Merging perspectives in the catchment sciences: the US-Japan Joint Seminar on catchment hydrology and forest biogeochemistry

Abstract

Japan has strong research programmes in the catchment sciences that overlap with interests in the US catchment science community, particularly in experimental and field-based research. Historically, however, there has been limited interaction between these two hydrologic science communities because of differences in language, culture, and research approaches. These differences highlight a potential for scientific discovery through coordinated interactions. In this vein, US--Japan Joint Seminars have been held about once a decade since the early 1970s (Yevjevich and Downs, 1971; Bras et al., 1988; McDonnell et al., 2001). In addition, beginning in 2000, Hydrological Processes began hosting annual special issues of the Japanese Society of Hydrology and Water Resources, which furthered the infusion of Japanese research into the English literature (Board of JSHWR, 2000; Tsujimura et al., 2012) and has helped increase participation of Japanese researchers in North American and European scientific conferences. In March of 2013 at the East--West Center in Hawaii (www.eastwestcenter.org), the fourth US--Japan Joint Seminar was held to continue the tradition of fostering interaction, exchanging ideas, and establishing collaborations between the US and Japan in the catchment sciences. This commentary summarizes the goals and outcomes of the meeting and establishes a vision for intercontinental catchment science research in the future.