Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences

Message from the President

Greetings from the UJSIS president

Thank you for the honor of electing me as president for the 7th term of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences (UJSIS). During my 2-year term, I would like to work with representatives of member organizations and do my best to manage UJSIS. The significance of activities of the steering team and the results produced will contribute to academic exchange between members of the 17 insect-science-related academic societies and associations of UJSIS as well as to achieving the UJSIS objectives. We look forward to working with you.

Twelve years have passed since UJSIS was established at its inaugural meeting at the Science Council of Japan on 24 July 2010. Article 2 of the UJSIS Statutes states that its purpose is "to promote research and education in insect science and related disciplines, and to contribute to the development and social diffusion of this field in Japan". Insects cover both rare and familiar species that have been deeply involved in many aspects of human life since prehistoric times, including infectious diseases, food resources, agricultural production, environmental conservation, education, culture, and biomimetics. During the recent debate on global issues, such as climate change and population growth, insect scientists from various fields are expected to collaborate in tackling these issues from a hands-on viewpoint. While requiring both deep individual specializations and interdisciplinary collaboration, it is essential to strengthen the system for confronting the urgent issues we face from the standpoint of 'Team Japan' in insect science. Under these circumstances, two R&D projects are currently in progress under the auspices of the Cabinet Office's Moonshot project 'Goal 5' with members of UJSIS societies acting as project managers utilizing their wisdom in insect science to meet the challenge of sustainable food production and avoid the '2050 problem'. Their work is truly timely and encouraging.

Holding public symposia is another key project of the Coalition. Twelve of these symposia have been held jointly with the Subcommittee on Applied Entomology of the Committee on Agricultural Sciences of the Science Council of Japan, which established the basis of UJSIS. The last two symposia were held online amidst the continuing spread of COVID-19 and about 350 participants with various talents were connected via the internet from Hokkaido to Okinawa. This included people from higher education institutions and also students from primary and secondary schools, creating a lively exchange between speakers and participants and offering the great advantage of an open symposium unlike face-to-face meetings. To make the best overall choice for the future, we are considering an 'online, but not an alternative to face-to-face meetings' format.

Rapid globalization has encouraged various international cooperation, but the irony is that it has spread a new coronavirus and resulting pandemic that has brought globalization to a halt. Despite this, the UJSIS's role of providing an invaluable forum for international academic exchange between members of member societies was achieved by establishing a committee that successfully bid for the 27th International Congress of Entomology (ICE) to be held in 2024. This was a major achievement. The ICE2024 Kyoto Congress will be held from 25 to 30 August at the Kyoto International Conference Centre and the organizing committee is now in full swing under the theme 'New Discoveries through Consilience'. The 16th Congress was held in Kyoto in 1980¬–the first time in Asia–so it returns again to Japan after 44 years. After 3 years, the COVID pandemic is still unpredictable but let’s be prepared and hope it can be overcome soon. We also hope that many researchers and accompanying persons from abroad will visit Kyoto and enjoy experiencing some of Japan’s culture, tradition, and nature. The Federation will make every effort in cooperation with the Science Council of Japan and other relevant organizations to ensure that ICE2024 Kyoto enhances the international presence of Japanese entomology and provides a forum for meaningful academic exchange. In particular, I hope many young researchers will accept the challenge of giving oral presentations at ICE2024 Kyoto and seize the opportunity to shorten the distance between themselves and the world. On a personal note, I had the opportunity to attend the 16th International Congress of Entomology in the summer of my second year of university (1980) at the suggestion of my supervisor at the time. Many eminent Japanese and foreign researchers, now deceased, would confront me, a Japanese student who could only speak a few words of English. I remember that at that time, I felt as if I was enveloped in a fresh breeze that I had never been exposed to before. I think it is important for UJSIS to include not only 'material rewards' for members but also invisible 'emotional rewards'. The UJSIS is in no way complete. Values are constantly changing amidst the violent currents of the times, and I believe it is our destiny to continually search for the best solution at any given time. In this context, I hope we can respond to the trust given to us by managing the Union while considering whether it incorporates measures and thoughts that will increase 'engagement' and the attractiveness of belonging to UJSIS for member associations.

The comprehensive efforts of UJSIS member associations to address the various challenges we face in the 21st century are in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and will contribute to development of a new society in line with ‘Society 5.0’ outlined by the Cabinet Office. They also contribute to 'sustainable food security', 'preservation of the global environment', and 'maintenance of sanitation and health', which are indispensable for a new safe, secure, and robust social and economic system.

We must face a mountain of knowledge during our limited lives. Our forebears have shown that we can weave our time into new generations and realize our dreams through cultural transmission. I feel we want to be a 'magnificent community of insect scientists' with attributes like a tapestry pattern, where the waft of each academic association and weave of the UJSIS are interwoven and where the individual threads shine when seen close-up but are beautifully integrated when seen from a distance. We are grateful to inherit the valuable knowledge accumulated from the 1st term (President: Prof. Okitsugu Yamashita) to the 6th term (President: Prof. Sakiko Shiga) and are happy to walk with you into the 7th term to continue building the fabric of insect science in Japan and look forward to your support and cooperation.

President: Dr. Masato Ono
Professor of Tamagawa University, Tokyo


[Term 6] President of the Union: Sakiko Shiga, PhD (Osaka University)

I am honored to represent members of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences (UJSIS) as president for the 6th term, July 1st 2020 to June 30th 2022. The UJSIS represents 17 academic societies, and in cooperation with the Science Council of Japan’s Subcommittee of Applied Entomology under a Committee on Agriculture we promote research, education, and social dissemination of insect science. The UJSIS was established in July 2010 with the participation of 14 academic societies under the leadership of the first president, Prof. Okitsugu Yamashita. Since then, the UJSIS has been working under the leadership of Prof. Kenji Fujisaki (2nd term), Prof. Osamu Tadauchi (3rd term), Prof. Yukio Ishikawa (4th term), and Prof. Hisanori Bando (5th term). In July 2020, we celebrated 10 years since the UJSIS was established; we are now starting a new decade for the union.

In the 6th term, we will continue to hold an open symposium once a year to promote insect science. In the summer of 2021 we will be holding a symposium “Insect World – A World of Diverse Insects II”. This symposium had been scheduled for June 2020 but was unfortunately postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In 2021, we will prepare to hold the symposium online, and in 2022 we would like to hold a symposium that will make the public more familiar with the fascinating aspects of insect science. We also plan to develop our online presence to promote insect science. The UJSIS has published a number of excellent books for the general public based on the content of the public symposium. However, in recent years we feel that publication in paper form has become more difficult than ever before. Therefore, this period we will update our website to make the UJSIS activities (and those of the 17 academic associations) more visible, and provide a platform for interaction among our member associations to strengthen the sharing and dissemination of information.

Cooperation with international organizations is an important activity of the UJSIS. The International Congress of Entomology (ICE) is held every four years and is one of the largest conferences in the world, bringing together thousands of entomologists from all over the world. In 2018, a Bid Committee for the XXVII ICE meeting in 2024 was established under the UJSIS. After much work, we are pleased to announce that the ICE 2024 will be officially held in Kyoto, August 2024. This will be the second time for ICE to take place in Japan; the first was held in Kyoto back in 1980. The young Japanese researchers participating in the meeting 40 years ago gained a worldwide perspective of entomological research, and they have now been leading modern entomology. We hope that ICE 2024 will again attract many students and young researchers, and involve children as well, to make it a conference that truly leads the future of entomology. This term, the UJSIS will cooperate enthusiastically and make every effort to make ICE 2024 a big success.

In striving to further develop insect science in Japan, I would like to ask for your continued guidance and support this term.

Cheers,
Sakiko Shiga, PhD
President of UJSIS
Graduate School of Science,
Osaka University

[Term 5] President of the Union: Hisanori Bando (Professor of Hokkaido University)

Since its foundation in 2010, the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences has steadily contributed to the promotion of insect sciences in Japan, in close collaboration with the Applied Entomology Committee of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ). Currently, 17 insect science-related academic societies and associations are affiliated to this Union.

As of July 2018, I have assumed the presidency of this Union. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce activities planned during the term of my presidency. One of our important activities is to organize annual symposia open to the general public. Topics of the three most recent symposia were “Infectious Diseases Mediated by Pest Insects”, “Invasive Alien Insects: Problems and Countermeasures”, and “Blessings of Insects”. These three symposia were very successful in attracting wide attention of the general public. We will continue to organize a symposium on timely topics to enhance understanding of the general public on insect sciences.

Another important activity of our Union is publication of introductory books intended for the wide public. We published two books “Insect Science: Wonder World of Insects” (Tokai University Press, ISBN 4486020356, in Japanese) in 2015 and “Uninvited Insects: Health Damage and Pest Management (Tokai University Press, ISBN 4486021254, in Japanese) in 2017. We are now preparing a new book that is based on the lectures delivered in the symposium “Blessings of Insects”.

Also, we organized a symposium “Recent Advances in Entomology in Japan” on September 25, 2016, which was held in conjunction with the 25th International Congress of Entomology, Orland, Florida, USA (September 25–30, 2016) and ended successfully. We make continuous efforts to create opportunity to introduce the advancement of entomological sciences in Japan to the world’s leading entomologists.

Lastly, we will keep enhancing dissemination of information on our activities through our website. The quality and quantity of information provided in the website have been substantially increased year after year. I appreciate your occasional revisits to this website.

I cordially look forward to your continuing participation, advice, and support to these activities.

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President: Hisanori Bando
(Professor of Hokkaido University)

[Term 4] President of the Union: Yukio Ishikawa (Professor of the University of Tokyo)

Since its foundation in 2010, the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences has steadily contributed to the promotion of insect sciences in Japan, in close collaboration with the Applied Entomology Committee of the Science Council of Japan (SCJ). Currently, 17 insect science-related academic societies and associations are affiliated to this Union.

As of August 2016, I assumed the presidency of this Union. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce activities planned during the term of my presidency. Our first activity will be organizing a symposium “Recent Advances in Entomology in Japan” on September 25, 2016, which will be held in conjunction with the 25th International Congress of Entomology, Orland, Florida, USA (September 25–30, 2016). This symposium will be a good opportunity to introduce the advancement of entomological sciences in Japan to the world’s leading entomologists.

Our next important activity is to organize annual symposia open to the general public. Topics of the two most recent symposia were “Infectious Diseases Mediated by Pest Insects” and “Invasive Alien Insects: Problems and Countermeasures”. These two symposia were very successful in attracting wide attention of the general public. We will continue to organize a symposium on timely topics to enhance understanding of the general public on insect sciences.

Another important activity of our Union is publication of introductory books intended for the wide public. In 2015, we published a book “Insect Science: Wonder World of Insects” (Tokai University Press, ISBN 4486020359, in Japanese). We are now preparing a new book, which is based on the lectures delivered in the symposium “Infectious Diseases Mediated by Pest Insects”.

Lastly, we will also enhance dissemination of information on our activities through our website. We totally renewed our website in 2015 to enhance its visibility. The quality and quantity of information provided in the website have also been substantially increased. I appreciate your occasional revisits to this website.

I cordially look forward to your continuing participation, advice, and support.

[Term 3] President of the Union: Osamu Tadauchi (Research Prof. and Prof. Emeritus of Kyushu University)

The Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences was established in July of 2010 and has been active with sixteen academic insect-related societies and associations enrolled in the Union. The essential aims of the organization are to promote the advancement of insect science and contribute to society. I have been appointed as the new president of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences as successor to the first president, Professor Okitsugu Yamashita, and the second president, Professor Kenji Fujisaki. I am determined to fulfill my responsibilities and duties.

Our activities in this term are 1) To prepare a satellite symposium sponsored by our Union in the International Congress of Entomology (ICE) in Orlando, Florida, USA in 2016, by determining a theme and lectures of the symposium. This is a good opportunity to convey the present state of entomology in Japan to the world. We have nearly determined the plans as of late March, 2015. 2) To advance our activity in accordance with The Science Council of Japan (SCJ), Applied Entomology Subcommittee. The Subcommittee created and issued a Recommendation to the government in September, 2014, entitled: "Expansion in studies of insect taxonomy and biodiversity and necessity of preparation for species information basis". We have a sense of impending crisis in the future reduction of laboratories of insect taxonomy and biodiversity in universities and institutes. The Recommendation suggests that "We will have to rapidly realize development of a large-scale insect specimen collection and construction of biodiversity databases including images and DNA information which lag behind the Western countries. It is not only necessary for Japan for studies of insect diversity themselves, but also for gaining an advantage over other countries in the agriculture, forestry and livestock industries in the present global trade times, for preventing expansion of infection transmitted by insect agents accompanied by global changes, and for doing our duty for safeguarding biodiversity in and outside of Japan." It adds that the insect scientific community understands the necessity of preparing specimen collections and biodiversity information, but that it is not making enough effort toward supporting biodiversity as the basis of preparation crossing various academic fields. It is necessary for researchers themselves to construct a network of research and education among organizations in Japan by playing a key role transcending academic societies, ministries and government offices and to struggle for constructing specimen collection and information basis preparation in unison and to strengthen cooperation with overseas related institutions and organizations. As the focal point of constructing the network among organizations in Japan, it is thought that our Union is the most suitable organization. We will support an exchange among societies and organizations in the Union by using a homepage and emails and by asking their opinions. 3) To publish a reader based on lectures of our past symposium. We have published the first book in March, 2015 and we will prepare the second one in the near future. 4) To open a symposium collaborating with The Science Council of Japan, Applied Entomology Subcommittee, for popularizing entomology in society. The themes will be medical entomology in 2015 and invasive insects in 2016.

The Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences has significant future roles to play. Our mission for the third term is to implement new approaches to accomplish these goals while collaborating with The Science Council of Japan, academic conferences and related associations. We look forward to your continuing participation, advice and support.

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President: Osamu Tadauchi
(Research Prof. and Prof. Emeritus of Kyushu University)

[Term 2] President of the Union: Kenji Fujisaki (Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University)

Our future activities and goals On July 24, 2010, the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences was established at its inaugural meeting, attended by fourteen insect-related academic societies and associations in Japan. The union now consists of sixteen academic societies, including two new member organizations. I have been appointed as the new president of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences as a successor to the first president, Professor Okitsugu Yamashita. I am determined to fulfill my responsibility and duties, and promote the advancement of insect science and contribute to society in accordance with the purpose of the establishment.

The Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences cohosted three symposiums with The Science Council of Japan, Applied Entomology Subcommittee. Young researchers representing many different academic societies delivered presentations on advanced research, which allowed us to recognize the diversity and depth of insect science. The symposiums clearly suggested the necessity of mutual understanding among members of a variety of academic societies and associations as well as interdisciplinary research. However, as for future activities, it will be very important for different academic societies and associations to share common understandings of various problems to solve them, in addition to promoting academic exchanges.

Today, environmental problems, such as global warming, environmental pollution, land development, and invasive species, have become increasingly serious. In this context, biodiversity, the basis of ecological services which humans receive, is being lost at an unprecedented speed. In March of the previous year, there were two unprecedented disasters - a massive earthquake followed by radioactive contamination caused by an explosion at a nuclear power plant. For humans, insects are closely associated with infections, agricultural production, useful resources/biomimetics, and culture/education, and, due to global environmental changes, these relationships are going through a substantial change. In light of this situation, The Science Council of Japan, Applied Entomology Subcommittee, created and published a report, entitled: “Roles to be played by insect science and the necessity of its promotion” on July 28, 2011, which included reports and suggestions on four significant challenges: “The current status of insect taxonomy and its future perspective”, “necessity of addressing insect-mediated infections”, “Insect industry and interdisciplinary collaboration”, and “Education using insects as a subject”. It is necessary for The Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences to share a common awareness of the issues by organizing theme-specific symposiums with the above-mentioned problems and future perspectives in mind. We are also required to increase public awareness of the issues and themes by publishing books, organizing science cafes, and implementing education on insect science. Furthermore, the union should enhance international contributions as an insect science organization representing Japan and contact offices of international academic institutions, including the International Congress of Entomology (ICE).

The Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences has significant future roles to play. Our mission for the second term is to implement new approaches to accomplish these goals while collaborating with academic conferences and related associations. We look forward to your continuing advice and support.

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President: Em. Prof. Kenji FUJISAKI
(Kyoto University)

[Term 1] President of the Union: Prof. Okitsugu Yamashita (President of Chubu University)

On July 24, 2010, the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences was established at its inaugural meeting held in a conference room of the Science Council of Japan and attended by fourteen insect-related academic societies and associations in Japan. I have been appointed as the first president of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences. I am determined to fulfill my duties and promote the advancement of insect science in accordance with the purpose of the establishment. We appreciate your continuing advice and support. We would like you all to join us to celebrate this memorable event - the establishment of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences.

It is necessary to address a variety of social issues associated with insects at a national level through collaboration among academic societies involved in insect science. In recent years, an increasing number of insect-related and other academic societies and associations have highlighted the necessity of this approach. Since its 18th period, the Science Council of Japan has been involved in the reform of Japanese academic system, societies, and associations, and the development of their vision for the future. The reform is designed to enhance the role of academic research and promote scholarly activities that help develop knowledge-based society, while placing importance on traditional academic approaches based on specialization.

This also applies to scholarly activities in insect science. To retain and promote its distinctiveness as an academic discipline, researchers in insect science are expected to continue to explore new research fields, systems, and theories. Scientists in this field are required to contribute to society by addressing a variety of social issues with their expertise and respond to society’s expectations to obtain their understanding and support.

Never have such high expectations been placed on academic research in any other era. This is an ideal opportunity for us to promote the advancement of scientific research for the future. Academic expertise required for these scholarly activities will be acquired in an environment such as a community consisting of researchers with a variety of perspectives and values. The foundation of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences is regarded as the establishment of an important community for insect science researchers. Everything starts from here. Under the slogan: “pursuit of possibilities”, let us hope for the bright future of the Union of Japanese Societies for Insect Sciences.

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President: Prof. Okitsugu YAMASHITA
(President of Chubu University)