Iterations of trial and error have been widely used due to improvement on the properties of existing materials or development of new materials with desirable properties. It seems to be a waste of precious resources and energies, and it does not help us to understand essence in the phenomena, that is, material science. Establishment of the guideline in the material design with some theoretical supports should be given the highest priority for the improvement or development of materials.

Chemical properties of materials, such as reactivity and stability, are dependent on chemical structures, such as, atomic configuration and electronic state. From this point of view, our research group has been studying inorganic materials for a long time, where the relations between structure and property of glasses and ceramics have been extensively investigated to understand mechanisms how the chemical properties are revealed. Glasses and ceramics with energy convertibility or optical functions are the objects so far in our study, and new start has been made with the development of environmental inorganic materials, such as inorganic catalysts, materials for the use of solar energy, and materials related to dioxins.