Biomass Product Tree Industry-Academia Collaborative Research Laboratory was established.

 Although seventy percent of the land area is forests in Japan, its forestry production accounts for only 0.05% of the annual GDP. The production from primary industries reaches merely over 1% even when combining agriculture, forestry, and fishery ones. Today, these primary industries, possessing various social values other than economics, face a challenging situation in Japan.
 Nakamura Laboratory at International Research Center for Elements Science (IRCELS) in ICR has engaged in woody biomass molecular transformation to promote social innovation through cooperation between the primary and the chemical industries. The researchers initiated the endeavor “Exploration of Organic Synthetic Reactions Aimed at Utilizing Bio-renewable Carbon Resources ” started with Prof. Takashi Watanabe of Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere under the support of Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research, Institute of Sustainable Science, Kyoto University, in 2006.
 On October 8(“Tree” Day), 2021, Kyoto University and Daicel Corporation have signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement, a comprehensive research collaboration agreement among the five departments of Kyoto university and Daicel’s research center. At the same time, ” Biomass Product Tree Industry-Academia Collaborative Research Laboratory,” the industry-academia collaborative research center, was established on the Uji campus. The purpose of this collaboration is to contribute to the renovation of forests, rivers, oceans, rural areas, and cities in Japan and to realize a carbon-recycling society in good harmony with nature by creating a new industry, which transforms biomass into functional materials and chemicals. The collaborative research laboratory, a new style joint laboratory of the Institute for Chemical Research, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Institute of Advanced Energy, and Daicel, connects academic fields, the industrial world, and the local communities.
 Nakamura group envisages that the comprehensive industry-academia joint research system will firmly spur “Chemistry Brighten Future (CBF).”