Executive Officer , LION Corporpration
January 2025
New Year’s Greetings: The Future of the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society －Things I Learned Through Direct Communication with Supporting Corporate Members－
Happy New Year! I wish to express my sincere gratitude to the many people who attended the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society at Yamagata University in Yonezawa City last September under the leadership of Professor Nonomura, as well as to the more than 10 companies that provided support in various ways. Thanks to your support, the participant count nearly exceeded the maximum capacity for hotel accommodations in Yonezawa City, and the reception was so well attended that we had to turn some people away due to fire regulations. We would like to extend our heartfelt apologies to those who were inconvenienced and express gratitude to all those involved for their efforts.
In alignment with our efforts to “face the future”, which was set as our top priority when I took office as the chairman in 2024, I have convened with approximately 10 corporate member companies, together with Vice Chairman Goto and the secretariat. Despite many academic societies struggling with decreasing membership and income because of Japan’s declining population, the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society is fortunate to enjoy stable financial management for the time being. This is because approximately 70% of the income from membership fees comprises corporate membership fees; thus, if the benefits to corporate member companies are damaged, we fear a rapid deterioration in our financial situation. Therefore, we asked for the opinions of corporate member companies, who are important stakeholders, to deepen their understanding of the current situation and build a win-win relationship for the future. We are currently working on compiling a detailed report and specific measures as proposals, and we have received many ideas and suggestions. For example, in an age when the Internet is awash with both valuable and misleading content, I would like to consider such ideas as updating the handbook to ensure that it is a reliable source of correct information from a specialist’s perspective. I am also exploring ways to improve annual meetings and seminars to further stimulate human interaction across fields and generations.
Through discussions with several people, I believe that there may be things we can do to contribute to the improvement of the research environment for academia, which is the most important stakeholder for the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society. For example, since the implementation of the independent administrative agency system, the research environment at universities has experienced a marked increase in results-based evaluation and stricter management, along with a tendency for research to become shortsighted. The amount of stamina required to secure budgets and manage operations has increased dramatically, and I feel that the leeway that should be allocated to research and education, which are the organization’s original activities, has been reduced. Even if funding for academic society awards and other programs were changed from one-off rewards to multiyear grants, this might help create an environment in which young researchers could more easily take on unique and challenging research themes. Though not an easy task, simplifying the university’s administrative system—for example, by streamlining the back office-may enable the simplification of procedures and effective allocation of corporate donations and joint research funds to research sites. Although this suggestion is based on a small number of examples, because 30–50% of the costs are collected as administrative costs at many universities, companies that want to commission research at universities are becoming more cautious. Furthermore, as more than 10% of laboratories are operating on annual research budgets of approximately 1–2 million yen, young researchers are becoming exhausted.
The above are my personal opinions. If you have any opinions or suggestions, please feel free to let me know. I believe that the uniqueness and sophistication of Japanese activities are Japan’s strengths. I sincerely hope that the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society will become a frontrunner in realizing the activation and sustainability of research activities in Japan by giving form to the ideas and advice we have received from corporate members and academic teachers. We ask for your continued support this year as well.
Finally, I would like to announce that the 2025 Annual Meeting will be held at Shinshu University beginning September 3rd, under the leadership of Professor Toshio Sakai. Please join us.
January 2024
New Year’s Greetings: Contribution to the Future Made Possible by the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society
Happy New Year! Last year, I had the impression that social activities after the COVID-19 pandemic had begun in earnest, as the annual meeting was held at Kochi University of Technology in a face-to-face meeting for the first time in several years. Of course, virtual tools are convenient, but I am certainly not alone in reaffirming that encounters and activities where one can experience heat firsthand are very stimulating and meaningful. I celebrated my 60th birthday last summer, and looking back, I realized once again that I am here today precisely because I was blessed with so many encounters and was nurtured through the passionate interactions that I have had. I am entering 2024 with the intention of spending the last half of my life repaying this gratitude.
As I wrote in the preface to my inauguration as President of the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society, JOCS, I have set “facing the future” as my most important task as President. There are many angles and
visions for the future that we need to face, but “sustainability” and “wellbeing” are issues that are becoming increasingly important on a global level as well as in society. I believe that these future issues and JOCS have an extremely high affinity.
The history of interface science and surfactants, one of the major academic fields of JOCS, is also a history of resource utilization in accordance with the times. It started with soaps using fish oil and beef tallow as resources and rapidly developed during the period of rapid economic growth through the effective use of fossil resources. Since the 1990s, the development of biosurfactants and the utilization of plant resources have been actively pursued considering environmental compatibility and resource sustainability. In other words, the JOCS was one of the first societies to confront sustainability by bringing industry and academia together in the development of socially useful chemicals. Where JOCS should go in the future is not yet certain, but one possibility is to develop fully usable resources with food use, high CO₂ fixation efficiency, no residue, and the development of technologies that meet these conditions.
On the other hand, wellbeing is also closely related to our field of expertise at JOCS. Nutrition and redox control of natural oils and fats, another major academic field, are important technologies with high affinity. Of course, technological innovations in medicine and drug discovery are also important future technologies, but “knowing” and “preventing” will become increasingly important in dealing with health in a society of longevity.
The uniqueness of JOCS lies in the fact that it is a forum for a wide variety of players, from academia to corporations, in diverse academic fields to openly exchange information on a wide range of topics, from basic to applied, without creating barriers. This year, we would like to hear from many of our corporate and individual members and to conduct activities to increase our usefulness to all stakeholders. Furthermore, one of our hypotheses at this time is to further expand the aforementioned strengths. Specifically, we are considering “strengthening inter- academic collaboration to accelerate internationalization and interdisciplinarity,” “matching academia and companies in both technology and people,” “fostering human resources through seminars and exchange events,” and further “revitalizing science and technology by obtaining support from the government and other organizations.”
Many issues have been identified from various perspectives regarding the recent research environment for science and technology in Japan. In terms of human resources, issues related to the careers of degree holders and the decrease in the number of members of various academic societies due to population decline are major problems. In addition, in terms of research funding for science and technology, I feel that free research that encompasses unknown possibilities tends to be abandoned because of the concentration on competitive areas and the strengthening of exit controls based on an investment- return perspective. Corporate research is part of business activities, so we should be very conscious of return and speed; however, I am concerned that it is not the original form of academia to bind academic research with a single set of values and methods.
Let me reiterate that the JOCS is a society responsible for areas that have a high affinity with future issues, and it is a rare society consisting of a diverse and open membership. It is not easy to solve future issues, but with the help of our members, we would like to make improvements while prioritizing them. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Finally, under the leadership of Professor Yoshimune Nonomura, Chair of the 62nd Annual Meeting Organizing Committee, we are pleased to announce that the 2024 Annual Meeting will be held in person from September 3 to 5 at the Yonezawa Campus of Yamagata University. We look forward to your participation.
May 2023
Message from Our New President
At the 69th Annual General Meeting and 459th Board of Directors Meeting, I was honored to be appointed president in the 2023 fiscal year. Although I am very uncertain whether an inexperienced academic from the industry will be able to fulfill this great role, I will do my best to face the future of the historic the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society (JOCS), with the weight of responsibility as the first president from industry in the 23 years since 2000. We look forward to your continued advice and encouragement.
The first thing we need to do in the future is to create new forms of academic conference activities, given that the novel coronavirus pandemic, which lasted for more than three years, is finally calming down. The impact of behavioral and face-to-face restrictions on the activities of academic societies was by no means small, and many important events had to be cancelled, curtailed, or held differently. However, we have also gained from this experience. The 2nd World Congress on Oleo Science, WCOS 2022, held in August last year, took advantage of the web conference feature and successfully concluded with not only many research reports from Japan, but also many programs including the new attempt of “Select Lectures,” the JOCS-AOCS joint meeting held in collaboration with the American Oil Chemistry Society (AOCS), the International Society for Fat Research Lectureship Series, and many other programs that were prepared and successfully completed. Nevertheless, one of the important roles expected of the conference is networking and deepening academic discussions. Taking advantage of online convenience and cost advantages, the 61st JOCS Annual Meeting in 2023 will be conducted face-to-face for the first time in four years so that these original functions can be fully realized. The people concerned are also devising ways to hold the reception, considering the social situation at the time. We look forward to your active participation. Similarly, we plan to continue holding various seminars and events, making full use of both real and digital media.
Another important issue for the future is to reaffirm the raison d’etre of JOCS to all the stakeholders that make up the society and to strengthen the sustainability of the association by creating a clear roadmap without neglecting difficult challenges, such as declining membership and financial pressures.
The Journal of Oleo Science (JOS), the flagship international journal of JOCS, has been included in the Directory of Open Access Journals, and the impact factor of JOS was also improved to 1.628. One of the strengths of JOCS is its broad base as an academic field, which has developed based on fats, oils, and interfacial science, and its high realization capability that exists on the same platform, from basic to applied technology. We believe that these are important tools for exploiting this advantage. In addition to accelerating internationalization by actively reaching out to AOCS and researchers in Asia, I would like to take the lead in transforming the way we work with other academic societies, as efforts that seamlessly straddle academic domains, especially health- and environment-related fields, will become mainstream in the future.
JOCS is also characterized by a high proportion of companies and corporate researchers in terms of both membership and financial composition. In the rapidly changing business environment of the future, the usefulness of the society for companies is expected to change significantly. Although this may not be appropriate, it may be necessary to seek a form of academic society with a high investment value. We would like to have a dialog with a wide range of people on this point and attempt a design, albeit in the short term.
I have been a member of JOCS since I was a student more than 30 years ago. I am grateful for the guidance I have received from many senior members of society, which has made me who I am today. I see my appointment as an opportunity to return the favor and I will continue to work to this end in the future. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.