Japanese Academy of Sciences

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The Japanese Academy of Sciences ( Japanese 日本 学士 院 , Nippon Gakushiin , English The Japan Academy ) is a non-governmental academy of sciences near Ueno Park in Tokyo , Japan . It was founded on January 15, 1879 with the aim of supporting academic work and promoting research. It is under the patronage of MEXT .

history

The Imperial Academy of Sciences around 1930

The Japanese Academy of Sciences was founded in 1879, during the Meiji period . From the time it was founded until 1906 it was named Tōkyō Gakushi Kaiin ( 東京 学士 会 院 ). The aim of the newly founded academy was to promote education and science. At the beginning the number of members was fixed at 40 people.

In 1906 the academy was renamed the Imperial Academy of Sciences ( 帝国 学士 ​​院 , Teikoku Gakushiin , English The Imperial Academy ). As a result, the Academy's range of tasks was expanded further and approached the areas of responsibility of European and American academies. The academy prepared reports on the state of research and answered inquiries from the government. It also began to honor outstanding scientific achievements. She set up regular meetings to review and discuss the state of research.

After the end of the Second World War , under American occupation in 1947, the academy was renamed again and received its current name. In addition, the academy was subordinated to the Japanese Science Council, which limited its independence as an originally non-governmental organization until 1956. In 1956, through the enactment of the Academy Law , which includes 10 articles, it regained its independence as a non-governmental organization. Article 2 of this law increased the number of members to a maximum of 150 people. Membership is granted for life in accordance with Article 3. Since then, the academy's library has created various collections of material, particularly on Japanese mathematics. She entered into a lively exchange of information with other academies worldwide.

present

In 1974 the academy received a new seat and a new boardroom, which was built according to designs by Taniguchi Yoshirō . The total area currently available to the Academy in Ueno is 1282 m². It has an annual budget of 602.5 million yen (2010). The academy has two main departments, one for the humanities and one for the natural sciences, with a total of seven sub-departments that are assigned to individual subject areas:

  • Humanities main department:
  1. Literature, history, philosophy
  2. Law and political science
  3. Economics and Commerce
  • Scientific main department:
  1. pure sciences
  2. Engineering
  3. Agriculture
  4. Medicine, pharmacy and dentistry

The Academy is currently chaired by Kubo Masaaki, and Sugimura Takashi is deputy. The Academy currently has 134 out of 150 possible members, an additional 27 honorary members and 11 employees. The Academy holds monthly meetings, with the exception of July and August, and it has 11 specialist panels on specific topics.

Known members

Well-known members of the academy include a .:

Collections

The Academy's library collects materials and works from its members. It currently has 34,342 independent individual documents and 2,472 serial titles. The main collections include:

  • the collection of documents on genuinely Japanese achievements in mathematics ( Wasan ), whose holdings are documented in the Catalog of Native Japanese Mathematics .
  • the Kawamoto Kōmin collection - a collection of documents by the scholar of the same name, who in the Edo period, as part of the Rangaku, translated many books on the scientific achievements of Europe and wrote books on chemistry and physics.
  • The Diaries Collection - 139 handwritten notes and 46 documents on correspondence between Japan and other countries, which were created and updated over a period of 230 years (from 1631 to 1860).

President of the Academy

President of the Tōkyō Gakushi Kaiin

Surname Kanji Term of office University affiliation Area of ​​Expertise
Fukuzawa Yukichi 福澤諭吉 January 1879 - June 1879 Keio Gijuku ( 慶 應 義 塾 )
Nishi Amane 西周 June 1879 - December 1880 Yōrōkan ( 養老 館 ) Law, philosophy
Katō Hiroyuki 加藤 弘 之 December 1880 - June 1882 Tokyo University Political science
Nishi Amane 西周 June 1882 - June 1886 Yōrōkan ( 養老 館 ) Law, philosophy
Katō Hiroyuki 加藤 弘 之 June 1886 - December 1895 Tokyo University Political science
Hosokawa Junjirō 細 川 潤 次郎 December 1895 - December 1897 Tosa-han law
Katō Hiroyuki 加藤 弘 之 December 1897 - June 1906 Tokyo University Political science

President of the Imperial Academy of Sciences

Surname Kanji Term of office University affiliation Area of ​​Expertise
Katō Hiroyuki 加藤 弘 之 July 1906 - June 1909 Tokyo University Political science
Kikuchi Dairoku 菊池 大 麓 July 1906 - August 1917 Bansho Shirabesho
(University of Tokyo)		 mathematics
Hozumi Nobushige 穂 積 陳 重 October 1917 - October 1925 Tokyo University law
Okano Keijirō 岡野 敬 次郎 November 1925 - December 1925 Tokyo University Commercial law
Sakurai Jōji 桜 井 錠 二 February 1926 - January 1939 Tokyo University chemistry
Nagaoka Hantaro 長 岡 半 太郎 March 1939 - June 1948 Tokyo University physics

President of the Japanese Academy of Sciences

Surname Kanji Term of office University affiliation Area of ​​Expertise
Yamada Saburō 山 田三良 June 1948 - November 1961 Tokyo University International private law
Shibata Yūji 柴 田 雄 次 January 1962 - November 1970 Tokyo University Inorganic chemistry
Nambara Shigeru 南 原 繁 November 1970 - May 1974 Tokyo University Political science
Wadachi Kiyoo 和 達 清 夫 October 1974 - October 1980 Tokyo University geophysics
Arisawa Hiromi 有 沢 広 巳 October 1980 - October 1986 Tokyo University Economics
Kurokawa Toshio 黒 川利 雄 December 1986 - February 1988 Tōhoku University medicine
Wakimura Yoshitarō 脇 村 義 太郎 June 1988 - March 1994 Tokyo University Economics
Fujita Yoshio 藤 田良雄 April 1994 - April 2000 Tokyo University astronomy
Ichiko Teiji 市 古 貞 次 April 2000 - October 2001 Tokyo University literature
Nagakura Saburō 長 倉 三郎 October 2001 - October 2007 Tokyo University Physical chemistry
Kubo Masaaki 久保 正 彰 October 2007 - October 2013 Tokyo University European literature
Sugimura Takashi 杉 村 隆 October 2013 - October 2016 Tokyo University Biochemistry, oncology
Shiono Hiroshi 塩 野 宏 October 2016 - today Tokyo University Administrative law

Academy Awards

The academy also awards four different prizes:

  • since 1911 the Onshi-shō ( 恩賜 賞 , "Imperial Prize")
  • also since 1911 the prize of the Japanese Academy of Sciences ( 日本 学士 院 賞 , Gakushiin-shō )
  • since 1987 the Duke of Edinburgh Prize ( エ ジ ン バ ラ 公 賞 , Ejinbara kōshō ) and
  • since 2004 the advancement award for science of the Japanese Academy of Sciences ( 日本 学士 院 学術 奨 励 賞 )

Well-known award winners

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ About the Academy
  2. ^ Academy website
  3. ^ English version of the Academy Law
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ [2]
  6. ↑ [3]
  7. ↑ Committees
  8. ↑ Collections
  9. ↑ see also website including portrait photos of the presidents.
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Fukuzawa is the family name, Yukichi is the first name.