Tokyo, March 28, 2022 -- Mori Building Co., Ltd., Japan's leading urban landscape developer, announced today that in conjunction with Keio University, one of Japan's top private educational institutions, it has launched a research project aimed at promoting the wellness of people living in urban environments. The project will involve the collection of participants' health data using monitors and other wearable devices, as well as questionnaires on their eating behaviors and mental states. The aim will be to investigate the effects of dietary intervention on various aspects of participants' health.
Hills Joint Research Laboratory for Future Preventive Medicine and Wellness--aiming for further development of preventive medicines
Mori Building's Toranomon-Azabudai Project, slated for completion in 2023, will be built on the central pillars of "Green" and "Wellness" with the aim of facilitating a healthy living and working environment for people of all ages. Each aspect of the development will be reviewed in terms of its contribution to the wellness of everyone living and working there. As part of their basic agreement concluded in March 2021, Mori Building and Keio University have agreed on the relocation and expansion of the latter's Center for Preventive Medicine to the site of the Toranomon-Azabudai Project. In April 2021, the two entities also opened the Hills Joint Research Laboratory for Future Preventive Medicine and Wellness, and are currently conducting research in conjunction with Dr. Kazuhiro Kashiwagi and Dr. Taishiro Kishimoto, both specially appointed professors.
The Toranomon-Azabudai Project aims to promote the development and implementation of new preventive medicine and wellness services for urban dwellers, in collaboration with the Center for Preventive Medicine and other Mori Building Hills facilities. Through the operation of this joint research laboratory, the two entities will not only contribute to the health of people living and working in Hills complexes, but will also promote research activities through collaboration between industry, academia and the private sector, with the aim of developing preventive medicines that can be passed on to future generations.
First phase of joint research targeting Mori Building employees
In February 2022, Mori Building and Keio University embarked on the first phase of a joint research project involving the participation of 40 employees of Mori Building. Using a combination of blood glucose monitors, other wearable devices, and comprehensively analyzing information collected by means of questionnaires, data related to daily blood glucose fluctuations, daily activity data (activity level, sleep data, heart rate, etc.), mental status (perceived stress levels, life satisfaction scores, sleepiness, etc.), are being collected and analyzed to ascertain any changes in mental status and other factors caused by blood glucose fluctuations. In addition, a dietitian is providing employees with advice on dietary behavior, with the aim of qualifying the effects of dietary intervention on blood glucose fluctuations and other indicators.
Mori Building aims to create cities--Hills complexes--where all aspects of living and working are linked to wellness. Based on the results of this joint research, the two entities aim to develop new services and solutions, help improve people's well-being, extend healthy life expectancy, and further develop preventive medicines, thereby paving the way to the cities of the future.