Presenting at AOGS in Fukuoka

 Hello, this is Eyad again!

This time, I had a great opportunity to present part of the research I have been working on since last year. My study focuses on coastal flood damage and community resilience in Ghana,  particularly how repeated floods affect households and their ability to recover.

This was my first conference presentation since coming to Japan, so it was both exciting and slightly nerve-racking! Fortunately, I was not alone. I traveled to Fukuoka with my lab mates Leon, Budz, and Tunyu, which made the experience even more enjoyable.

I was very happy to receive many questions, encouraging comments, and valuable suggestions after my presentation. One particularly interesting discussion was about extending the research to examine people's coping and adaptive capacities during floods.

The discussion did not end when the session finished. I continued exchanging ideas with other researchers outside the conference room, which reminded me that sometimes the most useful conference sessions happen in the hallway!

During the conference, I attended many presentations on hydrological modeling, floods, droughts, and other water-related challenges. I was especially interested in studies using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Since I am currently developing ideas for my PhD research next year, I was listening carefully and collecting inspiration. My brain returned from Fukuoka with almost as much luggage as I did!

The conference was also a wonderful opportunity to build new connections within the scientific community. I met researchers from different countries, including several Arab professors, and enjoyed exchanging experiences and research ideas with them.

Of course, the trip was not limited to conference halls and technical discussions. Whenever we had some free time, we explored Fukuoka together.

There was a beautiful matsuri festival near our hotel, and we even saw many conference participants joining the celebrations. Apparently, researchers also know how to take a break from graphs and equations!

We also visited the beach, some of Fukuoka's famous shrines, and several beautiful parks. These short trips gave us a chance to relax and experience the atmosphere of the city.

And, of course, we cannot talk about Fukuoka without mentioning the food! We enjoyed many delicious local dishes and sweets. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number of fresh-juice shops, scientific discovery during the day and fruit-juice discovery in the evening!

Overall, attending AOGS in Fukuoka was a memorable and rewarding experience. I had the chance to present my work, receive constructive feedback, discover new research ideas, make valuable connections, and enjoy the city with my lab mates.

A special thank you to Professor Kawasaki for making this opportunity possible and for his continuous guidance and support throughout my research. I sincerely appreciate his encouragement, which allowed me to share my work with the wider scientific community.

I returned to Tokyo feeling encouraged, inspired, and ready for the next stage of my research, and perhaps already missing the food in Fukuoka!

            

My Fukuoka Notes

Hi guys! Budz here again!

This time, let me share a story that's not fieldwork-related but just as exciting: a chance to bring our research to the scientific community.

Together with my labmates (Leon, Tunyu, and Eyad), I flew to Fukuoka for AOGS 2026, a five-day conference that brought together researchers from across the field.

I got to present part of our study on flood risk modeling in Marikina. It was just a small slice of my research, but I walked away genuinely happy with the feedback, like a question of how changes in adaptation get factored into our risk model. After my talk, a Filipino researcher in the audience came up to me. She said they always assumed vulnerability was something you once assessed and that's it: a fixed number that stays the same. But I showed how vulnerability actually shifts over time. She agreed that the affected community is neither static nor homogeneous, and both the hazard model and the vulnerability model need to capture that movement. It's the kind of reaction that only really lands when it comes from someone who's thought deeply about the same problem. A nice reminder of why it matters to put your work out there and let other people sit with it.

Outside the conference, this was actually my first time in the southern part of Japan. There's no shortage of food and travel recommendations online, but honestly, I mostly just followed wherever my labmates led me HAHA huge thanks to them! 

Fukuoka is famous for tonkatsu (pork) ramen, and I learned something I didn't expect: Ichiran , the chain every tourist in Tokyo lines up for, actually started right here. On our last day, we tried a local spot called Hakata Issou Ramen and waited almost an hour in line for it. What made it stand out wasn't just the taste but the smell. You truly knew you were eating pork from the aroma alone, not just the flavor. Maybe that's how truly good bowl of ramen should hit you: every sense should be activated, not just your taste.  

We also managed to squeeze in a few spots that felt uniquely Fukuoka. Everything still felt new to me, even the places that reminded me a little of Tokyo, which is probably why I couldn't stop taking pictures (sorry, not sorry✌️). One thing that really struck me: no matter where you go in Japan, everything just... works. The transportation, the services, all of it. It actually made me want to explore more of Japan; there's clearly so much more to discover.

I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity, to Kawasaki Sensei, and I'm looking forward to sharing our next story.

Ohori Park. A big pond ringed by a 2km running course. Joined the night joggers here.

Iki Shrine along Ikinomatsubara Beach.

Nanzoin Temple. Home to the world's largest bronze reclining Buddha.

Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine

AOGS 2026 conference in Fukuoka - by Tunyu

Hi everyone, this is Tunyu again!

Just three days after returning from Hokkaido, I set off for Fukuoka to attend the AOGS Conference 2026.

This time, I participated in the poster session and had the opportunity to exchange ideas and gain valuable insights from other researchers. In particular, discussions about different research targets and model comparisons gave me some new perspectives and a clearer direction for my future research.

It was a meaningful experience, and I’m glad to have had the chance to share my work and learn from others at the conference.

 

On the other days of the conference, I also had opportunities to learn about other researchers’ work and explore different methodologies for spatial prediction, such as forest fire prediction and riverbank detection.

The most impressive one for me was the research on riverbank detection. The researchers used a line-detection approach across pixels to identify and distinguish riverbanks. This method was particularly interesting because it made me think about my own research from a different perspective.

It inspired me to consider whether geometric features could also be incorporated into my research. For example, there may be certain geometric patterns or spatial characteristics within building areas that could help improve building detection and classification.

Learning about methodologies from different research fields gave me new ideas about how I might approach my own research in the future.

Another highlight of this conference was meeting so many researchers not only from Japan but also from Taiwan, especially from National Taiwan University (NTU), where I completed my bachelor’s degree.

I had the chance to meet my former supervisor again, as well as many old friends and researchers from different labs in Japan and Taiwan. It was great to catch up with them, learn about the research projects they are currently working on, and exchange ideas about our different research interests.

Meeting familiar faces in a new place made the conference even more memorable and enjoyable.

Lastly, I cherished every day in Fukuoka by trying as much local food as I could. During my stay, I had tonkotsu ramen three times, motsunabe four times, and mentaiko once!

However, my absolute favorite was a sashimi restaurant called “Gomasaba (ごまさば).” I loved it so much that I ended up going there twice!

Besides all the valuable experiences I gained from the conference, exploring Fukuoka’s local food definitely made this trip even more memorable. It was a wonderful way to wrap up my time here! Thanks to Kawasaki sensei to give me this wonderful opportunity. 

What is "benefit"?

Hello this is Risako from Kawasaki lab!

Our group had a field trip to Ishikari river basin, Hokkaido as Tunyu already introduced :)

The history of Ishikari river improvement dates back to the Meiji era when Japanese government tried to "develop" the land of Hokkaido where Ainu had lived with the river for a long time in a way that adapted their way of life to recurrent flooding. Ainu, indegenious people based in Hokkaido, once made a living with hunting and gathering enjoying the river's abundant resources, such as Salmon. Japanese settlers, however, relied heavily on rice cultivation. This way of life required permanent settlements near the river and the conversion of the region’s wetlands into farmland.

Construction of shortcut channels along the Ishikari River began reducing the flooding-prone area significantly. These projects also contributed to a substantial increase in agricultural yield in Ishikari region by improving drainage and drying our wetlands.

As one of our research interest stays in the spillover effects of flood control investment, let's think about how we can measure the benefit of the project. 

One simple way is to calculate the monetary value of properties that had once been unprotected but now protected. However, since most area of Ishikari flood plain consists of agricultural land, the avoided economic loss might not be enough to say that the "benefit" outweigh the costs though there is not yet such calculation published in the region. 

But...

Aren’t agricultural products essential to Japan’s food security and people’s lives, even if their monetary value is relatively small?

Were the benefits for Japane's development also benefits for Ainu?

What environmental value was lost because of these projects?

How should we evaluate the benefits of avoided losses when flood-control projects themselves encourage people to settle in hazard-prone areas, potentially creating new risks?

I believe that the meaning of "benefit" changes depending on who you are, how you see the world, and what you value. Although this is such difficult topic to do research on, our group will continue to working toward a more resilient and just society.

Ishigari River Field Trip- by Tunyu

Hi, this is Tunyu,

This time, we traveled to the Ishikari River in Hokkaido with Professor Ishiwatari to learn about the history of hydraulic engineering and river management on the Ishikari Plain.

We had the honor of discussing the history of detention ponds with the staff of the Hokkaido Regional Development Bureau. They explained how these ponds have shifted from agricultural field to flood protection pond and also providing important ecological services. We also learned about the cut-off channels and drainage canals that have shaped Hokkaido's unique river network and landscape.

We visited the Yubari Shuparo Dam, which is the second-largest dam in Japan by reservoir storage capacity. Under the guidance of the bureau staff, we learned about practical challenges such as usage change due to water quality and the economic impact of Yubari City's decline. I also had my first opportunity to explore the inside of a gravity dam. I even took a photo on the emergency staircase, where each step has an unusually large height difference, making the climb quite memorable.

When talking about Hokkaido's history, it is impossible to ignore its once-thriving coal mining region and the dramatic changes that followed the industry's decline. Yubari, once famous for producing some of Japan's finest melons, also became known for its severe financial crisis.

We also visited the Railway Museum, where we learned about the history of rail transportation in the region. The exhibits showed how many railway lines were eventually shut down as the local population and economy declined. At the same time, they highlighted the remarkable engineering achievements of earlier generations, who built railways capable of operating through Hokkaido's harsh winters and heavy snowfall. Seeing both the rise and decline of the railway network gave me a deeper appreciation of how closely infrastructure is connected to the prosperity of a community.

I feel fortunate to live in an era when we can learn from the successes and failures of previous generations and make better decisions for the future. At the same time, we enjoy excellent cuisine and a convenient modern lifestyle. Every opportunity to visit infrastructure built during Japan's economic bubble era broadens my perspective and deepens my understanding of how public infrastructure should be planned and managed.

Finally, I would like to thank Professor Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity, over the past two years, to visit places that I would never have had the chance to see as a foreigner. These experiences have encouraged me to think more deeply about how my own country can develop better river basin management strategies and infrastructure planning while considering their long-term social impacts.