History of JES
History of the Japan Ergonomics Society
– From its very beginning to the foundation of the Japan Ergonomics Society as a general corporate juridical body
Ergonomics is a practical and useful technology for society. When a discipline concerned is practical, its course of introduction and development is more influenced by factors such as climate, custom, education and industry in each region to which the discipline is applied. However, the idea of human-centered design, which is the principle of ergonomics, is not limited to where this technology may be applied. This is well represented in the title of the most widely read ergonomics textbook in the world by Professor Grandjean, “Fitting the task to the man (Taylor & Francis).” The idea suggests that tasks or machines should be designed by fitting them to human characteristics, and is the key of ergonomics.
The Japan Ergonomics Society (JES) held its inauguration on December 1, 1964. Those days Japan’s economy was growing by leaps and bounds with average annual economic growth rates of 10%. In 1964, the Tokaido Shinkansen started its operation on October 1 and the Tokyo Olympic Games were opened on October 10. The first issue of the JES journal, “Ergonomics”, (Vol. 1, No. 1) published in January, 1965, featured “Ergonomics in Tokaido Shinkansen.”
The following chronological table shows the events and actions organized by the JES from its very early days in the 1960s, when the JES was founded, to recent times. During this period, the ISO/TC159 ergonomics committee was set up in 1974 to discuss the issue on international standardization of ergonomics, and Japan has greatly contributed to the establishment of these standards as its P member with voting rights since 1986. Besides that, the JES has actively participated in international activities. Tokyo hosted the 8th conference of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) in 1982, and one of the JES directors, Sadao Sugiyama, was appointed as IEA president in the same year. In 2009, effected by the drastic reform of the public service corporation system in Japan, the JES made a fresh start as a general corporate juridical body, which is an academic society expected to provide public service. It is continuing its efforts to realize a safe and healthy society.
History of the Japan Ergonomics Society
| Year | events/actions |
|---|---|
| Sep 1963 | Promoters’ meeting for establishment of the JES was held |
| Dec 1963 | General assembly to promote the establishment of the JES and its 1st workshop were held (Tokyo) |
| May 1964 | The 2nd workshop was held (Osaka) |
| Dec 1964 | The JES was established Koichi Motokawa was appointed as president The 3rd workshop was held (Tokyo) Members: around 530 |
| Jan 1965 | The 1st issue of the JES journal “Ergonomics” was published （quarterly） |
| May 1965 | The 4th conference of the JES was held (Sendai) |
| May 1965 | Joined the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) and Masamitsu Oshima assumed its director’s post |
| Dec 1965 | The 5th conference of the JES was held (Tokyo) Members: around 1000 |
| Jun 1966 | The 6th conference of the JES was held (Nagoya) |
| 1974 | TC159 (ergonomics committee) was set up in the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) |
| Jun 1975 | Safety ergonomics group was formed Kunie Hashimoto was appointed as its chair |
| 1977 | ISO 1503: 1977 “Geometrical orientation and directions of movements,” which the JES played a leading role in proposing, was published as an international standard |
| Mar 1981 | Nursing ergonomics group (preparation group) was formed Susumu Tsukahara was appointed as the chair of this preparation group |
| Jun 1981 | ISO 6385:1981″Ergonomic principles in the design of work systems, ” an international standard regarding basic principles forergonomic design, was published. |
| 1982 | The 8th conference of the IEA was held in Tokyo |
| 1983 | The number of universities that have an ergonomics division (or laboratory) or those that provide lectures reached 12 (13 laboratories) and 27, respectively, with a total of 34 different courses （“Ergonomics,” vol. 19 (5) ) |
| Oct 25 1985 | Lecture meeting commemorating the 20th anniversary of the JES was held (at Nihon University Kaikan) “Ergonomics” commemorating the 20th anniversary of the JES was issued（vol21(6) 1985) |
| 1986 | Japan became a P member (a member with voting rights) of the ISO/TC159 The JES was assigned to be a domestic institution for deliberation of ISO/TC159 related issues ISO/TC159 Japan Ergonomics National Committee (JENC) was established in the JES |
| 1987 | ISO 1503: 1977 “Geometrical orientation and directions of movements,” which the JES played a leading role in proposing, was published as JIS (Z 8907: 1987) |
| May 1996 | Japan-Korea joint symposium was held for academic exchange between the ergonomics societies of Japan and Korea |
| 1998 | Pioneering conference for academic exchange between Japan and Korea was attempted via the internet although internet-based communication was still in its early stage (The 38th conference of the JES) |
| Aug 2003 | Started a certification system for ergonomics specialists |
| Jun 2009 | Conference commemorating the 50th anniversary of the JES was held(Tsukuba) |
| Jul 2009 | The Japan Ergonomics Society as a general corporate juridical body was founded |
| Mar 2010 | All the issues of the JES journal “Ergonomics” from the very first edition became accessible online from the Journal@rchive site |
| Jun 2010 | The 1st annual general meeting of members was held (during the 51st conference of the JES at Hokkaido University) |
| Mar 2011- Aug 2011 |
Messages were sent out to the Tohoku Earthquake victims by the JES. |
| May 2011 | Safety committee of the JES expressed an official statement on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. |
| Feb 2012 | Yushi Fujita assumed the vice president & Treasurer of the International Ergonomics Association (IEA) |
Successive presidents
| order | name | term |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ko-ichi Motokawa | Dec 1 1964 – Mar 31 1967 |
| 2nd | Ko-ichi Motokawa | Apr 1 1967 – Mar 31 1969 |
| 3rd | Ko-ichi Motokawa | Apr 1 1969 – Feb 3 1971 |
| 4th | Kan-ichi Takagi | Apr 13 1971 – Mar 31 1973 |
| 5th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1973 – Mar 31 1975 |
| 6th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1975 – Mar 31 1977 |
| 7th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1977 – Mar 31 1980 |
| 8th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1980 – Mar 31 1983 |
| 9th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1983 – Mar 31 1986 |
| 10th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1986 – Mar 31 1989 |
| 11th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1989 – Mar 31 1992 |
| 12th | Masamitsu Oshima | Apr 1 1992 – Mar 31 1995 |
| 13th | Yoshio Hayashi | Apr 1 1995 – Mar 31 1998 |
| 14th | Takao Okubo | Apr 1 1998 – Mar 31 2001 |
| 15th | Takao Okubo | Apr 1 2001 – Mar 31 2004 |
| 16th | Takao Okubo | Apr 1 2004 – Mar 31 2007 |
| 17th | Susumu Saito （A general corporate juridical body, the Japan Ergonomics Society,was founded on Jul 1, 2009.） |
Apr 1 2007 – Jun 30 2009 |
President of the board
| order | name | term |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Susumu Saito | Jul 1 2009 – Jun 19 2010 |
| 2nd | Susumu Saito | Jun 19 2010 – annual general meeting of members in 2012 |
