg ml−1 collagenase P (Sigma-Aldrich) and 25 μg ml−1 DNase I (Applichem) and incubated at 37 °C under continuous stirring for 1 h The remaining tissue pieces were mechanically disrupted mononuclear cells were enriched by centrifugation (25 min at 800g 4 °C) on a 30–70% Percoll gradient (GE Healthcare) stromal cells were enriched by incubating the cell suspension with MACS anti-CD45 and anti-TER119 microbeads (Miltenyi Biotec) and passing through a MACS LS column (Miltenyi Biotec) The unbound single-cell suspension was stained for further flow cytometric analysis or used for cell sorting Single-cell suspensions were first stained with fixable Zombie Aqua viability dye (BioLegend) and incubated for 30 min on ice. After washing, cells were incubated for 20 min at 4 °C in PBS containing 2% FCS and 10 mM EDTA with fluorochrome-labeled antibodies (Extended Data Table 3) To identify cardiac fibroblasts with active BMPR1A/BMPR2 signaling cells were grouped by binarization according to a module score that was calculated based on the average mRNA expression of known downstream target genes Cells with a positive module score were grouped as cells with active BMPR1A/BMPR2 signaling and cells with a negative module score were grouped as cells with inactive BMPR1A/BMPR2 signaling Computation of differentially expressed genes revealed significantly increased Ncam1 (CD56) expression in cells with active versus inactive BMPR1A/BMPR2 signaling Intracellular phospho-SMAD1/5/9 staining was performed by treatment of cells with Cytofix/Cytoperm Fixation and Permeabilization Solution (BD Biosciences) for 30 min and subsequent staining was carried out with Phospho-SMAD1/5/9 antibody (Cell Signaling Technology) in Phosflow Perm/Wash Buffer I (BD Biosciences) as indicated in the manufacturer’s protocol Cells were washed with Phosflow Perm/Wash Buffer I (BD Biosciences) resuspended in PBS containing 2% FCS and 2 mM EDTA and acquired with an LSRFortessa and FACSDiva (BD Biosciences Analysis of pSMAD1/5/9 MFI was performed using FlowJo software version 10.6.2 (Tree Star) Mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) fold change in CD56+ fibroblasts was calculated relative to baseline pSMAD1/5/9 staining in CD56 fibroblasts GraphPad Prism (version 8) was used for statistical analysis Cells were acquired with the LSRFortessa and analyzed using FlowJo version 10.6.2 software following established guidelines51 a FACSMelody Cell Sorter (BD Biosciences) was used For assessment of ex vivo production of IFNγ and IL-17A by murine T cells 106 lymphocytes were incubated for 4 h at 37 °C in 96-well round-bottom plates in 200 µl of RPMI 5% FCS supplemented with 10 µg ml−1 Brefeldin A (Sigma-Aldrich) Cells were stimulated with 0.25 µg of the MYH6614–629 peptide (RSLKLMATLFSTYASADR GenScript) or phorbol myristate acetate (50 ng ml−1 Sigma-Aldrich) as positive control or were left untreated cells were stained with the fixable Zombie Aqua viability dye (BioLegend) Cells were fixed with Cytofix/Cytoperm (BD Biosciences) for 20 min Fixed cells were incubated at 4 °C for 40 min with permeabilization buffer (2% FCS 0.5% saponin in PBS) containing antibodies to IFNγ and IL-17A Samples were measured using the LSRFortessa Data were analyzed using FlowJo version 10.6.2 software Single nuclei were obtained from shock-frozen murine or human cardiac tissues using the method described previously20 with minor modifications frozen murine cardiac tissue samples (50–100 mg) or two EMBs from patients were put into 1 ml of ice-cold homogenization buffer (250 mM sucrose 0.1% Triton X-100 in nuclease-free water) and minced into small pieces using cold scissors (mouse tissue) Tissue pieces were gently minced using a plastic bar with the flat end The homogenate was filtered through a 70-µm cell strainer (Corning) and remaining tissue was further minced with the plastic bar The filter was washed twice with 1 ml of ice-cold homogenization buffer The homogenate was further filtered through a 40-µm cell strainer (Corning) and the filter was washed twice with ice-cold homogenization buffer Nuclei were centrifuged at 500g and 4 °C for 10 min and the supernatant was removed and the pellet resuspended in storage buffer (1× PBS Nuclei were stained with NucRed Live 647 (Invitrogen) Positive single nuclei were purified using the FACSMelody cell sorter (BD Biosciences) and visualized using FACSChorus (BD Biosciences This involved the identification and removal of damaged cells/nuclei or doublets based on criteria including unusual unique molecular identifier (UMI) or gene counts (>2.5 median absolute deviation from the median across all cells) and high mitochondrial gene content (>2.5 median absolute deviations above the median across all cells) the final dataset of total cells included 31,078 cells and 24,995 nuclei and the dataset of sorted fibroblasts included 65,545 cells To examine expression signatures of fibroblasts in more detail the fibroblast datasets with sorted fibroblast samples were merged and analyzed individually again using the Seurat R package for normalization dimensional reduction with PCA and UMAP and graph-based clustering the final dataset included 44,114 nuclei from 23 EMBs Interactome analysis was performed, inferring significant cell–cell communication using the R package CellChat31 To account for differences in cell type abundances the communication probability/strength among all interacting cell types was calculated using the computeCommunProb function with population.size = TRUE and the default ‘triMean’ method for the calculation of the average gene expression per cell group Significant alterations in outgoing and incoming signaling between the two conditions were determined and visualized using the netAnalysis_signalingRole_scatter function Differential signaling in fibroblasts between conditions was further examined by calculating the information flow of each ligand–receptor pair in the control and TCRM mice Information flow of a ligand–receptor pair is obtained by summing the communication probability (interaction strength) among all pairs of cell groups in the inferred network for the specific ligand–receptor pair Significant differences in the information flow were visualized using the rankNet function RNA was isolated from sorted cells using an RNeasy Mini Kit (Qiagen) Contaminating DNA was eliminated through on-column DNase digestion (Zymo Research) we used a High-Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems) RT–PCR amplification and quantification were performed using a real-time PCR machine (QuantStudio 5 Amplification was done using a LightCycler FastStart DNA Master SYBR Green I Kit (Roche) and relative gene expression was calculated using the ΔΔCt method C57BL/6 mice were immunized with 10 μg of human GREM1 (PeproTech) conjugated with KLH (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and emulsified in Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA 15 and 70 (subcutaneously) and on day 90 (intravenously without CFA) splenocytes were obtained and fused with P3x63Ag8.653 myeloma cells Hybridoma cells were grown in IMDM selective media (Gibco) supplemented with 10% FCS (Lonza) 100 IU ml−1 penicillin–streptomycin (Lonza) 0.8 μg of recombinant mouse IL-6 (PeproTech) and 1× hypoxanthine–aminopterin–thymidine (Sigma-Aldrich) Supernatant of wells containing growing cells was screened for specific antibodies against HumGREM1 by ELISA After expansion of GREM1-specific hybridomas Monoclonal hybridomas were expanded and used for antibody purification Antibodies were purified from the supernatant using a HiTrap Protein G affinity column pre-equilibrated in binding buffer (20 mM sodium phosphate pH 7.0) and then washed with binding buffer and eluted with elution buffer (0.1 M glycine-HCl Purified antibodies were collected in fractions of 10 ml into 5 ml of PBS and 100 μl of neutralization buffer (1 M Tris-HCl and buffer exchange was performed overnight using 10-kDa dialysis cassettes (Thermo Fisher Scientific) For the assessment of BMP4 and IL-1b concentration in tissue hearts from TCRM or control mice were isolated after complete perfusion using cold PBS The hearts were weighted and frozen in PBS at −80 °C until analysis Homogenates were generated using a MagNA Lyser (Roche) using two cycles of 5,000 r.p.m. The tubes were placed immediately on ice after homogenization The samples were centrifuged at 2,500 r.p.m. and the supernatant was used to perform the ELISA measurements BMP4 and IL-1β concentrations were determined following the manufacturer’s instructions (RayBiotech and Abcam Serum from healthy donors or patients with myocarditis were taken by venipuncture; sera was separated by centrifugation; and samples were preserved at −20 °C until analysis BMP4 levels in the samples were measured using a human BMP4 SimpleStep ELISA Kit (Abcam) following the manufacturer’s instructions All samples were diluted 1:4 using Sample Diluent NS and tested in duplicates Values per patient are displayed as the mean value from duplicates The detection limit of the assay is 2.5 pg ml−1 An ELISA was used to analyze the anti-GREM1 antibodies for binding against GREM1 and GREM2 High-binding 96-well polystyrene plates (Corning) were coated with GREM1 or GREM2 conjugated to BSA in 0.1 M carbonate-bicarbonate buffer The plates were washed four times with PBS containing 0.05% Tween 20 (PBS-T) (Sigma-Aldrich) and blocked with 5% non-fat dry milk diluted in PBS (PBS-M) for 1 h at 37 °C different concentrations of the monolonal antibodies were diluted in PBS-M and added to the wells followed by four washes with PBS-T and then incubated for 1 h of at 37 °C with HRP-conjugated goat-anti-mouse IgG antibody (1:1,000 in PBS-M containing 0.08% H2O2 was used to develop the reaction and the reaction was stopped after 10 min by adding 2.5 N sulfuric acid Optical density was measured at 492 nm using an automated ELISA plate reader (Tecan) Binding avidity of the antibodies was determined using serial dilutions of the recombinant human GREM1 or GREM2 and of the respective antibody and calculated as the area under the curve (AUC) using GraphPad Prism 8.0 The SL-0051 cell line (Signosis) was used to determine in vitro BMP4 activity and to assess the neutralization activity of anti-GREM1/2 antibodies SL-0051 cells are a HEK293 cell line stably transfected with a luciferase reporter based on a pTA-BMP luciferase reporter vector that contains four repeats of BMP binding sites and a minimal promoter upstream of the firefly luciferase coding region SL-0051 cells were grown in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% FCS Cells were seeded in 96-well flat-bottom plates at a concentration of 1.5 × 104 cells in 100 μl per well and incubated overnight at 37 °C 50 μl of medium was gently removed from each well each antibody was serially diluted 1:2 and tested in triplicates Recombinant human GREM1 or GREM2 was added to the plate at different concentrations This mixture was transferred to the plate containing SL-0051 cells and incubated for 20 min at 37 °C 50 µl per well of recombinant human BMP4 was added at a concentration of 0.5 μg ml−1 The plates were incubated for 24 h at 37 °C and cells were washed twice with 200 μl of PBS and then 20 µl of lysis buffer was added and incubated for 30 min at room temperature 100 µl per well of Luciferase Substrate (Signosis and the chemoluminescence was measured in a Luminometer (TECAN) EC50 was calculated in GraphPad Prism 8.0 from dose–response curves using relative BMP4 activity values Cardiac fibroblasts were isolated from hearts of 8-week-old Ccl19-Cre R26R-EYFP mice EYFP− or bulk cardiac fibroblasts were cultured for 10 days in RPMI 1640/10% FCS 1% penicillin–streptomycin (Sigma-Aldrich) and 16 µg ml−1 gentamicin 10,000 cells were stimulated with BMP4 (10 ng ml−1 Thermo Fisher Scientific) or left untreated (medium) BMP7 (Abcam) and BMP9 (Abcam) concentrations were determined by ELISA IL-6 and TNF concentrations were determined using cytometric bead array (BD Biosciences) Cells were detached using trypsin-EDTA 0.25% (Gibco) and incubated with anti-ICAM1 (CD54) and Fixable Viability Stain 510 (1:1,000 Data were acquired with the LSRFortessa and FACSDiva (version 9.0.1) software for cell counting and ICAM1 MFI analysis was performed using FlowJo version 10.6.2 software 5,000 cardiac fibroblasts were seeded in cell culture chamber slides (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and left for 24 h to attach Slides were fixed for 20 min using 4% paraformaldehyde (Merck Millipore) in PBS Fixed slides were further washed with PBS containing 1% Triton X-100 (Sigma-Aldrich) and 2% FCS (Sigma-Aldrich) for 1 h at 4 °C Slides were further incubated with anti-COL1 (Sigma-Aldrich) anti-SMA (Sigma-Aldrich) and anti-EYFP (Clontech) Unconjugated antibodies were detected with the following secondary antibodies: Dy Light 649-conjugated anti-rat IgG and Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated anti-rabbit IgG (all purchased from Jackson Immunotools) and images were recorded and processed with ZEN 2010 software (Zeiss) and Imaris version 9 (Bitplane) Blood was harvested and collected either in EDTA tubes (Microvette) for complete blood cell count assay or in serum collection tubes (Microvette) for biochemical analyses (aspartate aminotransferase (AST) alanine transaminase (ALT) and creatine kinase (CK)) Blood samples were analyzed by the Veterinary Laboratory of the University of Zurich using a Sysmex XN-1000 analyzer (Sysmex) for blood cell analysis and a Cobas 6000 analyzer (Roche) for clinical chemistry Anesthesia was induced in mice using 3–4% isofluorane (Attane Provet) and compressed standard breathing air As soon as the hind limb reflex became undetectable mice were placed on a heating plate (41.5 °C) in supine position while still under continuous isofluorane (1–2%) exposure Vital parameters were continuously monitored through echocardiography and body temperature was measured via rectal temperature probe echocardiography sequences were acquired using B-mode and M-mode in parasternal long axis or parasternal short axis using a VisualSonics Vevo 3100 (Fujifilm) and analyzed using Vevo LAB version 5.7.1 software (Fujifilm) Statistical analyses were performed with GraphPad Prism 8.0 using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U-test Longitudinal comparison between different groups was performed by one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s post test or two-way ANOVA with Bonferroni’s post test or Kruskall–Wallis H-test for non-parametric data Statistical significance was defined as P < 0.05 Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article All other data supporting the findings in this study are included in the main article and associated files The code used for data analysis in this project is available at GitHub (mouse data: https://github.com/mluetge/Myocardial_Inflammation_mouse; human data: https://github.com/mluetge/Myocardial_Inflammation_human) Systematic review of patients presenting with suspected myocardial infarction and nonobstructive coronary arteries and therapy of myocarditis: a position statement of the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases Dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic cardiac inflammation: pathogenesis Myocarditis and inflammatory cardiomyopathy: current evidence and future directions Microbiota-derived peptide mimics drive lethal inflammatory cardiomyopathy Impaired thymic tolerance to α-myosin directs autoimmunity to the heart in mice and humans A spontaneous model for autoimmune myocarditis using the human MHC molecule HLA-DQ8 Circulating c-Met-expressing memory T cells define cardiac autoimmunity Antigen presentation by cardiac fibroblasts promotes cardiac dysfunction Fulminant myocarditis with combination immune checkpoint blockade Cardiovascular toxicities associated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: an observational T cells specific for α-myosin drive immunotherapy-related myocarditis Cardiac myosin-specific autoimmune T cells contribute to immune-checkpoint-inhibitor-associated myocarditis Fibroblastic reticular cells at the nexus of innate and adaptive immune responses Fibroblasts as immune regulators in infection Lymph node stromal cells: cartographers of the immune system Myocardial interstitial fibrosis in nonischemic heart disease Prognostic impact of myocardial interstitial fibrosis in non-ischemic heart failure Comparison between preserved and reduced ejection fraction heart failure A novel paradigm for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction: comorbidities drive myocardial dysfunction and remodeling through coronary microvascular endothelial inflammation Single-cell transcriptomics reveals cell-type-specific diversification in human heart failure Pathogenic variants damage cell composition and single cell transcription in cardiomyopathies Single-nucleus profiling of human dilated and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy The role of the TGF-β superfamily in myocardial infarction Expression of bone morphogenetic protein 4 and its receptors in the remodeling heart Connective tissue growth factor and bone morphogenetic protein 2 are induced following myocardial ischemia in mice and humans Cooperation of Th1 and Th17 cells determines transition from autoimmune myocarditis to dilated cardiomyopathy Inference and analysis of cell–cell communication using CellChat Single-cell RNA sequencing of lymph node stromal cells reveals niche-associated heterogeneity Remodeling of light and dark zone follicular dendritic cells governs germinal center responses Differentiation and activation of fibroblastic reticular cells Emerging concepts of tissue-resident memory T cells in transplantation BMP gradients: a paradigm for morphogen-mediated developmental patterning Bmp2 is essential for cardiac cushion epithelial–mesenchymal transition and myocardial patterning An essential role of Bmp4 in the atrioventricular septation of the mouse heart BMP antagonist Gremlin 2 limits inflammation after myocardial infarction Bone morphogenetic protein receptor signal transduction in human disease Microenvironmental control of stem cell fate in intestinal homeostasis and disease Adult T-cells impair neonatal cardiac regeneration Treatment with anti-Gremlin 1 antibody ameliorates chronic hypoxia/SU5416-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension in mice Aberrant epithelial GREM1 expression initiates colonic tumorigenesis from cells outside the stem cell niche The balance of stromal BMP signaling mediated by GREM1 and ISLR drives colorectal carcinogenesis Maturation of lymph node fibroblastic reticular cells from myofibroblastic precursors is critical for antiviral immunity QuPath: open source software for digital pathology image analysis Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies Highly parallel genome-wide expression profiling of individual cells using nanoliter droplets normalization and visualization of single-cell RNA-seq data in R Orchestrating single-cell analysis with Bioconductor Integrated analysis of multimodal single-cell data Single-cell transcriptional profiling reveals cellular diversity and intercommunication in the mouse heart Self-renewing resident cardiac macrophages limit adverse remodeling following myocardial infarction clusterProfiler 4.0: a universal enrichment tool for interpreting omics data destiny: diffusion maps for large-scale single-cell data in R Download references Caviezel-Firner (Institute of Immunobiology Gallen) for excellent technical and organizational support; the study coordinator team of the Zurich University Heart Center for support; and the patients for their willingness to support our research This study received financial support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 182583 to B.L.) the European Research Council (AdvGrant contract 101019872 the Swiss Heart Foundation (FF21055 to B.L.) and the Research Commission of the Kantonsspital St The work was partially funded through a research collaboration with Stromal Therapeutics decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript University Hospital Zurich and University of Zurich Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences provided patient material and discussed data performed experiments and analyzed and discussed data discussed data and provided patient material are members of the board of Stromal Therapeutics are listed as inventors on patent WO 2022/084400 A1 All other authors declare no competing interests Nature Cardiovascular Research thanks Pilar Martín reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations (a) Gating strategy for flow cytometric characterization of MYH6-specific cardiac T cells expressing the Vα2 and Vβ8 TCR chains (b) Gating strategy for flow cytometric characterization of heart-infiltrating myeloid cells (upper panel) with colored frames indicating specific monocyte/macrophage populations analyzed in TCRM and transgene-negative littermate control mice at the age of 4 and 8 weeks (N = 7 mice per group from at 2 independent experiments) (c) Representative microscopy images from hematoxylin&eosin-stained sections from 8-week-old Ctrl and TCRM mice (d) Quantification of picrosirius red-stained collagen networks on heart sections (N = 6 mice per group from 2 independent experiments) (e) UMAP representation of cardiac cell populations derived from sc- and snRNA-seq (upper panel) and of 4- and 8-week-old mice (bottom panel) (f) Heatmap showing the expression of marker genes used to assign cell identity to cardiac cells from Ctrl and TCRM mice detected by sn- and scRNA-seq analysis (g) Bmp2 and Bmp4 mRNA expression as determined by RT-PCR in the indicated FACS-sorted cardiac cells from 8-week-old Ctrl or TCRM mice; FB Bars show mean ± SEM (N = 6 mice per group from 3 independent experiments) (h) mRNA expression of the indicated BMPs from cardiac fibroblasts measured by sc/snRNAseq (N = 5 from 2 independent experiments) (i) Concentrations of the corresponding BMPs from cardiac homogenates measured by ELISA (N = 6 mice per group from two independent experiments) (j) GREM1 and GREM2 concentrations measured by ELISA from cardiac homogenates from 8-week-old littermate controls (Ctrl) or TCRM mice; N = 6 mice per group data from 2 independent experiments Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test (g-j); one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison test (b and d) with * Source data (a) Heatmap showing the expression of the top differentially expressed genes from the 10 clusters of cardiac fibroblasts from Ctrl and TCRM mice (b) Significantly enriched pathways according to Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis based on differentially expressed genes between Ctrl and TCRM cardiac fibroblasts (c) Flow cytometric gating strategy used to characterize cardiac fibroblast phenotype (d) Representative density plot depicting the expression of CD157 and NCAM by cardiac fibroblasts from Ctrl and TCRM mice (e) Differentially regulated functional pathways from single cell RNAseq analysis of cardiac fibroblasts (f) Expression pattern of genes assigned to the indicated cellular processes projected onto diffusion maps per signature as in panel (e) h) Intracellular phospho-SMAD1/5/9 expression by CD45− CD31− PDPN+ CD56+ cardiac fibroblasts isolated from 4- (N = 4 mice per group) and 8-week-old (N = 5 mice per group) Ctrl and TCRM mice (g) Representative histogram from cells isolated from 8-week-old mice (h) Fold change of pSMAD1/5/9 mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) was calculated relative to baseline pSMAD1/5/9 expression in CD56− fibroblasts; pooled data from two independent experiments Statistical analysis was performed using Two-tailed Student’s t test (h) Source data (a) Computationally predicted murine BMP4-BMPR1a/BMPR2 interactions by cells in the homeostatic and inflamed cardiac microenvironment based on sc/snRNA-seq data using the CellChat tool (b) Representative confocal images of Bmp4-deficient (EYFP+) and Bmp4-proficient (EYFP−) fibroblasts after 10 days of culture d) Production of BMP4 (c) and IL-6 (d) measured by ELISA from Bmp4-proficient (EYFP−) fibroblasts cardiac fibroblasts exposed IL-1β (1 ng/ml) or left untreated (medium) for 24 h (N = 6; pooled data from two independent experiments) Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test (c-d) with *** Source data (a) Heatmap representing binding of 3-A1-3 20-D1-5 and 14-D10-2 mAbs to human GREM1 and GREM2 as determined by ELISA (b) Dose-dependent binding of the indicated anti-GREM1/2 mAbs to human GREM1 and GREM2 as determined by ELISA Area under the curve (AUC) was calculated as the area under the titration curve from 1:2 serial dilutions of each antibody (2.5 - 0.02 µg) and GREM1 and GREM2 (0.5–0.008 µg/ml) (c–e) Neutralization capacity of the indicated mAbs using GREM1 and GREM2 in BMP4-induced luciferase activity by SL-0051 cells Hundred percent BMP4 activity was determined as relative light units in the absence of GREM1 (c) or GREM2 (d) (N = 3 mean ± SEM; representative data from 1 out of 3 independent experiments with similar results) (e) The concentration of the indicated mAb necessary to restore 50% of BMP4 activity (EC50) was determined based on the values shown in (c) and (d); N = 6 independent replicates from 2 independent experiments (f–h) Effect of anti-GREM1/2 mAb treatment in the adoptive T cell transfer myocarditis model (f) Schematic representation of the experimental set up (g) Quantification of heart-infiltrating CD45+ cells (h) and cytokine production of heart-infiltrating MYH6-specific CD4+ Vβ8+ T cells in Rag1−/− mice at day 28 post T cell adoptive transfer 8 or 7 mice per group from 3 independent experiments mean ± interquartile range; dots indicate individual mice j) Intracellular phospho-SMAD1/5/9 expression by CD45− CD31− PDPN+ CD56+ cardiac fibroblasts isolated from 8-week-old TCRM mice treated with IgG2b isotype control or GREM1/2-neutralizing antibody (14-D10-2) with representative histograms shown in (i) (j) Fold change of pSMAD1/5/9 mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) calculated relative to baseline pSMAD1/5/9 expression in CD56− fibroblasts (N = 4 mice per group from 2 independent experiments) Dots indicate individual mice Statistical analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s multiple comparison test (g-h) or two tailed Student’s t test (j) with * Source data (a) Schematic representation of the experimental set up (b) UMAP representation showing marker gene assigned cell populations in the murine heart (c) Pie charts depicting the proportions of the different cell populations based on snRNA-seq analysis of TCRM hearts; isotype (d) Enumeration of the indicated heart-infiltrating immune cell populations in 12-week-old TCRM mice treated with Ig2b isotype control or GREM1/2-neutralizing antibody (14-D10-2) using flow cytometry (N = 7 mice per group pooled data from 2 independent experiments) (e) Heatmap showing changes in the expression of differentially expressed genes grouped by function from the fibroblast population in TCRM mice treated with isotype or 14-D10-2 antibodies (f) Representative images showing immune cell infiltration and collagen deposition in hearts from 12-week-old TCRM mice treated with the indicated antibodies; hematoxylin-eosin (left panels) and confocal microscopy with indicated antibody staining (right panels) (g) Assessment of blood cell composition and the concentration of key serum enzymes in 16-week-old Balb/c mice according to the indicated treatment scheme; WBC pooled data from two independent experiments; Bars indicate mean ± SEM) Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t test (d h) and 2-way Anova with Sidak’s multiple comparisons test (disease activity score in h) Source data (a) Heatmap showing the expression of the marker genes used to assign the population identity of the different clusters obtained from snRNAseq analysis of endomyocardial biopsies (EMBs) of acute myocarditis dilated cardiomyopathy or heart transplantation patients (b) Pie charts depicting total number of nuclei from the different patients stratified by the percentage of infiltrating T cells with T cellHigh (c) Correlation of multiple variables comparing the different proportions of cardiac cells in the snRNA-seq analysis of EMBs from 23 patients; Pearson’s R correlation values Source data Network plots depicting significantly enriched gene sets in cardiac fibroblasts from (a) T cellLow and (b) T cellHigh groups according to GO enrichment analysis based on differentially expressed genes in snRNA-seq analysis of cardiac EMBs (c) Correlation analysis BMP4 mRNA expression and T cell infiltration in EMBs Colors indicate the proportion of infiltrating T cells T cellLow) proportions of heart-infiltrating T cells e) Multiparametric correlation analysis between proportions of infiltrating cardiac cells and genes of the BMP family (d) Pearson’s correlation comparisons of indicated cell type abundances and expression of indicated genes (e) P values from the Pearson’s correlation comparisons in (d) Statistical analysis was performed using simple linear regression test (c) Source data Differential gene expression for marker genes used to define the clusters in Fig Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44161-024-00432-0 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science What would happen if repressing your emotions had a visible consequence? In the world of youth fantasy film My Oni Girl individuals who hide their true emotions risk transforming into an oni The trailer unveils this plot twist and adds a new layer to the story exploring the consequences of hiding your innermost feelings My Oni Girl follows the journey of Hiiragi (Kensho Ono) a boy who can’t say no for fear of being disliked a spirited oni girl who champions self-expression and openly sharing your feelings As Hiiragi and Tsumugi navigate their unusual friendship they uncover truths about themselves and the mysterious conditions that turn humans into oni Adding to the emotional impact of the film the trailer features the hauntingly beautiful theme song “Truth in Lies” by ZUTOMAYO The film will also feature another new track from them called “Blues in the Closet,” set to be revealed later marking new releases from the artist in nearly a year With over 2.5 million YouTube subscribers and two billion song plays ZUTOMAYO is a mysterious band with their lyricist composer and vocalist ACA-Ne as the only publicly known member Praised for their unique performances that creatively incorporate analog equipment and even household appliances they have played solo shows at some of the biggest venues in Japan “Being invited back to create music for Studio Colorido's new film was incredibly affirming — it really felt like they trusted my vision,” ACA-Ne shares “During discussions with Director Shibayama the phrase ‘Not because somebody told me’ resonated deeply and sparked a vivid image in my mind it aligned perfectly with a piece of music I was already developing and Shibayama’s kind personality are all intertwined in this song You'll notice a blank space in the lyrics during the high point of the song — this is intentional Director Shibayama also reflects on the creative process “Meeting with ZUTOMAYO was both meaningful and fun I could see the song forming in ACA-Ne’s mind The song they delivered doesn’t just complement our story; it expands on it reaching out to touch everyone who sees our film Don’t miss this magical journey of friendship self-discovery and the transformative power of expressing emotions in My Oni Girl streaming globally on Netflix and in theaters across Japan on May 24 Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information 2016 at 12:34 AM ESTUpdated on January 21 2016 at 12:43 AM ESTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.It’s too soon for the Bank of Japan to take further stimulus measures because the rout in the stock market may be temporary and its causes aren’t domestic an aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday “If you ask whether now is the time to act, I think it is still too early to make that decision,” ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Masahiko Shibayama, who serves as a special advisor to Abe, said in an interview in Tokyo Thursday. “I think we still have time to evaluate the situation.” Sign up Sign in Listen SEATTLE, Wash. — Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto announced today that the Mariners have promoted six members of the club’s Baseball Operations department, with the addition of one new hire: · Brendan Domaracki — Director, Player Personnel · David Hesslink — Assistant Director, Baseball Projects · Frankie Piliere — Assistant Director, Amateur Scouting · Sam Reinertsen — Coordinator, Advance Scouting (new hire) · Skylar Shibayama — Manager, Data Strategy · Emanuel Sifuentes — Assistant Director, Player Development · Jesse Smith — Senior Director, Analytics “I am confident that these leaders will continue to ensure success in our growth as an organization,” Dipoto said. “They are emblematic of what we believe to be a young and talented team.” Smith will continue to oversee the Mariners analytics department after being promoted to Senior Director. He was promoted to Director of Analytics prior to the 2017 season. He began his career with the Mariners as an intern in February of 2012, prior to being hired fulltime in October of 2012. He was promoted to Manager of Analytics in April 2015. A Seattle native, he graduated from the University of Chicago in 2008. The official account of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Communications Department. Providing the media and fans with daily updates and statistical data. Help The second feature film from Studio Colorido A Whisker Away was originally scheduled for June 5 2020 in Japanese theaters.  As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic it was instead released on Netflix worldwide on June 18 that year and reached a much wider audience as a result we follow Miyo “Muge” Sasaki who is an eccentric high school girl who has a crush on her classmate Kento Hinode She eventually discovers a magical mask that allows her to transform into a cat and get close to Kento.  We had the opportunity to interview co-director Tomotaka Shibayama and CEO of TWIN ENGINE Koji Yamamoto as they shared some insights on A Whisker Away Tomotaka Shibayama:  I felt it was crucial as a director to bring the team together and work with the team and bear that responsibility I learned how difficult it could be to really work on an original series like A Whisker Away When you look at the finished product between an original work and an adaptation both anime types might seem like you were doing the same thing How were the directorial and storyboarding responsibilities with Junichi Satou-san divided it was a project brought up by Mari Okada and Junichi Satou and sometimes he can’t make it to the studio in person to work on it That’s where I came in to maintain that vibe and passion that he brings to the studio and make sure that it doesn’t die when he’s absent Satou-san handled the overall direction of the movie and I would be in the studio and would work on the direction and different scenes Satou-san would go to the sound studio and direct the sound effects and direction That’s how we divided our responsibilities there’s plenty of cat animation in A Whisker Away Can you tell us more about that side of the production and what sort of responsibilities cat motion designer Masafumi Yokota-san was tasked with Shibayama: There are a lot of cat owners at the studio So what we did was he got all of the staff members to take videos of their cats and Yokota-san would review these cat videos It informed him on how he would animate the cats I personally went to cat cafes and got to hang out with the cats and gained that inspiration A Whisker Away feels mysterious and fantastical What led to the decision to incorporate the fantasy of a cat world within the human world The reason why she wanted to work on this project was that her cat had passed away There was that emotional desire to tell a story about cats Koji Yamamoto: We’re both from Tokoname and it’s a rather unique place with lots of old chimneys That became an inspiration for going into the fantasy world of cats Which scene did you enjoy working on the most Shibayama: There was a time during the production process when we decided we were building this world for cats we knew it’s going to be a pretty difficult undertaking but once we started to envision the world and when I got to see the actual visuals and sceneries Can you give us a small hint of what sort of experience we can expect from your upcoming 2024 movie Shibayama: A Whisker Away garnered much international attention when it was released on Netflix we aim to make it for those fans of A Whisker Away We’ve heard that many teens and young people watched the movie The younger generation is encountering a lot of problems and it has become challenging to be motivated to accomplish things We’re hoping that this next film would be something of a motivator to get the younger generation back on their feet Any final comments to fans overseas as they look forward to your upcoming work Shibayama: Both Studio Colorido and TWIN ENGINE are aiming to produce for the international audience Special thanks to TWIN ENGINE for the opportunity A Whisker Away is now streaming on Netflix お探しのページは、削除されたか、名前が変更されたか、または一時的に利用できない可能性があります。 In an extraordinary world where winter meets summer My Oni Girl weaves an enchanting tale of friendship and self-discovery Produced by the cutting edge Studio Colorido and directed by Studio Ghibli alumni Tomotaka Shibayama this youth fantasy film brings together human emotions and mythical elements in a heartwarming narrative My Oni Girl is the second of three films that Netflix is producing with the animation studio which has won acclaim in Japan for its feature-length anime such as Penguin Highway My Oni Girl tells the story of Hiiragi Yatsuse a first-year high school student who struggles to make friends despite his efforts to please others His life takes an unexpected turn when one summer day an oni (demon) girl on a quest to find her mother in the human world Snow mysteriously begins to fall… and their adventure begins Kensho Ono (A Whisker Away) lends his voice to Hiiragi skillfully bringing out the character’s subtle emotions The lively and carefree Tsumugi is voiced by rising star Miyu Tomita whose exceptional voice-acting skills promise an engaging performance who previously collaborated with Studio Colorido on A Whisker Away teams up with screenwriter Yuko Kakihara (The Apothecary Diaries while renowned animator Masafumi Yokota (The Apothecary Diaries The Wind Rises) leads the character design The newly released poster and teaser reveal a world brought to life with soft lines and beautiful colors showcasing Yokota’s visually stunning design Join Hiiragi and Tsumugi on their magical journey in My Oni Girl premiering worldwide on Netflix and in theaters across Japan on May 24 The future of many coastal megacities depends upon reliable disaster prediction protection and prevention strategies as global warming is projected to bring stronger storms Sulawesi in Indonesia experienced widespread damage after a tsunami and earthquake in 2018.©Dhody wachyudi/Shutterstock the devastating Tohoku tsunami was triggered by an earthquake off Japan Japan experiences more earthquakes than anywhere in the world but catastrophic tsunamis and storm surges are a global problem; from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to Typhoon Haiyan that struck the Philippines in 2013 Waseda University established the Center for Research on Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake and called for research proposals for on reconstruction of affected areas Professor Tomoya Shibayama from the Faculty of Science and Engineering led a project on infrastructure restoration and disaster management systems that focussed on tsunami responses to support design of new towns and fishing villages at affected sites Shibayama has helped transform Waseda into a base for studying natural hazards Waseda’s tsunami wave generator enables researchers to conduct 3D experiments brought 30 years of experience in coastal disaster research By sharing worldwide his team’s discoveries and damage limitation strategies His team’s work benefits from the university’s commitment to tackle global problems through investing in cutting-edge techniques Shibayama’s team attracted additional funding from the Ministry of Education Science and Technology (MEXT) that supercharged their coastal protection research and developed new laboratory techniques,” he explains The laboratory at Waseda includes a tsunami-storm surge basin and a wave flume with controllable wave generators “We have advanced apparatus for measuring water velocity and pressure fields of tsunamis As ocean temperatures rise due to global warming coastal cities need to understand changing storm behaviour to assess existing defences A team led by Shibayama’s doctoral student now an associate professor at Niigata University used atmospheric and ocean models developed at Waseda to simulate typhoons off mainland Japan — and the resultant height of storm surges in Tokyo Bay — under future climate scenarios The study revealed the need to raise current sea walls and dykes to protect Tokyo from future higher Shibayama and an international team conducted field surveys in Palu Bay in Indonesia to assess causes of damage to the coastal communities we collected satellite images and YouTube footage,” says Shibayama we measured the distribution of the maximum tsunami flood height and used a drone to take images We mapped the bottom of Palu Bay and located landslides that contributed to the tsunami.” published in Pure and Applied Geophysics in 2019 revealed the earthquake triggered perilous mudslides and the narrow bay reflected and superimposed waves to increase the height of the tsunami which landed several metres higher than expected The Sulawesi earthquake killed more than 4,000 people and highlighted the importance of emergency preparation and communication Shibayama has helped 24 international PhD students many of whom returned to their home countries to share their expertise now an associate professor at Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción studied tsunami disasters in his home country of Chile The findings from his doctorate at Waseda enabled him to propose suitable defences on the Chilean coast a study by Waseda researchers of human behaviour on the death toll modelled the tsunami evacuation by locals tourists and people on Yuigahama beach in Kamakura Detached breakwaters are installed in the tsunami basin to stop intrusion of a tsunami The researchers simulated seven tsunami flood events caused by different types of earthquake to estimate the casualties under various evacuation scenarios Providing information and routes to safe places proved particularly useful “Local residents know the area and if they give instructions to tourists we can improve evacuation procedures and therefore survival,” adds Shibayama who advises the Kanagawa government about tsunami and storm surge prediction including a 2020 paper in the Coastal Engineering Journal “We expect rising storm surge heights with global warming,“ he says “and we will improve coastal protection structures accordingly we expect residential areas will need to shift as coastal threats increase.” International collaborations underpin Waseda research with the University of Ottawa is studying the Arctic Ocean where disappearing sea ice could increase high wind waves helps us understand this drastic change in the disaster environment,” he says Worldwide Gateway Konica Minolta Design Shibayama: I think that beauty comes about naturally when you create shapes that incorporate the necessary elements and nothing more That’s why I'm always conscious of the need to avoid creating ornamental ""design for the sake of design.” Working at the Design Center means I can get involved with products in a variety of areas which I feel broadens my skills as a designer and fuels my motivation I look forward to pursuing design in a way that gives meaning to all shapes while deepening my learning through my daily work Middle Tennessee Christian School has hired Brandon Bassham as it’s head coach in  middle school baseball and football Bassham spent the past 10 years at Cascade High School where he helped lead the baseball squad to two district championships two region championships and three TSSAA state baseball tournament appearances He also guided the middle school football program to a 34-22 record with two Duck River Valley championships appearances Bassham will replace Ben Wilson on the baseball team Wilson is moving up to the high school varsity team as an assistant coach.  Bassham will replace Ed Watson as the team's football coach Watson will remain on the middle school staff as an assistant Former Blackman assistant girls basketball coach Kim Woodlee Shibayama has been named girls coach at The Webb School “We are so excited to announce the hiring of our new varsity girls’ basketball coach. I am very excited at what Coach Shibayama brings to the table from her playing experience at the collegiate level to her coaching at major high schools in Tennessee,” said Webb Director of Athletics Scott Dorsett Shibayama was a Miss Basketball finalist at Grundy County She ended her high school playing career as the all-time leading scorer with 2,570 points She was a two-time all-state player and was inducted into Grundy County High School Hall of Fame “I feel so blessed, just truly honored to be given this opportunity to coach at The Webb School,” said Shibayama. “I do not believe in coincidences. Our family moved to Bell Buckle in December “Thank you to the Blackman Community and particularly to Coach Jessica Jackson and the administration for allowing me to be a part of that amazing program.” Lancaster Christian's Jayden Bragg and Devon Heavern were chosen as all-conference middle school baseball players Both were integral parts in leading LCA past the first round of the conference tournament and the two are also starters on the Knights' high school varsity team Riverdale baseball campThe Riverdale Warrior Baseball Camp will be held June 11-13 from 9 a.m The camp will take place at Jones Field at Riverdale High.  Cost is $75 per camper or $110 for siblings Register at arrowsup.org and go to the baseball page Or you can email Coach Barry Messer at messerb@rcschools.net or call 615-418-0760 Several Oakland High School athletes recently signed to play at the college level Aaron Sears signed to kick for the Arkansas State football team Brady Fry signed for track and field at UT-Martin Ryan Phillips signed for cross country at Chattanooga Ryan Seibert signed for ice hockey at Tennessee Dalton Kershieter signed for cross country and track and field at Shawnee State Noor Lalani signed for soccer at Martin Methodist Tanner Popovich signed for lacrosse at Lincoln Memorial University Joey Clemmer signed for swimming at Carson-Newman A view of the panelists speaking to the topic of “How to Handle Challenges in the Workplace” two panels at the SHA Leadership Summit formed a survival guide for students entering the busy and often stressful hospitality industry “How to Handle Challenges in the Workplace” offered advice on succeeding at work from half a dozen successful women in the field while “Understanding the Work/Life Balance” helped put the job in perspective And while the Summit specifically aimed to boost the help for women to succeed in an  often male-dominated industry the students and alums on the panels had other questions on their minds “I thought it was going to be all about gender,” said Challenges panel moderator Anne Lloyd-Jones managing director of the hospitality consulting giant HVS and a member of the SHA Dean’s Advisory Board “I was pleasantly surprised when I talked to — particularly the more recent grads on our panel  — to hear that gender was neither the first Managing Director at HVS and member of SHA Dean’s Advisory Board addresses questions on the panel with Megan Chacon-Diaz (SHA ’17) HEBS Digital.The panelists were: SHA alum Megan Chacon-Diaz a hospitality-focused digital marketing agency; SHA alum Hannah Olson founder of the company  Chronically Capable; Tzurit Or founder of Boston’s popular Tatte Bakery and Café; SHA alum Airi Shibayama a catering associate at Murray’s Cheese in New York City; and Crystal Williams BU’s associate provost for diversity and inclusion And with three members of the Class of ’17 on board much of the discussion was about the specific challenges and different perspectives of recent grads entering the work place – a show of hands proved that many students in the audience will soon reach that point of their lives was finding and maintaining the confidence to continue to break the mold,” said Chacon-Diaz “Once you start you see there’s some veteran employees who’ve been at the company for a while tech-savvy employees have to have the courage to continue to speak out to ask questions about why things are done the way they are and to be confident in their knowledge of their generation as a market Shibayama said her workplace was challenging because almost everyone else was focused on a career in the specialty foods and cheese business while she is not sure of her plans five or ten years down the road A lot of people are in their thirties and are married and have kids,” and are likely to remain there The audience listens intently during one of the panel discussions.Olson She left a career in the design industry because of the complications of working and treatment which advocates for employment for people with chronic illnesses as well as just managing working in an office where everyone else is relatively young,” she said “We’re approaching HR professionals and Fortune 500 companies and government officials who are a lot older than I am It’s hard to go in (as) a sassy 23-year-old woman when everyone else is a man in a button-down and suit just being able to prove myself to these people.” She faces that challenge by continuing to educate herself and keeping a host of Google alerts so she’s on top of all the news in her field Williams said she understood the problems of perception having faced others’ perceptions of race and gender all her life “We all know the stereotypes – the ‘angry black woman,’ too forceful “I’ve learned to frame who I am for people the people I work with – if I feel like it’s necessary – that I’m from Detroit and the culture there is one in which we are really direct with one another but if I don’t like something you will know I don’t like it Succeeding on your own terms means listening to your deepest inner voice  “and you can’t get there if you let other people’s perceptions (define) you getting a laugh from the audience when she added “If you’re 23 and you don’t really know who you are Or also talked about the importance of having a team of committed people “Most of them come from companies where nobody wants to hear what they really think,” she said “I think they learn the only way to work with me and to move the company forward is that I want to hear their opinion Once I peel from them the fear that they will be fired or not appreciated if they say what they really think The Work/Life Balance panel included: moderator Rice Wales Husbands founder of Rice Wales Marketing and a former Boston Magazine executive; Jenny Johnson executive producer and co-host of “Dining Playbook” on NESN; Orly Kohn founder and floral designer at Orly Kohn Design; Edwina Kluender marketing and communications consultant at Klünder Communications; and SHA alum Alexxa Robinson an accounting specialist at Kettle Cuisine Another panel discussed the topic of “Understanding the Work/Life Balance” featuring Rice Husbands The group talked much about the on-the-ground realities of that magazine-headline staple “Having It All.” Husbands spoke about millennials and their really strong relationship between work and home life “Maybe it’s turning your passion into your work as some people here have done,” Husbands  said “And it’s also that your workplace has to provide amenities to make it more enjoyable.” This can range from candy in the cafeteria to benefits like flexible hours and unlimited vacation One of the major shifts in joining the workforce was  “friendships and relationships because you have your friends here (in college) you can get a bite to eat or do work together Some of my friends moved to California for work So it was learning to balance that and try to make time to have and foster those relationships,” including with regular Skype sessions The students were very engaged and asking many questions during the panels Kohn talked about the challenge of starting her business with a marriage and a child “My baby is born and there was no more space for flowers and it was kind of weird – there are flowers in the bathroom It was a big transition.” She reacted by renting her first outside studio another transition that helped her grow her business “Sometimes what happens during life milestones and transitions is that everything feels very close to your face and it’s difficult to see around it,”  Johnson said holding up her hand inches in front of her face “One of things I’ve found helpful … was to recognize that during points of change while things feel very close and anxiety-provoking remember to give yourself a little distance,” she added the anxiety settles and you’re able to see options.” “It’s surrounding yourself with the right people,” Johnson said distance can also be the best strategy for navigating a job and the balance means the ability to also sometimes say ‘no.’” Tagged: Metrics details Recent developments in small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) investigations on polymer gels are reviewed by encompassing (i) volume phase transition and microphase separation (iii) pressure dependence of hydrophobic interaction and (iv) structural characterization of super-tough gels These developments owe much to the understanding of gel inhomogeneities and advances in the precision analyses of SANS such as the contrast variation method coupled with singular value decomposition and the accurate evaluation of incoherent scattering intensity deformation mechanisms in various types of super-tough gels are elucidated This also significantly lowers the incoherent scattering arising from H-containing materials shear deformation measurements and stretching measurements under temperature and humidity control sapphire and/or metal windows because of the strong penetration power of a neutron beam the roles of hydrophobic interactions in aqueous systems are discussed as a function of pressure the structural characterization of various types of super-tough gels will be shown by focusing on deformation mechanisms we conclude this review by addressing future directions of SANS in the structural characterization of polymer gels Phase diagram of (a) neutral gel and (b) charged gel undergoing volume phase transition (VPT). Corresponding optical micrographs are shown; swollen gel (20°C), shrunken gel after T-jump (45°C), shrunken gel in thermal equilibrium (36°C), and (b) bi-phase gel (bottom). Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) curves of N-isopropylacrylamide/acrylic acid (NIPA/AAc) weakly charged gel observed at various temperatures together with a photograph showing a swollen and collapsed bi-phase state Schematic representations of (a) a two-dimensional reaction bath well above the chain gelation threshold (b) an overswollen gel by the addition of solvent and (c) dynamic static and total concentration fluctuations with space coordinate r Black dots represent the interchain crosslinks placed at random A full color version of this figure is available at Polymer Journal online are given with the Fourier conjugates of ρth(r) and ρeq(r) swelling and/or mechanical measurements and dynamic LS SANS is one of the best techniques to study gel inhomogeneities quantitatively because it provides information regarding the spatial concentration fluctuations (in Fourier space) and the concentration differences between solvent-rich and -poor regions (a) Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and light scattering (LS) profiles of PNIPA gels and solution and (b) schematic representation of the gel network (the same as Figure 3b) ξ is the correlation length and Ξ is the characteristic size of the inhomogeneities Statistics of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) papers categorized by various systems: neutron scattering block copolymers and inhomogeneities (or heterogeneities) (as of 11 May 2010) (a) Deformation device of polymer gels for small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiment. A piece of gel is embedded in a hole of silicon rubber, which is squeezed from both sides with screws. The silicon rubber and the gel are sandwiched between two pieces of quartz window so as not to deform in the thickness direction. (b) Traces of silicon rubber deformation with the squeezing deformation of 2 and 10 mm. Two-dimensional (2D) small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) patterns of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)/acrylic acid gels before (λ=1.07) and after deformation (λ=1.25) that inhomogeneities can be tuned by adjusting the degrees of crosslinking and ionization (a) Photographs of the pressure cell installed on SANS-U and (b) the inner cell small-angle neutron scattering instrument owned by University of Tokyo (a) Pressure–temperature phase diagram of poly(2-(2-ethoxy)ethoxyethyl vinyl ether)-block-poly(2-methoxyethyl vinyl ether) (pEOEOVE–pMOVE) in deuterated water; (b–e) the corresponding small-angle neutron scattering patterns the derivative of pressure with respect to temperature is Schematic representation of phase diagram classifying the states of the pEOEOVE–pMOVE solution to characteristic regions All these gels have advanced mechanical properties Schematic illustration of (a) conventional gels (c) NC gels and (d) four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) gels Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) results for poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) polyrotaxane (PR) and slide-ring (SR) gels in NaODaq Two-dimensional (2D) small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) patterns of slide-ring (SR) gels showing normal-to-abnormal butterfly transition Schematic illustration of swelling behaviors of conventional gels (left) and slide-ring (SR) gels (right) Schematic illustration of contrast variation and partial scattering functions for nanocomposite (NC) gels ρi (=∑jbj/vi) indicates the scattering length density of each component bj is the scattering length of j-th atom and vi is the volume of the molecule Sij(q)s are the partial scattering functions S11(q) and S22(q) are called the self-terms representing the self-correlations of component 1 and 2 representing the cross-correlation between component 1 and 2 Note that Sij(q) is normalized by the absolute intensity and the scattering length density and has the dimensions of volume We performed contrast variation SANS (CV-SANS) experiments by tuning the scattering length density of component 3 ρw) in order to decompose the scattering intensities into partial scattering functions as below: Laboratory-made stretching device for small-angle neutron scattering experiments and NC gels at λ=1 (top) and = 7 (bottom). Two-dimensional (2D) small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) patterns of nanocomposite (NC) gels decomposed by contrast variation Tetra-PEG gels were prepared in a test tube which can be dried to a small rod (top left) and stretched with neck deformation (top right) Concentration and Mw dependence of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) intensity functions of four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) gels with -5K Schematic illustration of the network structure of four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) gels. TAPEG, tetraamine-terminated PEG; TNPEG, tetra-N-hydroxysuccinimide-glutarate-terminated PEG. Five sets of stroboscopic photos of (a) a four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) ball (left) and (b) a commercial power ball (right) Master plots of small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) curves for four-arm poly(ethylene glycol) (Tetra-PEG) gels with various molecular weights The crosses show the SANS curve of linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains in deuterated water (D2O) it is deduced that the strong upturn in I(q)/(φ0ξ2) at low-qξ for Tetra-PEG-5K is ascribed to the clustering of PEG chains -20K and -40K has not yet been assigned and is now under investigation inhomogeneities do not appear even by stretching This is another characteristic feature of Tetra-PEG gels Summary deformation mechanisms of super-tough gels (2) the relationship between inhomogeneities and molecular and environmental parameters of gels (3) the roles of hydrophobic interactions in aqueous media and (4) the deformation mechanisms of various types of super-tough gels History of polymer networks toward the realization of ideal polymer network Classical theory of ligbt scattering from solutions—A review The scattering of light and the radial distribution function of high polymer solutions Laser Light Scattering 2nd edn (Academic Press Applications of Synchrotron Light to Scattering and Diffraction in Materials and Life Sciences (Springer Introduction to The Theory of Thermal Neutron Scattering (Cambridge University Press Polymers and Neutron Scattering (Clarendon Press Small-Angle Scattering of X-rays (John Wiley & Sons in Light Scattering: Principles and Development (ed Brown Die bestimmung des tragheitsradius von polymethylmethacrylat im glaszustand durch neutronenbeugung H Chain conformation in molten polyethylene by low angle neutron scattering Small angle neutron scattering study on Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) gels near their volume-phase transition temperature Small-angle neutron scattering study on weakly charged temperature sensitive polymer gels Spatial inhomogeneity and dynamic fluctuations of polymer gels SANS study on pressure-induced phase separation of Poly(N-isoproptylacylamide) aqueous solutions and gels Small-angle neutron scattering investigation of pressure influence on the structure of weakly charged Poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) solutions and gels Effect of ionization on the temperature and Pressure-induced phase transitions of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gels and solutions Pressure-induced phase transitions of hydrophobically solvated block copolymer solutions Pressure-induced reentrant micellization of amphiphilic block copolymers in dilute aqueous solutions Micro- and macrophase separations of hydrophobically solvated block copolymer aqueous solutions induced by pressure and temperature Collapse of gels and the critical endpoint Volume phase transition and related phenomena of polymer gels Preparation of aqueous latices with N-isopropylacrylamide Volume-phase transitions of ionized N-isopropylacrylamide gels Study of the universality class of the gel network system Elastic anomaly near the critical point of volume phase transition in polymer gels Coexistence of phases and the nature of first-order phase transition in Poly-N-isopropylacrylamide gels Block copolymer thermodynamics: theory and experiment pH and salt concentration dependence of the microstructure of Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) gels Effect of degree of cross-linking on spatial inhomogeneity in charged gels Structure and elasticity of non-crystalline polymer networks and dynamic properties of swollen polymer networks Large-scale heterogeneities in randomly cross-linked networks Polymer gels: frozen inhomogeneities and density fluctuations Scattering profiles of charged gels: frozen inhomogeneities and anisotropic surface phases in charged gels Small-angle neutron scattering study on preparation temperature dependence of thermosensitive gels Static inhomogeneities and dynamic fluctuations of temperature sensitive polymer gels Scattering from deformed swollen gels with heterogeneities Small-angle neutron scattering study on charged gels in deformed state S Small-angle neutron scattering studies on amorphous polystyrene oriented by solid-state coextrusion Experimental evidence for inhomogeneous swelling and deformation in statistical gels Small-angle neutron scattering study of swollen elongated gels: butterfly patterns A sans study of uniaxially elongated polyelectrolyte gels M Radius of gyration in anisotropically swollen gels Comparison of the experimental and theoretical structure factors of temperature sensitive polymer gels theoretical prediction and light scattering study Anomalous cross-link density dependence of scattering from charged gels Static inhomogeneities in thermoreversible gels Comparison of heat- and pressure-induced gelation of β-lactoglobulin aqueous solutions studied by small-angle neutron and dynamic light scattering High pressure effects on fluorescence-quenching of coumarin 343 adsorbed on TiO2 nanocystallites in methanol and in N,N-dimehtylformamide Pressure effects on the aggregation of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-acrylic acid) in aqueous solutions Volume-phase transition of N-isopropylacrylamide gels induced by hydrostatic pressure Double critical phenomena in (water+polyacrylamides) solutions Pressure-temperature phase diagram of biomolecules Thermodynamic study of a pressure-temperature phase diagram for poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gels The polyrotaxane gel: a topological gel by figure-of-eight cross-links Novel cross-linking concept of polymer network: synthesis and properties of slide-ring gels with freely movable junctions Nanocomposite hydrogels: a unique organic-inorganic network structure with extraordinary mechanical Double-network hydrogels with extremely high mechanical strength Design and fabrication of a high-strength hydrogel with ideally homogeneous network structure from tetrahedron-like macromonomers in Polymer Based Molecular Composites (eds D M Hybrid nanocomposite materials-between inorganic glasses and organic polymers Effects of clay content on the properties of nanocomposite hydrogels composed of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) and clay Compositinal effects on mechanical properties of nanocomposite hydrogels composed of poly(N,N-dimthylacrylamide) and clay Mechanism of forming organic/inorganic network structures during in-situ free-radical polymerization in PNIPA-clay nanocomposite hydrogels Structure and dynamics of poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide)-clay nanocomposite gels Clay concentration dependence of microstructure in deformed poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-clay nanocomposite gels Gelation mechanism of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-clay nanocomposite gels Structure of nanocomposite hydrogel investigated by means of contrast variation small angle neutron scattering Small-angle neutron scattering study on uniaxially stretched poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-clay nanocomposite gels Deformation mechanism of nanocomposite gels studied by contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering SANS studies on spatial inhomogeneities of slide-ring gels Mechanical properties and structure of polymer-clay nanocomposite gels with high clay content Deformation studies on polymer-clay nanocomposite gels On the role of block copolymer additives for calcium carbonate crystallization: small angle neutron scattering investigation by applying contrast variation Microphase separation in nanocomposite gels Evaluation of gelation kinetics of Tetra-PEG gel Structure characterization of Tetra-PEG Gel by small-angle neutron scattering Evaluation of topological defects in Tetra-PEG gels Effect of module size on the network structure of Tetra-PEG gel (in preparation) in The Physical Properties of Polymer Gels Ch Structure of trifunctional end-link polymer gels studied by SANS Neutron scattering from equilibrium-swollen networks Highly elastic and deformable hydrogel formed from tetra-arm polymers SANS and SLS studies on tetra-arm PEG gels in as-prepared and swollen states SANS from poly(ethylene oxide)/water systems Insight into clustering in poly(ethylene oxide) solutions Molecular characteristics of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) separated from nanocomposite gels by removal of clay from the polymer/clay network Gel formation and molecular characteristics of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) prepared by free-radical redox polymerization in aqueous solution Evaluation of incoherent scattering intensity by transmission and sample thickness Small-angle neutron scattering study on end-linked poly(tetrahydrofuran) networks M Influence of pendant chains on mechanical properties of model poly(dimethylsiloxane) networks .2 Download references Dr Noboru Osaka and other colleagues in my laboratory I also acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Education Japan (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (A) and for Scientific Research on Priority Areas The SANS experiment was performed with the approval of the Institute for Solid State Physics Download citation An exclusive Q and A with The National Ballet of Japan’s principal Saho Shibayama making for a spectacle with fast-paced choreography that leans into the mischievous humor of the magical story It accomplishes everything The Nutcracker and the Mouse King sets out to do and more plunging you headfirst into the mind of a child with all its expansive imagination and creative whimsy The show begins with Clara and her family getting ready for the party with a barely-there screen between the audience and the dancers As soon as the grandfather clock strikes midnight and Clara’s dream sequence begins the screen is lifted and the stage saturates in technicolor sucking the audience into a heightened sense of immediacy Its effect is palpable – the dream world feels more real to us than “reality.” From an actual ice skating rink on-stage in a European winterscape straight out of a snowglobe and an expanding Christmas tree to the hot air balloon that lifts off to a faraway castle in the Kingdom of Sweets your eyes will certainly always have something to marvel at If you’re at all familiar with The Nutcracker and the Mouse King you probably already have a favorite scene (I’m partial to “Waltz of the Flowers” and everything that involves the somehow charming mouse king) but every piece is performed with such finesse of exquisitely fast-paced choreography that you may grow to find a new favorite from this production who performed Clara on the Christmas Eve matinee show The pas de deux she performs with Shogo Hayami immediately after the battle scene is surprisingly romantic and passionate after a prolonged sense of childlike wonder The New National Theatre Tokyo’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King brings Christmas in Europe all the way to Tokyo and reminds us to embrace wholeheartedly the magic that is Christmas TW got a chance to speak with Saho Shibayama one of The National Ballet of Japan’s principal dancers for the 2023/2024 season Shibayama’s repertoire and experience is extensive From Odette and Cinderella to Kitri she’s done it all and she’s wrapping up the year with the role of Clara in the Christmas ballet Congratulations on becoming a principal dancer at The National Ballet of Japan earlier this year How do you feel about your new role within the company I was so surprised to become a principal this season I feel the responsibilities of being a principal I’m trying not to give myself any unnecessary pressure My day-to-day life hasn’t changed drastically The costume actually came from the Royal Ballet and famous ballerinas have written their names on the inside of the costume It’s mind-blowing to know you’re wearing history Do you have any special memories of The Nutcracker it’s such a classic and I’ve been performing it since I was a little girl I remember being really excited to get to dance with a doll on stage in a recital What do you think is special about The Nutcracker you might find the mice or the big Christmas tree exciting but as you grow older you might find the snow scene or the divertissement in Act Two the highlight What’s special about coming to see the ballet this time of year even people who know nothing about ballet will probably know at least one piece of music from the show I’m hoping that the audience has a magical experience and leaves the theater wanting to see another show a lot of guests who come to see our performances around the New Year wear kimono What’s different about studying ballet in Japan and the U.S. instructors are very detail-oriented and thorough in their teaching instructors are more positive and easy-going When I would beat myself up for making a mistake would cheer me up by pointing out where I had succeeded I was able to work through some mental blocks I had developed and grew to express myself more dynamically I now try to balance the best parts of both teachings in my performance I worked with Wayne back in 2017 when I was cast as Spanish Dance but his choreography is really difficult in that there’s a lot of choreography per count and he’s able to dance perfectly the choreography the rest of the dancers really struggled with and would actually do the choreography himself while he’s teaching us How is it different working with Japanese vs foreign choreographers and directors the choreographers and directors have quite strong personalities Back when I worked on Frederick Ashton’s Dream I worked with Christopher Carr (Guest Principal Ballet Master of the Royal Ballet) who would count really loudly during rehearsals His energy and passion really empowered us to push through even the most difficult of choreography What are the highlights of this rendition of The Nutcracker so Clara and the audience become really small in comparison basically at the same eye level as the mice The snow scene’s pas de deux is one of my personal favorites it’s so sweet and romantic and different from the rest of the show Then there’s the divertissement from many different countries in Act Two I hope everyone in the audience can find their own favorite scene AnimeJapan is already known for its fun stage events featuring the cast of upcoming and some classic anime series AnimeJapan 2024 added a brand new stage area: the Creation Stage Unlike the three main stages at AnimeJapan the Creation Stage is for the people behind the anime to discuss their creative process It's a vastly different experience from the stage events featuring the voice cast and gives fans a unique look into an anime series or movie production process The last show on the Creation Stage at AnimeJapan 2024 showcased a trio of directors — Kenji Nakamura, Tomotaka Shibayama, and Shigeyoshi Tsukahara — from the anime production studio Twin Engine to discuss their upcoming films As the show opened, fans were treated to a little introduction to each of the directors and a preview of their upcoming works: Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari from Tsukahara, Gekijōban Mononoke: Karakasa from Nakamura, and My Oni Girl from Shibayama While Nakamura and Shibayama are well-established in the anime industry the two movies by Tsukahara are some of his first forays into the anime film world And seeing the previews for both Kurayukaba and Kuramerukagari we saw his unique vision and style — a sort of late Taishō to early Shōwa era aesthetic — throughout the show's host asked the directors their favorite parts of their respective films and Tsukahara explained how the cut symbolizes the movie Tsukahara moved on to a shot from Kuramerukagari featuring two sticks of yakitori grilled chicken and Tsukahara noted where Kurayukaba he put a little thought into for Kurmerukagari he went with one of his hobbies He even recommended a yakitori store in Uguisudani it was revealed to Tsukahara that Shibayama had also seen Tsukahara's choices and had some opinions on the matter and the connection with his staff shines through Tsukahara responded by explaining that there was no physical office for the staff to meet and everything was done on Discord this allowed him to see all the chit-chat between the staff which likely helped create those connections Following Tsukahara's favorite scenes was Shibayama and his new movie My Oni Girl Shibayama noted two things: he thinks Tsumugi is cute and that the movie itself is a bittersweet boy meets girl story making it a relatively straightforward love story And so his favorite scene would depict this the scene he selected featured the series protagonist Shibayama noted that hitchhiking defined the first half of the movie as a road trip as the two main characters developed their relationship Nakamura and Tsukahara did not comment on Shibayama's favorite scene especially considering it would have given fans more insight into Shibayama's mindset when creating My Oni Girl Finally, Nakamura had a chance to speak on his new Mononoke movie Nakamura selected a hand that lingered over a box Nakamura wanted to make it erotically cool three directors related to the art made the scene even more erotically cool than he expected Nakamura expressed that he was almost at a loss for words and praised the directors Tsukahara had also seen the video clip beforehand But not in a way that would leave one stupefied Listening intently to Tsukahara's comments Nakamura noted how Mononoke is a work with more restrictions than requests Where other anime will allow certain performances or artistic techniques Nakamura and his team had some restrictions placed on them even with those restrictions levied on Nakamura's team the work they put into the movie is impeccable It also gives credence to the idea that creativity is born through the restrictions placed on the creator Here's hoping we learn more about Mononoke in the coming months Animation studio Studio Colorido has signed a multi-year deal with streaming giant Netflix to co-produce a total of three anime films The list includes an upcoming film from Tomotaka Shibayama In a comment published on the official website Shibayama explained the concept behind the upcoming movie: “The new film I am currently planning is a tale of a mysterious love and it that takes place during a winter season I would like to deliver a work that will be a cheer-up song for everyone while carefully depicting the extraordinary things that come suddenly in daily lives and the emotional growth of the characters Shibayama directed A Whisker Away alongside Junichi Sato The movie was a Netflix original and is streaming exclusively on the platform The film’s opening “Hana ni Borei” and ending “Usotsuki” are both performed by Japanese rock duo Yorushika.According to the studio Colorido’s president Koji Yamamoto the deal with Netflix will aim to create works that really show the “uniqueness” of the studio’s creative direction He also added that they have been working hard and moving forward in their own way to achieve this goal Netflix connects Japanese films with users around the world we want to continue to make original works that are unique to Colorido with confidence We will use this milestone of 10 years since our founding as an opportunity to work with Netflix to deliver such “works that are uniquely [Studio] Colorido” to the world A special montage video celebrating their works was recently revealed: Source: Official Studio Colorido Webite©2022 StudioColorido Driving about 70 miles per hour behind a truck Shibayama hit a three-pronged trailer hitch in the middle of the road that he was unable to avoid in time there was a warning on the dashboard display saying Car may not restart." I continued to drive Car is shutting down." I was able to fully control the car the entire time and safely pulled off the left shoulder on the side of the road About 5-10 seconds after getting out of the car smoke started to come from the front underbody of the car I walked away from the vehicle to a distance of about 100 yards More smoke started to come out of the bottom of the car The owner wrote that he was completely uninjured and was never anywhere close to flames because they never reached the cabin.  "While driving after I hit the object until I pulled over and it was a totally controlled situation," he wrote " ... This experience does not in any way make me think that the Tesla Model S is an unsafe car "For consumers concerned about fire risk, there should be absolutely zero doubt that it is safer to power a car with a battery than a large tank of highly flammable liquid," Musk wrote after those incidents. Eye HealthChevron Hitoshi Nishimura/Getty ImagesSave this storySave this storySave this storySave this storyIt’s a misconception that dry eyes and contact lenses are like oil and water having dry eyes means the tear film meant to moisturize your eyeballs isn’t working as well as it should but it doesn’t rule out your ability to wear contacts make the whole thing a little more challenging “Improper contact lens wear and care can cause dry eye issues and can also exacerbate dry eye issues,” Dr If you have dry eyes and wear contacts (or want to) follow these rules to make the experience go as swimmingly as possible then thoroughly drying them with a lint-free towel before you handle your lenses which are essentially sores on the surface of your eye Even if you escape that fate, sleeping in your contacts can mess with your natural tear film and make your dry eyes worse If you wear your lenses until they’re practically crumbling out of your eyeballs Somewhere on the box your contacts come in it should tell you how often to wear a fresh pair Make your eye doctor proud—and keep your eyes safe—by following those instructions Even if you’re meticulous about cleaning your lenses after every wear making it harder for tears to spread evenly across your eyeballs an optometrist and contact lens specialist with UCLA Health And if you’re not meticulous about cleaning your lenses while using them for way too long it’s even easier for them to collect irritating debris and microorganisms like bacteria that can cause infection While it’s tempting to wear your contacts from the time you open your eyes until you conk out at night, this really isn’t a great when you have dry eyes “It’s a good idea to let the eyes breathe for a few hours without the lens,” Dr This allows your eyes to get good exposure to oxygen and receive nourishment from your natural tear film without lenses in the way Shibayama’s general rule: You should take your contacts out at least two hours before bedtime or try to wear them for two fewer hours than the time you’re awake meaning you shouldn’t wear your lenses any longer than 14 straight hours You can obviously play around with this a bit to figure out how much time off your eyes need but the takeaway is that it’s good to give them some kind of break it should be more frequent than that to make sure your prescription is up-to-date and see if the contacts you use still work best for your eyes “Don't wait until there is a problem before seeing your eye doctor,” Dr “This will ensure the longevity of your ability to wear contact lenses and reduce complications.” There’s a slew of contact lens brands and types on the market, but some are designed to help people with dry eyes, the Mayo Clinic says. If your dry eye is severe, your doctor may recommend special contacts called scleral or bandage lenses, which help protect the surface of your eyes and lock in moisture. Who knew thirst traps could be as good in your eyes as they are on social media? Opportunities to actually experience the benefits and values derived from technology have been increasing in the past few months due to the impact of COVID-19 which provide information we want to know right now such as “which locations are crowded now?” People-flow data probably showed us a path to the use of big data which we thought was valuable but could not find a definitive use They must have also made executives desperately aware of the need to “transform to data-driven management.”  we will introduce the discussions conducted between Kazuhisa Shibayama and Masayuki Chatani from KPMG Ignition Tokyo.  Representative Director & CEO of KPMG Ignition Tokyo and CDO of KPMG Japan) *Professional affiliation and official position in the article are at the time of publication Chatani:       Since the issue of COVID-19 started to prevail I have seen the name “Agoop” in various media and the term “people-flow data” has also become widely known People-flow data are now sparking many discussions on the correctness and handling of approaches such as how to collect data the validity of the data and their analysis I assume that Agoop had been exploring the use of big data including people-flow data from before the COVID-19 crisis steadily accumulated experiences and dispatched them appropriately at the perfect time Kazuhisa Shibayama to talk to us about the importance of data-driven management as well as his new findings based on his past experiences Shibayama:   We have indeed been taken up by many media in the past few months Regarding the disclosure of people-flow data the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications approached KDDI DoCoMo and Agoop in mid-February of this year and as we were already preparing to carry out an analysis on COVID-19 We had already launched various projects with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications from about two years ago utilizing people-flow data to visualize changes in the flow of people when remote working is implemented as part of the reform of working practices in line with the holding of a global sport event or the travelling directions and distances of foreign visitors to Japan and then to think of how this can be leveraged for policymaking Agoop’s technology to acquire people-flow data utilizes skills we have been cultivating for quite some time SoftBank has been making efforts to become the provider “with the No it was more efficient to grasp the precise locations of “areas with bad connections” based on data and invest in facilities focusing on these areas it goes without saying that the locations of base stations are quite important it was essential to utilize data to grasp the best locations from the viewpoint of users The utilization of big data such as “computerizing data to be utilized for measures and policies” was a buzzword throughout the world between 2012 and 2013 but they had actually not been utilized specifically However, Masayoshi Son was already carrying out “data-driven management,” where everything was decided based on data, in 2012. Our current situation is that this method has finally become available at the country level. Chatani:       I hear that Agoop’s people-flow data are distinctively accurate as it acquires precise information with GPS and statistically processes them by segmenting the areas with mesh processing Shibayama:   There is a difference in acquiring precise location information via GPS and statistically processing data by segmenting the areas We are creating analysis reports through statistical processing and mesh processing of location information acquired in real time with the prior consent of app users.   the amount of GPS data we are acquiring to provide statistical people-flow data is far less than the total population of approx and the amount of data we can acquire at base stations is equivalent to the number of users of mobile phone companies (about 30-40 million people) it is necessary to convert both data to those equivalent to the entire population we were initially presuming the distribution of approx 120 million people from the granular location information acquired with precision an immense amount of time and work occurred for the analysis While these tasks are now streamlined by using RPA (robotic process automation) and AI While our hypothetical/presumption algorithms have been refined through our initiatives with the Statistics Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications since 2018 we came to understand that “data that can be acquired from each base station are accurate but coarse while data acquired from GPS are granular but small in volume,” both leaving concerns over their correctness we found out that the increase and decrease in the flow of 120 million people can be obtained with just 1-2% data by incorporating the conversion population in the algorithm considerable computer resources are necessary as the request from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications was to “receive information every day,” we are employing a method to analyze the transition of people-flow after mesh processing the GPS location information As I mentioned earlier, I think we had a competitive advantage because we had already mostly established the scheme to obtain data more quickly through automation without human interference four years ago.  Shibayama:   We were thinking of using these data for trading businesses three or four years ago but I think there were still only a few cases in Japan at the time that had achieved effective results by using analyzed data in management We were therefore thinking that “only SoftBank or the central government would want to utilize this technology” when this COVID-19 crisis broke out.    Chatani:       Looking at the graphs provided by Agoop on TV which showed the correlation between the number of newly infected cases in Shinjuku and Shibuya and the number in the previous week or information on the number of visitors to Arashiyama after the launch of GoTo Travel in real time I’m even more impressed that RPA and AI are utilized and that this technology had already been established three to four years ago Shibayama:   The reason why Agoop can provide ample data compared to other companies is that we have been providing data under overwhelming pressure (laughs) What I came to understand while working hard to respond to the requests of Mr Son is the importance of “foreseeing the future.” and what people want” based on the responsibility of a data scientist at the time when Silver Week (long weekend in autumn) is approaching we will be introduced in the media and this will become an opportunity to get more people to know about the advantages of data We have already established the technological aspects for indicating the people-flow data so what is important now is to foresee “social trends.” For example we previously declared and actually provided people-flow data for areas which the media would want to know about right away after the Bon holidays Chatani:       The comparison that young people were not hanging out in Shibuya and Shinjuku while there were many people in Sugamo was quite interesting Shibayama:   Japan is a great country When the heads of prefectures and communities send out strong messages people respond to these messages and change their actions young people must have voluntarily refrained from going out to the town as they were criticized for hanging out despite the COVID-19 crisis it is natural for people to be in Sugamo and Togoshi-ginza because these are places where the locals do their shopping It was not our intention that some of the media misled viewers regardless of this fact we argued against it by putting data on Twitter and tried to communicate the correct information The response on the web was that “as the data provider is saying that ‘the media is misleading people,’ it must be true.” From spring up to the long holiday season in May, there were very few people during the day in Shinagawa, Shinbashi and Otemachi. So, those people must have been in the neighborhood of their homes, and it is natural that they would go out to the nearby supermarkets and shopping areas to buy things for their daily needs. Chatani:       Taking that into consideration it can be said that people-flow data indicate the “current state.” You said earlier that “there is no corporate culture that utilizes analyzed data at Japanese companies” but do you think analyzed data will be utilized in corporate management going forward after the experience of COVID-19 Shibayama:   If we look at the recent data the flow of people returned to Minato-ku and Chuo-ku at one point after the state of emergency was lifted but we know that there is currently only 50% of the people flow in these areas As there are not only business districts but also large-scale commercial facilities in Shinjuku and Shibuya there are a few more people but the flow is still only 70% of what it used to be Restaurant and retail chain stores are suffering a major blow from COVID-19 and one of the factors behind the decline in sales is said to be that “the flow of people has not returned.” One of the main reasons why people have not returned to the business districts even after the state of emergency was lifted is believed to be that teleworking is becoming established the attractiveness of these areas will probably remain low for a while there is a greater flow of people in residential areas due to the establishment of remote working it is conceivable that trading areas are changing and this is not limited to restaurant or retail chain stores It is important to understand that areas where people go to are changing If they keep on thinking that “people will come back some day,” they will not only face financial difficulties but may end up going bankrupt the flow of people in the business districts of the Tokyo metropolitan area has not completely recovered since the flow declined due to COVID-19 If we were to show this situation by figures major cities in local regions have seen a 70% recovery while only 50% have returned to the business districts in the Tokyo metropolitan area it is most important to learn about these facts as quickly as possible It will also be difficult to work out measures to overcome the current situation unless they learn that “there are areas where it is highly possible that the flow of people will not change in the medium to long term” rather than focusing on the number of infected cases and the increase and decrease in the flow of people they will not be able to continue business if they stick to the business plan that was prepared a year ago Chatani:       When making plans to open new stores white-space analysis is often used but they are only past data we will not be able to find the “correct answer” unless judgements are made based on real-time data We also thought that the flow of people would gradually return to the metropolitan area and eventually make a V-shaped recovery As the number of people is equivalent to the market in every industry it is necessary to foresee the market based on the assumption that the current situation in which the flow of people is declining will continue Chatani:       As for Shinjuku and Shibuya it may be that “people frantically buy things because they go there only once in a while” but unless people go there constantly it will be difficult to maintain stable management Shibayama:   You’re absolutely right As the flow of people has not returned especially to the business districts at all businesses that are running restaurants in these areas are facing a major setback which has a strong image of being a sightseeing destination people have not returned to the business districts around the station Similar phenomena are occurring nationwide These changes in large urban areas also affect primary industries where I had a glimpse of the primary industries being damaged when the business of high-end restaurants that offer pufferfish This is because even if high-end restaurants stop procuring stock fishing and meat processing operations cannot be stopped Even though they can store the products that are ready for shipment in freezers there is the issue of electricity bills and costs for storage there will eventually be the issue of food loss they have no choice but to distribute their stock to chain stores while disregarding profits we can see that the collapse of large urban areas will eventually affect the entire Japanese economy Chatani:       Companies with compelling reasons directly selling their products at low prices have indeed increased Shibayama:   This means that changes in the market will change everything including the supply chain there is almost no option to “wait for people to return” and therefore chain stores have no choice but to think of plans to open new stores And I think that this decision will determine the “winners and losers” going forward Chatani:       Many restaurants are starting catering and take-out services as an act of desperation but they will probably not be able to cover all their losses Shibayama:   There is a policy to provide subsidies to restaurants that close by 10pm but restaurants in residential areas are expected to increase sales Unless the government provides generous subsidies to stores that have been targeting business people working in the business districts such as in Shinbashi and Ginza there will be many bankruptcies that cannot be prevented The people-flow data show us the alignment of “needs and seeds.” while an increasing number of people were seen to go to the supermarket to buy food for cooking at home at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis people started to get tired of or felt constrained by cooking on their own and started to take out meals using Demae-can and Uber Eats as the unit prices of these services are relatively high they started to “look for take-out places in their neighborhoods.” It will therefore be necessary to look at these data and make prompt decisions to “move stores to residential areas.” We initially thought “the flow of people will return which will spark the second wave of infection...” but this did not happen Seeing that commuters from the suburbs have remained low for the past five months by reviewing the people-flow data we think that it is safe to say that this is probably the new normal already We are probably already at the stage where we must review not only the changes in the trading areas but the entire social infrastructure Chatani:       Do you think that the flow of people will not return even if COVID-19 settles down to some extent Shibayama:   A trend to move out from the metropolitan area to the suburbs can be seen after June as well and the donut phenomenon is starting to occur. It’s time for executives to accept this and make their decisions. Chatani:       Recently there seemed to be more people than before but this is compared to when the train was almost empty We tend to forget how it was before the COVID-19 crisis It is quite interesting to know that there is a divergence between data and how we feel the flow of people has not returned that much the current congestion at Shinagawa Station is about the same as that at Kanazawa Station which is a government-designated city in Ishikawa Prefecture As congestion at the major stations in Tokyo was abnormally excessive in the first place we can say that this situation has become normal due to COVID-19 The fact that we can sense an increase while it is not actually increasing leads to the importance of data-driven management It is important to recognize that “though we feel that things have gone back to the previous state Many things have already changed due to COVID-19 Are distribution and retail businesses suffering a setback or is the restaurant business placed in a difficult position? Also, among the restaurants, which are more impacted, independently operated stores or chain stores? We must analyze these data or else we will fall behind the times and this will also determine our future. “Thinking about it next year” will be too late. Chatani:       Listening to your story about the drastic changes in trading areas I began to feel that we need to review our disaster control measures as well As the flow of people during daytime and nighttime has changed local disaster prevention plans should be revised as well If there are more people in residential areas during the daytime than had been assumed before isn’t it possible that shelters that are used in times of disaster will be overloaded Shibayama:   I completely agree with you Disaster prevention plans were originally created based on the information obtained through the national census At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake plans had been made based on the estimate that “there should only be a few people in seaside areas during business hours,” in light of the results of the national census there was a discrepancy with the actual situation which resulted in the damage being substantially different It will be difficult to draw up disaster prevention plans based on the changes in the people-flow due to COVID-19 using statistical data such as the national census Especially in the residential areas of large cities with houses made of wood that are closely built together where many people were assumed to have gone to work their disaster prevention plans must be changed as “there is more risk of fire than of being stranded due to mass transit disruption” People-flow data are beginning to be utilized in disaster prevention plans now <Continue to Vol. 2>  Kazuhisa Shibayama joined former SoftBank BB Corp where he palnned and developed a data analysis system on top of “Geographical Information System (GIS).” Later in April 2009 as SoftBank’s subsidiary company and became it’s director he doubled as the Executive Manager of the Information Planning Supervisory Department at SoftBank Mobile Corp where he invented the world’s first network quality improvement system that utilizes location big data collected and analyzed from smartphones The system had a significant contribution to the improvement of the mobile network of the former SoftBank Mobile Corp He became the Representative Director of Agoop Corp and subsequently the General Manager of the Big Data Strategy Headquarters at SoftBank Corp he assumed the position of President and CEO of Agoop Corp while doubling as the Head of the Big Data Strategy Office of SoftBank Corp he is carrying forward AI and RPA in the field of data science Follow us on KPMG Ignition Tokyo LinkedIn for the latest news a Cayman Islands limited liability partnership and a member firm of the KPMG global organization of independent member firms affiliated with KPMG International Limited a private English company limited by guarantee For more detail about the structure of the KPMG global organization please visit https://kpmg.com/governance 2012 at 9:57 pm PTShoreline native Skylar Shibayama has spent his days as Shorecrest High School as a scholar debater and is headed to Yale this fall after he graduates from Shorecrest on Sunday Shibayama attended Shoreline schools since kindergarten including Ridgecrest and North City elementary schools Kellogg Middle School and finally Shorecrest where he served as Associated Student Body President as a senior As student body president he helped produce a time capsule for the school’s 50th anniversary and the party for the school and community who calls himself a “competitive guy,” played doubles on the Shorecrest boys tennis team and pitched and played infield for the Scots baseball squad two-run double against crosstown rival Shorewood this past season “Beating Shorewood (in baseball) this year was really fun,” he said.“I play a lot of baseball Shibayama will play baseball for the Seattle Titans coached by DeWayne Dalton He was on the debate team for four years and he and partner Scott Huston placed at state as freshmen He also served on the Site Council for the planning of the remodeled Shorecrest High School that is currently under construction Shibayama was named a National Merit Scholar for scoring 227 on the PSAT He was a member of the math team at Shorecrest and his academic record and involvement in Shorecrest activities helped him get into Yale “I wasn’t planning to go to the East Coast or Ivy League,” he said He said he was “really surprised” by the laid back feel at Yale It’s a strong academic school but relaxed,” he said based on his visit “I definitely don’t know what I want to do,” he said “I like math a lot I might be doing something with that in beginning His parents are Gerry and Jenny Shibayama of Shoreline and he has a younger brother Kasey Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. The Great East Japan Earthquake (hereafter “the great earthquake”) resulted in the Tohoku tsunami (Tohoku Region Pacific Coast Earthquake and Tsunami), which caused widespread damage. Professor Tomoya Shibayama of the Faculty of Science and Engineering specialising in coastal engineering and coastal disaster prevention says “The damage caused by the tsunami was beyond what many researchers could have imagined The biggest lesson we learned was that people forgetting about such disasters and their aftermath would lead to future large-scale damage.” How then can we apply the lessons learned ten years ago to future tsunamis Professor Shibayama talks about what can be done Waseda University established the Institute for Research on Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake on May 8 to undertake a cross-university collaborative research project The Composed Crisis Research Institute established within this institution aims to propose new disaster prevention and mitigation systems while clarifying the characteristics of the great earthquake as a complex disaster has conducted systematic research on disaster countermeasures “Working as a team is important in disaster research there would be duplication or omission in the areas of study we must incorporate knowledge from many genres such as energy policy and regional management as well as engineering and science Although the Composed Crisis Research Institute began with research on coastal disasters such as tsunamis we have conducted research into multifaceted disaster countermeasures with more researchers specialising in volcanic eruptions and earthquakes this organisation has been taken over by the Institute for Sustainable Future Society of the Research Institute for Science and Engineering We are working to achieve the target of building a sustainable society in the face of frequent disasters by gathering expertise from a wide range of fields at Waseda University.” The great earthquake caused unprecedented damage due to the tsunami Professor Shibayama points out that what is common to the damaged areas is that “the history of the catastrophe on that land has been forgotten.” and Fukushima prefectures all come under the Tohoku region which experienced the 1896 Meiji Sanriku tsunami and 1933 Showa Sanriku tsunami implemented disaster countermeasures based on historical data and experience With respect to the central and south part of Miyagi prefecture and Fukushima prefecture a large-scale tsunami in the plains dates back to the 869 Jogan Sanriku earthquake One of the characteristics of the Tohoku tsunami was that it caused greater damage in Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures The phenomenon of the presence or absence of memory influencing the damage can also be seen overseas.” The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami caused tremendous damage from Indonesia near the epicenter all the way to Africa’s coastal countries despite having experienced a large-scale tsunami before saw widespread damage because the local people had not found the evidence of the same in their own history “There is a record of a tsunami comparable to the Indian Ocean one in the historical materials in an old temple in Sri Lanka Disaster preparedness must begin with local people’s awareness of the history of disasters in their area Recounting the experience of the great earthquake to the world is important in this respect.” Professor Shibayama has also built an international research network with its base at Waseda University as part of the Support Program for the Strategic Research Foundation at Private Universities Most of the overseas researchers who collaborate with him are those who once studied in Japan and obtained a doctorate from Shibayama Laboratory Through the joint research across national borders the lessons learned from the great earthquake are shared and used for disaster countermeasures in other countries The lessons learned from the Tohoku tsunami are being applied to all regions in Japan prefectures nationwide were forced to re-examine their tsunami hazard maps Japanese researchers in coastal engineering and tsunami studies conducted field surveys for many years They jointly proposed two levels of tsunami countermeasures which are now the current standards: “tsunami protection level” and tsunami disaster mitigation level Every municipality has an evacuation plan based on this model Professor Shibayama is currently working to restructure coastal disaster countermeasures in Kanagawa Prefecture “For calculating the probability of an earthquake or tsunami in each region and first decide the height of seawalls and coastal levees and banks using numerical prediction models We then predict inundation areas and make evacuation plans Such measures are quite advanced and are being deployed nationwide.” we increasingly see more typhoons that behave differently This means the simulation of storm surges and high waves also needs to be improved Accurately predicting possible damage based on the ever-changing fury of nature has become a new target for Shibayama Laboratory It has been ten years since the great earthquake How has research on disaster countermeasures progressed disaster researchers from all over Japan headed to the site What we saw there was unimaginable damage—what exactly had happened Our priority then became to accurately grasp the situation The first stage of the research was to analyse the disaster by making full use of simulation models and laboratory experiments while proceeding with field surveys.” the first step is to grasp the situation and the next to re-examine constructions that can withstand tsunamis and earthquakes The important thing here is to investigate the cause of the collapse of buildings if trees in a tide-water control forest get washed away due to a tsunami and then causes a building to collapse after colliding with it These research data will be useful not only for areas affected by disasters but also for disaster prevention nationwide.” Since the difficulty of evacuation varies from region to region much consideration is required to prepare an optimal plan for each “Collecting detailed data for each region is crucial The data include those on topography and roads the population distribution of the elderly and people with disabilities These calculations are carried out with assistance from the laboratory students.” Professor Shibayama is currently exploring new forms of land use in parallel with a formulation of evacuation plans “No matter how much we devise evacuation plans earthquakes and tsunamis will continue to occur in Japan we need to take the approach of breaking free of the disaster-prone archipelago each resident should choose a place with a low risk of being affected by disasters The Institute for Sustainable Future Society calculates the risk of natural disasters as a cost by region If this natural disaster risk cost is presented along with land prices and the extent of convenience when moving or building new houses people will choose the ones with the lowest risk and disaster cost Japanese people will themselves gradually move to safer places It is impossible to relocate locals by taking the top-down approach of the national or local government if this mechanism can be maintained over a long period of time building a sustainable future can be feasible There have been negative reactions to this conversion of disaster risks into monetary values I think this is the most reliable solution at this stage.” Waseda University conducted the Joint survey of Tohoku thrice after the great earthquake It dispatched the fourth-grade and graduate students from each laboratory to the affected areas to conduct field surveys looks back on those days from an educator’s viewpoint we recruited students from various fields such as civil engineering and architecture to understand the disaster comprehensively The affected areas must have come as a huge shock to the students they were determined to proceed with the field surveys Many graduates who were involved in those surveys as students now focus on disasters as university professors Those surveys played a significant role in passing on memories of the great earthquake to future society.” contribution and restoration.We have met many from all walks of life in these areas.Even as people meet and part along the shift of time Waseda University will continue to advance and create an environment where everyone can strive to be their best Cerezo Osaka announce that Masaya Shibayama has renewed his contract with the club for the 2024 season 2002PositionMidfielder2023 Season DataJ1: 9 games / 0 goalJ2: 27 games / 4 goalsEmperor's Cup: 2 games / 1 goal TOP > NEWS > Masaya Shibayama renews contract Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabled．Please check the site policy for more information A high-profile lawmaker couple found guilty of breaking campaign finance laws insist that 150 million yen ($1.4 million) provided in party funds to fight an election were never used to bribe voters a position with which the ruling Liberal Democratic Party apparently takes no issue 22 that contained a breakdown of how the funds received from LDP headquarters in Tokyo were used no receipts were disclosed at a news conference held by Masahiko Shibayama Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai did not attend LDP headquarters in Tokyo transferred 75 million yen to a regional branch in Hiroshima Prefecture headed by Anri and another 75 million yen to a different Hiroshima branch headed by Katsuyuki between April and June 2019 120 million yen came from party subsidies distributed to the LDP and funded by taxpayer money Shibayama explained that about 124 million yen was used to print a local party publication and the rest of the money went to cover personnel and office rent costs “The report said all payments were made with accompanying receipts and checked by an auditor looking into political funds,” Shibayama said “My understanding is that no funds to buy votes came out of the 150 million yen.” When pressed by reporters whether the LDP would conduct a further investigation He noted that the Kawais revised their political fund reports and submitted corrected documents to the Hiroshima prefectural election management committee Anri was found guilty of buying votes in the 2019 Upper House election in which she won a first term She lost her seat after the guilty verdict was finalized Katsuyuki was also found guilty of vote-buying given a three-year prison sentence and a 1.3 million yen fine He has appealed the Tokyo District Court verdict ‘Not me’ chorus rings in LDP about cash sent to Anri Kawai Upper House member Kawai found guilty of buying votes EDITORIAL: Kawai’s abrupt guilty plea does not end scandal over vote-buying LDP breathes sigh of relief after Kawai’s resignation Former Justice Minister Kawai pleads guilty to vote-buying Diet elections start in crucial test for Suga Information on the latest cherry blossom conditions Please right click to use your browser’s translation function.) 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The page may not be displayed properly if the JavaScript is deactivated on your browser Japanese version Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time Tokyo: A leading Japanese MP and former minister in Shinzo Abe’s government has condemned his country’s sole custody system while appealing to the Australian government to publicly call out laws that have torn families apart the deputy secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party called on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to address the issue and said only international pressure would change the country’s century-old system Deputy secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party Masahiko Shibayama has called on the Prime Minister to change the law.Credit: Jack Donohoe “This is a very strong and serious human rights issue,” said Shibayama former Japanese education minister and vice minister for foreign affairs “The European Union and the United Nations are advising Japan to change this situation French authorities have identified more than 100 abducted children; the United States 475; while hundreds of thousands of Japanese children have been abducted by their mothers or fathers in Japan Eighty-two Australian children have been snatched by their Japanese parent and hidden from their Australian families since 2004 The situation has driven generations of Australian parents to breaking point They now argue the Albanese government’s strategy of quiet diplomacy with one of its closest military economic and diplomatic partners on this issue has failed The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and 60 Minutes on Sunday revealed that Japanese police have routinely ignored Interpol missing person notices and do not enforce visitation orders Shibayama said police enforcement had collapsed under the weight of thousands of abductions each year very usual for the parents to abduct a child and leave their homes,” he said Describing the situation as an embarrassment for Japan Shibayama said the mood had shifted within the Liberal Democratic Party towards reforming the system that gives one parent total control over a child’s future Sole custody is often awarded to the parent who was last with the child Shibayama said he was very sorry for what the government had done to families and grandfathers who lost their children and grandchildren,” he said and such unhappy children are increasing very rapidly lots of families will face a very serious crisis.” Japanese upper house councillor Mizuho Umemura said it was time for public international pressure We need international help,” the Japan Innovation Party MP said Japanese Innovation Party MP Mizuho Umemura has called on Australia to raise the issue in Japan.Credit: Jack Donohoe Umemura and Shibayama urged Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to raise the issue publicly in Japan “This is casting a shadow over our good relationship with each other and Australia is an important country for Japan in many ways,” said Umemura “It’s unfortunate that we have this hovering over our good relationship at a time when geopolitics is so important.” Umemura accused the Liberal Democratic Party of running away from the issue they push it down to the next person,” she said My heart breaks for the parents and children.” “The Japanese government has done this to them: I want to apologise to the parents A lot of them have committed suicide because they can’t see their children.” The Australian government has lodged a submission with the Japanese government’s ongoing review of the system Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed off on the submission but she has been reluctant to criticise the Japanese government publicly In a statement, she said the Australian government had encouraged Japan to find a solution that allowed children to maintain meaningful relationships with both parents. “I understand that the pain and distress these families are feeling is immense,” she said “We welcome Japan considering a range of family law reforms and Australia has made a submission to Japan’s Ministry of Justice’s Family Law Review in support of an approach that allows for shared parenting.” A spokesman for the Japanese embassy in Australia defended the system “The Japanese government prioritises the best interests of the child when dealing with child custody issues and meets its international obligations,” the spokesman said Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14 Watch the 60 Minutes report. Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here Tokyo: A leading Japanese MP and former minister in Shinzo Abe\\u2019s government has condemned his country\\u2019s sole custody system the deputy secretary-general of Japan\\u2019s ruling Liberal Democratic Party called on Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to address the issue and said only international pressure would change the country\\u2019s century-old system \\u201CThis is a very strong and serious human rights issue,\\u201D said Shibayama \\u201CThe European Union and the United Nations are advising Japan to change this situation I think we must take on such advice.\\u201D They now argue the Albanese government\\u2019s strategy of quiet diplomacy with one of its closest military The Age and revealed that Japanese police have routinely ignored Interpol missing person notices and do not enforce visitation orders police won\\u2019t work because it\\u2019s very very usual for the parents to abduct a child and leave their homes,\\u201D he said Shibayama said the mood had shifted within the Liberal Democratic Party towards reforming the system that gives one parent total control over a child\\u2019s future and grandfathers who lost their children and grandchildren,\\u201D he said lots of families will face a very serious crisis.\\u201D \\u201CWe can\\u2019t change the law on our own We need international help,\\u201D the Japan Innovation Party MP said \\u201CThe victims of this are the children.\\u201D \\u201CThis is casting a and Australia is an important country for Japan in many ways,\\u201D said Umemura \\u201CIt\\u2019s unfortunate that we have this hovering over our good relationship at a time when geopolitics is so important.\\u201D they push it down to the next person,\\u201D she said My heart breaks for the parents and children.\\u201D \\u201CThe Japanese government has done this to them: I want to apologise to the parents A lot of them have committed suicide because they can\\u2019t see their children.\\u201D The Australian government has lodged a submission with the Japanese government\\u2019s ongoing review of the system she said the Australian government had encouraged Japan to find a solution that allowed children to maintain \\u201CI understand that the pain and distress these families are feeling is immense,\\u201D she said \\u201CWe welcome Japan considering a range of family law reforms and Australia has made a submission to Japan\\u2019s Ministry of Justice\\u2019s Family Law Review in support of an approach that allows for shared parenting.\\u201D \\u201CThe Japanese government prioritises the best interests of the child when dealing with child custody issues and meets its international obligations,\\u201D the spokesman said Crisis support is available from on 13 11 14 Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what\\u2019s making headlines around the world. Japanese version