Yushi Utaka is working as Professor at the University of Hyogo. Before he joined the University of Hyogo in 2005, he taught at Hiroshima University for eight years.

Research interest is in Asian urbanism  with a special focus on built environments and cultural diversity in Asia. He has been conducting field research in Southeast Asia for the past 30 years. 

Yushi Utaka was researcher at University Science Malaysia in Penang State from 1995-1996 and 2001-2003, and at the National University of Singapore in 2001. He obtained his doctorate in engineering at Kyoto University in 1997, and has been awarded academic prizes from institutions, including the Architectural Institute of Japan and the Osaka and Nagoya City. Yushi Utaka has been teaching architecture and urban design subjects since 1997.

Currently, he is involved in heritage conservation and site management in Japan and the Asian region under the auspices of the authorities and international organizations. While joining these field projects spend time to think and write following areas past years around the cities in Asia.

1. Globalizing Heritage Conservation: Place, Society and Politics

2. Cultural Diversity and Multi-ethnic Built Environment

3. Reinventing Traditional Built Heritages, Cultural Landscapes and Community

Awards and Scholarships

Major Awards

Architectural Institute of Japan, Prize for Paper of Excellence 2003

2nd Prize 1993, Water front design, Architectural Design Competition, Architectural Institute of Japan

3rd Prize 1997, Inner housing, Osaka City, Architectural Design Competition prize, Japan

Major Fellowships

Ministry of Education Japan, Science Promotion (1996)

Yoshida Foundation, Scholarship for Overseas studies (1995)

JSPS Grants for Overseas Research (2001-2003)

Working Experiences

Positions Held

Professor, University of Hyogo (2014-present)

Associate Professor, University of Hyogo (2005-2014)

Research Associate, Hiroshima University (1997-2005)

Research Appointments

Research Fellow, Science University of Malaysia, School of Housing, Building and Planning (2001-2003)

Research Fellow, The National University of Singapore, School of Design & Environment (2001)

Major Teaching Subjects

University of Hyogo (2005-present)

Housing Studies

Architectural Design Practices

Hiroshima University (1997-2004)

Architectural Design Practices

Environmental Design and Planning

Major Professional appointments

Resource Person, World Heritage Training Program, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) Hiroshima Office (2004-2014)

Member, Research Committee, Proposed Miyajima Preservation District, Agency for Cultural Affairs Japan

Education and Field Work

Education

Kyoto University 1997, Doctor of Engineering

Toyohashi University of Technology 1994, Master of Engineering

Toyohashi University of Technology 1992, Bachelor of Engineering

Akashi National College of Technology 1990, Department of Architecture

Additional Course and Long term field work

School of Housing, Building and Planning, Science University of Malaysia (1995-1996)

Professional Association

Architectural Institute of Japan

Major Publications

Book Chapters (except publications in Japanese)

Yushi Utaka, 2025, Urban Heritage Conservation and Cultural Planning on Shrinking Society Japan: A Challenges on the “Picturesque” Historic Port City of Onomichi,  Rana Amirtahmasebi and Jason Schupbach edited, The Routledge Handbook of Urban Cultural Planning, Routledge, pp.448-462.

Yushi Utaka, 2020, Conserving the historic port town of Tomo, Seto Inland Sea, Japan: Re-positioning urban heritage in the ‘shrinking society’, Kapila Silva edited, The Routledge Handbook on Historic Urban Landscapes in the Asia-Pacific, Routledge, pp.476-489.

Yushi Utaka, 2012, The Himeji Castle World Heritage Site: Challenges of Sustaining Memories of a Revered Heritage in Japan, Edited by Kapila Silva, Neel Kamal Chapagain, Asian Heritage Management: Contexts, Concerns, and Prospects, Routledge, pp.143-156.

Yushi Utaka, M. Amir Fawzi 2010, The Malaysian Multicultural Streetscape: Challenges in the New Millennium, Heng Chye Kiang, Low Boon Liang with Limin Hee edited, On Asian Streets and Public Space: Selected Essays from Great Asian Streets Symposiums 1&2, Center for the Advanced Studies in Architecture (CASA), Department of Architecture, National University of Singapore and NUS Press, pp.79-89. 

Yushi Utaka, 2008, The Hiroshima Peace Memorial: Transforming Legacy, memories and Landscape: William Logan and Keir Reeves edited, Places of Pain and Shame: Dealing with Difficult Heritage, Routledge, pp.34-49.

Journals / Selected Papers (except publications in Japanese)

Yushi Utaka,2022, Building Continuous Traditional Environment and Community; Lessons from The Takehara Preservation District, Japan, International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, IASTE 2022, *Selected Paper on Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Working Paper Series 2022-2023, (*****), IASTE, University of California Berkeley.

Yushi Utaka, Amir Fawzi, 2014, Dynamism of a Multi-Ethnic Settlement, Georgetown, Malaysia: A Revisiting Field Study and Comparative Analysis, 1995-2011, Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, IASTE 2014, *Selected Paper on Traditional Dwellings and Settlements Working Paper Series 2014-2015, (260. Navigating Multiple Cultures), IASTE, University of California Berkeley.

Yushi Utaka, 2017, The Kobe Muslim Mosque: Experience of “Miracles” - 1945 Air Raid & 1995 Earthquake, *Selected Paper on Post-Conference Book, International Conference on Archi-Cultural Interactions through the Silk Road (iaSU2016 JAPAN), Mukogawa Women's University Press, pp.193-197.

Yushi Utaka, 2015, Managing “Buffer”; A Special Focus on the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine World Heritage Site, Japan, International Review for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development Vol. 3(2015) No. 2,  pp.79-85. (Revised: Yushi Utaka, 2011, Itsukushima Shinto Shrine World Heritage Site: Holiness and Contemporary Japan, International Conference 2011 on Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development, 29-31 July, 2011, Kanazawa)