Symposium: Approaching the World through the Lens of Causality

Uncovering Causality in Our Complex World

Symposium: Approaching the World through the Lens of Causality

Information

This symposium serves as the wrap–up of the Tohoku Forum for Creativity’s 2025 thematic program, “Uncovering Causality in our Complex World.” It is designed to share the latest insights and experiences in the field of causal discovery from two perspectives: foundational methodologies and real–world applications.

In the session on foundational studies, we will introduce efforts to strengthen the theoretical basis of causal discovery through two complementary approaches:

mathematical and information–scientific methods that employ advanced computational techniques, and
philosophical and psychological approaches that revisit the fundamental questions, “What is causality?” and “What is understanding?”

The application–focused sessions will highlight attempts to uncover causal relationships hidden within massive datasets generated by a wide range of complex systems, including major state–of–the–art synchrotron radiation facilities; the dynamics of large–scale electric power networks influenced by human behavior; large–scale agricultural irrigation systems; and biological neural networks. We will also explore causal understanding rooted in the expertise of practitioners in medical and manufacturing fields, among others.

Through this symposium, we hope to explore–together with all of the participants–how our extraordinarily complex world comes into view through the lens of causality.

LINK: 日本語

Date

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 – Friday, February 20, 2026

Venue

TOKYO ELECTRON House of Creativity 3F, Lecture Theater, Katahira Campus, Tohoku University [Access]

Speakers (confirmed so far)

Hiroyasu Ando (Tohoku University)
Lily Ge (Northwestern University)
Saku Hara (Tohoku University)
Leonard Henckel (University College Dublin)
Hiroyuki Higuchi (Fujitsu Ltd. / Tohoku University)
Takeshi Kanasugi (Kokugakuin University)
Shunsuke Kano (Tohoku University)
Shunsuke Kawamoto (Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University)
Sotaro Kuribayashi (Fujitsu Ltd.)
Koji Maruhashi (Fujitsu Ltd.)
Masao Ohno (IHI corporation)
Takafumi Sato (Tohoku University)
Hiroshi Shimizu (Kwansei Gakuin University)
Shohei Shimizu (Shiga University)
Reona Yamaguchi (Kyoto University)