November 17, 2017
Keywords: Civil Society / Local Issues Resilience Well-Being
Image by klimkin.
Nara Medical University announced on October 12, 2016, that it has launched the Medicine-Based Town (MBT) Research Institute. As a concept, the aim of MBT is to contribute to local community and industry development by investing medical experience and know-how into all other industries so that residents can live more comfortably in the context of Japan's aging and shrinking population. In collaboration with Nara Prefecture and Kashihara City, the university has also committed to revitalizing the towns and people of its region by making use of vacant buildings in an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings to connect healthcare services and tourism.
The founding of the MBT Research Institute follows a series of events related to MBT: In May 2014, the Cabinet Office of Japan selected MBT as a leading model for regional revitalization. In May 2015, the national government recognized MBT as a core component of Kashihara City's local revitalization plan, and in June 2015 the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry subsidized the plan. In September 2015, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications commissioned Nara Medical University to survey MBT-related projects.
The MBT Research Institute aims to achieve the following by executing its plans.