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Okamura Lab
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The lab studies the properties of ground and soil to build a society that is resilient to disasters.
AboutAbout the lab
Protecting everyday life with the strength of ground and soil.
The Okamura Lab studies the properties of ground and soil, aiming to build a society that is resilient to disasters.
In addition to academic research in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, the lab works to clarify phenomena occurring in the field through field surveys and on-site experiments.
The lab investigates the causes of ground-related disasters, such as levee damage caused by heavy rain and liquefaction damage caused by earthquakes, and conducts research that leads to countermeasures.
The lab also puts its research results to practical use in cooperation with the national government, local governments, and private companies.
Key terms
- Piping
- A phenomenon in which water and sand pass through the ground and a narrow hole (pipe) gradually forms
- Liquefaction
- A phenomenon in which the ground suddenly softens due to earthquake shaking and behaves like a liquid
- Centrifuge model testing
- An experimental method that spins a model at high speed to increase gravity and reproduce conditions close to those of real ground
NewsLab news
Paper by Prof. Okamura and colleagues published in Geoenvironmental Disasters
Paper by Prof. Okamura and colleagues published in Soils and Foundations
Prof. Okamura received the Paper Award (English) from the Japanese Geotechnical Society
Paper by Prof. Okamura and colleagues published in Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
ResearchResearch themes
Building on soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering, the lab pursues research that connects with other fields such as hydraulic engineering, and clarifies subjects that have rarely been studied so far, such as cavities within the ground and piping failure of levees. It observes phenomena through precise experiments using real soil, and steadily builds up theoretical verification and modeling.
*Illustrative imagePiping Failure of Levees
Piping is the phenomenon in which river water seeps into the ground during a flood, sand is carried out, and a hole (pipe) forms. The lab studies the mechanism of this phenomenon.
*Illustrative imageDetecting Deformation Inside the Ground
The lab researches and develops technology that uses satellites and drones to measure extremely small movements of the ground surface with high precision, in order to clarify phenomena occurring inside the ground.
*Illustrative imageNew Methods for Liquefaction Countermeasures
The lab studies a method that prevents liquefaction by making the ground unsaturated, at a far lower cost than conventional methods, and aims to apply it to seismic countermeasures for expressways and river levees.
*Illustrative imageReproducing Liquefaction with Centrifuge Experiments
The lab is developing, in international joint research with overseas universities and research institutions, technology that reproduces the behavior of liquefied ground through centrifuge model experiments.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Okamura Lab consist of faculty, master's and undergraduate students, and secretaries.As of 2026
- ProfessorMitsu Okamura
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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: “Scrapers make their way south along old Sacramento River levee ( )” U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District / Public domain (cropped)
- Piping Failure of Levees: “Soil liquefaction ( )” Martin Luff from Christchurch, New Zealand / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Detecting Deformation Inside the Ground: “BLM drone training above Horning Seed Orchard ( )” BLM Oregon & Washington / Public domain (cropped)
- New Methods for Liquefaction Countermeasures: “Dacitic pumice (Holocene, Mt. St Helens)” ScoriaPumice / CC0 (cropped)
- Reproducing Liquefaction with Centrifuge Experiments: “Governor on Leavitt Engine, Chestnut Hill Pumping Station” Bestbudbrian / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Komine Lab): “Polygonal cracks in drought-dried soil near La Guardia, Margarita Island, Venezuela” Wilfredor / CC0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sato Lab): “Side View Of Concrete Bridge” Collins Musonda / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sakakibara Lab): “S Koirala Hospital Constructed Wetland ( )” SuSanA Secretariat / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Sasaki Lab): “Aerial view of Autobahnkreuz Köln-Nord” El Grafo / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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