Asst. Professor Masahiro Inohana
History of Science and Technology, Science and Technology
Masahiro Inohana
Asst. Professor
| Research Area | History of Science and Technology, Science and Technology |
|---|---|
| Personal Website | |
| ResearchMap | |
I aim to understand science and technology not as separate from society, but as fundamentally inseparable from it. While it’s a difficult image to grasp, you might think of it like droplets of oil floating on water—sometimes merging into larger clusters, and other times separating into individual drops. Another example might be Scenedesmus, a type of algae that forms colonies by coming together and then breaks apart again. Imagine, though it doesn't happen in reality, that when the cells form a colony, their cell walls dissolve and they completely merge.
In the same way, science and technology may sometimes appear distinct from society, but at other times they are so intertwined that it becomes extremely difficult to separate them.
My research has focused on the history of nuclear power systems in Japan. A nuclear power plant cannot simply exist as a physical structure alone; it is a complex entity made up of science, technology, and society.
Once such a system is established, it gains momentum and tends to evolve and expand. Much like a landscape, it gradually transforms over time. While the specific subject may vary, my focus is on the socially constructed aspects of such systems, and I aim to describe the dynamic processes through which they develop and change.
Selected Publications, Books etc.
- 1.Inohana, M. (2025) Economic Rationality and International Humanitarianism: Ryōkichi Sagane’s Advocacy Regarding the Introduction of Foreign Nuclear Reactors to Japan. Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte / History of Science and Humanities (accepted)
- 2.Inohana, M. (2025) Diversity of Opinions in the Science Council of Japan and Intrinsic Motivation for Promoting Research in the Early Stages of Nuclear Research in Japan. Gengoshakai (Language and Society), 19:262-279 (in Japanese)
- 3.Inohana, M. (2024) Engineer Training at the Reactor Training Center of the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute in the 1960s. Journal of the Japan Society for the History of Industrial Technology. 24 (e2): 1-14 (in Japanese)
- 4.Inohana, M. (2024) The Establishment of the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo. Journal of History of Science, Japan 62(308):341-356 (in Japanese)