The paper discusses research strategies to attract more attention to Human Factors and Ergonomics approaches in Japan, focusing on diverse application domains and research topics. In the discussion, the main target is set for practitioners in industry. The effectiveness of applications on diverse domains as well as the cooperative research between academia and industry are thoroughly explained. Especially, the importance of research topics relating to development of methodology/tools is stressed. Additionally, possible obstacles to be overcome are discussed.

Modern complex systems such as aviation, plants, and healthcare are referred to as socio-technical systems because they are operated under the close interaction of not only technical systems but also social systems involving numerous operation personnel and organizations engaged in their operation. Therefore, the roles that human factors and ergonomics should play in enhancing the safety of these systems are significant. Based on the insights gained from new safety perspectives proposed in Safety-II and Resilience Engineering recent years, this paper suggests the necessity of a framework for describing and understanding not only failures like human errors but also occurrences in normal successful operations （various trade-offs, changes, interactions, human contributions, etc.） as a foundation for constructing more practical and effective theories and methodologies. Additionally, taking Naturalistic Decision Making as a precedent, the significance and challenges of learning from reality and practice in the field are discussed.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders （WMSDs） occur in various occupations. This research issue focuses on endoscopic medical work, and outlines the trends of WMSDs and ergonomic measures/guidelines. Furthermore, the following three research issues to be addressed are summarized: 1） grasping the prevalence/incidence of WMSDs related to endoscopic medical work, 2） accumulating knowledge on evidence-based ergonomic measures, and 3） addressing diverse stakeholders. To disseminate and implement the solutions for these issues in medical work, it is necessary to form partnerships with each stakeholder and develop them through cooperation among industry, academia, government, and the private sectors.

The usefulness of pictograms in signage and guidance displays is well known. This paper introduced the possibility of using this knowledge as a safety measure for young children. Considering the fusion with handmade culture in kindergartens and nursery schools, it could be able to create a tool that allows teachers and childcare workers themselves to easily arrange pictogram designs, it will be possible for young children to know about safety conditions according to the situation. This method may lead to the prevention of accidents at daycare centers and kindergartens, and that by raising children’s sensitivity to danger from an early age, it may contribute to the prevention of future occupational accidents and unexpected accidents.

Human Factors and Ergonomics has comprehensively considered physical, psychological, environmental, and social factors in the relationship between people, products, technology, and the environment. Based on the accumulated experience, I propose a research issue on the ecosystem （interconnected and circulating system） in ergonomics for empowerment. As ergonomics for empowerment, I would like to discuss what can be done to maximize the power of individuals, communities, and society, and to provide products, environments, and systems that can realize a better quality of life.

This paper presents a new perspective in the field of human factors/ ergonomics, a unique discipline characterized by the complementary execution of science and practice, by viewing the process towards social implementation and solving societal challenges as one of adaptive leadership. This process not only involves making people accept significant changes but also adapting organizations and society at large. It argues for the necessity of case studies on leadership that meticulously describe the process of solving societal challenges. Ergonomics aims to solve societal challenges through a blend of scientific and practical efforts, demonstrating that solving these challenges leads to a new future where significant issues are resolved, and new lifestyles are adopted. It further stated the need to describe how stakeholders’ nuances were overcome in the process of creating this future. Additionally, if ergonomic leadership focused on solving societal challenges can be redefined, it would facilitate the connection between academia and practitioners, potentially broadening the complementary execution of science and practice.

We live in a new era of diversity, but laterality research, which is human lateral preferences like handedness or footedness, has not been systematically organized. This article summarizes research issues to be addressed to clarify the effect of workers’ laterality on occupational injuries. First, we reviewed the historical research trends of laterality from biological and socio-cultural perspectives. Then, as fundamental but forgotten state-of-the-art issues for occupational human factors and ergonomics, the following were identified: 1） Application to statistical analysis of occupational accidents/injuries, 2） Elucidation of the effects of the interaction between laterality and tools/equipment on safety, 3） Elucidation of the interaction between workstation design and laterality, 4） Risk estimation of occupational accidents related to laterality, and 5） Establishment of ergonomic risk reduction measures for occupational injuries related to laterality.

The effects of an exercise program utilizing Hybrid Assistive Limb （HAL） lumbar type on cognitive function among senior citizens were investigated. Seven senior citizens participated in this research. They engaged in a 20-minute exercise session with HAL twice a week for a total of 10 sessions over five weeks. The cognitive functions of participants were assessed using the Trail Making Test and the Stroop Test before and after entire the exercise program. While the scores of cognitive tasks did not exhibit significant changes before and after the exercise program, a discernible trend suggesting improvements in cognitive and/or motor functions was observed.

There have been many investigations on psychological effects of coffee. Little investigations, however, have been conducted about the relationships between coffee product forms and their psychological effects, although coffee is sold in various product forms, such as coffee beans, ground coffee, drip bag coffee, instant coffee, canned coffee, and liquid coffee. Therefore, we investigated how the coffee product forms affect tastes such as bitterness, sourness, and aftertaste and psychological imagery such as tastiness, luxury, familiarity, personal preference. Our questionnaire survey and sensory evaluation experiments suggested that coffee product forms could affect psychological imagery more than the tastes.

In this study, the discussion centered on operator’s impression of lifting operations while focusing on something strange felt by the operator when using power assist devices. We conducted an impression evaluation experiment by semantic differential method on the lifting operations with some assist force applied using the device simulating power assist devices. First, as a result of analyzing the experimental results by principal component analysis, the characteristics of the operator’s impressions on the lifting operations were summarized into three categories. The first was a sense of safety, the second was a sense of operation and the third was a sense of passive. Next, probability models based on graphical modeling were derived using partial correlation coefficients among the evaluation items. Under the conditions of this experiment, we found that something strange was correlated with impressions with strong emotional components when the assist force on the object was larger. The findings of this study suggest impressive requirements for object lifting operations using power assist devices.

To prevent oral dryness, which is a cause of dysphagia, we compared the effects of four oral moisturizing measures - oral exercises, tooth brushing, water intake, and moisturizing gel application - implemented at older care facilities as part of meal preparation. The oral moisture levels of 15 older （66-84y,o） and 15 younger （21-22y,o） subjects were measured before and immediately after each measure using the oral moisture meter Mucus. The results showed that the older subjects had a lower level of oral moistness than the younger subjects, indicating the strong need for taking certain measures before eating. However, if the oral was dry before the measures were applied, the application of the measures improved the oral condition, but if a certain level of moistness was maintained before the measures were applied, the measures had the opposite effect.

We sought to investigate the characteristics of load changes in the buttocks and feet during forward arm reach movements in seated post-stroke patients with hemiparesis, and to clarify a relationship between the load changes and functions of upper and lower limbs and trunk in the patients. This study involved 20 healthy individuals and 17 post-stroke patients with hemiparesis. Load changes on the buttocks and feet during maximum forward arm reach movements in the seated position were measured. Healthy individuals used their right arm, and the patients used their non-paralyzed arm. Correlations between maximum reach distance and load changes, upper and lower limb Brunnstrom Recovery Stage, and Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk were analyzed. Healthy individuals showed significantly greater load changes in the non-reaching side foot during maximum forward reach movements, while patients exhibited no left-right difference in the load changes. The foot load changes in non-reaching side of patients correlated significantly with maximum reach distance, lower limb Brunnstrom Recovery Stage, and Functional Assessment for Control of Trunk positively. Post-stroke patients with hemiparesis were suggested that it is difficult to apply load on the lower extremity of their paralyzed side.

Some carts, which are transport equipment equipped with rear handle for moving, are likely to be more physically strain demanding when pushed by an operator who is about 180 cm tall. This is a problem that can be attributed to the height of the real handle. Therefore, devised a method was developed to calculate the height of the rear handle, which is theoretically prevents toes from touching a device and can reduce physical strain when pushing a device. The height that prevents the toes from touching a device during pushing was determined from the operator’s forearm length, upper arm length and their angles, and the estimated step length. The range of heights that can reduce physical strain was obtained from the literature which reports the height at which it was easy to push the cart when pushing as a percentage of the height of the lower elbow by gender and age group. This calculation method was then applied to human body size data for Japanese female 5 %tiles and American male 95 %tiles. As a result, the rear handle height range of 942.5 - 1044.2 mm was achieved to prevent the toe from touching the device and to reduce the physical strain on the operator. Since the result was theoretically calculated values, would like to conduct verification experiments.