Presidential Statements on “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”
March 12, 2022
Katsunobu Kihara, The President of Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an utterly unacceptable and brutal act that threatens world peace and security, and undermines the very foundations of international order. Such a situation deprives human dignity, something that is of utmost importance to the Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare and will affect the lives of the Ukrainian citizens over a long period of time, especially the disabled, the elderly and children who need social support in their daily lives. We are also concerned about the refugees who have escaped to neighboring countries. The impact these issues will have on the development of social welfare practices and its international academic cooperation is of great concern. We strongly hope for a peaceful solution through prompt dialogue.
Japanese Academic Societies Unite to Release a Joint Statement to Protect the Independence of the Science Council of Japan
December 2nd, 2020
Board of Directors
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare
Japanese scholars have met the Prime Minister Suga’s decision to reject the candidacy of six humanities and social sciences scholars for the Science Council of Japan with grave concern. 226 academic societies in the humanities and social sciences in Japan issued a Joint Statement on November 6th. Since then, the number of co-signers has reached 310. On December 2nd, they issued the same statement in English, gave a press interview and appealed to scholars and citizens worldwide for support and cooperation.
The Science Council of Japan, which is a national academy and not a federation of academic societies, does not directly represent the interests of the societies. Nevertheless, the societies are deeply concerned with the issue as the Prime Minister’s rejection of appointment not only violates the independence of the Science Council of Japan but also further threatens academic freedom, autonomy and democracy in Japan.
As one of the societies that have co-signed the Joint Statement, hereby Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare also releases the Joint Statement and also its own Statement in English.
Please send your supportive message to:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdG8c42G4jnqvV3WygBNkttnEAzIeB-UiHMcOMhtE-INn0z3w/viewform?usp=sf_link
Joint Statement by the Academic Societies of the Humanities and Social Sciences on the Refusal to Appoint Nominees as Council Members to the 25th Term of the Science Council of Japan
Issued on November 6th, 2020
Revised on December 2nd, 2020
We, the 310 academic societies in the field of humanities and social sciences, support the “Request for Appointment of New Members for the 25th Term” issued by the Science Council of Japan on October 2nd, 2020, and strongly demand the immediate realization of the following two points:
- An explanation of the reason(s) why the nominees recommended by the Science Council of Japan were not appointed.
- The appointment of the nominees recommended by the Science Council of Japan who were not appointed.
Academic societies participating in this joint statement (140)
- Art Education Society of Japan
Association for Cultural Typhoon*
Association for Early Japanese Literature*
Association for Japanese Social Literature*
Association for Language and Cultural Education
Association for Modern Japanese Literary Studies*
Association for Narrative Studies*
Association for Showa Literary Studies*
Association for the Study of Industrial Management （Japan）*
Association for the University Evaluation*
Association Japonaise d’Etudes Sartriennes*
Association of Historical Science (Rekishikagaku Kyogikai)
Bukkyo Bungakukai (Society of Buddhist Literature)*
Chiba Rekishi Gakkai (Chiba Historical Society)
Chihoshi Kenkyû Kyogikai (The Local History Conference)
Chuo Shigakukai (Historical Association of Chuo University)
Council of Academies for Social Policies*
European Union Studies Association in Japan*
Jochi Daigaku Shigakukai(Historical Society of Sophia University)*
History Educationalist Conference of Japan
History of Educational Thought Society
Hokkaido Society for the Study of Education**
Intercultural Education Society of Japan*
International Society for Gender Studies*
Japan Academic Association of Socio-education and Service Learning**
Japan Academy of Labor and Management*
Japan Association for Comparative Economic Studies**
Japan Association for Educational Media Study
Japan Association for International Education*
Japan Association for Latin American Studies*
Japan Association for Middle East Studies*
Japan Association for Nilo-Ethiopian Studies
Japan Association for Philosophy of Science
Japan Association for Social Policy Studies
Japan Association for the Comparative Studies of Management**
Japan Association for the Improvement of Conditions of Women Scientists*
Japan Association for the Study of School Music Education Practice
Japan Association for Urban Sociology*
Japan Association of Educators for Human Development
Japan Comparative Literature Association*
Japan Education Law Association
Japan Literature Association*
Japan Music Education Society**
Japan Outdoor Education Society
Japan Schopenhauer-Association*
Japan Society for Educational Technology*
Japan society for Southeast Asian Studies*
Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication*
Japan Society for the Study of Materialism*
Japan Society for the Study of Technical and Vocational Education and Training*
Japan Society of Developmental Psychology*
Japan Society of Image Arts and Sciences*
Japan Society of Mathematical Education
Japan Society of Political Economy*
Japan Society of Social Science on Latin America*
Japan Society of Sport Sociology*
Japanese Association for Contemporary Historical Studies*
Japanese Association for Northern European Studies
Japanese Association of Higher Education Research**
Japanese Association of the Sociolinguistic Sciences*
Japanese Byron Society
Japanese Educational Research Association
Japanese Federation of Philosophical Societies
Japanese Research Association for Community Development**
Japanese Society for Historical Studies of Social Welfare**
Japanese Society for Law and Psychology*
Japanese Society for Physiological Psychology and Psychophysiology*
Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies*
Japanese Society for the Historical Studies of Early Childhood Education and Care*
Japanese Society for the Study of Nursing and Social Work*
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare*
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Work** - Kansai Sociological Association*
Law Section of Association of Democratic Scientists*
Manyo Society*
Nagoya Rekishikagaku Kenkyûkai (Nagoya Association for Historical Science)
Nara Historical Society
Nihon Kirisutokyo Syakaifukushi Gakkai (Japanese Society for Christian Social Welfare Studies)*
Société Japono-Française de Sociologie
Society for the Study of Diplomatics in Japan*
Society of Archaeological Studies*
Syutoken Keiseishi Kenkyûkai (Association of History of Creation of Metropolitan Area)
The Academy of Middle Ages Literature*
The Association for High School-University Collaboration in History Education*
The Association for Studies of Culture and Representation*
The Association for the Study of Japanese Heian Literature*
The Association for the Study of Japanese Language and Literature*
The Association of Japanese Clinical Psychology*
The English Linguistic Society of Japan
The Historical Association of Senshu University
The Historical Science Society of Japan
The History of Science Society of Japan*
The Institute for Fundamental Political Economy
The Japan Association for Developmental Education
The Japan Association for Feminist Economics*
The Japan Association for Korean Language Education**
The Japan Association for Qin-Han Historical Studies
The Japan Association for the Study on the History of Sociology*
The Japan Association of Applied Psychology
The Japan Federation of Societies for the Study of Religions**
The Japan Society for Historical Studies of Education*
The Japan Society for the Study of Adult and Community Education**
The Japan Society of Educational Sociology*
The Japan Society of Youth and Adolescent Psychology*
The Japan Sociological Society*
The Japanese Association for Environmental Sociology*
The Japanese Association for Rural Studies*
The Japanese Association of Educational Psychology*
The Japanese Association of Psychology in Teaching and Learning**
The Japanese Group Dynamics Association
The Japanese Historical Council
The Japanese Psychological Association
The Japanese Research Association of Psychological Science*
The Japanese Society for Curriculum Studies*
The Japanese Society for Education of Young Children
The Japanese Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies*
The Japanese Society for Environmental Education**
The Japanese Society for Historical Studies (Nihonshi Kenkyûkai)
The Japanese Society for the Study of Educational Objectives and Evaluation*
The Japanese Society for the Study on Teacher Education*
The Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology*
The Japanese Society of Medieval Philosophy*
The Kantoh Sociological Society*
The Kojiki Society
The Linguistic Society of Japan
The Narrative Literary Society**
The Osaka Historical Association
The Phenomenological Association of Japan*
The Philosophical Society of Tohoku*
The Phonological Society of Japan*
The Research Society for Women’s History
The Society for Ancient Literature*
The Society for Japanese Linguistics*
The Society for Research on Women’s History
The Society for Sociological Theory in Japan*
The Society for Teaching Japanese as a Foreign Language**
The Sociology of Science Society of Japan*
The Tohoku Sociological Society
The United Associations of Language Studies
Tokyo Rekishikagaku Kenkyûkai (Tokyo Association for Historical Science)*
Academic societies supportive of this joint statement (170)
- A Japan Branch of the Society for the History of Asian Casting Technology*
Akita Kindaishi Kenkyûkai (Akita Association for Modern History)
Association for East European Studies**
Association for the Interdisciplinary Studies of Japanese Buddhism*
Association of Buddhist Philosophy*
Associazione di Studi Italiani in Giappone
Australian Studies Association of Japan*
Business History Society of Japan**
Chiiki Joseishi Kenkyûkai (Association for Local History of Women)*
Doitsu Gendaishi Kenkyûkai (Association for German Contemporary History)*
Hakusan Shigakukai (Association for Historical Studies of the Toyo University)*
Heidegger-Forum in Japan
Hokkaido Sociological Association*
Institute of Science of Cultural History*
International Association of Early Childhood Education
International Society for Akutagawa [Ryunosuke] Studies**
Iwate Society for Historical Studies
Japan Academic Society for Educational Policy**
Japan Academic Society of Mathematics Education
Japan Academy of Business Administration**
Japan Association for African Studies*
Japan Association for College and University Education
Japan Association of Gender and Law*
Japan Association of Regional and Community Studies*
Japan Association of Research on Child Care Social Work
Japan Environmental Council*
Japan Federation of Management related Academies*
Japan NPO Research Association*
Japan Scholarly Association for Asian Management*
Japan Society for Disability Studies*
Japan Society for Distributive Sciences
Japan Society for Gender Studies*
Japan Society for the Pedagogy of Physical Education
Japan Society of English Language Education*
Japan Society of Family Sociology
Japan Society of Korean Language Education**
Japan Society of Lifology*
Japan Society of New Testament Studies*
Japan Society of Research on Early Childhood Care and Education*
Japan Society of Social Work in Health
Japan Society of Taoistic Research**
Japan Society of the History of Physical Education and Sport*
Japan Society of Vocational Rehabilitation
Japan Sociological Association for Social Analysis*
Japan Welfare Sociology Association*
Japanese Association for Comparative Philosophy*
Japanese Association for Mathematical Sociology*
Japanese Association for Religious Studies*
Japanese Association for the Social Studies*
Japanese Association for the Study of Extracurricular Activities
Japanese Association for Tibetan Studies*
Japanese Association of Modern East Asian History*
Japanese Association of Qualitative Psychology*
Japanese Association of Religion and Ethics*
Japanese Association of School Education*
Japanese Association of Social Problems*
Japanese Association of Sociological Criminology**
Japanese Educational Research Association for the Social Studies
Japanese Society for British Philosophy*
Japanese Society for Neoplatonic Studies*
Japanese Society for Oceanic Studies**
Japanese Society for the Study of Human Welfare and Culture
Japanese Society for the Study of Russian History
Japanese Society of Existential Thought*
Japanische Gesellschaft für Germanistik*
Japanische Hegel-Gesellschaft*
Japanischer Verein fuer Goethes Naturwissenschaft*
Komazawa Religious Study Institute*
Kyoto Historical Science Association
Mifukushikai (Society of Early Japanese Literature)*
National Association for the Study of Educational Methods**
Nihon Bungaku Fudo Gakkai (Japan Society for the Geo-climatological Study of Literature)**
Nishida Philosophy Association*
Ôryô Shigakukai (Association for Historical Studies of the Bukkyo University) *
Peace Studies Association of Japan*
Philosophy of Education Society of Japan**
Phonetic Society of Japan*
Rakuhoku Shigaku Kai (The Rakuhoku Society of Historical Studies)
Schelling-Gesellschaft Japan*
Societe d’anthropologie historique
Société franco-japonaise de philosophie*
Societé franco-japonaise des Sciences de l’Éducation* - Société franco-japonaise des Sciences historiques
Société Japonaise de Linguistique Française*
Society for Philosophy of Religion in Japan*
Society for the Study of Modern History*
Society for the Study of Modern Japanese Buddhist History*
Society for the Study of Pali and Buddhist Culture*
Society for the Study of Poverty*
Society for the Study of Working Women*
Society of Inner Asian Studies
Society of the Child and Nature*
Socio-Economic History Society*
Sociological Society of West Japan*
Spinoza Society of Japan*
Sundai Historical Association*
The American Literature Society of Japan**
The Association for Indology and Study of Religion**
The Association for Kyosei Studies*
The Association for Northeast Asia Regional Studies*
The Association for the Study of Japanese Mountain Religion*
The Association of Japanese Ballads and Songs*
The Association of Japanese Geographers*
The Chubu Society for the Study of Education** The Chubu Society of Philosophy*
The Confucianism Society of Japan*
The English Literary Society of Japan*
The Gender History Association of Japan*
The Historical Association of Tokyo Gakugei University
The Historical Society of Akita University
The Historical Society of Hosei University*
The Historical Society of Waseda University*
The Human Geographical Society of Japan**
The Japan Association for Russian and East European Studies**
The Japan Association of Sandplay Therapy*
The Japan Christian Education Society*
The Japan Educational Administration Society**
The Japan Society for Historical Research of Manners and Customs
The Japan Society for Studies on Educational Practices*
The Japan Society for the Geniza Studies
The Japanese Society of Health and Medical Sociology*
The Japanese Archaeological Association*
The Japanese Association for Behavior Analysis*
The Japanese Association for Canadian Studies**
The Japanese Association for Migration Studies*
The Japanese Association for the Study of Guidance*
The Japanese Association for the Study of Popular Music*
The Japanese Association for the Study of Religion and Society*
The Japanese Association of Home Economics Education*
The Japanese Association of Indian and Buddhist Studies*
The Japanese Association of Labor Sociology*
The Japanese Association of Microcounseling*
The Japanese Association of School Health**
The Japanese Association of Sociology for Human Liberation*
The Japanese Association of Special Education*
The Japanese Conference for the Study of Political Thought*
The Japanese Forest Economic Society*
The Japanese Historical Society*
The Japanese Society for Aesthetics
The Japanese Society for Animal Psychology*
The Japanese Society for Historical Studies on Higher Education*
The Japanese Society for History of the Performing Arts Research*
The Japanese Society of Christian Studies*
The Japanese Society of Social Psychology
The Japanese Society of the History of Transport and Communications
The Japan-UK Education Forum
The Kanto Educational Research Society**
The Osaka Association of Historical Sciences*
The Philosophical Association of Japan*
The Political Economy and Economic History Society*
The Saigyo Association*
The Sinological Society of Japan*
The Society for Comparative Family History*
The Society for History of Sengoku Studies
The Society for Korean Historical Science*
The Society for Old Testament Study in Japan*
The Society for the History of Management Theories**
The Society for the History of Social Thought*
The Society for the Study of Occidental History
The Society of Christian Studies, Kyoto University
The Society of English Grammar and Usage
The Society of Historical Research
The Society of Historical Studies of Christianity, Japan*
The Society of Oriental Researches
The Society of Philosophy*
The Women’s Studies Association of Japan*
Tohoku Historical Society
Tokai Sociological Society*
University of Tsukuba Philosophical Association*
Waseda Daigaku Tôyôshi Konwakai (Forum of Oriental History of Waseda University)*
No asterisk: as academic society
* : as board of directors of the academic society
** : as president of the academic society
President’s Statement on “The Rejection by the Prime Minister of the Six Nominees as New Members of the Science Council of Japan”
October 5, 2020
Katsunobu Kihara
President, Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare
As has already been reported in the mass media, six of the new nominees of the Science Council of Japan have been denied appointment by the prime minister.
The Science Council of Japan Act, amended in 2004, stipulates that the Science Council of Japan shall determine its members by an internal selection committee, nominate them to the Cabinet Office, whereupon the prime minister shall appoint them. The appointment ceremony was due to be held on October 1, when the sudden refusal to appoint the candidates occurred, as has been reported in the media.
In the first place, the Science Council of Japan has acted as an independent organization that gives policy recommendations to the government from an academic standpoint. It has also assumed the character of an organization that is based on the “collective will of all scientists.” The “refusal” of the nominees by the prime minister this time is an unparalleled refusal by politics of the members of an organization based on the collective will of all scientists, and is therefore a negation of academic freedom
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare is alarmed by this state of affairs. We would like to endorse and support the statement of President Takaaki Kajita of the Science Council of Japan, “We request the appointment of the persons who have not been appointed.” In addition, as President Kajita has requested, if the refusal is to be made according to law, the accountability for an explanation lies with the government’s side, and we strongly demand that explanation.
Academic societies supporting this join statement:
Japan Academic Association of Socio-education and Service Learning
Japan Association of Research on Child Care Social Work
The Japan Christian Education Society
The Japan Institute of Social Services and Informatics
Japan Society of Social Work in Health
Japan Society of Vocational Rehabilitation
Japan Sociological Association for Social Analysis
The Japanese Academy of Home Care
Japanese Association for Buddhist Social Welfare Studies
The Japanese Association of Research on Care and Welfare
Japanese Research Association for Community Development
Japanese Society for Historical Studies of Social Welfare
Japanese Society for the Study of Human Welfare and Culture
Japanese Society for the Study of Nursing and Social Work
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Welfare Education
Japanese Society for the Study of Social Work
Japanese Society of Law and Forensic Social Services