Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 3 | 2011 | Number 2 | Online ISSN: 2151-4704
Japan ABA
By Kenjiro Aoyama
A Special Message From the Japanese ABA President: On March 11, 2011, an earthquake hit a large area in eastern Japan. Over 25,000 people are either missing or deceased. We received many encouraging sympathy notes from around the world. I would like to express my deepest gratitude for these messages. We hope the Japanese ABA can play a significant role in recovery efforts. Thank you for your continued support.
Kenichi Fuji
President, Japanese Association for Behavior Analysis
The Japanese Association for Behavior Analysis (J-ABA) was originally formed as the Society for the Study of Behavior Analysis in 1979, and changed its name to the Japanese Association for Behavior Analysis in 1983 when its first annual convention was held at Keio University. The main goal of J-ABA is to promote the experimental, theoretical, and applied analysis of behavior, as originated by B. F. Skinner. Since its establishment, J-ABA has made great strides and is now one of the most successful international chapters of ABAI. Our 896 members in 2010 came from a wide variety of professions, including researchers, school teachers, counselors, social workers, nurses, animal trainers, and business people.
J-ABA organizes an annual convention, publishes the Japanese Journal of Behavior Analysis twice a year, distributes a newsletter (J-ABA News) four times a year, operates a website (www.j-aba.jp), and hosts workshops and symposia for its members and anyone else interested in behavior analysis and its applications. All this is in keeping with our goal of disseminating behavior analysis throughout Japan.
We have also been actively collaborating with other academic societies in Japan and promoting international exchanges. Thirty to forty members, including students, attend ABAI meetings every year, and our 2011 conference will be held at Waseda University, Tokyo, September 18–19, 2011. In 2008, J-ABA elected new board members for 2009–2012, and Kenichi Fuji of Ritsumeikan University was reelected as President. J-ABA recently started two new programs to encourage young students living in the US as well as in Japan. The first is financial support for two students from Japan to attend ABAI events. The other program is donating books to young Japanese behavior analysts who are studying or working in the US.