The R&D Focus Area Meeting for Redesigning Communities for Aged Society was held on November 27 (Sat.) and 28 (Sun.), 2010, at the Seihoku Gallery, Yayoi Auditorium, Faculty of Agriculture, the University of Tokyo. A total of 42 people, including those in charge of the area (the Area Director, all the Area Advisors, and RISTEX office personnel), project personnel, RISTEX's Director-General, and other relevant personnel, were in attendance.
Because this was the first meeting for this focus area, its goals were 1) for management teams and project personnel to collaborate and obtain a shared awareness of the focus area's goals, and 2) to build a network for the focus area as a whole by creating a venue for the projects to exchange information while working to enable collaboration.

Day 1: November 27 (Sat.)

●Area Director's speech
　Area Director Akiyama spoke of the process of deciding on this focus area and described projects adopted during FY 2010. She presented a conceptual diagram mapping the issues facing an aged society, showing where the topics adopted this year fit. She indicated that she hoped that through three years of public appeal, as many of the issues as possible would be laid to rest.

Area Director : Hiroko AKIYAMA

●The meetings goals for RISTEX and the focus area
　A focus area Associate Fellow, explained goals for RISTEX, the focus area, and the meeting.

●Guest speaker: Professor Akira Morita
　Professor Akira Morita from the University of Tokyo, who is a Senior Fellow (Academic Consultant) at the Policy Alternatives Research Institute and a Professor in the Graduate School for Law and Politics and the Graduate School of Public Policy, was invited to speak. He spoke about the basic idea of setting the focus area, issues maps, keys to initiatives, Japanese healthcare policy, and expectations for the research themes. A discussion based on his address followed.

Guest Speaker : Akira MORITA

●R&D Projects and General Discussion 1
　Members of two planning and research groups and four projects who attended the meeting introduced themselves and presented overviews of their research and development, their progress so far, and other aspects of their research and development. This was followed by General Discussion 1, which included questions and comments regarding the projects.
　This was the first opportunity for project personnel to hear about the content of other projects, so General Discussion 1 was a venue for members of each project to ask questions about the others. This immediately accorded with the meeting's goal of having personnel learn about each other's projects and explore the potential for collaboration.

Project Director　：
Akiko OGAWA

Project Director　：
Tetsuo TSUJI

Project Director　：
Hideki OTA

Project Director　：
Takao SUZUKI

Day 2: November 28 (Sun.)

●General Discussion 2
　Before the meeting began, Representative PJ carried out a questionnaire regarding "Problems and difficulties with advancing research and development." Five points raised by the questionnaire results were subsequently discussed. They were 1) what kind of government cooperation to obtain when advancing research and development, 2) what kind of relationship to build with communities, 3) what precautions are necessary when engaging in research and development with businesses, 4) how can research and development results be continued, and 5) how to evaluate results scientifically. An active discussion was held on each point.

View of the General Discussion

●General Discussion 3
　The discussion was to focus on collaboration between projects and focus area outreach, but because of the intensity of General Discussion 2, there was not enough time to address those subjects.

●Closing remarks by the Director-General and the end of the meeting
　During the two days of discussions at the First Focus-Area Meeting, many people were able to speak, ensuring that the discussions were extremely productive. Through these discussions, the Area Advisors and personnel working on each project were able to make their ideas and opinions known to each other. The discussions grew so intense that there was not enough time to talk about everything on the agenda. I hope to arrange another occasion upon which those points can be discussed. It was a rare opportunity to have people from different specialties, affiliations, and backgrounds gather for a meeting with an overnight stay. Several participants told me that they found it a very meaningful meeting from which they gained many ideas.
　After the meeting, the participants returned to their various communities to further their research and development. I believe that the ties between projects created at this meeting and the relationships developed with the Area Advisors will be put to use at various times in ongoing research and development. I look forward to the results that will be achieved by each project.
　We were fortunate to have good weather on the second day and to be able to watch the autumn leaves falling from the rows of gingko trees outside the glass walls of the Seihoku Gallery.

Photograph from the meeting (on the 27th, after its completion)

Ginkgo trees on the University of Tokyo campus