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.
Mr. Nobuyuki Takashima, who served as Auditor of the Society under the Presidency of Mr. Akira Matsui, passed away on June 18, 2010.
2010 marked special significance in the chemical field of Japan. Dr. Akira Suzuki, Professor at Hokkaido University in Sapporo and Dr. Eiichi Negishi, Professor at 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.
Mr. Ulf Nilsson, who served as Director since 2002, passed away on September 11, 2010.
The Society held lecture and yearly dinner meeting on Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at Imperial Hotel Tokyo, with the auspicious attendance of T. I. H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. Nobel Laureate, Dr. Akira Suzuki kindly delivered a Nobel lecture.
H.E. Ambassador Lars Vargö arrived in Tokyo on September 1, 2011 to succeed H.E. Mr. Stefan Noreén and presented his Credentials on November 25, 2011.
Mr. Minoru Mori, who served as Director since 1995, passed away on March 8, 2012.
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. Mr. Lars Vargö, newly-appointed Swedish Ambassador to Japan delivered a speech followed by JSS President, Mr. Reijiro 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 Dr. Negishi gave his speech. A group from Toyo Eiwa Girls High School gave a handbell performance after the dinner.
Mr. Shoichi Saba, who served as Director from 1985 to 2006, passed away on September 11, 2012.
Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, Professor at Kyoto University, became the second Japanese recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine as he was awarded the 2012 prize for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.
Mr. Yoichi Nose, who served as Managing Director from 1988 to 2002 and for many years also served as Director, passed away on January 21, 2013.
The Society held a farewell reception in honour of H.E. Ambassador Mr. Lars Vargö on July 18, 2014 at the Hotel Okura. Mr. Vargö spent a total of fifteen years in Japan including his previous appointments.
The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Drs. Isamu Akasaki, Professor at Meijo University and Nagoya University, Hiroshi Amano, Professor at Nagoya University, and Shuji Nakamura, Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, for their pioneering work in the development of blue light-emitting diodes.
H.E. Ambassador Magnus Robach arrived in Tokyo in September to succeed H.E. Mr. Lars Vargö and presented his Credentials on December 5, 2014.
The Society held its annual party at the Hotel Okura on November 25, 2014. It was a great honour to welcome H.E. Ambassador and Mrs. Magnus Robach to their first social function with the Society. A Certificate of Appreciation was presented to the widow of former President Mr. 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.
Mr. Mats Bruzæus, Director since 2009, passed away on July 11, 2015.
The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Dr. Takaaki Kajita of the Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, University of Tokyo for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.
Dr. Satoshi Omura was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites.
The Society held the annual dinner party on Monday, December 7, 2015 at Hotel Okura, with the attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi.
On February 18, 2016, H.M. King Gustav of Sweden 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 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Dr. Yoshinori Ohsumi of Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Institute of Innovative Research for his discoveries of mechanisms for autophagy.
The Society held the annual dinner party on Tuesday, October, 25 2016 at Hotel New Otani, Tokyo, with the auspicious attendance of T.I.H. Prince and Princess Hitachi. The 2014 Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics, Professor Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University was the guest speaker.
On June 19th 2017, a JSS book fair was held at the International Convention Hall, Kioicho Campus, Josai University Educational Corporation, celebrating the publication of “Sweden Revealed” (“Sweden ga mietekuru”) by H.E. Seiji Morimoto, former Japanese Ambassador to Sweden.
Sweden and Japan celebrated 150 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Swedish Embassy was in charge and had a very active and successful year. The main event was the visit by the Swedish King in charge of an industrial delegation in April 2018. Some of our members had supported this event and could meet with the King and Queen on Sunday, April 22nd 2018.
On May 30, 2018, His Majesty the King of Sweden decided to confer the Order of the Polar Star, with the rank of Member 1st Class, to Dr. Noriko Mizuta, in recognition of Dr. Mizuta’s services for promoting cultural and educational relations between Japan and Sweden.
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 JSS since January 2014, at the JSS dinner held at the Ambassador Magnus Robach’s Residence, and the decoration was put on Dr. Noriko Mizuta by H.E. Ambassador Magnus Robach at the special celebration program for this conferment.
The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Prof. Tasuku Honjo of the Department of Immunology and Genomic Medicine Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine Kyoto for his discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.
The Society held its annual dinner party on Thursday, June 13th, 2019 at the Ambassador Residence of the Swedish Embassy. Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics, Dr. Takaaki Kajita gave a speech in the Nobel Auditorium at the Swedish Embassy prior to the dinner.
H.E. Ambassador Mr. Pereric Högberg arrived in Tokyo in August 2019 to succeed H.E. Mr. Magnus Robach and presented his Credentials on December 12th, 2019.
The Society held its 90th Anniversary on Monday, November 18th, 2019 at the Okura Tokyo. The evening opened with a lecture by Dr. Tasuku Honjo, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, on “Serendipities of acquired immunity”. 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 rewarded for her long-time contribution to the Society.
The 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Dr. Akira Yoshino, Honorary Fellow of Asahi Kasei Corporation for his development of lithium-ion batteries.