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Professor

Junko Edahiro

Junko Edahiro obtained a Master’s degree in Educational Psychology from The University of Tokyo. Still active today as an environmental journalist, she is committed to communication and networking through lecturing, publishing, consulting and translating on the environment, all with the aim of causing behavioral change among people and building effective systems for a sustainable society. To comprehensively study the relationship among happiness, economy, and society and work on these themes, she holds workshops on happiness and sustainability.
She organizes a website “e’s Future Co-Creation Forum” to co-create new value from finding relationships among factors within a problem. In 2011, she founded the Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES) to rethink on the relationship among happiness, economy, and society and explore better systems and indicators. She contributes to co-creation of happy and resilient future through human connections and dialogue.
She creates opportunities and places to build consensus among stakeholders utilizing the Systems Thinking or Scenario Planning model. She acts as a facilitator for companies and local governments. And as an advisor, she is also involved in regional revitalization to depict a more desirable future with projects to rebuild the local economy.
The books she has translated include An Inconvenient Truth, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis and An Inconvenient Sequel by Al Gore;
Limits to Growth: The 30-year Update;
Beyond ‘Eco’ – How to Make a Happy Future;
From Pursuit of GDP Growth to Creation of Happiness based on Life Beyond Growth;
Thinking in Systems;
The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organizationand;
World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse.

Other Affiliations

Founder and President, e’s Inc.
Founder and President, Shimokawa s’s Inc.
President, Institute for Studies in Happiness, Economy and Society (ISHES)
Co-Founder and Chairperson, Change Agent, Inc.
Outside Director, Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd.

Area of Expertise

Sustainability, Regional Revitalization

Courses

Systems Thinking and the Sustainability Challenge
Research Seminar for Individual Projects (Social Entrepreneurship & Regional Revitalization)

Awards

A most successful career woman by Nikkei Career Women magazine in 2004.

Selected Publications

Journal Papers:
“Japan’s Paradigm Shift From Growth To Happiness: Slowing Down to Advance Wellbeing”, at the Fourth International Conference on Gross National Happiness, 2008
“Letter from Japan”, Resurgence & Ecologist magazine, No.262, The Resurgence Trust, 2018
“”Good-bye ownership, materialism and monetization in lifestyles: a new era dawning in Japan”” , Growth in Transition, Rontledge, 2012
“Life Beyond Growth”, with Alan AtKisson, ISIS Academy, 2012

Books:
You Can Do Anything If You Get Up at 2:00 am Every Morning (Sunmark Publishing, Inc., 2001)
How to Repair the Earth, (with Donella H. Meadows and Dennis L. Meadows, Diamond Inc., 2005)
Systems Thinking’ Textbook (with Riichiro Oda, Toyo Keizai Inc., 2010)
Teijo-Keizai’ wa Kano da (‘Steady-State Economy’ Is Possible), (with Herman Daly, Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2014)
How to Enhance Resilience of People and Societies (Toyo Keizai Inc., 2015)
Recreating Local Economies–Analysis, Diagnosis, Measures (Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2018)
What is Animal Welfare?–Ethical Consumption and Food Safety (Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2018)
The Power of Eastern Thought to Build Your Foundation of Strength (Kobunsha Co., Ltd., Publishers 2018)
What is Plastic Pollution? (Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, 2019)

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