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オレオサイエンス

第 21 巻第 6 号（2021）

Message from the President of
the Japan Oil Chemists’ Society
JOCS President

Dai KITAMOTO
at subsequent annual meetings. The burden on theMy appointment as president for fiscal 2021 and 2022
regular general

executive committee of the annual meeting, themeeting and 447th meeting of the board of directors.

convenience and capacity of the venue, and the bias inWhile this important role may be more than I deserve,

the number of presentations for each session, which

I would like to make every possible effort toward thewere troublesome issues at that time, can be easily

further development of the traditions of the Japan Oilsolved by holding online, and thus the results of theChemists’ Society (JOCS).

activities of this promotion committee are highly

was recently decided at our 67

thexpected at this year’s annual meeting.

Since last year, the social situation has been
turbulent due to the spread of the new coronavirus

In addition to various policy proposals, the Future

COVID-19 infection, and everyday life has changed

Concept Committee also formulated a vision based on

significantly. Nowadays, it is not easy to ensure safety

the following three characteristics of the JOCS.
-We cover a wide range of science and technology

and security in daily life, and there are restrictions infields

every situation. For many, the "comfortable living" that

-We have many researchers and engineers belonging

once existed may be becoming a distant memory.

to companies, compared to other academic societies

On the other hand, this situation has also caused-We aim at science, technology, and products that

positive behavioral changes. Due to the influence ofare very closely related to daily life

COVID-19, online business has expanded, resulting in"unexpected time", which is triggering the creation ofThe proposed vision is “The intersection of scientists

new ideas and businesses. We were forced to cancel

and engineers breaking new ground in oleo science tovarious events and change the holding method.

support comfortable living” (did you know that it is atHowever, as a result of deciding to hold the annual

the top of the JOCS homepage?), representing that themeeting online in March of last year and proceeding

JOCS has an open atmosphere, where variouswith preparations through trial and error, we wereresearchers and engineers are free to interact withable to obtain the same number of participants andeach other and create a starting point for technologies

profits as before. The effect of holding online was muchand products that support new academic fields andhigher than expected, with an average of more thanhealthy and comfortable lives. Indeed, it is a group that

100 hearings for each presentation and the ability tofocuses on "comfortable living" and can regain the daily

diversify advertising formats.

life that was lost in the COVID-19 disaster andcontribute to the creation of a new daily life.

The "Future Concept Committee" (2017), which I
chaired, positioned "maximizing the annual meeting" as

We have promoted "improvement of the quality ofa pillar from the perspective of sustainable

our journals" as well as "maximizing the annualdevelopment of the JOCS, and proposed solutions formeeting". Due to the wise judgment of seniors, thethat purpose. In response to this, the "Annual Meeting"Journal of Oleo Science (JOS)", which consists of only

Reform Promotion Committee” (chaired by Professor

scientific articles, was first published in 2001. After

Kouichi ASAKURA, Keio University) was established,that, the electronic version of the journal was started,

and reform tactics are being implemented at any timeand it became a purely English journal and began―2―

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receiving an impact factor since 2010. Then, in Marchmembers. In addition, let’s make full use of theof this year, the JOS has been accepted for indexing incharacteristics of our society and create a startingthe Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). This

point of "comfortable living" and contribute to theclearly shows that our journal has a high international

promotion of SDGs as a public interest incorporated

influence and has an appropriate and accurate peer

association. Next year, the 2nd World Congress on Oleo

review function. It is expected that the number ofScience will be held as a commemorative project for

submitted papers will increase and the content will be

the 70th anniversary of the JOCS. We look forward toexpanded soon.

your continued understanding and support in theBased on our vision, let’s overcome the current

future.

COVID-19 crisis and continue to grow into a more(Director-General, AIST Chugoku, National Instituteattractive and sustainable academic society by furtherof Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST),

promoting flexible and multifaceted cooperation amongJapan)―

3―