New s Bul l e tin of the Union of Nati onal
Ec onomi c Assoc i ati ons i n Japan
No.52

2016

Contents○

Greetings from the President Kenichi ENATSU ············································· 1○

Report on Business Activities in FY 2015 ···················································· 3○

List of Primary Proceedings of Meetings in FY 2015 ······································· 5○

On Publishing the 35th Issue of the Information Bulletin Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA··· 8○International Conference Participation ReportJapan Association for the Comparative Studies of Management ··············· 10
The Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International ········· 12○

Reports on the Use of Assistance for the Invitation and Stay in Japan of Foreign Scholars
Japan Business Communication Association (JBCA) ···························· 15○

Reports on the Use of Assistance for Academic Conference Expenses
The Japan Society of Household Economics ······································ 17Japan Academy of Management ···················································· 19○

List of Member Association Trustees ························································ 21○

List of Union Directors ········································································· 23○

List of English Information Bulletin No.34 Editorial Committee Members· ··········· 23

The Scholar's Pride
Kenichi ENATSU, President
There were diverse responses from various sectors to the notification sentfrom MEXT (the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, andTechnology) to the respective national university corporations in Japan on June 8,
2015.
From the academic sector, the Science Council of Japan responded
immediately to this notice with a public announcement by the Executive Board,
“On

the

FutureDirectionoftheUniversity:

In

RelationtotheDepartments/Graduate Schools of Teacher Training and Humanities and Social
Sciences” (July 23, 2015). This was an argument against the statement by
MEXT that “Especially the teacher-training and humanities / social sciences
departments and graduate schools should make efforts for an active involvementin the planning and implementation of organizational revision bearing in mind
the demographic decline of 18-year olds, securing the demand for humanresources, maintaining the standard of education and research, as well as closing
the organizations or transforming them into subject areas with high social needs”,
showing a profound interest in the issue, at the same time clearly indicating “thescholar’s pride”.
Similarly from the industrial sector, Keidanren, expected by most people
to respond favorably to the notification, responded with an objection to the easy
call for reform in a policy proposal, “Our Opinion Concerning Japanese National
University Reform” (September 9, 2015). The objective argument was, “Somepeople regard the notification this time as accommodating the industrial sector’s
demand for human resources with readily applicable business skills; however,
the industrial sector actually needs the opposite type of human resources”.
In reply to these disagreeing opinions and objections, the Japanese
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology explained in apress conference on September 11, 2015, that “The discontinuation issue does nottarget the humanities and social sciences. The lack of writing skills on the partof the government officials who composed the notification was the cause of themisleading passages.” This statement did not reduce the strong objections fromthe respective sectors; in fact, the criticism developed by certain scholars, namely“the unnecessary humanities department theory” has remained the focus of1

attention to this day.
Further, this notification for national university reform has been
extended to Japanese private universities, causing a sensation.

The Japan

Association of Private Universities and Colleges made a public statement,“Proposal on the Future Direction of Private Universities” (December 24, 2015).
The announcement that the Japanese private universities also “should further
work on transmitting the principles, roles, and initiatives, and acquiring thenation and society’s understanding” served as an opportunity to enhance thesense of crisis.
Nobody among the academics or industrial persons with good sense issupporting the idea of “unnecessary humanities department”, and thegovernment officials at MEXT have explained that the term “unnecessary” wasnot to be taken literally.
The industry, government, and academia are truly a mysterious triad interms of tension.
We should take this opportunity to pay attention to the real reason
behind the roaring controversy.
The essential cause of the controversy is that we must accept the hard
truth where Japan ranked lowest among the 17 OECD nations in terms of “thehigher education costs vs. GDP ratio” (financial expenditure), where the statistic
for Japan is 0.5 in comparison to 1.6 in Switzerland, with Sweden ranking
highest.

On the other hand, Japan ranks 3rd from the top in “the higher

education costs vs. GDP ratio” (private expenditure), where the statistic forJapan is 0.8 with Korea at the top (2.0) and USA ranking 2nd (1.6). Also, we arefacing the harsh reality where higher education in Japan depends on individual
family or student (tuition, etc.) funds, and correspondingly, the national fundingfor education is scarce. This is why we cannot ignore “the people’s opinion”, thatis, the other stakeholder.
The background to the current controversy consists of the “smallness ofthe pie portion” of the national funding for education and research, in addition to
the limited distribution of this pie, as well as the perception gap between the
country and university on implementing the “people’s opinion”.
I feel the urgent need for our country to execute a thorough reform on
this issue.
“ After learning, we understand insufficiency; after teaching, we
understand intolerance.”(Quoted from Li-chi, Anthology of Confucian2Teachings)
As academics, we should face this difficult issue with increased“humility” and “sincerity”.

Report on Business Activities in FY 2015
I.

Assistance for the Invitation and Stay in Japan of Foreign Scholars
We received one application this year. After the screening by the Board of
Directors, financial support was provided to the following one academic society.
Please refer to the “Report on Assistance for the Invitation and Stay in Japan of
Foreign Scholars” for the respective reports submitted by the society.

1.

Japan Business Communication Association: 100,000 yen for inviting
Hyejung Chang, Professor, Kyung Hee University, who gave a lecture at the75th National Conference held on October 10, 2015.

II. Assistance for Academic Conference Expenses
We received two applications this year. After the screening by the Board of
Directors, financial support was provided to the following two academic
societies. Please refer to the “Report on Assistance for Academic Conference
Expenses” in this bulletin.
1. Japan Association for the Comparative Studies of Management: 150,000 yen
for dispatching Yutaka KONISHI, lecturer, Gifu University, to theInternational Scientific Conference: The Quality of Inclusive Education forChildren with Disabilities in Vietnam-Current Situation and Solution held at
Hanoi National University of Education in Hanoi, Vietnam, on August 24,
2015.
2. The Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International: 200,000
yen for dispatching Maria IKEGAWA, doctoral student, The University ofTsukuba Graduate School, to the 62nd Annual North American Meetings ofthe of the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) in Portland,
Oregon, USA, held from November 11 to 14, 2015.
3

III. Assistance for Academic Societies
The purpose of this grant is to promote “academic research”, and it provides
partial support for the conference expenses to conduct various activities related
to academic research, such as co-hosting within the society of membership,co-sponsorship of a conference, and requesting external professionals to givelectures. We received two applications this year. After screening by the Board of
Directors, financial support of 50,000 yen was given to the following two
academic societies. Please refer to the “Report on the Assistance for Academic
Societies”.
1. The Japan Society of Household Economics: This academic society held the
31st Annual Meeting under the common theme of “Abenomics and Our Daily
Life”, with inviting experts.
2. Japan Academy of Management: This academic society held the 25th National
Conference and the 14th Japan – Mongolia International Symposium held at
Chuo Gakuin University. Many researchers from Mongolia also attended.
IV.

Publication of the English Information Bulletin, No. 35
At the 2nd English Information Bulletin Editorial Committee for 2014 held on

January 30, 2015, Professor Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA of Senshu University(Business Analysis Association) was selected by the members to be appointed as
the Committee Chairman. For the details on the editing progress, please refer
to “On the Publication of the English Information Bulletin, No. 35” separately
indicated in this issue.
The English Information Bulletin, No. 35 was published in mid-December
2015.

4

List of Primary Proceedings of Meetings in FY 2015
2015.4～2016.3
27

5. 18

First Board of・Report on closing the books for FY 2014

Directors

・Budget for FY 2015

Meeting・New Project Planning for FY 2015
・Parliamentary Procedure for the Board ofTrusteesFirst Board ofTrustees Meeting

・FY 2015 First Review Report for Assistance for
Dispatching to International Conferences,
Assistance for the Invitation and Stay in Japanof Foreign Scholars
・Report on the Publication of English
Information Bulletin No. 34, Report on the
Progress of Editing No. 35
・Report on the Publication of the Union News
Bulletin No. 51 on the Web
・Report/Approval of Audit of FY 2014 Settlementof Accounts
・Future Operation of Special Accounting Activity
Administration Fund・Approval of FY 2015 Budget
・Approval of FY 2015 New Project Planning(Holding a Symposium)

7. 13

Second Board of
Directors
Meeting・Examination of FY 2015 Second Assistance for
Dispatching to International Conferences,
Assistance for Academic Conference Expenses
・Progress Report of Symposium (Academic
Forum)
・Report on Questionnaire for the Digitization of
the Journals

10.9First English

・Final Inspection of Draft for No. 35

Information

・Confirmation of Editing Activity Schedule until

Bulletin
Editorial
Committee
Meeting

Publication of Bulletin
・Organization Heading the Writing of English
Information Bulletin No. 36
・Report for stopping the English Information
Bulletin as printed matter, but published on the5web・The completion of the project of National
Institute of Informatics Electronic Library (NII)
and change to J-Stage
10.26

Third Board of
Directors
Meeting

・Report on holding Academic Forum・FY 2015 Interim Accounting Report
・Report on the Questionnaire Result for the
Digitization of the Journals
・Report on the Progress of Editing English
Information Bulletin No. 35
・Recruitment of FY 2016 New Project Planning
・Decline for the second Assistance of Dispatching
to International Conferences
・Report on two New Membership Application to
our Union

Second Board ofTrustees Meeting

・Report on holding Academic Forum・Report on the Examination of FY 2015 Second
Review Report for Assistance for Dispatching toInternational Conferences and Assistance for
Academic Conference Expenses
・FY 2015 Interim Accounting Report
・Report on the Questionnaire Result for
Digitization of the Journals
・Report on the Progress of Editing English
Information Bulletin No. 35
・Recruitment of FY 2016 New Project Planning
・Report on two New Membership Application to
our Union28

2.2

Second English

・Election of Editorial Committee Chairman for

Information

English Information Bulletin No. 36

Bulletin
Editorial
Committee
Meeting

・Editing Activity Schedule until Publication of
Bulletin・Review of Writing Summary for English
Information Bulletin No. 36
・Report on the Application to J-Stage

6

3.7

Fourth Board of・Report on the Publication of English

Directors

Information Bulletin No. 35 on our Web

Meeting

・Budget for FY 2016
・Examination of FY 2016 First Review for
Assistance for Dispatching to International
Conferences and Assistance for Academic
Conference Expenses
・Report on two New Membership Application(Transcultural Management Society, Academy ofMultinational Enterprises) to our Union
・Report on a Withdrawal Application(Application not submitted)

7

On Publishing the 35th Issue of the Information Bulletin of theUnion of National Economic Association in Japan
Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA (Senshu University)
Chairman, Editorial Committee
The 35th issue of the Information Bulletin of The Union of National
Economic Associations in Japan was published in December 2015. The bulletinhas been continuously published since 1980, providing in English the informationon the activities of economics-related academic societies, not only for audiences inJapan but also for those overseas. We hope a lot of people around the world will
become interested in Japanese academic societies through this issue.
The recent activities of the following ten academic societies were covered inthis issue: 1) The Japan Institute of Public Finance; 2) The Japanese Society of
Insurance Science; 3) Japan Society of Business Mathematics; 4) Population
Association of Japan; 5) The Society of Economic Sociology; 6) Japan Society for
Human Resource Management; 7) Japanese Association for International
Accounting Studies; 8) The Japan Port Economics Association; 9) Japan Society
for Business Ethics; 10) Business Analysis Association.
The Editorial
Committee members elected from these ten academic societies were Motohiro
SATO, Yasushi MATSUSHITA, Nobuhide TANAKA, Reiko HAYASHI, Tsuyoshi
HIROSE, Norio KAMBAYASHI, Eiji HISAMOCHI, Nobuhiro ISHIDA, Eiji
FURUYAMA, and Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA. The writers were Motohiro SATO(The Japan Institute of Public Finance), Yasuo FUKUDA, Yasuo KOFUJI (TheJapanese Society of Insurance Science), Yutaka TAKAHASHI (Japan Society ofBusiness Mathematics), Reiko HAYASHI (Population Association of Japan),Tsuyoshi HIROSE (The Society of Economic Sociology), Norio KAMBAYASHI(Japan Society for Human Resource Management), Eiji HISAMOCHI (Japanese
Association for International Accounting Studies), Yuka OKADA (The Japan Port
Economics Association), Eiji FURUYAMA (Japan Society for Business Ethics
Study), Hiroshi FUKUDA (Business Analysis Association).
The 1st Editorial Committee meeting was held in Conference Room No. 2 on
the 5th floor of Building 9 at Waseda University, on Friday, January 30, 2015.
The Chairman of the Editorial Committee was elected at this meeting, and theten academic societies were fixed to submit articles for the new issue. The
members considered the editorial work schedule and the writing guidelines.
Other issues discussed included the Secretary General’s report on the printed
8

number, distribution destinations, and the number of distributed copies withregard to the 34th issue of the English bulletin. He reported that 330 copies
were sent to the research institutions and university libraries overseas, in 40
countries.
The 2nd Editorial Committee meeting was held in Conference Room No. 5 on
the 4th floor of Building 11 at Waseda University, on Monday, October 19, 2015.
At this meeting, the attending committee members performed the final checkingof the manuscripts ready for the 35th issue. Then, the publication timing andthe editorial work schedule up to the publishing date were confirmed.
The next issue (36th issue) of the bulletin is scheduled to be published in
December 2016. The following twelve academic societies will submit theirreports: Society of Public Utility Economics, Political Economy & Economic
History Society, Japan Accounting Association, Business History Society ofJapan, Japan Academy for International Trade and Business, Japan Academy for
Consumption Economy, Nippon Urban Management and Local Government
Research Association, Japan Society for Applied Management, Japan Risk
Management Society, Japan Academy of Management, Japan Association for
Evolutionary Economics, The Japan Society of Household Economics.
Starting with this issue, we stopped publishing the bulletin in hard copy, andthe data was published on The Union of National Economic Associations inJapan homepage and the CiNii service (academic paper information navigator) of
the National Institute of Informatics (NII). However, this service will end in
March 2017, so we are in the process of applying for data transfer to a newservice, J-STAGE, for continuing the data disclosure of our publications.
Also, we are considering ways to keep a record of our English bulletin issues
since 1980 (the 1st issue, intended to disseminate our message worldwide) to thepresent by disclosing their PDF data on the web.
Finally, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the honorable
members of the editorial committee, the respective writers, Secretary General
Masataka OHTA for guiding the committee operations to function smoothly, theSecretariat member Yoshiko ISHII for her kind support of the work, andProfessor Paul SNOWDEN (Vice-President, Kyorin University) for his help in
proofreading the English manuscript.

9International Conference Participation Report
Yutaka KONISHI (Gifu University)
Japan Association for the Comparative Studies of Management
On Monday, August 24, 2015, I made a poster presentation at theinternational academic conference, “Inclusive Education in Vietnam for Children
with Disabilities”, held at the University of Education, Vietnam National
University (VNU UED) in Hanoi, Vietnam, with financial support from The
Union of National Economic Associations in Japan.
In this report, I will first give an overview of the international conference,and then provide the details on my presentation as an academic emissary.
The international symposium at the conference consisted of opening speeches
by NguyenVan Minh, President of VNU UED, and Joyce Patricia Bheeka of
UNICEF Vietnam, followed by 7 academic research reports, namely 1)“Developing system of center of supporting and developing inclusive education forpeople with disabilities in Vietnam” by Nguyen Duc Huu of the Vietnamese
Ministry of Education and Training, 2) “Quality Assurance of Inclusive Educationfor Students with Disabilities in Schools” by Nguyen Xuan Hai, 3) “Key Findings
from MOET-UNICEF Study on Readiness for Education of Children with
Disabilities in Vietnam” by Le Anh Lan, the inclusive education program
representative for UNICEF Vietnam, 4) “Inclusive Education for Children with
Disabilities in Vietnam” by Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy.

As indicated in therespective titles, these four research paper presentations were made by theindividuals directly involved in the current situation and issues to be considered
for promoting inclusive education policies for children with disabilities inVietnam. The keynote lecture, 5) “Creating and Sustaining Inclusive Schools”,
was delivered by Richard A. Villa and Jacqueline Thousand of Bayridge
Consortium Inc., USA, who were also the sponsors of this international
conference. The research paper presentation, 6) “What research tells us aboutfull inclusion of students with severe behavior problems”, was given by Robert
A.Gable and Lauren C. Reed of Dominion University, USA. These two reports
from American researchers not only mentioned the policies and issues concerning
inclusive education but also theoretically explained the actualities and social
problems occurring in the process of accepting young people with disabilities fromthe schools to society, and their contents were very interesting.
10

The next

presentation, 7) “Examining Inclusive Education Model for Children with
Developmental Disorders in Preschool” by Le Anh Nguyet, Duong Thi Hoai,
PhamThi Hue, Bui Thi Kim Xuan, Tran Van Cong, was a hands-on report bynursery school teachers.
The time between the 6th and 7th reports (15：20 to 16：10) were allotted forthe poster sessions. The total number of poster presenters was 22, of which 3
were Japanese and 19 were Vietnamese.
Initially for this international conference, I had accepted the offer as a social
scientist to report on the status quo and issues of employment for persons withdisabilities in Japan. However, it turned out that I made a poster presentation
instead, having been requested to do so according to the decision of the programcommittee.
My poster presentation was titled, “The Problems of Employment for Persons
with Disabilities toward Inclusive Society in Japan”.

At this international

conference that consisted mainly of papers related to the practice and issues ofinclusive education, my poster session on Japanese employment of challenged
persons attracted a large number of participants, and we were able to makeactive exchanges in the Q & A as well. I reported on the following four major
issues: 1) In what kind of labor setting the challenged persons in Japan are
working after graduating from school; 2) the overview and problematic points ofthe employment policies for persons with disabilities in Japan; 3) a domestic
budget analysis of Japanese persons with disabilities; 4) how we should
understand the problem of educational inclusion and social exclusion.
Fellow participants were especially interested in the corporate working
support system.

The actual situation is where the regular workers aretaxpayers, and workers on welfare are the recipients of the taxes we pay. As
part of the policies for the transition of challenged workers to corporations, it isessential to provide the following stages of support with sensitive consideration:1) Support for job acquisition from school to corporation, 2) support for thecontinuation of work at corporations, and 3) support at the time of withdrawal
from work. Vietnam is just starting to formulate and implement the policies forsupporting challenged persons to find jobs. In this context, I am convinced thatmy poster presentation, despite its social-science approach, made a large
contribution to the purpose of the international conference, namely the quality ofinclusive implementation in Vietnam.

11

International Conference Participation Report
Maria IKEGAWA (The University of Tsukuba Graduate School)
The Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International
Owing to the recommendation by The Japan Section of the Regional Science
Association International and the generous funding support for international
conference participation by The Union of National Economic Associations inJapan, I was given the opportunity to participate and report on my research at
the 62nd Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association
International held by the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) in
Portland, Oregon, USA, between November 11 to 14, 2015.
This academic society conducts research on the various regional sciences,including economics, international relations, political science, sociology, andhistory in North America. NARSC is one of the major member societies of theRegional Science Association International (RSAI), corresponding to the Regional
Association of the Americas of the European Regional Science Association(ERSA) and the Pacific Regional Science Conference Organization (PRSCO), andparticipantsfromaroundtheworld,

consistingof

membersoftheabove-mentioned organizations, gathered at the truly international academic
conference.

As indicated on the program brochure, there were 993

pre-registered presenters and 159 sessions were held at the 2015 conference.
This was my second time to make a presentation at this conference.
The central theme of my research is an analysis of the criteria for selecting
the location of Japanese frozen-food corporations in East Asia.

I joined thesession titled, “The Aspect of Location in Foreign Investment”, where the fellow
participants were from Utrecht, Holland, and London, England.

The

presentation contents, including my own on the behavior of selecting locations forJapanese companies in East Asia, were about the quantitative analysis of M&A
in Europe, the inter-regional R&D in Europe, and the spillover effect oftechnology in South America, among other reports.

The session covered the

crucial themes and regions in the behavioral analysis of selecting locations for
multinational corporations. I also attended a session held on a separate datethat included reports on the corporate selection of locations in the USA andAfrica, and the gap between the national and regional differences in location
selecting criteria were very interesting.
12My own report, titled “Selection Criteria Analysis of Japanese Frozen Food
Company Locations in East Asia: Applying the market access and supplier accessbased on the distribution rate of refrigerators”, consisted of building a model withconsideration to the domestic distribution of refrigerators in East Asian countries
as the cost-cutting criteria for corporate dealing in terms of demand andprovision. First, I calculated the national domestic potential demand (market
access) or the potential provision (supplier access) based on the New Economic
Geography (NEG) theory and quantitatively analyzed the location selection
criteria of Japanese frozen food companies by applying these accesses.

The

investigation conducted in the form of interviews to two Japanese frozen foodcorporations and the JETRO offices in China, Indonesia, and Laos revealed thata financial divide existed in the demand for frozen foods in East Asia due toincome, refrigerator distribution, and other factors. Focusing on the distributionof refrigerators among these factors, I compared the cases where the analysis wasmade with or without consideration to the refrigerator distribution.

The

research results were most statistically competitive and most analyticallysuitable for the models that utilized both the demand and domestic provision
with consideration to the refrigerator distribution rate, in addition to the
traditional

corporatecost-cutting

criteria

infrastructure, and preferential treatment.

such

as

personnel

expenses,This indicated the importance ofdomestic demand as well as domestic provision according to the NEG theory, in
addition to the traditional methods for cutting costs, in selecting the new
business locations of Japanese corporations.

The analysis showed that the

distribution of refrigerators, as part of the cold chain, was a crucial criterion
especially for the frozen food companies to meet the demands and to provide
frozen foods in East Asian countries, and that Japanese frozen food companies
preferred to select business locations in countries and regions with high domestic
refrigerator distribution rates.

These findings were also compatible with theinterview investigation on the two Japanese frozen food companies and JETRO,and the comprehensive approach combining the interview investigation withquantitative analysis was highly evaluated by the panelists.
In addition, after my presentation, I received some important comments,
questions, and advice from not only the panelists and panel chairperson but also
from the floor participants, and these were valuable for intensifying my own
research. It was an extremely precious experience for me to make international
exchanges, thanks to the fellow participants who helped me to interact with themsuch as giving me comments during the coffee-break time between sessions,13having the opportunity to meet researchers from diverse countries and regions,and communicating with them after the conference.
And last but not the least, I express my sincere appreciation to the support
provided in the form of international conference participation funding by The
Union of National Economic Associations in Japan.

14

Reports on the Use of Assistance for the Invitationand Stay in Japan of Foreign Scholars:
Reporting on the Lecture by Professor Hyejung Chang
Takehisa KOBAYASHI (Wako University）
Japan Business Communication Association (JBCA)
I will report on the keynote lecture by Professor Hyejung Chang of
Kyung

Hee

University(Seoul,Korea)

held

by

the

Japan

Business

Communication Association for the 75th National Conference at 16:50 on
Saturday, October 10, 2015, in Classroom E101 at Wako University.
Professor Chang, the Chairperson of KABC (Korean Association for BusinessCommunication), is a business communication research pioneer in Korea. JBCA
signed a partnership agreement with KABC in December 2015 for promoting
official collaborative academic research between the two societies andimplementing the exchange of researchers. As the memorable initial exchange
opportunity by the two academic societies, the conference turned out to be a
powerful driving force for diverse discussions concerning research collaborationin the category of comparative Korean and Japanese business communication
research, business communication in Asia, and partnership with other Asian
countries, among other issues.
Prof. Chang’s lecture, titled “Business Communication Today: Improving
Business Outcomes with Big Data and Analytics”, analyzed ICT being utilized
and advanced in all sorts of business settings from the communication
perspective.

He also presented the implications of the heretofore invisible

customer consumption behaviors and the possibility of acquiring the businessenvironment information of partners and competitors through big data analytics,
pointing out the need for such positive implementation and analysis.
Many JBCA members, whose main concerns are in the fields of commerce,business management, communication, and linguistics, realized through thelecture their lack of correct knowledge that big data is in the process offundamentally transforming the providing of corporate services and businessadministration, as well as the nature of business models, and innovating theindustry itself in the years to come, and big data holds the potential to makedrastic changes in the nature of communication between people or between thepeople and companies. We were similarly strongly stimulated by Prof. Chang
15

who is creating new research areas by combining information technology andbusiness communication.
Approximately 80 scholars, students, and corporate participants attended
and exchanged active discussions on the keynote lecture. We were able to makeenergetic exchanges throughout the occasion, including the opinion exchange on
current issues concerning the new research of business communication between
the 50 participants and Prof. Chang in the post-lecture reception.
With my above report, I express my sincere appreciation to The Union of
National Economic Associations in Japan for their support.

16

Reports on the Use of Assistance for Academic Conference Expenses:
A Report on the 31st Research Conference of
The Japan Society of Household Economics
Naoki MATSUMOTO (Otemon Gakuin University)
The Japan Society of Household Economics
The Japan Society of Household Economics held the 31st Annual
Meeting (research conference for the academic year 2015) during the 2-day period
from Saturday, June 27, to Sunday, June 28, at Otemon Gakuin University in
Ibaraki City, Osaka.
Free topic study sessions were held in the afternoon on Saturday, June 27,
the first day of the conference. 5 sessions took place and 13 research reportpresentations were made on the following discussion topics: “home economics”,“child-raising support”, “quality of life”, “finance”, and “macroeconomics”.
Approximately 100 persons attended the conference even though it was held
during the Japanese rainy season, and each of the sessions attracted many
participants, who made interesting presentations and active exchanges.
A symposium on the common theme of “Abenomics and Our Daily Life” washeld in the morning on Sunday, June 28, the second day of the conference. The
3 panelists were Yukio Yanbe (Laboratory of Living and Economics), Chiho
Ohyabu (Gifu University), and Eiichi Matsuzaki (Shinkin Central Bank); the 2commentators, Yoichi Iwasa (Kansai University) and Shinobu Itoh (Meijo
University), with the panel discussion coordinator was Kazufumi Ueno
(University of Hyogo). Mr. Yanbe reported on “Abenomics and Our Daily Life”
from a critical standpoint, mainly about the macroeconomic trends of theJapanese economy and financial policies.

Ms. Ohyabu’s report, titled“Abenomics and Our Daily Life – from the home economic perspective”, presented
the abundant home-economics related data available for free use.

Mr.

Matsuzaki spoke from the corporate perspective on “Abenomics as Regarded by
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises”, and his discussion was based on various
investigational results. After Mr. Iwasa and Ms. Itoh made their comments, thepanel accepted questions from the floor participants and engaged in active
discussion throughout the session that lasted nearly 2 hours and 30 minutes.
As the outcome of Abenomics is becoming visible in current times, theparticipants showed a high level of interest in the session theme.
17Finally, I express my sincere appreciation to every person involved in holding
this conference. I owe the success of the conference to their cooperation. In
recent years, the financial situation has been increasingly difficult for The Japan
Society of Household Economics as well as other academic societies, so we areimmensely grateful to the assistance for academic conference expenses provided
by The Union of National Economic Associations in Japan in organizing thisconference. I would like to extend my special thanks to their support.

18

Reports on the Use of Assistance for Academic Conference Expenses
Mitsuhiro HIRATA (Chuo Gakuin University)
Japan Academy of Management
The 25th National Conference of the Japan Academy of Management
was held during the 3-day period from August 7 to 9, 2015, at Chuo Gakuin
University in Abiko City, with an attendance exceeding 100 members.
President Hideaki Sato of Chuo Gakuin University gave a special lecture on
the second day of the conference.
The following panelists presented their views on the shared discussion topic,“Socially Responsible Business Management and Business Manager’s Behavior”:
Mr. Mitsuhiro Hirata from the perspective of the business administration theory;
Ms. Hitomi Awaya, from the vein market value creation theory; Mr. Hideki
Ikenouchi, from the corporate governance theory; Mr. Katsuhiko Sakurai, thestakeholder theory; Mr. Keiichi Hasegawa, the management accounting theory.
Then, we continued the discussion in the symposium on the last day of theconference, with Messrs. Saburo Ohta and Toshio Kikuchi as the coordinators.
We confirmed our common understanding, as we conducted the Q&A with thefloor participants, that the extended purpose of socially responsible corporate
management was to create, maintain, and develop a sustainable global society,and that the business managers should be the chief promoters of such businessadvancement.
As we all know, sustainability is the keyword for global society in the age ofglobalization, and it is also the goal for mankind in the 21st century. Ourcommon buzzword for the globalizing age is building, maintaining, anddeveloping a sustainable global society. This is nothing but to build a
low-carbon society controlling the production of greenhouse-effect gases to theminimum, a symbiotic society protecting the biodiversity on our planet, and acirculatory-model society securing the healthy cycle of substances. Corporations
playing a part in this process are strongly expected to become aware of andpromote the importance of socially responsible business management.
In addition to the above-mentioned reports and symposium on a shareddiscussion topic, the national conference program included free topic
presentations by 18 junior and senior society members, who conducted lively
exchanges and Q&A in the respective session halls.
Another important program of the conference was the 14th Japan – Mongolia

19International Symposium took place on August 7 and 8, 2015, with 20
participants from Mongolia and 50 from Japan. As usual, the shared theme,“Miscellaneous Issues Concerning the Environment, Resources, and Business
Management”, reflected our image of the wide, expansive land and culture ofMongolia. The 5 speakers from Mongolia, N. Suvd, C. Batsuh, K. Enkhbaatar,
N. Sonintamir, Shinichiro Kawaguchi, and 4 speakers from Japan, Nobuto Iwata,
Masako Shinkawa, Kanichi Iijima, Shozo Okuma, each presented his or herreport full of originality and insight.
The Japan – Mongolia International Symposium has continued anddeveloped since the first time, supported by Toshio Kikuchi leading the Japanesedelegation and T. Dorj leading the Mongolian delegation. We regard thisinitiative as an invaluable occasion for academic and cultural exchange between
Japan and Mongolia.
We owe the success of the national conference and international symposium
between Mongolia and Japan held at Chuo Gakuin University by the Japan
Academy of Management, an academic society with a remarkable history andtradition, to the following organization and persons. Representing the hostinstitution, I express my humble and sincere appreciation to the support
provided by The Union of National Economic Associations in Japan as assistancefor academic conference expenses, the respective participants, President Sato,
former President Shiina, and everyone concerned as the conference hosting
institution, for their diligent support and cooperation.

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Member Association Trustees
2016.3.31

Japan Society of Monetary Economics

Yoshio WATANABE

Fumihiko HIRUMAThe Japanese Society for the History of Economic Thought

Yuji SATO

Daisuke ARIEThe Japan Society of Public Utility Economics

Kenzo TAKEUCHI

Takeshi KATOHNO

Socio-Economic History Society

Haruhito TAKEDA

Masato SHIZUMEThe Political Economy and Economic History Society

Tetsuji OKAZAKI

Yasuo KAWAIThe Japan Accounting Association

Koji ISHIUCHI

Nobuhiko SATO

Japan Academy of Business Administration

Yasuo TABUCHI

Kappei HIDAKA

Japan Economic Policy Association

Yasuhide TANAKA

Shun-ichi MAEKAWA

The Japan Society of Transportation Economics

Katsumi KOJIMA

Yoshionori TAKAHASHIThe Japan Institute of Public Finance

Motohiro SATO

Takero DOI

The Japan Statistical Society

Hiroshi SAIGO

Shinya SAKANOThe Agricultural Economics Society of Japan

Norifumi FUKUYO

Hideaki JINDAIThe Japan Society of International Economics

Keiichi UMADA

Shujiro URATA

Japan Society for Commodity Science

Shuji OHIRA

Shin OSERAThe Society for the Study of Social Policy

Koshi ENDO

Kingo TAMAIThe Japanese Society of Insurance Science

Yasuo KOFUJI

Hiroshi SUZAKI

Japan Society of Marketing and Distribution

Tetsu KOBAYASHI

Takeshi MORIGUCHIThe Japan Association of Economic Geographers

Nagatada TAKAYANAGI

Katsuki UMEDA

Japan Association for Asian Studies

Tetsuya KOMAGATA

Rumi AOYAMAJapan Society of Political Econom y

Mitsuhiko TSURUTA

Yoshikazu SATO

Japan Business Communication Association

Yasuo NAKATANI

Yuichiro YAMAMOTO

Japan Society of Business Mathematics

Katsushige SAWAKI

Isao USUIBusiness History Society of Japan

Shin GOTO

Nobuhisa FUJITAJapan Academy for International Trade and Business

Takeshi FUJISAWA

Takehiro MITSUKI

The Japan Section of the Regional Science Association International
Hidehiko KANEGAEThe Society for the Economic Studies of Securities
The Population Association of JapanThe Japan Association for Comparative Economic Studies

Hiroyuki SHIBUSAWA

Hiroshi FUKUMITSU

Hajime TAKAHASHI

Ko-hei WADA

Natsumi ARATAME

Shozaburo SAKAIManabu SUHARAThe Academic Association for Organizational Science

Kenji YAMAKURA

Junjiro SHINTAKUJapan Society of Human Resource Management

Atsushi SATO

Atsushi YASHIROThe Society of Economic Sociology

Shin WATANABE

Takao MAMADA

Japan Finance Association

Kotaro INOUE

Toshio SERITA

Japan Association for Planning Administration

Yasuo MATSUYUKI

Yasushi ASAMI

Japan Auditing Association

Masayuki HORIE

Toshifumi TAKADA

Japan Academy for Consumption Economy

Takehiko YASUDA

Yasuyuki SASAKI21

Japanese Association for International Accounting Studies

Japan Society for Applied Management

Takashi HASHIMOTO

Hidehiko YAMAZAKI

Fumihiko HIRANO

Toshimasa YOKOZAWA

Nippon Urban Management and Local Government Research Association
Makoto ONOJIMA

Itsuhiko TAMAKIJapan Port Economics Association

Hideki YOSHIOKA

Hisashi FURUI

Nippon Academy of Management

Yasuhiro OGURA

Shigeo KATO

Japan Academy of Management Philosophy

Kenshu KIKUZAWA

Makoto FUJITAJapan Risk Management Society

Kazuo UEDA

Katsuyuki KAMEIJapan Logistics Society

Mitsumasa NAKA

Hirohito KUSE

Fumitaka IWANAMI

Yongge LIU

Japan Academy of Management

Saburo OTA

Keiichi HASEGAWAThe Society for Industrial Studies, Japan

Katsuaki ONISHI

Hiroshi ITAGAKIJapan Association for Management Systems

Akira OTABE

Hiroaki ISHIIJapan Association for the Comparative Studies of Management

CIRIEC Japanese Section (Japan Society of Research and Information on Public and Cooperative Economy)
Teizo ANAYAMA

Kazuyoshi UENO

The Japan Society for Social Science of Accounting

Takashi OGURI

Yoshiaki JINNAIJapan Society of Logistics and Shipping Economics

Nobuaki ENDO

Katsuhiko HAYASHIThe Japanese Association of Management Accounting

Masakatsu OSHIMA

Masamichi YOSHIOKAThe Society for the History of Management Theories

Yoshiaki TAKAHASHI

Kimio TAKAHASHIJapan Scholarly Association for Asian Management

Takahide KOSAKA

Shizuko KATO

Japan Academy of International Business Studies

Kenichi ENATSU

Yoshiharu KUWANA

Japan Society for Business Ethics Study

Junichi MIZUO

Hironori KAWAGUCHIJapan Association for Evolutionary Economics

Takeshi IKEDA

Hiroyasu UEMURA

Japan Academy of Labor and Management

Hiroyuki KUNISHIMA

Kota SHIMAUCHIThe Japanese Association of Administrative Science

Yasuaki KIDO

Yasuo HOSHINO

Business Analysis Association

Noriyuki KONISHI

Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA

Nobuyoshi NISHIZAWA

Junichi MURAMATSU

Japan Academy for Asian Market Economics
The Japan Society of Household Economics

Joji ASAHI

Kyoko UEMURA

Japan Association for Cultural Economics

Kazuko GOTO

Taisuke KATAYAMA

Japanese Association for Chinese Economy and Management Studies
Naoki MURAKAMI

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Kazuo YUKAWA

Directors of the Union
President

Kenichi ENATSU (Japan Academy of International Business Studies)
Fumihiko HIRUMA (Japan Society of Monetary Economics)
Tetsuji OKAZAKI (The Political Economy and Economic History Society)
Koji ISHIUCHI (Japan Accounting Association)
Kappei HIDAKA (Japan Academy of Business Administration)
Mitsuhiko TSURUTA (Japan Society of Political Economy)
Yoshiaki TAKAHASHI (The Society for the History of Management Theories)
Yasuhiro OGURA (Nippon Academy of Management)
Katsuaki ONISHI (The Society for Industrial Studies, Japan)
Takahide KOSAKA (Japan Scholarly Association for Asian Management)

Secretary General
Masataka OTA
AuditorHaruhito TAKEDA (Socio-Economic History Society)
Hideki YOSHIOKA (The Japan Port Economics Association)

Emeritus

Osamu NISHIZAWA
Toshio KIKUCHI

Information Bulletin No.35 Editorial Committee Members
Chairman Yasuyoshi KUROKAWA (Business Analysis Association)
Motohiro SATO (Japan Institute of Public Finance)
Yasushi MATSUSHITA (The Japanese Society of Insurance Science)
Nobuhide TANAKA (Japan Society of Business Mathematics)
Reiko HAYASHI (Population Association of Japan)
Tsuyoshi HIROSE (The Society of Economic Sociology)
Norio KAMBAYASHI (Japan Society of Human Resource Management)
Eiji HISAMOCHI (Japan Association for International Accounting Studies)
Nobuhiro ISHIDA (The Japan Port Economics Association)
Eiji FURUYAMA (Japan Society of Business Ethics)

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Correspondence to be addressed:
Secretariat of the Union of National Economic Associations in Japan,
c/o School of Commerce,
Waseda University,
Nishiwaseda 1-6-1, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 169-8050, Japane-mail: rengo@ibi-japan.co.jp
http://www.gakkairengo.jp

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