I chose entomology as my major when I went into the faculty. The main subject in the lab which I had belonged to was systematics and taxonomy of insects. At first, I thought to learn the skill of description of new species, but I was also very curious about studying microevolution and speciation process. That's why I have started to investigate spatial variation of brachypterous grasshoppers (Podisma sapporensis) using morphometric and statistical approaches. I am currently studying molecular evolution, but I had not engaged in studies using molecular markers until getting PhD. I spent in Sapporo during my school age, so I like foods, atmosphere, people, natural environment in Hokkaido very much. After graduating from master course, I moved to the Kansai area (western Japan) to be a researcher of chemical company and I spent there for two years. The Kansai culture is so peculiar in Japan and I was not aware of how different the life style of living people is between Hokkaido and Kansai. I had received my baptism of language, foods, and human relationship there! I quit the job after two years since entering the company because I wanted to be back to the university to study again. I went to Tokyo to be a PhD candidate. I spent three years there and got a PhD in 1999.

  After that, I have fortunately had a chance to go abroad  as a postdoctoral research fellow of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). I was so happy but annoying because I had never been in any foreign countries more than 1 week! The life during the period stay with me as happy and bitter (?) memories. I had been there for about 2 years in the lab of Prof Roger Butlin (he is currently in the University of Sheffield) and my main subject was analysing population genetic structure of Chorthippus grasshoppers in Spain (collaborators: Jon Bridle, Richard Bailey, Clara Saldamando).

  After coming back to Japan in 2002, I was able to find another postdoc position in the laboratory of Takano-Shimizu, where I was doing QTL mapping using Drosophila simulans. After 1-year postdoc in the National Institute of Genetics (Shizuoka), I could get a tenure position in the National Institute for the Environmental Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba, Japan. I had been there more than for 5 years and did various studies especially concerning ecological risk in Daphnia and population management of large mammals (sika deer). I could obtain the current position in August, 2008. The main stream of my current research is briefly as follows:

• Evolution of sound communications in insects

• Evolution of karyotypes and possibility of stasipatric speciation (especially grasshoppers)

• Local adaptation and evolution of resistance resulting from spatial and environmental heterogeneity

• Phylogeography of insects 

Actually, several other projects are ongoing and are not described here! Please ask me if you have any queries on the above subjects and I am very happy if you are interested in my research to some extent.

◆Birth

Tokyo, Japan (and grew up in Chiba Prefecture)

◆学歴

March, 1992 Bachelor in Agriculture, Hokkaido University 

（Laboratory of Systematic Entomology; Supervisor, Prof. Sadao Takagi, Dr. Shin-ichi Akimoto）

March, 1994 Master in Agriculture, Hokkaido University

（Laboratory of Systematic Entomology; Supervisor, Prof. Sadao Takagi, Dr. Shin-ichi Akimoto）

March, 1999 Ph.D. in Agriculture, The University of Tokyo

（Laboratory of Biometrics and Bioinformatics, Supervisor, Prof. Yasuo Ukai, Prof. Hiro Kishino）

◆History of employment

April 1, 1994-March 31, 1996 Researcher, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd.

April 1, 1999-March 31, 2002 Postdoctoral Fellow in the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (Supervisor: Prof. Hiro Kishino)

June 1, 2000～February 27, 2002 Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Leeds, Leeds, UK (Supervisor: Prof. Roger Butlin)

April 1, 2002-March 31, 2003 Postdoctoral Fellow (equivalent to Lecturer), National Institute of Genetics, Mishima, Japan (Supervisor: Dr. Toshiyuki Takano-Shimizu)

April 1, 2003-July 31, 2008 Senior Researcher, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Japan

August 1, 2008-July 31, 2015 Associate Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

August 1, 2015-May 31, 2021 Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

April 1, 2010-May 31, 2021 Major Advisory Professor, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan

April 1, 2019-May 31, 2021 Vice Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

April 1, 2019-May 31, 2021 Director, University Museum (Fujyukan), University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan

June 1, 2021-Present Professor, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

April 1, 2022-Present Vice Dean, Graduate School of Systems Life Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

April 1, 2022-Present Director, Amakusa Marine Biological Laboratory, Kyushu University, Kumamoto, Japan

◆Award

2015　Okinawa Research Encouragement Award: Integrative studies on the basic ecology and the development of management technologies of harmful invasive weevils

2012    Ecological Research Best Paper Award

2008   Mammal Study Best Paper Award

◆Social Activity

Regional Representative, The Orthopterists' Society (2017-present)

Regional Committee, The Ecological Society of Japan (2017-present)

Associate Editor, Entomological Science, 2014-2015

Associate Editor, Journal of Ethology, 2012-present

Associate Editor, Applied Entomology and Zoology, 2013-2016

Editorial Board, Applied Entomology and Zoology, 2017-2018

Editorial Board, Dataset Papers in Science (Zoology section), 2012-2016

Advisory Board, Folia biologica (Krakow), 2018-present

◆Lectures

August, 2012 Ecology, Kumamoto University

July, 2013 Morphometrics, Kyoto University

August, 2014 Ecology, Kumamoto University

January, 2015 Ecology and Biostatistics, The University of Tokyo

February, 2017 Ecology, Kumamoto University

January, 2018 Biological morphometrics, Kyushu University

December, 2023 TBA, The University of Tokyo

◆Academic societies

Japanese Society for Applied Entomology and Zoology，Entomological Society of Japan，Japan Ethological Society，Ecological Society of Japan，Society for Population Ecology, The Genetics Society, Society for the Study of Evolution, Society for Systematic Biologists, American Society of Naturalists, The Orthopterists’ Society

◆Referee for:

Journal of Ethology, Plant Cell Reports, Journal of Vector Ecology, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Environmental Science & Technology, Frontiers in Zoology, Ecology and Evolution, Evolutionary Ecology, Biological Invasions, Biology Letters, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, Scientific Reports, Genomics, BMC Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Molecular Evolution, Acta Tropica, The Canadian Entomologist, etc...