(Dr. Kazunori Arita (age: 62), Professor at the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University is a well known geologist who has worked quite intensively in the Nepal Himalayas. He started his professional carrier in 1975 as Assistant Professor at the Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Faculty of Sciences, Hokkaido University. Since 1967, he has visited Nepal many times as a member of geological teams. In 1973 his team published their contribution entitled “Geology of the Nepal Himalayas” (Saikon Publishing Co., Tokyo, pp 286) with colored geological map at the scale of 1: 1,000,000 which is the first published geological map covering entire  Nepal. This was a significant contribution to Nepal. Later, he led a collaborative research project “Integrated Studies on the Himalayan Uplift and Climatic Changes” in collaboration with Tribhuvan University under the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Japan. Recently (July, 2004), he convened 19^th Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop (HKT19) at Niseko, Hokkaido. This was the first HKT workshop in Japan. This 3-day workshop was attended by 117 scientists from different disciplines representing more than 14 countries including 13 Nepali scientists. The successful completion of this workshop was a testimony to his academic maturity, multidisciplinary approach in solving research problem and respect to the contribution from other disciplines too. Two Nepali students have already completed their Ph.D with him and he is an inspiring personality to many of the Nepali students in Hokkaido University. Currently one postdoctoral fellow from Nepal is working with him. Dr. Arita spoke to our chief editor Dr. Narendra R. Khanal on his professional achievement and attachment to Nepal. Excerpts)

1. When was your first visit to Nepal? And what made you attract to work in Nepal?

My first visit to Nepal was from February to May, 1967. I started my journey to Nepal by ship (iron ore bringer ship) from Japan to Goa, India. From Goa to Madras, it was by a coaster, Madras-New Delhi-Raxaul by train and from Raxaul to Kathmandu by bus via Shim Bhanjyang.

 I was a member of Mountain skiing club of Hokudai and enjoyed skiing and mountaineering so that I had strong interest in Himalaya and Tibetan region. And I was a student of the Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University and researched Hidaka Mountains (Hidaka metamorphic Belt which is a typical orogenic belt in Japan like the Himalayas). My teacher, late Prof. Seiji Hashimoto had already visited Nepal in 1955 as a member of scientific party of the expedition team to Mt. Manaslu. The Himalayas have been a longing place for not only alpinists but also geologists. Further Nepal was a mysterious country for Japanese of those days.

2. What were your major professional involvements about Nepal?

I have been involving in geological works in the Nepalese Himalaya. The Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau are natural laboratories for studying orogenic movement, formational processes of continental crust and uplift processes of mountains. I have an interest also in comparative study of the Himalaya and the Hidaka. Now Nepal and Nepalese are well known by Japanese but geology of the Himalaya was not familiar to Japanese geologists. I have made some efforts to let Japanese geologists stimulate their interest in and understand the significance of Himalayan geology through the activity in the Geological Society of Japan.

3. How do you feel to work in Nepal?

Nepal is a mountainous country and foreign country for me so that it is difficult to do geological survey there without supports of many persons in various fields. I would like to express my hearty thanks to all Nepalese friends in this occasion. Honestly speaking, field survey in the Nepalese Himalaya is easier than that in the Hidaka Mountains because in Hidaka I must do every thing such as cooking and carrying collected rock samples by myself, but in Nepal guides and porters help me and I can devote my energies to field work. My field works in Nepal have been supported by them. Formerly it was difficult to obtain permission for geological survey and it took a lot of time to get it. It was more troublesome job than geological work in the field. But, of course, now it is not so difficult.

4. Do you have future programs to work in Nepal?

This coming spring, I am retiring from my job in Hokudai, but I will continue to edit and publish the contributions presented in 19^th Himalaya-Karakoram-Tibet Workshop at Niseko in July 2004 as special issues of the Island Arc (Blackwell) and Journal of Asian Earth Sciences (Elsevier). After that I want to visit Nepal again. For that purpose too I am wishing peaceful Nepal.

5. Any suggestions for betterment of Nepal?

The Himalaya is unique on the earth and is the greatest treasure of Nepal which is located just in the central part of the Himalaya. The uniqueness should be kept for a long time in future. But nature conservation (keeping the uniqueness) and the stabilization and improvement of people’s livelihood are often contradictory to each other in many countries. I think Nepal is a test case to cope with both of them. Nepalese should definitely recognize this thing, should argue, and appeal to the World.