Research Summary

Amid the global trend toward carbon neutrality, rare metals and rare earths, which are indispensable for low-carbon technologies, face the risk of an unstable supply structure due to the uneven distribution of resources. Kato Laboratory is conducting research to elucidate the formation mechanisms of such rare and useful metal resources and to create a new resource development system through collaboration among industry, government, and academia, thereby contributing to the securing of truly sustainable resources. In particular, we are focusing on seafloor minerals and outer space as the new frontiers of resources for the next generation, aiming to make a significant contribution to the future of Japanese industry. In addition to providing effective guidelines for resource exploration, this elucidation of the causes of resource formation will also lead to clarification of the Earth's material cycles throughout its 4.6 billion-year history and the mechanisms of its response to global environmental changes.

Laboratory

https://kato-nakamura-yasukawa-lab.jp/

Biography

1985. 3
Bachelor of Science, Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, The University of Tokyo
1987. 3
Master of Science, Department of Geology, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
1990. 3
Ph.D., Department of Geology, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
1990. 4 – 1991.10
JSPS Research Fellow at Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo
1991. 11 – 2000. 4
Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Science, Yamaguchi University
1997. 5 – 1997. 10
Monbusho (MEXT) Fellowship Program for Japanese Scholars and Researchers to Study Abroad, Harvard University
1999. 3 – 1999. 4
Monbusho (MEXT) Fellowship Program for Japanese Scholars and Researchers to Study Abroad, The University of Cambridge
2000. 5 – 2007. 3
Associate Professor, Department of Geosystem Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2007. 4 – 2012. 3
Associate Professor, Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2012 .4 – 2022.5
Professor, Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2012. 4 – present
Visiting Principal Scientist, Research and Development Center for Submarine Resources, Japan Agency of Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC)
2017. 4 – present
Director / Principal Research Scientist, Ocean Resources Research Center for Next Generation, Chiba Institute of Technology
2018. 4 – 2020. 3
Director, Frontier Research Center for Energy and Resources, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2020. 4 – 2023.3
Vice Dean, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2022. 6 – present
Professor, Department of Systems Innovation, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo
2023.4 – present
Dean, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

Award History

• Best Teaching Award 2016 of Faculty of Engineering, the University of Tokyo (2016)
• Dean’s Award 2017 (Special Recognition) of School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo (2018)
• 2018 Nikkei Global Environmental Technology Awards (The Grand Prize) (2018)
• The Rare Earth Society of Japan Award (Shiokawa Award) for 2019 (2019)
• The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Awards for Science and Technology) (2023)

Published Paper

• Erika Tanaka, Kazuhide Mimura, Kentaro Nakamura, Junichiro Ohta, Kazutaka Yasukawa and Yasuhiro Kato*, “Rare-earth elements in deep-sea sediments in the South Pacific Gyre: Source materials and resource potentials”, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, Vol. 24, e2022GC010681 (2023).
• Junichiro Ohta, Kazutaka Yasukawa, Tatsuo Nozaki, Yutaro Takaya, Kazuhide Mimura, Koichiro Fujinaga, Kentaro Nakamura, Yoichi Usui, Jun-Ichi Kimura, Qing Chang, and Yasuhiro Kato*, “Fish proliferation and rare-earth deposition by topographically induced upwelling at the late Eocene cooling event”, Scientific Reports, Vol. 10, 9896 (2020).
• Yutaro Takaya, Kazutaka Yasukawa, Takehiro Kawasaki, Koichiro Fujinaga, Junichiro Ohta, Yoichi Usui, Kentaro Nakamura, Jun-Ichi Kimura, Qing Chang, Morihisa Hamada, Gjergj Dodbiba, Tatsuo Nozaki, Koichi Iijima, Tomohiro Morisawa, Takuma Kuwahara, Yasuyuki Ishida, Takao Ichimura, Masaki Kitazume, Toyohisa Fujita and Yasuhiro Kato*, "The tremendous potential of deep-sea mud as a source of rare-earth elements", Scientific Reports, Vol. 8, 5763 (2018).
• Yasuhiro Kato*, Koichiro Fujinaga, Kentaro Nakamura, Yutaro Takaya, Kenichi Kitamura, Junichiro Ohta, Ryuichi Toda, Takuya Nakashima and Hikaru Iwamori, "Deep-sea mud in the Pacific Ocean as a potential resource for rare-earth elements", Nature Geoscience, Vol. 4, pp. 535-539 (2011).
• Yasuhiro Kato*, Katsuhiko Suzuki, Kentaro Nakamura, Arthur H. Hickman, Munetomo Nedachi, Minoru Kusakabe, David C. Bevacqua and Hiroshi Ohmoto, "Hematite formation by oxygenated groundwater more than 2.76 billion years ago", Earth and Planetary Science Letters, Vol. 278, pp. 40-49 (2009).
• Yasuhiro Kato*, Kyoko Nakao and Yukio Isozaki, "Geochemistry of Late Permian to Early Triassic pelagic cherts from southwest Japan: implications for an oceanic redox change", Chemical Geology, Vol. 182, pp. 15-34 (2002).