I have conducted multifaceted research using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach on the factors that affect the mental and physical health of residents due to the characteristics of their communities.
In the research summarized in my doctoral dissertation, I extracted "suicide prevention factors" in an area with rare incidence of suicide, and since then I have been developing various studies to establish and disseminate the suicide prevention factors.
One such study is the " Find the Power to Survive the Future," a cohort study of children, in which follow-up surveys are conducted every other year in two municipalities in Shikoku, using fifthꠓgrade elementary school students as a starting point.
In addition, with the cooperation of a mapping company, I have been developing and implementing for analysis new indicators using GIS (Geographic Information System) for the relationship between the natural environment and the disposition of residents, and between the spatial structural characteristics of a town and its social capital. In recent years, I am also interested in and working on a method known as " natural experiments".