The Society held the annual dinner party on Thursday, 22 April 2010 at the Nippon Kogyo Club, with the auspicious attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. The event was attended by over 70 people.
The year 2010 marked special significance in the chemical field of Japan. Professor Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University in Sapporo and Professor Eiichi Negishi of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing a chemical method that has allowed scientists to make potential cancer drugs and other medicines as well as slimmed-down computer screens.
The Society held its annual dinner on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at Imperial Hotel Tokyo, with the auspicious attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. Nobel Laureate, Professor Akira Suzuki, the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2010, kindly delivered a lecture.
H.E. Ambassador Lars Vargö arrived in Tokyo on September 1, 2011 to succeed H.E. Stefan Noreén and presented his Credentials on November 25, 2011.
The Society held a commemorative dinner party in celebration of the 30th Anniversary of H.I.H. Prince Hitachi as the Patron of the Society on Monday, March 19, 2012 at Hotel Okura in Tokyo. H.E. Ambassador Lars Vargö delivered a speech followed by JSS President, Mr. Hattori who afterwards presented a gift to H.I.H. Prince Hitachi as a token of appreciation. In return, H.I.H. Prince Hitachi delivered a speech. The highlight came when Nobel Laureate Professor Negishi gave his speech. A group from Toyo Eiwa Girls High School gave a handbell performance after the dinner.
Professor Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University became the second Japanese Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, receiving the award in 2012 for his groundbreaking discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
The Society held a farewell reception in honour of H.E. Ambassador Lars Vargö on July 18, 2014 at the Hotel Okura. Mr. Vargö spent a total of fifteen years in Japan including his previous study and diplomatic periods.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 was awarded to Professor Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University and Nagoya University, Professor Hiroshi Amano of Nagoya University, and Professor Shuji Nakamura of the University of California, Santa Barbara, for their pioneering work in the development of blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
H.E. Ambassador Magnus Robach arrived in Tokyo in September to succeed H.E. Ambassador Lars Vargö and presented his Credentials on December 5, 2014.
The Society held its annual party at the Hotel Okura on November 25, 2014. H.E. Ambassador and Mrs. Magnus Robach were welcomed to their first social function with the Society. On the occasion, a Certificate of Appreciation was presented to the widow of former President Mr. Reijiro Hattori for his distinguished contributions to the development of friendship between Sweden and Japan as the President of the Society.
Honorary Member and former Honorary President Mr. Gunnar Lonaeus, who served as Swedish Ambassador to Japan from 1981 to 1986, passed away on March 4, 2015.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 was awarded to Professor Takaaki Kajita of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, the University of Tokyo, for his discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass. Professor Satoshi Omura of Kitasato University was also awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 for his discovery concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites.
The Society held the annual dinner party on December 7, 2015 at Hotel Okura, with the attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. 90 guests were present to enjoy the splendid evening.
On February 18, 2016, H.M. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf held a Japan-Sweden Friendship Banquet.
On September 8, 2016, a Sweden National Day Reception and a symposium “Ingrid Bergman’s Life: Transformation of Gender Roles” were held.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2016 was awarded to Professor Yoshinori Ohsumi of the Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology, for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.
The Society held the annual dinner party on October 25, 2016 at Hotel New Otani, Tokyo, with the auspicious attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. Professor Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University, the Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics 2014, was the guest speaker. 90 members and their guests enjoyed the evening.
On June 19, 2017, a JSS book fair was held at the International Convention Hall, Kioicho Campus, Josai University Educational Corporation, celebrating the publication of “You’ll Have New Eyes on Sweden: A Japan in Europe (May 2017 in Japanese, Shin-hyo-ron) by H.E. Seiji Morimoto, former Japanese Ambassador to Sweden.
Sweden and Japan celebrated the 150 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries through the year 2018. The main event was the visit by H.M. H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf leading an industrial delegation in April 2018. Some of our members had supported this event and could meet with T.M. the King and Queen on Sunday, April 22.
On June 20, 2018, the Order of the Polar Star, with the rank of Member 1st Class, was conferred on Dr. Noriko Mizuta, President of the Society, in recognition of her services for promoting cultural and educational relations between Japan and Sweden at the dinner held at the Ambassador Magnus Robach’s Residence.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018 was awarded to Professor Tasuku Honjo of the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine, Kyoto University, for his discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.
The Society held its annual dinner party on June 13, 2019 at the Residence of the Swedish Ambassador. Professor Takaaki Kajita, the Nobel Laureate in Physics 2015, gave a speech in the Nobel Auditorium at the Swedish Embassy prior to the dinner.
H.E. Ambassador Pereric Högberg arrived in Tokyo in August 2019 to succeed H.E. Ambassador Magnus Robach and presented his Credentials on December 12, 2019.
The Society celebrated its 90th Anniversary on November 18, 2019 at the Okura Tokyo. The evening opened with a lecture titled “Serendipities of acquired immunity” by Distinguished Professor Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University, the Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2018 for his discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation, which was followed by the banquet. In the lecture, Professor Honjo detailed the long journey of over ten years of hypothesis and evidence accumulation, during which he successfully established the function of PD-1 as a negative regulatory factor in tumor immunity. This breakthrough paved the way for revolutionary "immunotherapy" in cancer treatment. During the event, JSS Vice Presidents Mr. Nils Hornmark and Mr. Shinji Fukukawa were given Appreciation Diplomas for their long-time services to the Society. Mrs. Etsuko Hattori, an Honorary Member, was also rewarded for her long-time contribution to the Society.
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019 was awarded to Dr. Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation for his development of lithium-ion batteries.