History and Main Achievements (excerpt)
Activities in 2012
◎The G&L Kyosei Institute had set up its office in K-Pool, Yanagimachi 4-chome, Yamatokoriyama City.
Activities in 2013
☆Director Oishi, as the representative of the Yamato Nanohana Net, was involved in activities to invite the National Nanohana Summit to the city.
☆As a member of the Nara Tachibana Kaido Project, participation in the planting of tachibana trees and the commercialization of tachibana products
☆Director Oishi, as the director of the NPO Yoshino Heart, was involved in activities to promote the use of Yoshino timber.
☆In the fiscal year 2013, Nara Prefecture Community Contribution Activity Support Project ‘Cooking Contest in Your Town’ *Jointly organized with the NPO Employment Support Centre for People with Disabilities
Activities in 2014
☆Support for the international conference ‘Origins 2014’ (July, Nara Prefecture New Public Hall)
☆Selected for the Nara Prefecture Community Contribution Activity Subsidy Project [Municipal Collaboration Promotion Framework]
~A Circle of People Connected Through Seminars in the Town~
☆Nara Nanohana Project Activities (April – November)
~Towards the 2016 National Nanohana Summit in Sakurai~
☆Planning and management of events to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the sister city affiliation between Nara City and Toledo City in collaboration with Nara City (an executive committee was set up in collaboration with the Nara City Tourism Ambassador Exchange Meeting, etc., and Director Oishi acted as committee chair)
Activities in 2015
☆Director Oishi’s lecture at the Yamato Koriyama ‘Satonaka’: ‘Aiming for a Recycling-Oriented Society’ Director Oishi’s lecture at the Yamato Koriyama ‘Satonaka’: ‘Aiming for a Recycling-Oriented Society’
☆A tour of the Kiki and Manyo Roads linked by Nanohana and tachibana (cooperation)
◎The G&L Kyosei institute was relocated to Keihanna Plaza in the Kansai Science City, with the “[GADV]-protein world Laboratory” also established. Director Kenji Ikehara
☆Environmental Education Seminar: Director Oishi’s Presentation ‘Creating a Recycling-Oriented Society with Rape Blossoms and ESD’
Activities in 2016
☆Executive Committee Chairman of the 16th National Rape Blossom Summit in Yamato (Director Oishi)V hypothesis” (Dr.Ikehara)
☆Executive Committee Chairman of the 16th National Rape Blossom Summit in Yamato (Director Oishi)
☆Attendance at the General Meeting of the Nara Prefecture Environmental Forum (Report on the National Rape Blossom Summit by Director Oishi)
☆Presentation at the ELSI International Workshop on the Origin of Life (Dr.Ikehara)
☆The 2nd Keihanna Lab Seminar was held (Non-Oxide Ceramics and the Origin of Life, Professor Osamu Yamada, Osaka Sangyo University)
Activities in 2017
☆The 3rd G&L Kyosei Institute Keihanna Lab Seminar was held (‘The GADV hypothesis on the origin of life and the GC-NSF(a) new gene generation hypothesis’ (Dr. Ikehara) ‘Verification of the GC-NSF(a) new gene generation hypothesis using bioinformatics methods’ (Ryoko Oi))
☆Lecture on the ‘Attractions of Rapeseed Oil’ at the ‘Town Centre Tea Salon’ of the Food Storyteller Project (Dr. Oishi)
☆The 17th National Rape Blossom Summit in Minamisoma 2017 (participation)
☆ISSOL (XVIII International Conference on the Origin of Life, held at the University of California, participation)
☆The 4th G&L Kyosei Institute Keihanna Lab Seminar (Lecture on the XVIII International Conference on the Origin of Life) (Dr. Ikehara, Ryoko Oi)
☆Nara Prefecture Environmental Citizen Forum 20th Anniversary Commemorative Meeting (Lecture, Dr. Oishi )
◎The G&L Kyosei Institute moved to the Koharu Building in Hokkeji-machi, Nara City (September)
Activities in 2018
☆Oiwake Japanese Plum Garden Plum Viewing Party (Cooperation)
☆The 1st G&L Kyosei Institute Lecture was held
☆The 27th Natural Science Discussion Meeting of the Kyoto Branch of the Science Council of Japan (Lecture by Dr. Ikehara)
☆The 12th Kyoto University International Research Unit Seminar for the Creation of the Future (Lecture by Dr. Ikehara)
☆Seminar on the cutting edge of research into D-amino acids in the body (coordination)
☆‘A Meeting with Dr. Yanagisawa’ vol.2 – Learning about the origins of Yamato Koriyama and looking to the future of Yamato Koriyama – (organized)
Activities in 2019 and 2020
＊Due to the coronavirus pandemic,
activities were suspended from 2019 to 2020.
＊In 2020, we developed a product called Yamato Tachibana Tea. From leaf picking to drying, hand-kneading and packaging, the new tachibana tea was made entirely by hand. This year, the tea was carefully tended to during the winter, so the beautiful new green buds all came out. The tea taste was exceptionally elegant.
Activities in 2021
☆Oiwake Nanohana Festival (organized) – Nanohana flower viewing, performances by visually impaired musicians ‘Kaleidoscope’, NIZIU dance, etc.
☆ISSOL (International Conference on the Origin of Life , online participation)
☆Oiwake Japanese Plum Blossom Viewing Event (26-27 Feb, 5-6 Mar, 12-13 Mar, 19-20 Mar, 26-27 Mar 2022)
Activities in 2022
☆The Oiwake Japanese Plum Blossom Viewing Party will be held on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 26 February to 26 March.
◎G&L Kyosei Institute moved its office from Koharu Building 2F, Hokkeji-cho, Nara City to the office of Keihanna Academy of Science and Culture on the 3rd floor of Keihanna Plaza in Keihanna Science City in June.
The three members of the G&L Kyosei Institute will now support the activities of the Keihanna Academy of Science and Culture as directors of that organization.
☆Nanohana WEEKs was held on Saturdays and Sundays from 9th to 24th April. It was held to expand the Nanohana Project as a model for a recycling-oriented society based on the aims of the SDGs.
☆Dr. Ikehara received the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the scientific magazine ‘LIFE’.
☆On Sunday 17th July, Professor Ikehara held a science experiment class on ‘Redox reactions as seen through color changes’ at the 3rd Keihanna Sunday Science Program, organized by the Keihanna Academy of Science and Culture. Participants included children from kindergarten to 6th grade, as well as their parents.
Activities in 2023
☆Dr. Ikehara’s new paper, ‘Why were [GADV]-amino acids and GNC codons selected and how was GNC primeval genetic code established ?’, has been published in Genes by MDPI.
☆From 23 February, the Oiwake Kanbaikai (plum blossom appreciation event) was held.
The Oiwake Rape Blossom Festival was held on 8 and 9 April. It was co-hosted by the G&L Kyosei Institute, the Oiwake Plum Garden Agricultural Association, and the SPS Young Dementia Center Kizunaya.
☆The Keihanna International Children’s Camp, organized by the Keihanna Academy of Science and Culture, was held over four nights and five days from 7th to 11th August. The camp was aimed at upper elementary school students, and 23 children took part. It was held with funding from the Children’s Dream Fund. There were lots of events, including science experiments (making water purifiers), English lessons, international learning (Pakistan, China, the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, and the USA), tennis lessons, making and launching PET bottle rockets, cooking in a pot, and an athletics event. The children really enjoyed themselves.
Activities in 2024
☆The Oiwake Japanese Plum Blossom Viewing Party was held from 23 February to 20 March. We set up a sales booth.
☆The Oiwake Rape Blossom Festival was held on 6 and 7 April. We served tempura made with rape blossoms, and also sold rape seed oil, Yamato tachibana tea, tachibana granola and other items. This event was sponsored by the Nara Prefecture Environmental Citizen Forum, and there was also a stamp rally.
☆On 13th and 14th September, the Origin of Life Research Group held a presentation at the Keihanna Salon.
We invited Ichihashi Norikazu (Professor, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo) and Tagami Shunsuke (Team Leader, RIKEN Advanced Biomolecular Development Team) as lecturers. Dr. Ikehara gave a presentation from our institute.
＊What is the Keihanna Salon?
The Keihanna Salon is a place where we can exchange opinions about science and technology, which are constantly involved in our daily lives, from the perspective of citizens, rather than from a specialist’s point of view.
☆On 26th October, the 241st Keihanna Salon ‘Light and Living Organisms’ was held as a commemorative lecture for Dr. Tadashi Oishi’s receipt of the Achievement Award from the Photobiology of Association of Japan.