Takayoshi KUSAGO is currently a professor at the faculty of sociology, Kansai University in Osaka. From the perspective of human development and capability approach, he has studied a variety of subjects pertinent to modernization and sustainable development. He places enormous importance on how local people can actively engage in creating own community/society where they can achieve higher level of well-being. He also pays careful attention to people’s perceptions over their own life and community to understand what conventional objective statistical data tend to miss. He provides technical assistance by travelling to Bhutan and Nepal (rural community development), to Minamata, Niigata and Fukui (community revitalization), and to Hyogo and Nagakute, Aichi (well-being index and policy). He involves in a research project on SDGs by conducting citizen survey on environmental concerns and development issues. He has published research papers in academic journals such as World Development, Social Indicators Research, and coauthored GNH (Gross National Happiness) in Japanese, 2011.