Abstract
In Japan, there is no law to restrict research institutions directly as far as their environmental effects are concerned. So, if the standard of the Building Standards Act is fulfilled, an OK-sign is issued to any institution building plan. I have the view, however, that even though there is no legal problem, people living in the neighborhood of the institutions must have not a small anxiety and concern about their environment as well as much stress. There are a maunder of movements and campaigns across the country against the construction of such institutions. In my paper, I will raise some examples of such movements to reconsider the current relations between scholoars' research institutions and their surroundings. Then, I will make a few suggestions on the relationship. The main point of the suggestions consists of the scholoars' and institutions' "explanation" and the inhabitants' "consent". In other words, the former owes the latter an obligation to secure an environmental safety. The former needs to keep the global standard of Laboratory Biosafety Manual 1993 by WHO strictly when they go on with their studies. They are also requested to work together with the latter for the improvement of proper legal adjustments by state. This will result, in my view, in that the inhabitants' campaign against the construction of the research institutions will end peacefully and will lead to a stable co-existance of smooth research activities by scholars and environmental safety for the inhabitants.
