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Okada Lab
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A lab that develops technology to observe living cells as they are, in order to uncover how life works.
AboutAbout the lab
Seeing cells directly to uncover how life works
The Okada Lab combines direct observation, centered on live-cell imaging, with physical and mathematical analysis.
Researchers from diverse backgrounds, including physics, biology, and medicine, come together in an interdisciplinary and international environment.
By developing new observation and measurement technologies and analysis methods, the lab takes on problems that could not be solved before.
The lab is split between two sites: the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Kobe, and the Hongo Campus of the University of Tokyo.
Key terms
- Live-cell imaging
- A method of observing living cells under a microscope to see the movements taking place inside them as they happen.
- Fluorescent probe
- A reagent that binds to a specific molecule or structure inside a cell and glows, making its position and state visible.
- Cytoskeleton
- Fibrous structures inside the cell that maintain the cell's shape and also serve as tracks for transporting materials.
NewsLab news
Graduate admissions guidance sessions for the University of Tokyo held from April to May
Admissions information session for the Department of Physics held in March 2026
A student won a poster award at the JSPS San Francisco Japanese Researchers Networking Event
A paper on a foundation for developing fluorescence lifetime biosensors, from joint research with Kanazawa University, was published
ResearchResearch themes
The lab develops new observation and measurement technologies and analysis methods to solve fundamental and important biological problems. It applies these technologies to topics such as intracellular transport, cytoskeletal dynamics, and the three-dimensional structure of the genome in the nucleus, aiming to understand molecular mechanisms through direct observation.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of high-speed, high-resolution microscopes
The lab develops cutting-edge imaging technologies, from single-molecule observation to in vivo imaging. Its main focus is hardware development, such as high-speed, high-resolution optical microscopes for live imaging.
*Illustrative imageDevelopment of fluorescent probes
The lab develops fluorescent probes for observing fine structures inside cells and visualizing cell states. Together with imaging hardware development, this is one of the two pillars of its technology development.
*Illustrative imageAI-based microscopy image processing
The lab promotes computational approaches to microscopy image processing using machine learning and AI. It builds systems that acquire large volumes of high-quality cell microscopy images, contributing to the development of foundation models.
*Illustrative imageNonequilibrium fluctuations in cells
The cytoplasm is a protein solution so concentrated that, in a test tube, it gels and loses its fluidity. In living cells, however, it remains fluid. Focusing on nonequilibrium fluctuations, in which cells actively stir the cytoplasm using metabolic energy, the lab investigates their mechanism and physiological significance.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Okada Lab consist of faculty, doctoral and master's students, and academic support staff.As of 2026
- ProfessorYasushi Okada
- LecturerKazuho IkedaPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorKeigo IkezakiPublications ↗
- Assistant ProfessorAkira Takai
- Assistant ProfessorTakanobu A KatohPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorSawako Enoki
- Project Assistant ProfessorTsukasa MakinoPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorMasafumi Kuroda
- Project Assistant ProfessorKanako IwasakiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Multicolor fluorescence image of a living HeLa cell” 8x57is / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Development of high-speed, high-resolution microscopes: “Laser reflectors” Tourbillon / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Development of fluorescent probes: “Fluorescence.microscope3” Bioguy10 / CC0 (cropped)
- AI-based microscopy image processing: “Artificial Neural Network with Chip” mikemacmarketing / photo on flickr / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Nonequilibrium fluctuations in cells: “Brownian trajectory” Roque345 / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (能瀬研究室): “Drosophila larvae mariometzler” Mario Metzler / CC BY 2.5 (cropped)
- Related lab (竹内研究室): “B72Textur” Minutemen / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (生体非平衡物理学研究室): “Nematic liquid crystal” Ingo Dierking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (伊藤(創祐)研究室): “Belousov Zhabotinsky reaction ( )” Stephen Morris / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
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