I came to the Kansai Science City in 2003, and since then I am working at the Advanced Photon Research Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (formerly the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute).
Our Center is situated in Kizugawa city, near the border with Nara city.
This place has a beautiful nature, with the scenery surrounded by mountains, which change their color every season.
The sunsets are really beautiful, with the clouds colored into many gradations of red, or with thin glowing edges back-lighted by the setting sun.

Every ear, the nature offers the sakura blooming in spring (hanami) and the red leaves of autumn (momiji), two major natural events which attract nearly all local population.
Further, many historical monuments are situated here or in the immediate vicinity, including the world-famous ancient cities Nara and Kyoto, with their temples, shrines, Japanese gardens, and so on.
Four years ago, the area near our Center was rather deserted. However, it is now rapidly developing and growing, offering more and more facilities for people.

The Kansai Science City is the area specially devoted for the promotion of international research.
For the foreign researchers, this means easier procedures necessary to come, to settle, and to live.
The foreign researchers enjoy a really friendly attitude of the local people.
Not to mention the possibility to learn about the Japanese culture, to taste the world-famous Japanese cuisine, and to participate in numerous local festivals and other cultural events.

The free Japanese language classes with very kind teachers are available for foreigners. (Special thanks for this to the local government).
However, much has to be done in future, including wider spread of English in official organizations, schools, kindergartens, as well as in the research institutes themselves.

Another much-anticipating improvement is the increasing job opportunities for the family members of the foreign researchers.
The possibility for children to study in an international school is also important. Implementation of these improvements will lead to more happy life and therefore to better outcome in research.
Not only the foreign researchers are benefiting from working and living here.

For the Kansai Science City, the broad international collaboration in science and industry represents the major advantage with respect to other cities in Japan. Talented young and famous mature scientists are significantly contributing to the promotion of the cutting-edge research in the leading institutes situated in this area, including our Center. Last but not least, the foreign researchers provide the possibility for the local people to learn about foreign countries, their customs, and the way of thinking, which is often complimentary to the Japanese one. We should not under-appreciate the advantages which follow from the combination of these complementary ways of thinking in science: it often allows finding better solutions for the problems. For this reason, for the foreign researchers it is important to keep their own way of conducting research. Understanding that the international communication provides a mutual benefit for both the foreign researchers and the local people is the key for the successful development of the Science City. If this understanding is further cultivated, the future looks really bright for the Kansai Science City.

日本原理力研究開発機構 関西光科学研究所 高強度場利用研究グループ　研究員

けいはんなオブザーブ１４号より出典