Professor Masatoshi Koshiba, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics in 2002, who served as an Honorary Member of the Society since 2003, passed away on November 12, 2020.
Professor Isamu Akasaki, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics in 2014 and an Honorary Member of the Society since 2015, passed away on April 1, 2021.
On April 6, 2021, the Society held a lecture by Professor Hiroshi Amano, Nobel Laureate in Physics 2014, as a speaker. Due to the Covid-19, it was in a webinar format. In his lecture, Professor Amano spoke about the journey to receiving the Nobel Prize in Physics 2014 for the development of LED technology, alongside Professor Isamu Akasaki of Meijo University and Professor Shuji Nakamura of University of California, Santa Barbara. Professor Amano touched on the leadership and mentorship of his tutor, Professor Akasaki, and shared fascinating stories about the challenges he faced as a young researcher, such as building experimental equipment by hand and working in tough conditions that required him to constantly observe his experiments through day and night.
Professor Eiichi Negishi, the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2010, who served as an Honorary Member of the Society since 2011, passed away on June 6th, 2021.
Professor Toshihide Masukawa, the Nobel Prize Laureate in Chemistry 2008 who served as an Honorary Member of the Society since 2009, passed away on July 29th, 2021.
On September 16, 2021, the Society held a webinar with Professor Yoshihiko Fukushima, School of Politics and Economics, Waseda University, as a speaker on the theme of comparing responses to COVID-19 in Japan and Sweden. This was a follow-up of the webinar organized by the Society titled “At the Covid-19 Frontline in Japan and Sweden, Fight against the pandemic - and misinformation, What happened in 2020 and what is the forecast for 2021?” on November 27 2020.
Through these events, there appeared interestingly the differences in approaches between Japanese and Swedish societies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Japan, the focus was on minimizing human contact, even if it meant a slowdown in social life and economic activities. In contrast, Sweden adopted a unique approach, accepting some spread of the virus inevitable, while aiming to achieve herd immunity, which was expected to eventually reduce the number of infections. As a result, social life and economic activities were not as restricted as in Japan. However, this approach faced criticism due to the increased number of deaths among the elderly and vulnerable groups.
The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 was awarded to Professor Syukuro Manabe, Senior Metrologist at Princeton University. After graduating from the University of Tokyo, He went to the United States, where he pursued climate research at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Professor Manabe developed computational simulations, making groundbreaking contributions to today's climate change models, clarifying the impact of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations on global warming.
On 7 July 2022, The Japan-Sweden Society hosted a seminar and networking event at the Embassy of Sweden. A presentation about the wonders of Sweden by H.E. Ambassador Shigeyuki Hiroki, former Japanese Ambassador to Sweden, took place in the Alfred Nobel Auditorium. Ambassador Hiroki shared his thoughts on the differences and similarities between Japan and Sweden when it comes to business, politics and culture. The lecture was followed by an informal networking session with food and drinks served and live music performed in the Exhibition Hall.
On December 1, 2022, the Society organized a Nobel lecture by Dr. Akira Yoshino, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2019 for his contributions to the development of lithium-ion batteries, a small energy system used to power mobile devices. The lecture was followed by a dinner hosted by the Swedish Ambassador at his residence. In his lecture, Dr. Yoshino explained that in Asahi Kasei Corporation he began with the practical application of polyacetylene, a conductive polymer in the early 1970s, he then proceeded to fundamental research on lithium-ion batteries, which were more stable as electrode materials, and successfully commercialized lithium-ion batteries, emphasizing that the availability of new materials and the freedom to pursue his research objectives within the company sparked the creation of the new products.
On April 22, 2023, the Society co-hosted a lecture by Carl-Henrik Heldin, Chair of the Board of the Nobel Foundation, with Tokyo College of the University of Tokyo at the Hongo campus on the theme “Cancer Research – Inspiration from the Nobel Prizes”. In his lecture, Professor Heldin explained the origins of the Nobel Prize, starting with its establishment by Alfred Nobel, the annual selection process, and not only past Japanese laureates but also other prominent awardees from around the world. He also discussed the challenges faced by the Nobel Foundation in maintaining the prize's prestige and financial stability. Following this, he provided a detailed explanation of the advancements and outcomes in cancer research, his field of expertise, touching upon the groundbreaking cancer immunotherapy that led to Professor Tasuku Honjo's Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018.
On October 31, 2022, the Society held a panel discussion on Sweden’s NATO membership jointly with the University of Tokyo at the Komaba Campus. The discussion featured two distinguished experts in the field: Professor Linus Hagström from the Department of Political Science and Law at the Swedish Defence University and Lector Ken Shimizu from the College of Law and Politics at Rikkyo University. The event was also available via Zoom. Each panelist presented his analysis of the security environment surrounding Sweden and the Nordic region from their respective perspectives in Europe and Asia. During the discussion, it was noted that Sweden’s NATO participation would contribute to strengthening NATO’s security capabilities. However, it might also lead to a more confrontational posture with Russia, potentially deteriorating the security environment in the Nordic region as a whole.
On November 7, 2023, the Society hosted its Annual Nobel Dinner at the Tokyo American Club. Professor Shinya Yamanaka, the Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2022 for his discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, was the guest speaker. The dinner was graced by the presence of H.I.H Princess Takamado as Guest of Honour at the event. In his lecture titled "Recent Progress in iPS Cell Research and Application”, Professor Yamanaka spoke about his journey from being a young clinician to a researcher, motivated by his inability to save his father, who suffered from hepatitis C, eventually leading to the discovery of iPS cells. Today, these cells are utilized in regenerative medicine for organs and drug development for severe diseases such as Alzheimer's and ALD. Professor Yamanaka, however, stressed the importance of overcoming the "valley of death" that lies between innovative drug discovery and its commercialization. He also emphasized that advancing the application of iPS cells to the production of tissues, organs, and reproductive cells would bring humanity to a stage where life can be manipulated, underscoring the importance of establishing new bioethics.
On May 14, 2024, the Society (JSS), in cooperation with Swedish Ambassador Pereric Högberg, hosted a lecture titled "Sweden and I" by Distinguished University Professor Kohei Miyazono of the University of Tokyo at the ambassador's residence. Professor Miyazono, former Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice President of the university, currently serves as Executive Director of RIKEN and is a Member of the Japan Academy as well. His association with Sweden began during his studies at the Department of Medical and Physiological Chemistry, Biomedical Center, Uppsala University in 1985, when he was a young researcher. His return to the Institute later in his career made him encounter Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin, who later became the Chairman of the Nobel Foundation. In his lecture, Professor Miyazono further elaborated his cancer research, which brought him the identification of HVEM (herpes virus entry mediator, TNF receptor) as a potential therapeutic target for glioblastoma. Taking advantage of the high-affinity antibodies against human HVEM sourced from alpacas, he has established a start up together with Professor Heldin and other Swedish researchers.
On July 3, 2024, the Society held a reception for Ambassador Pereric Högberg and his wife Anna at the Matsuya Salon of the Tokyo Daijingu to bid farewell to them. One of the highlights during their tenure was the visit of His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf and Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria to Japan in October 2019. They participated in the enthronement of Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. This visit gave a significant renewed impetus to the bilateral relations between Japan and Sweden. The Ambassador, in his speech, reflected on their five-year tenure in Japan, expressing that he and Anna fully enjoyed their time in the country. Before their departure, the Ambassador was conferred the Grand Corden of the Order of the Rising Sun on 16 July in the name of the Emperor of Japan.
H.E. Ambassador Viktoria Li arrived in Tokyo and took office in September 2024 succeeding H.E. Ambassador Pereric Högberg.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on 11 October 2024 to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 to the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo (日本被団協：日本原水爆被害者団体協議会, The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations). It is a nationwide organization of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, founded 11 years after the bombings in 1956. According to the Norwegian Nobel committee, this grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, is receiving the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
On November 6, 2024, The Society hosted its Annual Nobel Dinner at the Tokyo American Club. Prof. Svante Pääbo, the Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2022, was the guest speaker. He is Professor of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and also Adjunct Professor at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST). The dinner was graced by the presence of H.I.H Princess Takamado as the guest of honour at the event. Prof. Pääbo spoke on the theme “An Archaic Perspective on the Origin of Modern Humans”. It was an engaging presentation, in which he elaborated on his outstanding discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution. It was particularly enlightening that he discovered that we, Homo sapiens, have inherited genes from the extinct Neanderthals, which have brought both merits and demerits to human life.