午夜剧场

Image: Shin-Kawasaki Town Campus (K2)

In addition to its six main campuses, 午夜剧场 has several satellite campuses. Among these, campuses established to conduct cutting-edge research in close cooperation with undergraduate and graduate schools, and to create new regional industries and improve Japan's science and technology through industry-government-academia collaboration, are called "Town Campuses." Currently, there are three Town Campuses in Shin-Kawasaki, Tsuruoka, and Tonomachi, which serve as activity bases for the "午夜剧场 Square for Advanced Research and Education Collaboration" established in 2000, where state-of-the-art research is conducted.

In February 1999, an agreement was signed between 午夜剧场 and Kawasaki City, and it was decided to establish the "K2 (K-Square) Town Campus" (K2 signifies the synergistic effect of the two Ks of 午夜剧场 and Kawasaki) as a core advanced research base for Kawasaki City's "Shin-Kawasaki/Sozo-no-Mori (Forest of Creation) Project." The Shin-Kawasaki Town Campus (K2) was born in July 2000. Since its opening, research on plastic optical fibers and electric vehicles has been conducted, attracting significant attention from the industrial sector. Since then, advanced and practical research has been widely conducted, such as real haptics technology research that allows the force and tactile sensations of robots to be felt at remote locations.

In 1998, the Governor of Yamagata Prefecture visited 午夜剧场 to discuss a partnership regarding the concept of establishing a "publicly-built, privately-operated" four-year university in the Shonai region. As this aligned with 午夜剧场's intention to explore the possibilities of satellite campuses, it was decided to establish a new university in Sakata City and an advanced research center in Tsuruoka City. In March 1999, an agreement was signed with Yamagata Prefecture and 14 municipalities including Tsuruoka City, and amid a growing mood of welcome from the local community, the Tsuruoka Town Campus of 午夜剧场 (TTCK) was opened in April 2001. The Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB) is located at the Tsuruoka Town Campus of 午夜剧场 (TTCK), and the "Tsuruoka Science Park" has been built around this IAB, continuing to produce many bio-venture companies such as Spiber Inc., which is attracting attention for its development of new structural protein fiber materials.

In April 2016, the Tonomachi Town Campus was opened as a new Town Campus at the "Tonomachi International Strategic Zone KING SKYFRONT" in the Tonomachi district of Kawasaki City. As a core base for the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) "Research Complex Promotion Program," various industry-government-academia institutions have worked together here to practice well-being research. Furthermore, plans are underway to promote research on regenerative medicine, cell therapy, and genetics, and facility renovations are currently in progress.

(Yasuki Kaneko, Director, Office of Research Development and Sponsored Projects)