An Overview of the Society

The Japanese Society for Aesthetics, the most authoritative nationwide society in the field, was established in 1949 to promote research in fields related to aesthetics and the studies of art in the broad sense, including music, drama, dance and film. The society’s regular activities include publishing the Japanese-language journal Bigaku (quarterly until 2007, and biannually since) and the Western-language journal BIGAKU(The Japanese Journal of Aesthetics in Western Language) (every two years from 1983, and annually since 2009, as an on-line journal). The society also organizes an annual nationwide conference and Eastern and Western division conferences five times a year. Also, on occasion, the society holds special lectures given by foreign researchers and participates in symposiums on special themes hosted by the Japanese Association for Art Studies and the Japanese Federation of Philosophical Societies. In 2001, the society hosted the 15th International Congress of Aesthetics with the Science Council of Japan. The event gathered about 430 attendees from Japan and abroad, and was very successful.

Society membership fees are set at 8,000 yen. Individual members are engaged in specialized research in the aforementioned fields. The society has no special membership program for students, but, if approved by committee, undergraduates may also join the society as full-fledged members. Presently, the society has about 1,600 members, most of whom are professores, instructors and graduate students.

In accordance with the general meetings held each year during the society’s national conference, various committees comprised of the president and other committee members manage society affairs. Board members are elected by member vote every three years. Ten members are elected in each division and, from the 20 elected members, a president is elected by mutual vote. In addition, a representative of each division is elected by the elected members of their own division. The representatives also act as society vice presidents. Also, in order to ensure a well-rounded group, the elected members of each division appoint five additional committee members. The 15 members from both divisions combine to form a joint committee. The members of this committee are responsible for editing the society’s journals and handling the society’s accounts. They oversee society operations along with the secretary of affairs they appoint. The society entrusts managing member information, collecting fees and shipping out journals to the Academic Society Assistance Center supported by the National Federation of University Co-operative Associations in Japan, which acts as the Japanese Society for Aesthetics office.

Journals edited by the Japanese Society for Aesthetics

Journal Bigaku [in Japanese]

The Bigaku (Aesthetics) is published biannually, in collaboration with Bijutsu Shuppan-sha by the Japanese Society for Aesthetics, c/o Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan. Communications regarding informations, subscriptions and exchange of periodicals or news should be sent to the Society.

Journal BIGAKU (The Japanese Journal of Aesthetics in Western Language)

BIGAKU（The Japanese Journal of Aesthetics in Western Language）is the annual online journal edited and released by the Japanese Society for Aesthetics (JSA). This journal mainly aims to introduce the articles published in BIGAKU (The Japanese Journal of Aesthetics in Japanese) to the world. The hardcopy of the western language version was published from 1983 (No. 1) to 2006 (No. 12), and an electronic version of the journal from 2009 (No. 13) to 2021 (No.25) under the title Aesthetics. Contribution to this journal is limited to the members of the Japanese Society for Aesthetics until notified as otherwise.

Organization

The Japanese Society for Aesthetics (JSA)

President
Yoshida Hiroshi(University of Tokyo)
Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology, University of Tokyo
7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-0033 Tokyo, JAPAN

e-mail: office@bigakukai.jp

Eastern Division of the JSA

Vice President/Representative of Eastern Division
Shiihara Nobuhiro (Jissen Women’s University)
Department of Aesthetics and Art History, Faculty of Humanities, Jissen Women’s University
1-1-49 Higashi, Shibuya-ku, 150-0011 Tokyo, JAPAN

e-mail: e-office@bigakukai.jp

Western Division of the JSA

Vice President/Representative of Western Division
Kasuya Akiko(Kyoto City University of Arts)
Department of General Science of Art, Faculty of Fine Arts, Kyoto City University of Arts
13-6 Kutsukake-cho, Oe, Nishikyo-ku, 610-1197 Kyoto, JAPAN

e-mail: w-office@bigakukai.jp

Contact

e-mail: office@bigakukai.jp