Looking back on the Societyfs activities and the decisions of the board of directors over the last academic year, what first comes to mind is the increase in the annual membership fee starting this academic year. This was a very difficult decision, but we asked for your understanding of this increase as a means to improve the Societyfs precarious financial state, as also mentioned earlier in the foreword to this volume. Another thing that springs to mind is the establishment of the Annual Meeting Reform Promotion Committee to enhance the annual meeting, which is the Societyfs most important endeavor. Chairman Kouichi Asakura (Prof., Keio University) is displaying leadership and running the committee with great energy. An outline for proposed reforms will be settled on during the current academic year, and we look forward to the implementation of these reforms starting with next academic yearfs annual meeting.
The jointly held 2nd ACOS & 56th JOCS Meeting (The Asian Conference on Oleo Science 2017 and The 56th Annual Meeting of the Japan Oil Chemistsf Society) last year also left a strong impression. Despite the higher than usual registration fee, we had a greater number of participants than expected from both Japan and abroad, which both pleased me tremendously as a member of the executive committee and was also a great relief. We were happy to be able to present this as a means to hold an international conference with a smaller financial burden.
Turning to key activities for the coming year, heading the list is the 57th JOCS Meeting. Preparations are underway with Prof. Nagao Totani of Kobe Gakuin University taking the central role. We hope to see the meeting conclude successfully with the participation of many JOCS members. In the first part this year we will redesign the Societyfs website with the strong efforts of the General Affairs Committee. This will improve our ability to disseminate information externally, and further enhance the information we provide to members. Planning for the 60th JOCS Meeting in 2021 and the Societyfs 70th anniversary in 2022 are also major tasks. Please contact a member of the Board of Directors with any ideas or proposals you have for these commemorative events.
In discussions of the Steering Committee and Board of Directors, aside from the fixed content each academic year, much time has been consumed by the Societyfs financial status and ways to improve it. These discussions were unavoidable because coming up with a strategy for the survival of the Society was a pressing task. Since this is New Yearfs, however, I would like to indulge in a few words about future dreams. With the execution of reform proposals of the Annual Meeting Reform Promotion Committee, I see the annual meeting becoming a place for more active academic discussion, with scholarly contact by university and corporate researchers and students. I picture strengthening of the secretariat support system for the annual meeting, which we are requesting of Mr. Kuwata, head of the secretariat, and the creation of a system in which the executive committee can concentrate solely on planning the annual meeting. In my dream the problems of the Societyfs financial situation and declining membership also disappear. Time is spent during discussions by the Board of Directors on academic activities and planning public relations activities, returning the JOCS as soon as possible to its previous position of focusing solely on the advancement of oleo science.
Last autumn I visited Kathmandu for attending an international conference. On an excursion we visited the ancient city of Bhaktapur 12 km away by bus from the meeting site. There was terrible traffic congestion because of the lack of signals, and it took us about an hour to arrive. The streets of the ancient city were thick with the smell of moist soil. This reminded me of the smells (not pleasant odors) of the narrow alley on the north side of our house when I was a child, something that I had completely forgotten living in Tokyo. I felt a sense of time like that from my childhood, when time moved slowly and I could play seemingly forever. Experiencing this space made me want to try and slow down and be a little more relaxed and deliberate in both my research and university work and society activities this year. I also intend to like to take a more solid, measured approach in the administration of the JOCS. I look forward to a good year with you all.
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My appointment as president for fiscal 2017 and 2018 was recently decided at a meeting of the board of directors held at our 63rd regular general meeting. While this important role may be more than I deserve, I will do my utmost to contribute to the further development of the traditions of the Japan Oil Chemistsf Society (JOCS). Our Society is a networked organization of researchers and engineers taking a variety of approaches to dealing with oils and fats, surfactants, and other related substances, and is characterized by its composition of interdisciplinary personnel from the industrial, governmental, and academic sectors. In other words, our Society is one that provides ample opportunities to acquire a wide range of problem-solving tips and ideas for different types of research, from state-of-the-art functional materials to the development of foods that are a part of a healthy diet and articles for daily use that aim to improve quality of life.
The specialty areas of our members can be broadly divided into the oils and fats field and the interfacial science field, and it is important that an organic network should be constructed in order that members will be able to make effective use of our Society. Although this central role is one that is currently served by the expertsf division committee, I feel that the links between the oils and fats field and the interfacial science field remain tenuous. Rather than a thick axle linking two wheels of a car, I feel that the association between the two fields is akin to a slightly dysfunctional relationship between the right brain and the left brain. In other words, while each group usually contributes to the development of JOCS through their own activities, organic linkages between the two fields generally occur only in branch activities and at annual meetings, suggesting the presence of a thin barrier between the two. For my own part, when I look back over the past, including my own reflections, I find that my consciousness of the fats and oils fields was limited to those times when I was editing a textbook for a freshman seminar, planning branch seminars, or editing the program for the annual meeting. Therefore, as president, in order to make our Society a more conducive site for exchanges, I would like to work on creating mechanisms for encouraging interactions between the two fields.
Making a survey of the JOCS, research and personnel exchanges (such as our annual meetings, branch, and expertsf division activities) and our academic promotion and dissemination activities (such as freshman seminar) are generally in good condition, thanks in large part to active contributions from our membership. However, as I announced in the prefatory remarks in the June edition of this journal last fiscal year as chair of the steering committee, our financial situation remains very unstable as a result of constant deficits due principally to the decrease in our membership. To escape from this situation, I have asked the chair of the Future Concept Committee, Professor Dai Kitamoto of the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, to work out a growth strategy for the JOCS. A summary of the committeefs findings was reported at the regular general meeting as gA Proposal for the Sustainable Development of the Japan Oil Chemistsf Society.h
I understand that the Future Concept Committee has been engaged in comprehensive discussions concerning the organization and activities of the Society, beginning with its study of details reported by the Millennium Committee in 2000, entitled gNecessary Measures for Revitalizing the Society.h They have proposed that the position of the JOCS be expressed in the pithy catchphrase, gThe intersection of scientists and engineers breaking new ground in oleo science to support comfortable living,h and that we moreover focus on reform proposals and reinforcement measures to revive the JOCS. Among their several proposals is the advice that it will be important to position the policy of grather than increasing membership, to prioritize increasing the number of participants at the annual meetingh as a pillar of reform. Therefore, I would like to ask the Annual Meeting Reform Promotion Committee (chaired by the new chair of the steering committee, Prof. K?ichi Asakura, Keio University), which we have newly organized this fiscal year, to provide us with tactics for reforming the annual meeting, moving to implementation as necessary with a view to completion in about three yearsf time. The news that this fiscal yearfs annual meeting will be held jointly with the 2nd Asian Conference on Oleo Science at the Kagurazaka Campus of the Tokyo University of Science was announced by Professor Hideki Sakai (Tokyo University of Science) in the prefatory remarks of this journal two issues ago. Since the active participation by many members in the annual meeting will be the first step toward reform, your participation will by all means be sincerely appreciated.
Now, one thing that I would like to keep in mind as president is, as much as possible, to strive to continue the accumulated legacy of tradition and the aspirations of my predecessors. However, as you will note from the proposal by the Future Concept Committee, since the situation confronting our Society will require gzero-based thinkingh that involves selecting the optimal solution from a blank slate rather than being bound by existing frameworks, that some past customs will be left behind is to be fully expected. In such cases, I thank you in advance for your kind understanding and cooperation.
Although I have been speaking here of some rather formal matters, I am not normally that type of person. And since JOCS itself is such a friendly organization and we will be engaging in the above tasks in a relaxed manner, I thank you very much for your support.
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Message from JOCS President
Message from JOCS President (2017.1.1)
2017 New Yearfs Greetings
Japan Oil Chemists’ Society
Prof. Kazuo Miyashita, President
At the year 2017 starts now, it is a great honor for me to greet all of you whishing happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year! On behalf of Japan Oil Chemistsf Society, I would greatly appreciate it if you could be interested in our@activities and join us.
Japan Oil Chemistsf Society (JOCS) is Public Interest Incorporated Association approved by Japanese Government. Since starting in November 1951, our public activity has greatly contributed to the advancement of science and technology on oils and fats, surfactants, oleochemicals, biochemicals and related substances. The society has also been contributed to create sustainable and environmentally friendly system for the usage of oil and lipid related materials. These activities have been strongly supported by memberfs volunteer work to build up the highly valuable position of our society. At the same time, the more satisfaction and sense of fulfilled in the activities we can feel, I believe, the more social value and development of our society increases. When I joined JOCS as a graduate student, little did I realize just how much that affiliation would enrich my life after that. I have received many benefits from social activities as being a JOCS member. This is a kind of privilege with great honor, passion, and commitment.
In my new yearfs greetings at last year, I had a message: gour field, oleo science (oil or lipid science) is an interdisciplinary academic field related to goilh, glipidsh, and gfatsh so that we can challenge the solve of a variety of social issues based on fundamental scientific areas, namely, chemistry, physics, and biologyh. Our scientific field helps sound development of related industries, welfare of the human race, and our abundant life. The strong connection between scientists of academia and technologists of industry is essential for the growing of this field. It is very important for our society that all of scientists in academia and industry are worked as a united team. We may obtain the more satisfaction and sense of fulfilled when we get success as the team.
Most important tool for the provision of information is annual meeting and international meeting (Asian Conference on Oleo Science). Our success will depend on the enhancement of both meetings. There are many themes on the goilh, glipidsh, and gfatsh. New themes in this field is coming out every year. When we, scientists, approach these themes from the different, new, and unique viewpoints, we can offer exciting and valuable topics in our annual meeting, and then, industry and public will pay the higher attention to our society. We are very welcome to any researchers and technologists in various fields of oleo sciences to attend the meetings.
The last annual meeting in Nara was a great successful one. Especially, banquet was tremendous with many attendees from all generations, all scientific field, and many areas. I can see there a gteam JOCSh. Our society has good tradition to protect because of its long history. However, annual meeting should be most innovative and meet the needs of our society. I will promises to provide more filling meetings of Japan Oil Chemistsf Society.
The Society sponsors numerous seminars, symposia, factory visits and other events such as several awards. Our society also has published journals and several books related to oleo science. Journal of Oleo Science (JOS) is our official international Journal. You can obtain latest and tip academic information from the official Journal. JOS is incorporated into major scientific document retrieval sites such as PubMed, and offers free article downloads, which enables JOS to have strong influence and transmits beneficial information to related scientific areas. You can appeal your outstanding research results in the field of oleo science through JOS. We are waiting for your submission. Thank you !!
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