Dear JOS members,

RE: Changes in membership dues effective from April 2005

For non-student members of the Oceanographic Society of
Japan (JOS), including those who have overseas mailing addresses, the
annual membership dues will increase to JPY1,1000, effective from the
membership year 2005 (from April 2005 through March 2006). For student
members, the dues are JPY6,000. These changes were approved by the members
at the Annual Fall Meeting in Matsuyama on 25 September 2004. For
members of an age of 65 or older, the membership dues will be JPY8,000
(subject to approval by members at the Annual Meeting in March
2005).

Membership dues of JOS have not been changed for the past 15
years. The executive officers of JOS had been coping with increasing
costs of journal publication and society management. They did their
best to curb society’s expenses, but our financial state had not been
improved significantly. In August 2004, the Business Center for
Academic Societies Japan, or the former management contractor for the
society, had been suddenly declared bankruptcy, and the task of
reestablishing our financial robustness became an urgent one. We
believe, on the other hand, that the scientific community is
increasingly a global one and that JOS should make itself more open to
the international community of oceanographers. We therefore decided to
discontinue the separate membership category for overseas
residents. Membership dues will be the same irrespective of their
mailing addresses.

I do appreciate your understanding of the society’s situation.
Thank you for your continued support and membership in JOS.

Sincerely yours,

Shiro Imawaki
President, the Oceanographic Society of Japan