Homesangaku-renkei[AT]office.hiroshima-u.ac.jp
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— Establishing a regional co-creation center based on marine remote sensing —
The proposal “Marine Cultural City Co-Creation Center Centered on Remote Sensing,” led by Hiroshima University, has been selected for the Full-Scale Program of the “Program on Open Innovation Platforms for Industry-Academia Co-Creation (COI-NEXT)” by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) (JST announcement, February 20, 2026).
COI-NEXT is a large-scale initiative that promotes research and social implementation through collaboration among academia, industry, government, and civil society, based on a backcasting approach from a future vision of society. In this promotion review, six projects previously selected under the Incubation Program in FY2024 were evaluated, and two projects—including this proposal—were selected for the Full-Scale Program. Hiroshima University is currently the only university in the Chugoku region hosting a COI-NEXT full-scale center.
Center Overview
This center will serve as a core hub for marine and maritime research at Hiroshima University and will be implemented with the coastal waters of Kure City as its primary demonstration field. Considering the characteristics of the Seto Inland Sea—where shipping, aquaculture, tourism, and other marine uses overlap—the project will establish a technological foundation capable of monitoring ocean conditions across wide areas on a continuous basis, enabling both safe and sustainable ocean use and the creation of new marine industries.
Toward achieving the regional vision of “Creating a new marine social space where young people can take pride and pursue challenges,” the center will integrate research and social implementation centered on marine remote sensing technologies—including satellite SAR, ocean color analysis, and underwater acoustic observation—that enable wide-area and continuous monitoring of ocean conditions.
Key initiatives include:
- Establishing a marine information infrastructure enabling safe autonomous navigation even at night or in severe weather
- Implementing coastal disaster digital twins to support EBPM-based coastal management
- Developing and socially implementing smart aquaculture models that balance environmental sustainability and productivity
- Promoting ELSI co-creation to address ethical, legal, and social issues related to technology deployment
Over the 10-year period beginning in FY2026, Hiroshima University will collaborate with Kure City as the core municipal partner, together with more than 20 participating institutions, including research organizations and private companies, to advance initiatives aimed at realizing a Marine Cultural City.
Marine Cultural City Co-Creation Center Centered on Remote Sensing
- Project Leader
- Yuji Sakuno
Professor, Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Hiroshima University
- Yuji Sakuno
- Deputy Project Leaders
- Tsutomu Sawai
Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Hiroshima University - Naoki Iwata
Director, Chuden Engineering Consultants Co., Ltd. - Shinji Wakamiya
General Manager, Environmental Division, Fukken Co., Ltd. - Hideki Ikeda
Deputy Director, Planning Department, Kure City
- Tsutomu Sawai
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