Showa Women's University (昭和女子大学, Shōwa Joshi Daigaku) is a women's private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. The University has undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and five research institutes. It also contains affiliated schools that span from kindergarten to high school. Aside from the main campus in Setagaya, the University has two satellite campuses: Tomei Gakurin in Kanagawa, and Boshu Kaihin Gakuryo in Chiba. There is also an international campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The Setagaya campus is home to The British School in Tokyo Showa Campus.The University is heavily inspired by the Tolstoyan movement. The University was based on the principles of "love, compassion, and harmony" (Japanese: 清き気品, 篤き至誠, 高き識見) according teachings of Leo Tolstoy. The University's education system was inspired by Tolstoy's teaching style at his estate in Yasnaya Polyana.
A multiset of n unordered points in ℝ^r – a point cloud, or, for r=2, a persistence barcode of birth-death pairs – is a point of the orbit space ℝ^nr/S_n for the symmetric group S_n permuting the rows of an n × r matrix; a separating family of invariants on this space is exactly a complete set of permutation-independent coordinates. We provide one that is explicit, small, and stable, in the max-plus (tropical) setting: for all n ≥ 1 and r ≥ 1, the n+rr basic r-symmetric tropical polynomials, of degree at most n, separate the orbits of S_n on ℝ^nr. This settles in full a problem left open in [Kubo, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 223 (2019) 72-85], where separation was known only for r=2 and special cases of r ≥ 3, and yields a family far smaller and of lower degree than the general separating sets from Derksen's recent theory of tropical invariants for permutation actions (nr + (nr)!/n! invariants of degree O(n^2 r^2)). The proof is elementary and constructive: the basic values are identified with a transportation problem, and the multiset is recovered from the dual by an explicit algorithm. We further show the coordinate map is a bi-Lipschitz embedding for all n and r, being an injective max filter bank (via the bi-Lipschitz theory of max filtering), with an explicit Lipschitz constant for the forward bound and a fully explicit, dimension-free distortion when r=1. Finally we determine when the pairwise values suffice (exactly n ≤ 3) and show that invariants on at least three columns and of degree less than n are necessary in general, the obstruction being a standard non-uniqueness configuration from discrete tomography.
We present a continuous 2000-year ring-width chronology of Chamaecyparis from central Japan based on samples of known provenance. The dataset integrates ring-width series from living trees, archaeological coffins, historical temple timbers, and a buried forest, spanning 156 BCE to 2012 CE. Crossdating, conducted using statistical indices (Student's t-value, Gleichlaufigkeit) and visual inspection, yielded high consistency across six partial chronologies. This composite chronology, filling a major gap in Japanese dendrochronology, yielded a robust regional reference for environmental reconstruction and dendroprovenancing. Application to historical structures, including Rinno-ji and Daitoku-ji Temples, demonstrated excellent agreement with documentary records, confirming the chronology's dating precision. Our findings reaffirm the values of ring-width analysis for determining the origin and age of wooden materials, particularly in contexts where isotopic geographical resolution may be too broad. This chronology also establishes a robust framework for future multiproxy studies that integrate isotopic or geochemical data. By securing both temporal continuity and provenance control, it serves as a critical resource for research in archaeology, forest history, and cultural heritage science in Japan and beyond.
The rapid global expansion of clean beauty, which relies extensively on natural capital, raises questions about its environmental impact, particularly in relation to biodiversity conservation. While the industrial demand for natural ingredients continues to rise, empirical assessments linking clean beauty practices and biodiversity outcomes remain limited. This study presents an exploratory, governance-oriented assessment of biodiversity-related practices among clean beauty brands, based on publicly available disclosures. This study develops a quantitative scoring framework for evaluating 10 major international and Japanese clean beauty brands using a small-10 pilot design across five domains: (1) sustainable sourcing, (2) biodiversity conservation initiatives, (3) supply-chain traceability, (4) ESG disclosure, and (5) environmental innovation. Japan's comparison is institutionally motivated. The results indicate that biodiversity performance is determined less by the use of natural ingredients or market scale and more by governance mechanisms, such as structured sourcing programs, third-party certifications, and transparent reporting systems. International brands consistently outperform Japanese brands, reflecting stronger institutional environments and higher biodiversity literacy abroad. In contrast, domestic brands showed lower disclosure levels and greater performance variance, partly due to weaker national standards and limited public awareness of biodiversity issues. The findings suggest that clean beauty should be reframed not as a category defined by naturalness, but as a governance model that enables coexistence with nature. In addition to standardisation by industry organisations, policy implications include the need for standardised biodiversity metrics in Japan and potential governmental support, such as subsidies to help small- and medium-sized enterprises obtain internationally recognised sustainability certifications. Future research should integrate and evaluate industry standards and life-cycle assessment to assess biodiversity impacts in the cosmetics sector.
BACKGROUND:The COVID-19 pandemic may have influenced drinking behaviors in minors by disrupting daily routines and increasing psychosocial stress, although alcohol use among Japanese adolescents has declined in recent years. We aimed to clarify the relationships between current alcohol consumption and lifestyle factors during the COVID-19 pandemic based on a nationwide cross-sectional survey. METHODS:This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2021 Lifestyle Survey of Adolescents, a nationwide survey conducted in Japan during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 15 549 junior and senior high school students (7645 boys and 7904 girls) were included. Current alcohol consumption was defined as drinking on at least 1 day in the past 30 days. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations between current alcohol consumption and lifestyle factors, including irregular sleep patterns, irregular dietary habits, and increased screen time. Sex-stratified analyses and interaction tests were also performed. RESULTS:The overall prevalence of current alcohol consumption was 2.1%, with slightly higher rates among boys (2.2%) than girls (2.0%). Current alcohol consumption was significantly associated with irregular sleep patterns (odds ratio [OR] = 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17-1.95) and irregular dietary habits (OR = 1.68; 95% CI, 1.18-2.40). An association with increased screen time was also observed (OR = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.00-1.69), particularly among boys. A significant interaction by sex was detected for irregular sleep patterns (p for interaction = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS:Alcohol consumption among Japanese adolescents was associated with irregular sleep and dietary habits and, among boys, with increased screen time. These findings highlight the importance of promoting regular routines and addressing lifestyle-related risks to prevent current alcohol consumption among adolescents during public health crises.
