My 2022 AGU Fall Meeting experience

We left New Haven on December 11 and made our way to Chicago for the 2022 AGU Fall Meeting, which was held there from December 12 to December 16, 2022.

The AGU Fall Meeting is the world's largest geoscience conference, with over 25,000 attendees from more than 100 countries,  covers the Earth Sciences and its derivatives, other related disciplines such as Bioecology and Planetary Science, and is not limited to geophysics. It is a great opportunity to meet scientific groups from all over the world, no matter how advanced, unusual, or specialized the researcher's topic is.  The information, suggestions, and inspiration we receive at these conferences are on par with what we learn in the classroom.

This year's AGU Fall Meeting was held at the McCormick Convention Centre in Chicago. The days of the meeting were either occupied by groups of earth scientists brandishing poster reels like swordsmen or a crowd of attendees traveling to and from the conference. One of the events I remember the most was the large poster session. Thousands of posters were rotated up in only a few short days. I was one of the individuals who had only half a day to prepare their own poster and set it up before having to deliver it to the audience. To my amazement, throughout the roughly three hours that I presented the posters, there was a sizable audience interested in my message. It was really gratifying to discuss my thoughts with numerous researchers from different fields and to receive so many insightful comments. What surprised me most was that Prof. Toshio Koike, who had just received the AGU Ambassador Award, came to listen to my presentation and was very kind in giving me lots of suggestions and encouragement!

Of course, after the conference, my new friends and I spent some time touring the energetic American city of Chicago! One of the biggest cities in the country, Chicago is a bustling metropolis full of possibilities. Chicago's famous Millennium Park and Cloud Gate were our first stop. This landmark building, affectionately referred to by locals as the Big Bean, is located in the middle of the park and offers a mirror-like reflection of the skyline where tourists from all over the world assemble to take precious souvenir photos.

We also traveled across Michigan Avenue, Chicago's principal thoroughfare connecting its north and south. Neon lights in golden hues illuminate the lake on each side of the Michigan Bridge at night, while the Trump Tower stands out boldly on the shore, looking opulent and contemporary. Heading south, we can reach the Art Institute of Chicago. As the city's top art museum, you could spend a whole day there and still not see everything. Finally, we also hit up the home of the Chicago Bulls, the United Center, to witness the Michael Jordan statue. Thanks to the fusion of cultures, we were able to eat Mexican, Italian, and a variety of new and eclectic dishes in Chicago. Prof. Kawasaki and I had the famous deep-dish pizza at Giordano's. Unlike the pizza in New Haven, the deep dish pizza here is very thick and covered in rich cheese, which gives it a unique flavor.

This AGU Fall Meeting experience has facilitated my understanding of the frontiers of my discipline and has given me a full appreciation of the multicultural beauty of Chicago.

Visit to Yale University

Hello, I am Zhao Han, a Ph.D. student in the Kawasaki lab. On December 8, Prof. Kawasaki and I traveled from Tokyo to New Haven, Connecticut, USA, to visit our colleagues at Yale University.

Our jet initially touched down in New York, and as we traveled from that city to New Haven, we were able to see Manhattan, the city's busiest port. On the way, coincidentally, Prof. Kawasaki and I also met a Chinese researcher who was going to New Haven with us, this trip was filled with excitement.

We traveled for almost two hours before arriving in New Haven, home to Yale University, a renowned institution of higher learning both domestically and worldwide. It seemed like Yale was everywhere as we got closer to downtown. After a fantastic lunch, we finally met our co-workers Reed, Zach, and Salma from Franch. Reed and Zach then showed us around Yale's beautiful campus. Yale University is the third oldest university in the country and has no gates, making it an open campus. The university's accommodation buildings are quaint and all the buildings are unique and full of humanity. I was most impressed by the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the largest building in the world dedicated to the preservation of rare books and manuscripts.

After that, we traveled to a building deep inside Yale University to discuss the status of our research progress. Unlike online meetings, the face-to-face format helped us to better comprehend each other's perspectives. After the discussion, Reed also invited us to try the special potato pizza at Bar Restaurant and super delicious ice cream in downtown New Haven. Here, the pizza was thin and crispy, and the portions were enormous in comparison to other places!

In addition, Newhaven is especially lovely at night, and because it's almost Christmas, everyone is in the holiday spirit. The streets were decorated with choirs, ice-carved reindeer, and all sorts of lights decorating the roads at night. On the last day, it even snowed slowly in New Haven, the first snow I had seen this year. After that, I went to the Yale University Art Gallery, which I had been wanting to see. It had four floors of historical and cultural artifacts from four continents respectively, and entry was free. It is filled with precious ceramics, African sculptures, and paintings from the European Renaissance.

This trip to Yale will always be one of my favorite experiences.

AGU Ambassador Award to Prof. Koike!

Prof. Toshio Koike received the very honorable AGU (American Geophysical Union) Ambassador Award in Chicago!  Congratulations on the Award, Koike-sensei! 

福岡巡り

 こんにちは。M2の五十川です。２回連続の登場です。

11/3に，EcoBalacnce学会で福岡に行くついでに福岡近郊での環境保全が行われている場所を巡りました。今回はそのレポートのJapanese版です。

今回の視察では，アメリカ・Yale大学からEcoBalance学会のためにはるばる日本へいらっしゃったReedさんと一緒に巡りました。

まず，川下りで有名な柳川へ。船に乗り，柳川城跡の外濠水路を船頭さんの説明とともに眺めました。ちょうど訪れた時期が柳川出身の文豪である北原白秋をたたえる「白秋祭」の日であり，普段は見られないであろう灯篭や提灯が飾られていました。昼頃に訪れたので残念ながら灯篭流しは見れなかったのですが…。

川に面した出店も

次に，ラムサール条約にも登録されている有明海方面へ向かい，熊本・荒尾市にある荒尾干拓水鳥・湿地センターへ訪れました。館員の方曰く，荒尾干潟は定期的にボランティアの方が清掃活動を行っているようで，他の干潟とは異なりいつも綺麗なことが自慢ですとのこと。確かに海岸にはほとんどゴミが落ちていなかったような気がします。また，ノリ養殖の展示では，館員の方のご説明も受けながら皆興味を示していたのが印象的でした。

 

荒尾干潟にて

その後，2015年に世界文化遺産に登録された三池炭鉱へ。明治期から昭和期にかけての石炭産業の栄枯盛衰に関する資料を一通り見たのち，閉山後の工場の様子を当時の労働環境を想起しながら見学しました。

炭鉱の工場

最後に，干拓事業の一環として建設された永治堤防・矩手（かねんて）水門へ。干拓地をつくるため，100年以上も前により効率の良い排水を行うために建設された堤防・水門で，水門のレンガによるアーチが印象的でした。

矩手水門（見えづらいですが）

EcoBalance学会では環境を主なテーマと捉えていたため，河川とその関連施設を主とした普段の調査とは異なり新鮮味がありました。今回の視察でエネルギー問題や生態系保全等に対し，より深く考える非常にいいきっかけとなったかなと思いました。

EcoBalance国際会議で発表しました

 こんにちは。川崎グループM2の五十川です。

先日10/31～11/2に福岡で開催されたEcoBalance国際会議に，Hanさんと僕と参加してきました。今回はそのレポート日本語版です。

そもそもEcoBalance国際会議とは日本LCA学会が主催する国際学会で，ざっくり説明すると持続可能な社会の構築のために，採取から運用，リサイクルや廃棄といった資源のライフサイクルアセスメント(LCA)に関する様々な研究を取り扱っています。川崎グループで最近取り組み始めたテーマであるため，川崎先生自身もこの学会は初めて参加されるとのことでした。。

看板の前で

個人的に対面学会は初だったため，九州大学や東京理科大学，立命館大学など他大学の学生や各企業・研究所の研究者との交流が行えたのが大変意義深いものだったと思います。なお東大工学部に限っても，都市工・化シス・精密など幅広い領域から参加しており，他学科の研究が具体的に知れるまたとない機会でもありました。ただ社基からの参加は珍しく，こんな研究も社基ではやっているんですね～と言われることも（どこ研究室ですか？と訊かれて？？？となることもしばしば…笑）。それほど多種多様な分野からの発表が行われていました。

そのため，我々が取り組む研究以外にもライフサイクルや地球環境問題に対する新たな視点を得られたのは大きいと思います。現在私が手法として扱っている産業連関分析に関する研究はもちろんのこと，特定の生産業に焦点を絞って生産から消費までのCO2排出量評価や，政策決定や資金調達等実際の運用に際する課題について，専門的な部分まで知ることができました。

東大IFIも関わるGlobal Commons Stewardship index(GCSi)についての発表の様子

またポスター発表では，日本の食糧産業が海外に間接的に与える地球環境負荷の評価といったテーマで発表しました。対面の学会発表は初なので緊張していましたが，多くの人と深い議論を行い，様々なアドバイスを受けたり，この研究おもしろいね！と言われたりなど，実りのある経験になったと思います。

ポスターの前で

今回の国際会議では著名な研究者とお話しする機会もあり，学会を通して刻一刻と迫ってくる修論完成に向けて非常にいい刺激になりました。心を入れ替えて頑張りたいと思います。

おまけ：Banquetでの忍者ショー。海外の方には大ウケ
でした

Visit to Fukuoka

 Hi, this is Zhao Han, a Ph.D. student in the Kawasaki Lab. Here I would like to share the wonderful experience I had visiting Fukuoka.

I was filled with excitement and anticipation as I boarded the departing plane, and with the low roar of the engine, I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole time, looking forward to arriving in time. Fukuoka Prefecture is located in the northern part of Kyushu Island and is the most populous and developed prefecture on the island, known as the "Gateway to Kyushu". Fukuoka is a gourmet destination, with sushi, seafood, chicken skewers, and beef hot pot, some of which we can enjoy at roadside stalls.

Isogawa-san recommended the most famous local ramen —"Shin Shin Ramen“—to us, and we queued up for it without thinking twice. This ramen is really good, made from pork bone broth and thin noodles, rich in bone glue, and refreshing. 

We spent the rest of the day in various meetings and conferences and had no time to go around the city. It was only on our last day that we had time to explore the surrounding area, arranged by Prof. Kawasaki.  Our first stop was Yanagawa, where the first impression I got was that I might have come to a fake Japan. What's with the whitewashed buildings, the willow trees draped over the sides, and the wooden boats drifting down the river? But it really is a Japanese city. Yanagawa reminds me of Venice, it would be a waste not to go boating here.

The second place we visited was Araohigata Waterfowl and Wetland Center, a wetland park run by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment to protect the environment for birds.  The locals enthusiastically introduced us to clams, seaweed, migratory birds, shellfish, sandworms, and a host of other creatures.

 Finally, we visited the Miike Mine Manda Pit, located in Omuta City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture. The Manda Pit is listed as a World Heritage Site as part of the "Industrial Revolution Heritage of Meiji Japan", and it was a great experience to walk around the area with a retro feel.

It was a wonderful experience and I hope to return to this city again！

My EcoBalance 2022 conference experience

This is Zhao Han, a Ph.D. student in the Kawasaki Lab. Here, I would like to record my participation in the International Conference on EcoBalance 2022 from 31 October - 2 November.

The International Conference on EcoBalance, organized by the Institute of Life Cycle Assessment, Japan (ILCAJ), is held every two years. Recognized as one of the world's premier conferences for professionals from academia, industry, and government, the Ecobalance 2022 is in its 15th year and is held at the Fukuoka International Congress Center.

I was thrilled to attend for the first time! I met with researchers from major Japanese universities such as the University of Tokyo, Waseda University, Kyushu University, and Tohoku University, as well as other prestigious universities around the world such as ETH, Yale University, and Leiden University. The sessions were held in separate sessions for different topics. Due to the large number of accepted topics, many sessions were held in parallel. We need to check out the sessions that interest us and then go to a specific venue at a specific time.

In addition to the sessions, the conference also featured presentations by industry experts. For example, Mr. Hiroshi Ozeki from Nissay Asset Management Corporation spoke about Trends and expectations in the investment industry for carbon neutrality. It is believed that these explorations will significantly contribute to improving environmental and social sustainability in the medium to long term.

Meanwhile, listening to the fluent and confident presentations of others at the conference immediately made me feel a lot more stressed. At the conference, I presented to the audience some of the progress of my research on determinants of changes in crucial environmental indicators for Global Commons Stewardship in China based on the MRIO model. I also received a lot of helpful comments during the conference. Once I finished my presentation, I was finally able to start enjoying the conference.

I traveled non-stop to the different sessions to listen to the topics that interested me, which greatly enriched my perspective. On the evening of the 31st, I attended the Ecobalance Young Researchers' Workshop, where Professor Dr. Matthias Finkbeiner from Technical University Berlin gave a very interesting and humorous presentation on practical LCA. It was the first time I had a complete understanding of LCA assessments!

Overall, the various experiences of the conference were an incredible eye-opener for me at the time and also honed my ability to act and judge independently, it was very memorable.

～UNDP’s Mission～Partnership with Japan and Career

 

【イベント案内】

～UNDP(国連開発計画）’s Mission～

 Partnership with Japan and Career

 We are pleased to welcome Mr. Steve Utterwulghe, Director of Public Partnerships at UNDP, to learn about the organization and its operations, career development in the field of international development, and its partnership with Japan. He will also talk about UNDP’s vision and activities to eradicate poverty and achieve SDGs.

Title: UNDP’s Mission, Partnership with and Career

Speaker: Mr. Steve Utterwulghe, Director of Public Partnerships, UNDP

Date and time: Monday, 7 November 16:30-17:30

Venue: Eng. Bldg. No.1 Room 17 (2nd floor 234) / 工学部一号館17号教室

Language: English

Moderater: Kawasaki

No signups, all of you are very welcome to join this seminar!

Please see below for further information. 

UNDP's Mission Brochure (PDF)

10/22日 ぼうさいこくたい2022セッションに登壇します！ 「21世紀前半に発生が確実視される国難級災害を乗り越えるための,レジリエンス確保のあり方」

 　　　　　 　　　　　

　　　　　　　　　　～☆川崎　登壇します☆～ 

日時：　10月22日（土）14:30～16:00 

ぼうさいこくたい2022セッション　/　日本学術会議公開シンポジウム 

「21世紀前半に発生が確実視される国難級災害を乗り越えるためのレジリエンス確保のあり方」

の セッションに登壇します！（セッション番号S-18） 

現地会場（兵庫県神戸市 JICA 関西）とオンライン（Zoom）のハイブリッド開催となりますので、 是非、Zoomで参加してください。 

現地会場、オンライン接続先等の詳細については、下記をご参照ください。

○ぼうさいこくたい2022のページ（セッションS-18）

　https://bosai-kokutai.jp/2022/s-18 

○日本学術会議ホームページ 　

　https://www.scj.go.jp/ja/event/2022/330-s-1022-2.html

初めての学会発表！

川崎グループM2の安藤です．9/5~7まで京都に行ってきました！ 学部生の頃，私は洪水が常襲する途上国での洪水被害に関する研究をおこなってきました．特に教育年数や性別などの個人属性に着目して，洪水被害を分析しました．私の研究では，洪水被害を特徴付ける指標として，個人の収入損失に着目しました．分析の結果，農村部の女性を除いて，教育年数が長くなるほど，収入損失が小さくなることがわかりました． この結果を，卒論の最終発表で社会基盤学科の皆様にオンラインでお伝えすることはできましたが，日本全国で自分の成果を発表できる機会が欲しいと思い，水文水資源学会に参加することにいたしました． 本学会は，下図のような京都大学宇治おうばくプラザで行われました．

京都大学に訪れるのが初めてで，かつ非常に大きなホールで皆の前で発表するという機会がなかったので，非常に良い経験となりました．水文学の専門家が多く発表を聞いている中で，まだ水文学に関する知識もそこまで深くない自分が発表するのは非常に緊張しました． また，発表では同大学の生研に所属している山崎先生の発表が特に印象的で，既存の論文の形態にとらわれず，オピニオン論文として，新たな枠組みを設定することで，より多くの論文提出の機会を提供できるようになるとのことでした．一般的な論文の形式とは外れてしまいますが，非常に価値の高い主張というのは数多く存在すると思うので，このような通常の成果だけではなく，様々な論点での発表機会を与えてくださる本学会は非常に有意義だと感じました．下図が本学会の発表の様子です．

さらに，他にも，水文学の専門家の私にとっては非常に難しく感じる発表から，数人の学科同期の発表も聞くこともでき，非常に多くのことを学べました． この発表会場が宇治にあり，近くに平等院鳳凰堂があったので，学会が始まる前の空いている時間に平等院鳳凰堂も訪れ，日本の歴史や京都の風情も感じることができ，個人的には大満足の3日間でした．

最後に，このような貴重な学会発表に機会を提供してくださった，水文水資源学会の会員の皆様，このような機会を提案してくださった川崎先生に非常に感謝しております！ 最後まで読んでくださり，ありがとうございました！

 

Visitation at Urayama dam and Takizawa dam

Hello everyone, this is Zhang Zhaoyu a M1 student in the Kawasaki Lab. So glad to introduce you the visitation we had on August 26^th, 2022.

This is a visitation organized by the Japan Society of Dam Engineers.

We visited two dams located in the Arakawa River basin ( Urayama Dam and Takizawa Dam). We learned basic information about these two dams and also watched how the work are doing by the staff at the dams.

1.           The first one was Urayama Dam:

The dam height of Urayama Dam is 156m and the dam length is 372m. the total water storage capacity is 58 million m³ (of which 2 million m³ is the sediment accumulation capacity), and it is a multi-purpose dam that regulates floods, provides water, controls the river environment and generates electricity.

1.1 Flood control

The Urayama dam takes the 100-year flood (1000m³/s) as the design flood and has a flood regulation capacity of 23 million m³ during the flood season. When the design flood comes, the dam is released at 110m³/s and the remaining water is stored in the reservoir.

In reality, the largest flood was a record 420m³/s in 2019 when Typhoon 19 came. Urayama dam has been used safely during floods so far.

1.2   Water suply

The Urayama dam can provide 4.1m³/s water, of which 65% is provided to Saitama, 29% to the Tokyo City, and the remaining 6% to the Chichibu area. It is an important source of water supply for the Arakawa River basin.

1.3   Water environment

The Urayama dam is often affected by the fact that the water becomes turbid after heavy rainfall. Many businesses downstream (fisheries, factories, domestic water, etc.) are affected. The management has taken a series of measures to solve this problem. Like, the water intake is located about 6km upstream of the dam and the entire pipeline is made of steel and reinforced plastic pipes.

To prevent insufficient oxygenation of the water in the reservoir, six supplemental air devices have been installed upstream of the dam to ensure water quality.

There are also devices to prevent driftwood.

1.4   Power generation

The Urayama dam uses this water to generate electricity while releasing water downstream and has a capacity of 5,000kw. At the time we visited it, it’s running in 2.6 m³/s.

We can see that there are two drainage holes here, one large and one small. The large one has a drainage capacity of 40m³/s and the small one is 2m³/s. When we need to adjust the water release in 0.1m³/s, it will be more convenient to use the small hole, and when we need to release a large amount of water, it will be more convenient to use the large hole.

2.           Takizawa dam

Takizawa dam has a dam height of 132m, a dam length of 424m, and a total water storage capacity of 63 million m³ (of which 5 million m³ is the sedimentation capacity)

Its function is basically the same as Urayama dam.

2.1 Flood control

The Takizawa dam has a 100-year flood level of 1850m³/s, of which 300m³/s will be released and the rest will be stored in the dam, corresponding to a flood regulation capacity of 33 million m³ during the flood season.

The actual maximum flood record is still Typhoon 19 in 2019, when the flood flow was 700m³/s. So far the operation of Takizawa dam in the flood season is still safe.

2.2   water supply

The water supply of Takizawa dam is very similar to that of Urayama dam. It provides 4.6m³/s of water supply, 81% of which is supplied to Saitama and 29% to Tokyo.

2.3   Water quality

The water intake facility is operated to draw water from a high turbidity layer during discharge, and to preserve the fresh water layer. When there is no need to discharge, the goal is to keep the water temperature when we take the water.

2.4   Power generation

Like Urayama dam, Takizawa dam has a generation capacity of 3400kw.

At the time we visited it, it’s running in 1.5m³/s.

3.           Spill way

The Urayama dam has a common spillway (3m³/s) and two spillways for extraordinary periods without gates (natural overflow).

The Takizawa dam has a common water intake as well as three emergency spillways with arc gates, which are operated by the winches inside the dam on both sides. These machines are well maintained, and the workers also draw red lines on the screws to keep an eye on the status of the machines.

4.           Dam Safety Monitoring

This device can monitor the deformation of the dam.

There are also equipments at the bottom of the dam to monitor the dam leakage and lift pressure to ensure the stability of the dam in several ways.

At the left bank of Takizawa dam, a concrete revetment was made to prevent soil erosion. Based on the color difference of the revetment, we can also determine the long-term water level of the dam.

5.           Sediment

The amount of sediment in the watershed is relatively high because of typhoons and other reasons. The sediment is used locally to fill the part washed away downstream or carried to other places for other uses.

There are about 13000t sediment over this place.

This place was originally a reservoir, but because of Typhoon 19, this reservoir was completely filled with sediment. We can still see some concrete structures, but the former road and the appearance of the reservoir are completely invisible.

At last

This visitation was quite an experience. Dam management is now really digital. In the control center of Takizawa Dam, we can observe the overall situation of the dam with the naked eye, and at the same time, we can understand the parameters of the dam in real time through various digital monitoring devices. The data is stored in the computer, which is very useful for future management and research.

Learning about these two dams on the Arakawa River Basin made me more aware of the role of dams in stabilizing water supplies and preventing natural disasters such as floods and droughts, and how hard our stable lives are to come by. All these cannot be achieved without the efforts of the dam design department and the management department.

初めてのタイ，初めての海外

こんにちは。M2の五十川です。

先日，中村さんの研究の一環としてタイへ現地調査に行ってきました。

コロナ禍もあったので配属から3年目にして初の海外での調査でした。今回は8/1〜4のアユタヤ視察の，後半の2日間と前後のバンコクでの活動について書いていきます。

8/3　@セーナー地区

セーナー周辺は昨年2021年での洪水でも浸水被害を受けた地域でした。2011年・2021年と2回の大洪水を受けたため，浸水対策を自ら行っている家が多くありました。調査を訪れた当日も，大洪水が来た場合にも家屋の浸水を免れるために高床住居をさらに高くする工事を行っている住居も見受けられました。

浸水した跡がくっきり

洪水の被害の爪痕がいまだに残っている場所もあり，被害の大きさを改めて実感しました。

午後は役所に訪れて洪水発生当時や発生後の補償等についてお話を伺いました。急に訪問したにも拘らず親切に対応してくださいました。

セーナー地区の役所にて

8/4　＠バーンバーン地区

バーンバーンもセーナー地区同様昨年の洪水被害を大きく受けた地域でした。

幸い家屋の浸水は免れた住居でも，洪水に伴う土砂の侵食被害が大きくても補償が得られない（家屋が浸水することで補償金が出る）等浸水被害以外で悩む方や，諸条件が重なり浸水被害を受けてもまだ補償が得られず，家を修理するお金が不十分で困っている方等，今でも資金面で課題は残存しているように見えました。

すぐ横はチャオプラヤ川

また，訪れたご家庭の中にはご家族が病院勤務者の方がいて，LINE電話（タイでも日常的に使用されているようです！）を介して昨年の洪水時での救助や病院での状況についてお話を伺うこともできました。

LINE電話を介した調査の様子

8/5　チュラロンコン大学見学＆調査結果発表

前日にバンコクに戻り，この日は朝からチュラロンコン大学に訪れました。

まずはキャンパスツアー。建物や道路，広場の規模がどれもこれも大きく，うちの大学よりもすごく広々としていて羨ましいな〜と感じました。ただ驚いたのは大学でも制服があるということ。この日は翌週から授業が始まるタイミングで，制服を着た多数の新入生と見られる人々がキャンパス内を歩いていました。

白い所も含め全部がチュラ大の敷地だそうです。広すぎる…！

ツアー後は都市地域計画を専門とするSutee先生の研究室にお邪魔し，この4日間での活動報告を行いました。アユタヤでの調査ではSutee先生の研究室の学生の方々にも同行していただいたこともあり，調査結果に対する密度の濃い議論を交えてコメントを頂きました。

発表の様子

冒頭にも書きましたが，M2にして初めての海外での調査でした。過去に研究室のメンバーの，海外を対象とした同様の研究テーマに関する発表を聞いていても，実態が十二分に把握できず歯痒く感じていました。今回の調査を通し，実際現地に訪れることでわかる「生の声」を直接肌で感じ取れた経験は非常に価値のあるものだったと思います。

加えて，個人的には初のタイ，いや生まれてから24年目にして初の海外でした。タイに行く前は不安でいっぱいでしたが，現地の方々が親切に接してくださったお陰で何の大きな事故もなく1週間滞在でき，最終日には日本に帰りたくないと思えるぐらい充実したものになりました。不安感を払拭できたこの成長は，生涯大いに役立つかもしれないと感じました。

最後に，今回の調査に携わってくださった全ての方々に感謝の意を申し上げます。本当にありがとうございました！