Takashi Tachibana A nonfiction writer. Born in 1940. He graduated from the Department of French Literature at the University of Tokyo in 1964. He worked for a while at Bungei Shunju Co. and then resigned from the company in 1966 and entered the Department of Philosophy at the University of Tokyo. While studying at the University, his career as a journalistic critic began. His publications include ﾒMaster the Brain," "The Brain and the Big Bang," "Universe, Earth, Life, Brain," "Science Millenium"and "Reclamation of Human Bodies."

Tachibana: From a global perspective, it is very unique that you included the discipline of creating the brain.
Ito: The three divisions of the institute, Understanding the brain, Protecting the brain and Creating the brain are not "disciplines" in the usual sense because they each are comprised of individuals trained in diverse disciplines. These divisions may be more representative of what brain science is really about, a combining of disciplines to create a new entity. American researchers have been slightly surprised at this. Someone wrote that they had never thought of the Japanese unifying computer science, which is the field of creation, and biology. He warned us, "You canﾕt combine two such organizations, soon they will start to fight!" (laughs).
Tachibana: This uniqueness is highly appreciated internationally; foreign research institutes appear to be pursuing the initiatives taken by the brain science research of Japan. Your concept is very unusual in the field of brain science, which has traditionally been a very orthodox field. When did you begin to develop the concept of combining the three elements, understanding the brain, protecting the brain and creating the brain?
Ito: To be honest with you, thinking back, I was in an excellent academic environment in the 1960s at the University of Tokyo. The university was a much more general university as the exchange among faculties was more active than it is now. Hidetoshi Takahashi, from the Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Toshihiko Tokizane, who founded the brain research facility in the Faculty of Medicine, and Jin-ichi Nagumo, who studied bionics in the Faculty of Engineering, though unfortunately, all of them have since passed away, together with young researchers, conducted research in groups and held joint lectures. Although the professional backgrounds of the involved individuals varied a great deal, they were all interested in the same thing; however, their approaches and conceptions were completely different. As a result of their influence, I lost my attitude of resistance to unification.
Tachibana: Since youﾕve hired individuals in the institute whose professional backgrounds and research methodologies vary widely, I hope that the unification is successful. I also look forward to hearing of the new discoveries and ideas that will come about as well as the new power which is generated through the combination of new knowledge .

From layer-by-layer (hierarchical research) to system-oriented research
Tachibana: When I look at the profiles of the research team members in each research field, I can tell that you are planning to study all the aspects of the brain. For example, in the field of understanding the brain, the current areas of study are layered and include the molecular level, the cellular level and the circuit level, in addition to the system level. These arrangements seem to be a realization of your highest expectations.

magnified scene by clicking image The photograph on the left is of zebra fish. The two photographs on the right show a motor neuron of the metencephalon of a transgenic zebra fish embryo which expresses fluorescent protein derived from light-emitting jellyfish. The neural cell body and its axon twinkle with a green color. (Provided by Dr. Hitoshi Okamoto, Head of the Laboratory for Developmental Gene Regulation)

Ito: It has been three years since the establishment of the first research groups, and the layer-oriented hierarchical divisions have become substantially diffused; one cannot remain in a single field and say "I study cells only, and you study circuits." All things are connected. Therefore, we almost take the approach, "I study the sensory systems, motion systems or cognition system"; each research discipline tends to be identified in terms of systems. For instance, in the case of the study of topics related to the olfactory system, we mobilize all possible technologies from molecular biology, electrophysiology and engineering-type optical measurements. While the hierarchical approach to research is still the mainstay of science, the very rapid changes occurring today with the addition of new knowledge at every level, has forced changes in the ways of doing research. Therefore the institute has adopted the policy of evaluating all of the research programs after 5 years of activity. Established researchers who are working at the cutting edges of their fields are invited from throughout the world to form the evaluation teams. With such access to outside opinion, the quality of the work in the institute will be at the forefront of international Brain Science.