A message from the President of the Society

The President of the Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science : Teruo Miyazawa

The President of the Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science : Teruo Miyazawa

Surrounded by the fresh green leaves, the General Meeting of the Japan Society of Nutrition and Food Science (JSNFS) was held in Sendai in May. It is to my great honor that I was appointed as a president of JSNFS for the fiscal year of 2012 and 2013 during the meeting.

JSNFS has become a public interest incorporated association as of September 1, 2011. With the cooperation from the society members and the board of directors, we took our first step towards the academic society pursuing public interest. As an inaugural address, I would like to mention some points that come to my mind concerning JSNFS.

First of all, I would like to refer to the history of JSNFS. It has been 65 years since JSNFS was established in 1947 in order to deal with the malnutrition situation in Japan after World War II. Since then, JSNFS has collaborated with the field of medicine and developed a new academic area, merging nutritional science with food science. JSNFS was also promoted to the No. 14 member society of the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences. Throughout its history, JSNFS has academically contributed to the promotion of longevity in Japan.

Currently, there is a large diversity of target topics as the social environment changes, where it is required to deal with over-nutrition, life-style related diseases, and symptoms related to aging. Further development of the studies in these areas is greatly expected. I am sure that the studies done by the members of JSNFS since the time of malnutrition up to the time of over-nutrition will especially be helpful to the health and welfare of other Asian countries. From this viewpoint, promotion of these studies and international collaboration will have greater importance in the near future.

The 12th Asian Congress of Nutrition (ACN), which will be held at Pacifico Yokohama in 2015, is the compilation of the studies in the field of nutrition and food sciences. In order to carry out this event, it requires successful collaboration with IUNS Council of Science Council of Japan, related academic societies and the industrial world. It is also essential to be more active internationally, with a view of inviting the International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) to Japan.

The second point concerns the strengthening of JSNFS activities. It is possible to increase the number of JSNFS members by offering activities attractive to both society and researchers, putting more importance on the contents of annual meetings and regional activities. It is critical to offer the members services they feel useful. Concerning the awards, we will send awards to the relatively young researchers with good academic achievement, hoping that the awarded researchers will be more active in JSNFS activities.

Many JSNFS members have strong ties with the industrial world. As such, industry-academia cooperation studies are very active. At the annual meetings, a number of outstanding studies conducted under the collaboration with industry were presented, some of which have been developed from basic studies in the technology development stage to create new products. This trend is expected to be more active in the future. I think it is about time to create new awards to commend new technology in the field of nutrition and food sciences.

In order to strengthen JSNFS activities, there are tasks that need to be tackled urgently. These tasks include the following:

  • Periodical publication of the journal of JSNFS.
  • Further internationalization of the Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology, which is edited in collaboration with the Vitamin Society of Japan.
  • Broadening activities of public interest, such as open symposia and publication activities.
  • Stronger ties with the Japanese Association of Medical Sciences accompanied by more JSNFS members from the medical world.
  • Further cooperation with other academic societies, including giving certificates and credits.
  • Closer ties with related academic society abroad by concluding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
  • Making contents of annual meetings more fruitful.
  • Providing JSNFS members an opportunity to exchange information through JSNFS homepage .
  • Making new logo of JSNFS.
  • Stronger governance of the board of directors on financial issues.
  • Considering how to deal with the groups with different benefits.

Lastly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Mr. Michiharu Igoshi, a former Secretary-General of JSNFS, who has devoted himself in shifting JSNFS from an incorporate association to a public interest incorporated association and for building the solid structure of the JSNFS secretariat. Fortunately, at present, we have another outstanding Secretary-General, Mr. Yasushi Takano, who has also put great enthusiasm into his work, leading other secretariat members.

Ultimately, my ultimate intention is to offer attractive activities to the members as a leading academic society in the field of nutritional and food sciences. Your warm support is greatly appreciated.

Messages from Past Presidents