JSPS’s San Francisco Office held its first science colloquium, this time on the theme “Transformation of Experience: Interpreting the ‘Opening’ of Japan.” The venue was the Alumni House on the UC Berkeley Campus and the date, 19 March.

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the US and Japan. Celebrating this occasion, researchers from both Japan and the US considered the various impacts that the opening of Japan had on the life of the Japanese people. Appropriately, the event was held in cooperation with the Center for Japanese Studies, UCB.

JSPS president Prof. Motoyuki Ono opened the colloquium with welcoming remarks: “The JSPS San Francisco Office will, with this first colloquium as a stepping stone, endeavor to work even harder for the further development of scientific exchange between our two countries in every field of academic research.”

The Japanese lecturers expounded on “transformations of experience,” including modern thought, time management, physical culture, and education. The three US researchers addressed the opening’s effect on science, gender and theology in Japan. These presentations were followed by a panel discussion, including an exchange of views from the floor, on the theme “KAIKOKU in Comparative and Contemporary Perspective.”

More than 100 UCB researchers and students and other academics from the Bay Area attended the event. Through its process of considering “transformations of experience,” the colloquium was very meaningful in that it provided a platform for researchers to present unique work being conducted in the two countries on such subjects as the history of science and philosophy.

Hall packed with participants

At the invitation of the Stanford University Postdoc Association (SUPD), on 18 February the director of the San Francisco Office gave a short lecture on trends in scientific research in Japan and programs offered by JSPS. SUPD boasts the participation of some 1,400 postdocs from other countries engaged in research at Stanford University. As it holds a seminar series to introduce postdoctoral programs to its members, JSPS was invited to come and describe its fellowship programs.

Lecture delivered by Dr. Seishi Takeda

In his short lecture, Dr. Seishi Takeda spoke on the state of scientific research in Japan with emphasis on internationalization and the fostering of young researchers. As concrete examples, he then introduced JSPS’s fellowship programs with focus on its Postdoctoral Fellowships for Foreign Researchers. The briefing proved to be very productive, as the some 50 participants hailing from various countries asked volleys of questions particularly with regard to JSPS’s fellowship programs.

By continuing to hold such briefings, the San Francisco Office will make a wide appeal to young researchers from the US and other countries to take advantage of JSPS’s program offerings. In particular, the office will solicit applications for the JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (Short-term) for North American and European Researchers. In this way, the office works to invigorate international exchange among researchers via their participation in JSPS programs.

On 27 May, a ceremony was held to celebrate the opening of JSPS’s San Francisco Office. The venue was the Radisson Hotel Berkeley Marina in California. This is JSPS’s second base of operations in the US, the first having been established in Washington, DC in 1990.

The office is housed in a building near the Berkeley campus of the University of California. Its principal functions will be to provide and gather information and materials needed to advance scientific cooperation and exchange with researchers mainly on the West Coast of the United States. The office will also carry out cooperative activities with local research institutions, among which science fora are slated to proactively disseminate information on the latest scientific programs and developments in Japan.

Prof. Seishi Takeda, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, will concurrently hold the directorships of both JSPS’s Washington, DC and San Francisco offices.

The ceremony opened with an address by JSPS director general Mr. Motoyuki Ono, who asked the guests for their support and cooperation to the new office. He was followed by Mr. Masayuki Inoue, senior deputy director-general, Science and Technology Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), who read in proxy a message of greeting from minister Ms Atsuko Toyama. Among the some 140 in attendance were consul general Shigeru Nakamura, Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco; Prof. C. Judson King, provost and senior vice president, Academic Affairs of University of California (UC) System; Prof. Beth Burnside, vice chancellor for research, University of California, Berkeley; and representatives of universities and other scientific research institutions in Northern California. They all applauded the opening of the office as forming a new base for scientific exchange between the West Coast and Japan.

In remarks based on their own experiences in US-Japan joint research, Prof. Christopher McKee, University of California, Berkeley, and Prof. James McEwan Paterson, Stanford University, expressed high expectation in the success of the new office’s activities. Lauding JSPS’s international exchange programs for their effectiveness, other attendants were quick to offer various ideas on cooperative activities that the office might initiate. All in all, the ceremony was a very meaningful event.

Fully utilizing its East and West Coast hubs of operation, JSPS will strive to promote further scientific exchange between the US and Japan.