Foreword
Professor John A. Black (below I refer to him as John) and I first met in August 1986. I presented a city simulation model that was under development at the time at the session he chaired at a land-use and transportation symposium at Monash University, Melbourne. I knew his name from The Land-Use Transport System, co-authored with Professor Blunden, but I remember being quite surprised because I never thought he would be such a young Professor. On the way back from the symposium, I stopped by in Sydney and visited his UNSW’s laboratory. It has been 35 years since then, and our relationship between public and private has continued. In the meantime, I have taken care of him in Japan, but for most of the time he has continued to help me.
John’s co-authorship of The Land-Use Transport System represented the first masterpiece on the interaction between transportation and land use and is the starting point for researchers in relevant fields. Since then, John has been active as an internationally prestigious researcher in a wide range of transportation-related fields, from transportation engineering to finance. One of these contributions was in the World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS), at the 5th conference in Yokohama in 1989, when I was the secretary-general of the executive committee. At that time, he cooperated with the management organizers as a member of the thesis award selection committee. From then on, he actively participated in the management of the WCTRS academic society, and, in 1995, invited the 7th Congress to Sydney that became a great success with him as the Chair of the Organizing Committee. Since then, he has made a great contribution to the development of WCTRS as a member of the International Steering Committee. There are many other things to mention, such as him leading the launch of the timely Journal Transportation Research D: Transport and the Environment.
In 1999, I was able to secure an invitation Professor position at Tohoku University, where I was a Professor at the time, so I recommended John as a candidate to the personnel committee without hesitation. In addition to international recognition, his ability to deliver academically and his engaging personality were the reasons for his recommendation. After coming to Sendai, I instructed doctoral students from Mexico, Thailand, and Japan who were enrolled in my laboratory. They received more enthusiastic guidance than I gave them, and were greatly inspired by a world-renowned professor, who deepened their research approach. They grew spiritually and are now active themselves as researchers of internauional standing. John has been conducting joint research with many Japanese researchers other than myself through encounters at international conferences, and so on, not only in Japan but around the world. He has co-authored dozens of papers with Japanese researchers. In addition, he has contributed widely to the provision of international information to Japanese researchers, including reviews of publications in English by Japanese people.
In addition, when looking at things other than academic, John has a deep general knowledge of Japan. He studied under a famous Japanese painter, drew ink paintings, and wrote haiku with various friends. I am impressed by his continued interest in Japan. From time to time, is not uncommon for me to rush to find out the answer to questions in emails about Japanese matters.
This book can be said to be the results of one of John’s insatiable inquisitive spirits from the transport academic field to the general liberal arts field. The publication of this book may be an end break for John, but I believe that it will be an opportunity for readers to deepen the connection with Japan, foster new encounters, and develop new themes.
6 June 2021
Kazuaki Miyamoto
Professor Emeritus of Tohoku University
Professor Emeritus of Tokyo City University